Baldur’s Gate 3: How to Beat the Goblin Camp

Image: Larian Studios via HGG / Justin Moniquette

Human Made

Penned by Justin Moniquette

Justin's foray into gaming started with classic Resident Evil 3 and has only expanded since then. He graduated from RIT in 2021 and aspires to have his name in the credits of a video game one day.

Reviewed by Benjamin Barr

When adventuring you’ll be faced with a multitude of obstacles on your path to glory. Gnolls, Drow, and Githyanki are all waiting around the wilderness ready to cut your adventure short. One of the first major obstacles you face in Act 1 of Baldur’s Gate 3 is the organized goblin horde harassing the druids and refugee tieflings.

If you’ve found taking down the goblins and their leaders difficult then have no fear! In this guide, we’ll be going over how to beat the goblin camp and their leaders. Let’s get into it!

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Outside the Shattered Sanctum

The first obstacle before beating the goblin leaders are the goblins partying outside the Shattered Sanctum. With Sazza’s help, you can walk directly into the Sanctum with no issue, but if you didn’t free her from the Druid’s Grove you just need to pass some checks. we’re here to wipe out the goblins so that includes those outside. And the good news is that wiping these goblins out won’t alert the ones inside. That means some easy loot and XP without breaking our cover.

Before we start wiping out the tipsy goblins, however, we want to make sure we talk to everybody worth talking to. The main three are Grat The Trader, Volo, and the Owlbear Cub. Grab whatever items you want from Grat because after we start you won’t be able to buy items from him and they don’t drop when he dies. Speak to Volo for a funny interaction that ends in him being brought inside the Shattered Sanctum. Don’t worry, we’ll be able to save him later. And finally, speak to the Owlbear and the goblins surrounding him to start you on the path of getting an Owlbear pet. It helps if you have someone with Speak With Animals deal with the situation.

Once you’re done speaking with those three, find a ladder near the Chicken Chaser area where there are a bunch of sleeping goblins and bugbears. There should be one goblin still away nearby in a lookout area. Jump into Turn-Based mode and take him out. No one should be any wiser and now you can take out the sleeping enemies as well. Don’t worry if any of them wake up. As long as you can kill them before they alert anyone else the camp won’t go hostile. After that collect any items and potions in the area and head back down to the party.

Next, we’re going to speak to Crusher in the back of the camp. He should be on a stage regaling other goblins with his triumphs at Waukeen’s Rest. Speak to him to start a dialogue that can end in a couple of, albeit hilarious, ways. My recommendation is to antagonize him into a fight. This will turn him and his crew temporarily hostile. Getting any of the goblins to a low enough health will cause them to flee the fight so focus on Crusher’s cronies first than him. This will make it easier to finish them off in the big fight later.

After beating Crusher do not finish him off. This will cause the Goblin Camp to go hostile. Let him leave with his life. Now, in all of my playthroughs after embarrassing Crusher he walks to the bridge leading into the Goblin Camp and isolates himself. This is the perfect time to kill him as there will be no one that notices and you can take him out of the big fight later. The way he’s positioned you can easily stealth and push him into the water, but you then miss out on his unique toe ring that increases your base speed. Whatever you decide to do with him, make sure he doesn’t return to the party.

After that, we’re almost done with the goblins outside the Shattered Sanctum. Our last step before starting the goblin camp fight is to poison their alcohol. The booze bucket can be found in the center of the camp where the food is, tucked in a corner. Go into Turn-Based mode and interact with the alcohol. You should be given the prompt to combine something with it. Drop the Wyvern Poison you probably got from Nettie or some Drow Poison and enjoy the show. Just make sure no one is looking at you when you do it or the camp will go hostile. Activate sight lines before you do it to make sure. It also helps to have a character with Performance play an instrument away from the booze to keep goblin eyes off of you.

Once the alcohol is poisoned a cutscene will play where you are asked to propose a toast. Say whatever you want but make sure you pass whatever check you need to not drink the alcohol. You don’t want to end up poisoning yourself. After that, several goblins will die and those who survive will have significantly less health. At this point, a goblin will approach one of your characters and accuse you of poisoning them. Every Time I’ve poisoned the goblins they’ve approached a different character so I don’t know if you prepare your most charismatic character for the interaction, but it shouldn’t be too much of a problem.

At this point, you can simply admit you poisoned them or pass your checks to keep the camp from going hostile. Both options will end the same way, but passing your checks will allow you to position your characters in optimal locations around the camp. Whatever you decide to do, mop up whatever goblins are left, loot their stuff and head inside. And don’t forget to check behind the nearby waterfall for some extra loot and a peak into goblin poetry. 

Inside the Shattered Sanctum

Once we’re done outside and head into the Shattered Sanctum we’re lucky to find that no one inside is aware of our devious deeds outside. Like before, if you saved Sazza she will get you inside with no problem, but you shouldn’t have any trouble otherwise. Now, inside the sanctum may seem like it’s going to be difficult, but it’s fairly simple to wipe out the goblins inside without being jumped.

This area seems to operate in cells. This means that whenever you fight a group of goblins in one arena the goblins in another area will not notice. The only exceptions are some roving goblins who might see you attacking their friends. As long as no one activates one of the many war drums positioned around you should be fine. There are a couple of key characters you might want to speak to in this area before wiping out the goblins, just like before. The first three are on the right side of the Sanctum. 

In order they are Liam, a captured member of Aradin’s crew being tortured. You can save him or not, but he’ll give you more information regarding the Nightsong and the goblins. Next to him is Abdirak, a follower of Loviatar the goddess of pain. Speak to him and play out his interaction to gain a buff called Loviatars Love which gives you a bonus 2 to attack and saving throws when below 30% health. Abdirak will also not go hostile when you attack the goblins, so you don’t need to worry about him. Next to him is where Volo is caged. You can convince the goblin watching him to release him, but it’s easier just to kill her to get her out of the way early.

After that go to the left side of the sanctum and find the halfling merchant Roah Moonglow. Speak to her and see if she has any items as she will leave once you start killing goblins. After that, it’s finally time to beat the goblin leaders and save the Grove.

Saving Halsin

Up to this point you’ve probably caught wind that Halsin, leader of the Druid’s Grove and potential companion, is trapped somewhere in the Shattered Sanctum. In reality, he’s in the dungeons slightly past where you rescue Volo. Saving him before or after we take out the goblin leaders won’t change anything with his quest, but we can potentially get him as a temporary ally if we save him early. As he’ll explain, however, this will mean you’re forced to go loud as Halsin wants a little payback for his capture. The decision is up to you, but I prefer leaving Halsin behind as it’s easier to take out the goblins while undercover since we can give ourselves better positioning for fights. 

Priestess Gut

The first, and the easiest goblin leader to take out is Priestess Gut. She’s the one who’s been placing the brand on all the goblins around the forest and, what you’ll soon find out, thinks she’s way more clever than she is. Speak to her in the front of the Sanctum to initiate a dialogue. She’ll offer to grant you the brand and you can accept or deny. I would recommend denying it as there’s no reason to brand yourself if you plan on taking all the goblins out anyway. Whatever you decide there’ll be a cutscene where your tadpoles connect. Convince her you want to speak to her in private and follow her to her room. 

Here she’ll want to speak to you alone and tell you to send your companions out of the room. We’re not going to do that. Simply close the door and surround her with your team. Attack her to initiate combat and take her out. With four people surrounding her, she should have no chance and the rest of the sanctum won’t notice she’s gone. Loot her stuff and leave the room. That’s one leader done and the goblins still think you’re all allies.

Release the Spiders

After dealing with Priestess Gut you’ll still have all the goblins in the central area to deal with. While you can start attacking whenever you want, there are some unlikely allies you can get on your side first. Going behind where Gut was branding her followers you’ll see a locked cage door. Jump into Turn-Based Mode, unlock the door without anyone noticing, and walk in. Make sure whoever is in front has Speak With Animals on them and has some decent Charisma. I had Wyll do it, but the check isn’t that difficult. 

Inside the pit, you’ll find two giant spiders who are incredibly hungry. They’ll want to eat you, but you can convince them to snack on the goblins instead. Do that and they’ll immediately rush up the stairs and begin combat with the group of goblins in the central area. At this point, you can let them do their stuff and continue to another goblin boss or help them out. I found that the spiders would take out a couple of goblins, but will ultimately die to the first group they attack. If you help them out, however, they’ll continue deeper into the Sanctum wiping out the smaller goblin groups in their path. They’ll eventually make it to Dror Ragzlin where they will most likely die, but weaken or kill many of the goblins in his mob. Either way, the spiders provide a nice opportunity to make your job a lot easier.

Minthara

The next goblin boss we’re going after is Minthara. She’s found slightly past Dror Ragzlin. She may seem a little undefended compared to the other goblin bosses, but Minthara herself is a very dangerous combatant. You can speak to Minthara, but it will end with her learning the location of the Grove and forcing you to either attack her outright or face her at the Grove. Your best bet, if you want to position your characters first, is to just attack Minthara before speaking to her or unlink them and place them first.

I recommend taking out the scrying eye from stealth before starting the fight. If you don’t take it out before its turn, it will call back up and turn the camp hostile before we’re ready. Attacking it from stealth is best, but if you can’t do that, just start the fight by destroying it.

Like I said before, Minthara doesn’t have too much backup, but she is incredibly deadly. Wipe out the few goblins around her before they can use the war drum and focus all your attention on Minthara. There’s a good chance she’ll down a couple of her characters with her Smites, but you should be able to triumph if you place smart. If you feel like you’re having too much trouble and don’t care about losing some good loot, you can try pushing her into the bottomless pit in the area. Once you’re done we only have one goblin boss left to beat.

Dror Ragzlin

The reason we left Dror Ragzlin for last is because, for whatever reason, when you fight him it turns the entire Shattered Sanctum hostile, regardless if anyone sees you or not. At this point, however, most of the goblins should be wiped out so having them turn hostile won’t be such a slog.

When entering Ragzlin’s area it will start a cutscene of him trying to speak to a dead Mind flayer. You can fish for some extra information, but the main thing is you don’t want Ragzlin to get mad at you or have the Mindflayer reveal you were on the Nautiloid. Once the cutscene is over, position any long-ranged characters in the rafters. Astarion, with his sneak attack, will be an excellent addition to the team at this point, but he’s not necessary. Get your strongest characters around Dror Ragzlin and prepare for the fight. I recommend opening the fight with a Fireball to wipe out as many goblins as possible, or a sneak attack if you have a rogue in the rafters.

Ragzlin’s a barbarian and hits hard so be careful. He also has a special ability called Absolute Power that can push your characters back. He also has an Aura of Leadership that can boost the damage of his allies, but at this point, there shouldn’t be many of them left. 

Burn Ragzlin down, take his loot, and raid his treasure stash in the back of the Sanctum. Don’t forget to check any parts of the Sanctum for any goblins you missed for some extra XP and check the room next to where you killed Priestess Gut to find a path to the Underdark and continue the Find the Nightsong quest. Congratulations, you have beaten the goblin leaders!

Join the High Ground

And that’s our guide on how to beat the goblin camp and their leaders. This task is always a lot of fun because there are several ways to tackle it depending on your play style and team make-up. Have you taken out the goblin camp yet? What was your strategy for taking out the goblin leaders? Tell us in the comments below and don’t forget to subscribe for more content like this in the future.