How to Complete the Gauntlet of Shar Trials - Baldur's Gate III Guide - IGN (2024)

The Gauntlet of Shar is an important location in Baldur’s Gate 3 that is used for several Side Quests and the main story in Act 2. With five complex puzzles to solve, our handy BG3 guide below details a comprehensive walkthrough for finding the Gauntlet of Shar, as well as solutions for completing all trial puzzles.

Need help with a particular step of the Gauntlet of Shar? Click the links below to jump to...

• Where to Find the Gauntlet of Shar
• How to Solve the Mausoleum Puzzle
• How to Solve the Statue Puzzle
• How to Solve the Soft-Step Trial Puzzle
• How to Solve the Self-Same Trial Puzzle
• How to Solve the Faith-Leap Trial Puzzle

Where to Find the Gauntlet of Shar

To find the Gauntlet of Shar in Act 2, you’ll need to enter the Thorm Mausoleum in the Shadow-Cursed Lands. First, travel west of Masons Guild, northwest of the Reithwin Town waypoint.

TIP: It’s useful to have Shadowheart or Astarion in your party for this journey because they will offer dialogue to provide more context to this area you’re exploring. This is not a requirement, though.

You’ll find a gate and Arabella standing outside, yelling for her parents. A cutscene will begin as you approach, and you can choose to take on a quest called Find Arabella’s Parents.

After the dialogue cutscene, enter the archway. Head north until you reach a building and turn left to head northwest.

Along the path, you’ll see stairs going up to follow and continue traveling northwest.

A cutscene will begin where you will speak to Raphael and can choose to take on another quest to kill his old enemy.

Now you’ve reached the Mausoleum Entrance.

How to Solve the Mausoleum Puzzle

Inside the Mausoleum, head straight to the northernmost room. Carefully enter the room and either avoid or disarm the vents and trap plates.

You do not need to disarm all of the circular vents, but if you step on them then a cloud of darkness will blind you and your party. Use a trap disarm kit or throw a large enough object on the vent to remove the darkness.

Find the three murals in this room. Two of them are on either side of the archway where you entered and one of them is in the middle of the northern wall. Press the button and the mural will light up with a glow.

Once you press all three buttons under the murals, two doorways will slide open on the northern wall. Here is the order to press the buttons under the murals: Tap to Reveal.

Enter the secret area and select the Traversal Gem on the platform.

You will be lowered on the platform to access the Gauntlet of Shar.

Walk straight north to the circular door and enter.

How to Solve the Statue Puzzle

The statue puzzle in the middle of this room is standing between you and the Gauntlet of Shar trials. A voice of Shar might give you a hint: “The answer lies in darkness.”

Once again, you’ll want to carefully navigate this room and avoid traps. If you trigger a trap, then a Void Cloud will blind you and your party, which will deal continual Cold damage over time until you disarm the vent.

In front of the statue is an Umbral Gem, but it is guarded with a force field that will knock you back if you run through the seemingly open gap.

To solve this puzzle, you will need to activate each lever in the four branching chamber corners.

Each room has a Marble Plate trap to disarm and a vent to avoid. Again, if you fail or trigger the trap, then you’ll release a Void Cloud that will deal Cold damage to you and your party.

When you activate each lever, a lantern will lower from the ceiling. Once all the lanterns are lowered into the room, turn all of them off.

The room will be noticeably darker. If a second glowing ring does not appear outside of the existing one around the statue, then be sure to unequip any weapons on your characters that produce a light source. For example, unequip the Moonlantern if you have it on one of your characters.

When all the light sources are removed, you will see the full maze. Traverse the path without touching the glowing runes to access the Umbral Gem.

Take the Umbral Gem to remove the magical barrier blocking the door. Enter the corridor and head up the stairs into the next room.

Finally, fight the Umbral Tremors and Dark Justiciars to clear the area and take on the Gauntlet of Shar Trials.

How to Solve the Soft-Step Trial Puzzle

The Soft-Step Trial is the closest to the entrance of the Gauntlet of Shar. Head west down the stairs where you’ll activate the Gauntlet of Shar waypoint. Turn right to go down the stairs into the corridor and head north.

Find the first door on the western side of the corridor. The plaque outside the trial door reads, "Her Most Vaunted Treasure".

Enter the door. You are now in the Soft-Step Trial area.

TIP: Loot the skeleton at the bench on the south wall to find a scroll of Invisibility to use in this trial, if needed.

On the western wall, you’ll find three gates and a Sacrificial Bowl.

Make a blood sacrifice to start the Soft-Step trial. The gates will open.

TIP: We recommend completing this trial with one character instead of using the entire party.

Stealth into the northmost door to the right of the Sacrificial Bowl. Your mini-map will also show where the Shadows are patrolling the maze.

Head west straight ahead down the hallway and push the button on the northern wall to your right.

Continue walking straight down this hallway until you reach an arch. Enter and head up the stairs.

You made it through the maze to the gate! Lockpick the gate to find your prize for completing the trial: an Umbral Gem.

After picking up the Umbral Gem, all the iron torches in the room will turn on and an Umbral Transporter will appear in the location where you grabbed the gem.

Select the Umbral Transporter to teleport back to the sacrificial bowl outside of the maze.

How to Solve the Self-Same Trial Puzzle

The Self-Same Trial is next to the Soft-Step Trial in the Gauntlet of Shar. Head north down the corridor to find the next door. The plaque outside the trial door reads, "Her Most Hallowed Mercy".

Enter the door to approach the Sacrificial Bowl.

Make a blood offering to start the Self-Same trial. The doors will open.

TIP: We recommend completing this trial with your entire party. Not only will you have more options in combat, but you will receive a debuff if your character attacks a mirror reflection that is a different character.

Use crouch to stealth into the door and head up the stairs on the right. Your characters will roll passive Perception checks to identify a trap. There will be red enemy line-of-sight areas visible.

Continue stealthing into the area to get your characters in position for a sneaky attack with advantage.

Fight your mirrored party members to complete the trial. Note that the mirrored targets cannot be restrained or shoved.

Additionally, if your character attacks a mirrored reflection that is not their own, then they will be cursed with the Cheater’s Folly condition, which reduces all Ability Scores by 1. This condition lasts until the next long rest.

When you have defeated the mirrored enemies, you will complete the trial. One of the mirrored enemies was carrying the Umbral Gem, which you can loot after combat ends.

Find the Umbral Transporter near a brazier at the top of the stair tower. Select the transporter to travel back to the sacrificial bowl outside the arena.

How to Solve the Faith-Leap Trial Puzzle

The Faith-Leap Trial is directly below the Self-Same Trial in the Gauntlet of Shar. Head north to the end of the corridor and walk down the stairs to the level below.

The plaque outside the trial door reads, "Her Most Sacred Path".

Enter the door to approach the Sacrificial Bowl.

Make a blood offering to start the Faith-Leap trial. Glowing orbs will appear around the statues.

TIP: We recommend completing this trial with one character instead of using the entire party.

You can complete this trial by using a character with a long jumping distance (or consuming a potion that increases your jump distance or ability to fly). Alternatively, you can tread slowly down the hidden path, which will be revealed if you pull the lever near the door.

This hidden path is also shown on the floor in front of the altar.

Make your way across the darkness to complete the trial and retrieve the Umbral Gem as your prize.

The darkness will disappear, and you’ll be able to use the Umbral Transporter to teleport back to the Sacrificial Bowl where you started.