When you finally complete Act One of Baldur’s Gate 3, you are granted a choice between two paths to head into Act Two. Either you take the overhead Mountain Pass or you go through the underground lands of the Underdark to get to the Shadow-Cursed Lands. While both paths have their own challenges, the Underdark takes you through an optional area, the Grymforge.
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But before you get too far into the Grymforge, you have to complete the Abandoned Refuge event. If you don’t do so, certain questlines will not progress. So how do you begin this event?
How to start the Abandoned Refuge event in Baldur’s Gate 3
Beginning this quest requires you to complete Act One or get to the point where you will be given the choice of the Mountain Pass or the Underdark. Since the area we need to get to lies in the Underdark, we need to find a way to get there first.
Getting to the Underdark
The first order of business is gaining access to the Underdark. There are multiple paths you can take to get here, but the quickest way would be from the Goblin Camp. If you have sided with the Goblins, it will be much easier to traverse through the camp. If not, clear out all the remaining hostile Goblins and head deeper inside into the Shattered Sanctum.
Clear the puzzle in the Shattered Sanctum to gain access to a ladder that will take you to the Underdark. Once here, we head to the Grymforge.
Finding the Grymforge
Make your way to the southwestern portion of the Underdark till you get to the beach area. Once you arrive, you will be stopped by the Duergar. Either deceive them or battle them to gain access to their boat. Take the boat and watch the cutscene till you are stopped by some Corsairs. Once again, either convince them to let you go or fight them to proceed ahead.
After the boat successfully makes landfall, you will be at the Grymforge.
Heading through the Grymforge
Once here, you will be stopped by more Duergar. Convince them you are with the Absolute and none of them will bother you during your time here. Head off the boat and make your way south from your starting point. Keep traversing through the ruins of the forge till you get to a roadblock in your way, which involves a group of Duergar and a rockslide.
The rockslide has trapped True Soul Nere, a servant of the Absolute who needs to be saved (or dealt with) to complete this event.
How to finish the Abandoned Refuge event in Baldur’s Gate 3
The next portion of this quest focuses on how to save True Soul Nere before he perishes to the poisonous fumes in the room he is trapped in. Talk to Sergeant Thrinn to eventually come up with a plan to blow away the rubble blocking the room so that you can get to True Soul Nere.
Getting to True Soul Nere
The straightforward option to do this involves finding Philomeen. The catch here is that you have to explore through the upper portions of the Grymforge to find her. After doing a fair bit of platforming, you will find Philomeen in a room full of Runepowder explosives. Convince her that you did not come to capture her and she will give you a Runepowder vial.
You can use this Runepowder vial to blow up the rocks blocking your way (make sure to not hit any Duergar). Alternatively, if you already have explosives on hand, you can toss them atop the wall to achieve the same results. Regardless of how you do this, True Soul Nere will be freed.
From this point on, you have two choices. Either side with Nere or turn against him to progress ahead.
Siding with True Soul Nere
This option is definitely the easiest choice of the two, although most of your companions will frown upon it. You will then have to fight all the Duergar in the vicinity but having True Soul Nere on your side will make this battle a lot easier. Prove your loyalty to the Absolute by clearing up all the Duergar and True Soul Nere will tell you how to safely head through the Underdark.
On the flip side, if you’re playing a good character and find Nere reprehensible, you can choose to fight him instead.
Siding against True Soul Nere
This choice is undoubtedly the more difficult option because, not only will you have to fight Nere anyway, but you will also have to fight the Duergar who take his side. This means you have to go through the same fight while holding off Nere, which can be difficult for the unprepared. However, if you’re looking for a challenge, and Nere’s head for the Myconids, this is the option to take.
Regardless of your decision, the Abandoned Refuge event will end here, allowing you access to the remainder of the Grymforge with nothing else in the way.
Aftermath and access to the Adamantine Forge
The rest of this section can be saved for later because of the difficulty of the upcoming boss fight. But if you want your Adamantine weapon, you have to head to the Adamantine Forge portion of this area, with a mould of your choosing. You can find these moulds scattered around the Grymforge as you explore the region, with several more near the Adamantine Forge itself.
Once you acquire the mould and the requirements to craft the Adamantine weapon, put them in the Adamantine Forge and activate it. This will trigger the master of the Grymforge, the massive golem construct Grym, to battle you. Defeating him will take some time since you can only damage him when he’s in the lava, but you can use the Forge Hammer to make this battle easier.
Defeating Grym and creating your Adamantine weapon marks the end of the major content in the Grymforge, so make sure you’ve thoroughly explored the place before moving on to Act Two.
