The “Find the Nightsong” quest in Baldur’s Gate 3 is among the first side quests you can get at the beginning of the game and spans from Act One to Act Two. The ending of the quest varies depending on your choices, and they can have significant story implications.
To make it easier, we’ll walk you through this quest and the choices you face at the end, along with their consequences. The journey to reach the end of this quest takes a good amount of time, and there needs to be a way to rush it properly. You’re better off slowly picking away these quests while working on the main story. Here’s everything you need to know about how to find the Nightsong in BG3.
How to find the Nightsong in BG3
The quest can be obtained in the first act of BG3. You have a chance to obtain it when you arrive at Druid’s Grove, but you won’t be able to complete it until you reach the end of Act Two, which means it’s a long, nuanced questline that takes you through different areas and characters. Take your time with this, though. There are plenty of hints, discoveries, and characters connected to the quest you can encounter along the way.
How to start the Find the Nightsong quest
The Find the Nightsong quest begins in Act One after you talk to either Liam in the Shattered Sanctum or Aradin in the Druid’s Grove after the first goblin raid attempt. You can find Aradin the quickest with yourparty, as he’s arguing with Zevlor at the entrance of the Druid Grove. After the argument, you can follow him in to back of the Druid’s Grove or outside it on the way to the Blighted Village, and he’ll share it with you there. Aradin tells you about Liam, who the Goblins captured.
After talking to Aradin (or Liam), he tells you a wizard in Baldur’s Gate, Lorroakan, will pay a heavy sum to anyone who brings him the Nightsong. From this point on, the quest progresses slowly throughout your Baldur’s Gate 3 playthrough, interjecting itself within parts of the main storyline, which means you don’t need to go out of your way to continue with this quest.
All Act One Nightsong quest locations
The quest continues when you head to the Goblin Camp. Along the way, you learn that the Nightsong is being held in the Defiled Ruins, the lowest section of the Goblin Camp. Once you defeat Priestess Gut, you can travel deeper into the ruins, where you will run into her bodyguard. Either pacify, persuade, or avoid the ogre to gain access to the deepest levels of the area. There’s a chance for someone in your party to pickpocket the ogre, and sneak into the lower area.
If you keep going, you run into a dead end and a mysterious symbol on the ground, known as the moon disc or stone disc puzzle. To solve the stone disc puzzle, you must rotate the pieces to form the correct pattern, thus solving the puzzle. There are clues in Priestess Gut’s room, but to make it easier, follow the pattern below to complete it.
Here’s a full breakdown of the steps you need to follow to complete the stone disc puzzle in Baldur’s Gate 3.
- Spin the Top circle once
- Spin the Left circle three times
- Spin the Bottom circle once
- Spin the Left circle once
- Spin the Right circle twice
- Spin the Bottom circle once
- Spin the Right circle twice
- Spin the Bottom circle three times
- Spin the Left circle once
After solving the puzzle, the door above (shown by the white path) opens, allowing you to access the Underdark. In the Underdark, you must navigate through a massive underground section until you get to the Grymforge via a boat at the Underdark Beach, roughly at the coordinates X:-9 and Y:-213.
Talking to the people here indicates the trail of the Nightsong has gone cold, and you would actually need to enter the Shadow-Cursed Lands to continue this quest. This is the end of the Act One portion of this quest, but it continues into Act Two. We recommend completing all the major and side quests you’ve discovered throughout Act One before advancing to the Shadow-Cursed Lands, as you won’t be able to return here with your party.
All Act Two Nightsong quest locations in Baldur’s Gate 3
Finding the Nightsong continues through the main story after you cross the Shadow-Cursed Lands to safety in BG3. Most of Act Two passes without a sign of the Nightsong, but you eventually pick up essential items needed to get to the Nightsong. Once you get to the Last Light Inn, travel southwards to find Thorm Mausoleum, and the entrance is roughly at the coordinates X:-187 and Y:111.
Travel deeper into the crypt to reach the Gauntlet of Shar, where you finally encounter the Nightsong. Getting to the end is quite daunting since you must go through several puzzles to get there. After solving a series of puzzles and one major boss battle, you get the four Umbral Gems necessary to open the area where the Nightsong awaits, but we recommend you clean up any of the other major side quests and stories you can do in BG3. Encountering the Nightsong is a critical moment, and you want to make sure you’re ready before you proceed to this area.
Before getting here, ensure you take a Long Rest and have Shadowheart and Astarion in your active party. The former is necessary because her quest ends here, and the latter will be very helpful when disarming traps in this location. After you finally defeat the boss of this gauntlet, Balthazar, you will encounter the Nightsong and be forced to make a decision.
Find the Nightsong: Making the final decision
The Find the Nightsong quest ends after one final decision: Do you kill the Nightsong? The game gives you the following dialog choices:
- “Kill her. Let’s finish this ritual.”
- “[Persuasion] Don’t do it, Shadowheart. Don’t kill her—you’ll regret it.
Should you save or kill the Nightsong in Baldur’s Gate 3?
Save the Nightsong
Choosing to save the Nightsong requires you to pass a Persuasion check. If you pass, you are presented with another option that states, “Trust Shadowheart—Do not interfere.” Picking this option leaves Shadowheart to her own devices, although you can nudge her in a specific direction if you choose.
The outcome drastically changes if you convince Shadowheart not to kill the Nightsong. The Nightsong reveals herself to be a daughter of Selune named Dame Aylin and, as such, is a deva. Shadowheart also gains the Moonlight Glaive as a reward, and more romance options open up if you choose to go down that path with your Baldur’s Gate 3 character. Saving the Nightsong is the preferred option, even if you have supported Shadowheart until now.
Kill the Nightsong
Choosing to kill the Nightsong leads to two more choices: Kill the Nightsong yourself or let Shadowheart do it.
If you choose to kill her yourself, Shadowheart eventually leaves your party permanently (this is irreversible), and her questline abruptly ends. You, of course, won’t be able to romance Shadowheart after she leaves your party, either.
If you let Shadowheart give in to her emotions and kill the Nightsong, Shadowheart becomes possessed by Shar because killing the Nightsong fulfills her duty to the goddess. As a reward, Shadowheart is granted a set of Dark Justiciar Armor and Shar’s Spear of Evening that she use for the remainder of your Baldur’s Gate 3 game./
Shadowheart’s personality also changes drastically as she becomes more self-absorbed and focused on the principles of Shar. She states that she has no room for love, and this decision might lock you out of further romance options with her. So, if Shadowheart is your companion of choice, don’t let Nightsong die—at all. The death of the Nightsong also means the death of Isobel, Art Cullagh, and Dammon, all residing in the Last Light Inn. These characters are crucial for other members of your Baldur’s Gate 3 party.
Regardless of your choice, Shadowheart’s Daughter of Darkness quest concludes, and you learn everything you need to know about this complex character. Further romance options give you more insight into her past and make her a loyal party member until the end of the storyline if you save the Nightsong. This is the preferred path for many Baldur’s Gate 3 players.
