Baldur's Gate 3: Most Important Choices In Act 2

Highlights

Helping Halsin find Thaniel in Act 2 is crucial for players to lift the shadow curse and keep Halsin as a party member.
Recruiting Jaheira during the attack on Moonrise Towers is important to prevent her death and unlock the option to recruit Minsc.
Choosing to help the Orthon in the Gauntlet of Shar will upset Astarion and Raphael, but make the Orthon an ally for future use.

Baldur's Gate 3 is a phenomenal RPG that was released in 2023 that impressed players so much that it even won Game of the Year. Players have high praise for the role-playing game due to the wide variety of choices a player makes throughout their adventure that can have both big and small consequences for the future.

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In the second act of Baldur's Gate 3, players face the infamous shadow curse and must navigate through it to find the current base of the cult known as the Absolute. While exploring this area, players will be left with various decisions that are crucial to the future of their playthrough. With this in mind, these are the most important choices a player can make in Act 2.

Spoiler alert for some choices in Baldur's Gate 3

5 Helping Halsin Find Thaniel

Starting At Last Light Inn

Players who have saved Halsin in the first act of the game will finally be able to interact with him more and complete his main quest line during the second act of the RPG. It turns out that Halsin feels that, as a Druid who was alive during the events that caused the shadow curse, he wishes to help rid the land of it. Players can choose to ignore Halsin's wishes to find out more about the Shadow curse, but doing so will cause him to permanently leave the player's party when they attempt to head for the third and final act.

This will also mean that the shadow curse is never lifted, leaving behind quite a gloomy sight for players. As well is arguably one of the sadder conclusions to the acts available, especially as this means players are likely to never meet the forest spirit known as Thaniel, or one of the oldest living Flaming Fists.

4 Recruiting Jaheira

Storming Moonrise Towers

At first glance, recruiting Jaheira may not seem as important as it actually is. However, if players don't ask Jaheira to stay by their side during the attack on Moonrise Towers, she is likely to die and then players can't keep her as a permanent member of the camp. This can then cause issues for the future of the player's adventure, as without Jaheira, players cannot recruit the other well-known Baldur's Gate companion, Minsc, and his miniature space hamster, Boo.

Jaheira is already an incredibly powerful ally and therefore, even without the possibility of another future companion and taking Jaheira to see her family, she is a great unit for a player to use, even if the party already has a Druid like Halsin available, as they can be focused on two different subclasses instead.

3 Killing Or Helping The Orthon

Stuck Within The Gauntlet Of Shar

Before players can take on the main boss of Act 2, Ketheric Thorm, the party will first need to adventure into the Gauntlet of Shar to remove his immortality. Before entering this zone, players are likely to encounter the devil Raphael, who has another task for the player while they are within the Gauntlet. He will ask them to hunt down and kill an Orthon that is apparently a danger.

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Completing this task will not only help Raphael but also aid Astarion in learning about the scars on his back. While this may at first seem quite straightforward, it is actually possible to choose to help the Orthon instead. While helping the Orthon will make him an ally players can use later on, this will both upset Astarion and Raphael.

2 Allowing Isobel To Be Kidnapped Or Not

Dooming All Or Being The Hero At Last Light Inn

When players first visit the Shadow-cursed Lands, the first location they are likely to visit is the last surviving refuge known as Last Light Inn. When they arrive, the player will meet the franchise fan-favorite Jaheira. She will first test the player and then allow them to talk to the Selune Cleric, Isobel, who is protecting the inn from the curse.

This is the first and biggest important choice players are likely to make during this act, after encountering Isobel. The once Flaming Fist, now Absolute Cultist, Marcus will call for the aid of the player who he assumes to be a True Soul in kidnapping the cleric. Allowing or helping Marcus to kidnap Isobel will cause the inn to fall into the shadows, killing everyone but the player's party, and Jaheira, while saving Isobel, will make sure this doesn't happen.

1 If Shadowheart Kills The Nightsong

The Ending Of The Gauntlet Of Shar

Baldurs-Gate-3-Should-You-Kill-The-Nightsong-04

Out of all the available choices that players can make during the second act of Baldur's Gate 3, by far the most important involves the conclusion of the players exploring the Gauntlet of Shar. Once players have successfully completed each and every trial, they will finally be able to meet the Nightsong. Here, players are given one of three choices, especially if they have chosen to bring Shadowheart along with them.

Players will discover that the Nightsong is in fact an Aasimar that Ketheric is using to become immortal. Players are then forced to make the choice of allowing the Necromancer Balthazar to take the Nightsong back to Ketheric, kill Balthazar, and then let Shadowheart kill the Nightsong, or save the Nightsong. Naturally, saving the celestial being is the right option, but it is up to the player to decide what they want to do.