Baldur's Gate 3: how to lift the Shadow Curse in BG3

How to lift the Shadow Curse in Baldur's Gate 3
Baldur's Gate 3: how to lift the Shadow Curse in BG3
Baldur's Gate 3: how to lift the Shadow Curse in BG3 /

The Shadow-Cursed Lands are about as hostile as environments get in Baldur’s Gates 3. If you and your party walk out in it without a Moon Lantern you’ll quickly find yourselves taking massive damage and knocked flat. While there are ways to traverse the area unscathed, it’d be better if you could remove the problem entirely.

Well, you can’t actually remove the effect from the area entirely, but you can go down a questline that will begin the healing process as well as recruit Druid Halsin as a permanent follower. You can start this quest either by talking with Halsin during Act 2 or by finding Art Cullagh at Last Light Inn.

Either way, we’ll show you how to lift the Shadow Curse in Baldur’s Gate 3.

Wake Up Art Cullagh walkthrough – BG3

BG3 Art Cullagh
Larian Studios

Before you can get underway with lifting the curse, you need to awaken Art Cullagh, who is stuck in some sort of magical coma. Talk to him and the people nearby and you’ll be pointed to a House of Healing in the Ruined Battlefield. You’ll need to defeat Malus Thorme (or convince him to kill himself, as you do) and take his lute back to Art Cullagh, who will then awaken.

It’s worth noting that, if you chose to kill the Nightsong, he will be dead, but you can use a Speak with Dead spell to start the quest anyway.

Lift the Shadow Curse walkthrough – BG3

BG3 Oliver
Larian Studios

After talking to Cullagh, go to your camp and chat with Druid Halsin about the situation, he will now leave your camp and go to the lakeside just north of Last Light Inn.

Follow him there and Halsin will attempt to open a portal to Shadowfell while waves of enemies attack you. You’ll need to defend Halsin until either all the enemies are defeated, or the time limit expires. These enemies will be very weak, but you’ll be faced with a lot of them, so bringing strong AOE spells like Fireball or any “Wall of…” spells will be a big help.

If you succeed Halsin will return to camp and ask you to look for someone named Oliver near the Shadowed Battlefield. You can now add Halsin to your party like any other companion from here on out, you don’t need him with you for the quest though.

After some chatting, you can ask Oliver to return to Thaniel, but he doesn’t like that one bit, escaping you through a portal. Follow him and get ready to fight. Oliver will seal himself in a dome of energy that means you can’t hit him, but you can damage that dome by killing Mommy and Daddy, as well as the shadow clones of himself he infinitely spawns.

Eventually, you’ll destroy the dome and Oliver will finally do as you ask, you can then speak to Oliver to complete the quest.


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Ryan Woodrow
RYAN WOODROW

Ryan Woodrow is Guides Editor for GLHF based in London, England. He has a particular love for JRPGs and the stories they tell. His all-time favorite JRPGs are the Xenoblade Chronicles games because of the highly emotive and philosophy-driven stories that hold great meaning. Other JRPGs he loves in the genre are Persona 5 Royal, Octopath Traveler, Fire Emblem: Three Houses, Nier Automata, and Pokémon. He also regularly dives deep into the indie scene trying to find hidden gems and innovative ideas. Some of his favorite indie games include FTL: Faster Than Light, Thomas Was Alone, Moonlighter, Phantom Abyss, and Towerfall Ascension. More of his favorite games are Minecraft, Super Mario Odyssey, Stardew Valley, Skyrim, and XCOM 2. He has a first-class degree in Games Studies from Staffordshire University and has written for several sites such as USA Today's ForTheWin, Game Rant, The Sun, and KeenGamer. Email: ryan.woodrow@glhf.gg