Only the most loyal followers of the darkness can complete the Gauntlet of Shar, a dungeon of sorts in Baldur's Gate 3 with trials designed to test those attempting to become powerful wielders of shadow. These tests range from magical traps to combat against your party that can be difficult to win. An important place for certain companions and the overall story, the Gauntlet of Shar is a place you'll have to face eventually.

This place of worship for Shar lies past the Last Light Inn, in the lands afflicted with the Shadow Curse in Baldur's Gate 3, which you must have a source of light to get through. Grabbing the Moonlight Lantern helps your party move through the deeper layers of the Curse to reach the Gauntlet. To start this dungeon, travel toward a location called the Mausoleum, which has a puzzle you must solve before you can even enter.

How to Reach the Gauntlet of Shar

When you find the Mausoleum, you have to press three buttons in the area to unlock the way down into the Gauntlet of Shar. Your character has to select these buttons in the right sequence, with each located under a massive painting in the area. Be careful when interacting with these murals, as every piece of art has a trap that could heavily damage you or someone in your Baldur's Gate 3 party.

Having a character with a high Sleight of Hand stat gives you the best chance at disabling the traps in the Mausoleum, so make sure to have someone in your party with a decent Dexterity Ability Score.

The Moonrise Tower painting button should be activated first, followed by the one next to the mural labeled Grief. The last artwork you have to interact with is called General, which opens a secret age behind one of the murals into a new room. This place contains a Traversal Gem, which your party can use to transport everyone into the official Gauntlet of Shar dungeon in Baldur's Gate 3.

How to Unlock the Gauntlet of Shar Trials

Using the Traversal Gem moves your party to a room with a large statue of Shar in the center, which is guarded by an invisible set of walls that push you back on . This is the first major Gauntlet of Shar puzzle in Baldur's Gate 3, where you have to place an item named an Umbral Gem in the arms of the Statue. To first find the Gem, go into the nearby room with skeletons and defeat a few enemies.

An undead priest named Balthazar works inside the Inner Sanctum, and can give you a special bell that commands his powerful golem of a brother, Flesh, if you agree to help him find a relic deeper within the Gauntlet of Shar.

Going down a set of stairs close to the statue area should lead to Orthon's room, a small chamber guarded by a deadly Displacer Beast that your party must take down in combat. This battle can be tough, so make sure to have your party healed up and ready to fight. The Umbral Gem in Baldur's Gate 3 may be found glowing purple just past where the Beast was encountered, which you may easily pick up.

Once you have the Gem, travel back to the statue of Shar, and use the levers in this area to bring down lanterns hanging from the ceiling. Extinguish the light from each lantern to reveal the force walls in Baldur's Gate 3 guarding the statue, which show small gaps your character can navigate through. This allows you to place the Gem onto the statue, giving you another Traversal Gem that leads to the Gauntlet of Shar waypoint.

How to Beat the Gauntlet of Shar Trials

The main obstacles to completing the Gauntlet of Shar are three trials that you can start after sacrificing some of your blood to Shar. An easy way to shed blood is to use the Spear of Night , an artifact tied to Shadowheart's story through this dungeon. This weapon is found in the Library, behind a huge painting of Shar that happens to be an illusion you may simply walk through in Baldur's Gate 3.

Completing each of these trials awards your character with another Umbral Gem, which all must be collected to reach the Inner Sanctum of Shar, the final area where loyal followers of shadow are turned into Dark Justiciar.

Same-Step Trial

The most straightforward of the challenges in the Gauntlet, going through the Same-Step door leads to a battle between your party and shadow versions of themselves. This mirror match has enemies that use all of your gear and equipped spells in Baldur's Gate 3. While you could make this fight easier by removing your equipment before it starts, you could struggle to deal enough damage to take down these impostors.

Soft-Step Trial

The Soft-Step Trial demands you travel through a maze, avoiding traps and dodging a pair of ghosts that try to hunt you down as you move. The best way to overcome this challenge is to have only one member of your party attempt the trial, preferably someone with high Stealth. Characters like Astarion are best suited for this task, or your custom character if your build has a high Dexterity score.

Faith-Leap Trial

This challenge asks you to move across nearly invisible walkways over a large abyss, which can kill you instantly if you fall through one of the tiles. This trial demands a careful approach, encouraging you once again to only take one person across at a time. This way, if you fall, one of your party in Baldur's Gate 3 can pick you back up while you learn which areas are safe to walk over.

The ends of these trials reward your party with objects that you may bring back to the Traversal Gem station, allowing you to travel into the Inner Sanctum. An important area both for the main campaign and the individual story of companion Shadowheart, your choices here could drastically impact your adventure when you complete the The Gauntlet of Shar in Baldur's Gate 3.