If you want to progress Gale’s personal quest in Baldur’s Gate 3, you have to reach the magic cellar under Ramazith’s tower in Baldur’s Gate and crack a small puzzle with doors.
In this guide to Larian Studio’s role-playing game, we’ll tell you how to reach the Spell Vault and how to proceed down there in order to reach the Vaults of Karsus and Elminster.
Baldurs Gate 3: So erreicht ihr den Zauberkeller unter Ramaziths Turm
Before you even think about how to enter the Magic Vault, you must first reach the town of Baldur’s Gate in Act 3. Once there, visit the Wizard’s Supplies store.
The direct route: Four portals await you on the upper floor, but only one leads to the wizard Ramazith: the blue one on the far left. You can recognize it by the corresponding sign, which reveals that the Nightsong is a person.
Afterwards, of course, you first have to take care of Ramazith yourself. Do this either together with Nightsong or on your own. Together with the lady Aylin, the fight is of course much easier.
Once you have killed the arrogant wizard, go down one floor. Use either the flying pieces of furniture to jump down or spells such as fog step, fly and so on.
On the lower floor, loot everything that is not nailed down and then look for the pedestal with the corresponding sign indicating treasure chamber. Interact with the pedestal and you will be teleported.
An alternative route: There is an alternative route to the Magic Cellar that does not lead past the Wizard of the Tower and therefore involves less bloodshed. Follow the directions below:
- Tolna: Talk to the librarian Tolna on the first floor about the Vault of Karsus.
- Tolna’s office: Go to the second floor and either make yourself invisible or persuade the guards to let you pass.
- Pick the lock: Enter the office to the left of the portals.
- The right book: In the bookshelf on the right-hand side you will find the Clutched Book. Interact with it to open a portal to the Magic Vault.
How the magic cellar under Ramazith’s tower works
Once at the bottom, all you have to do is follow the corridor. You will pass several treasure chests and have to pass through two doors before you finally reach the treasure chamber.
There are a few traps waiting for you here, so you should have a character in your party with a high level of dexterity to disarm the traps. This makes exploring much easier.
You will now see three doors. One of them leads to Karsus’ Vault, where you will find, among other things, the Annals of Karsus, which Gale needs for his personal quest. The other leads to Elminster’s Vault.
However, you will only be interested in the third door, the one labeled Silver Hand. As soon as you pass this door, you will reach rooms with a varying number of doors.
- The right way: Only one door leads to the destination, the others teleport you back to the beginning or to an earlier room.
- Pressure plates: There are traps in each door room that are triggered when no one is standing on the button in the center.
- Be clever: Always leave a hero standing there so that the traps are not triggered.
- Disarm the traps: There are also pressure plates in front of the doors that you should disarm.
In the following list, we will tell you the order in which you have to pass through the doors to reach both the Vault of Elminster and the Vault of Karsus.
Reach Elminster’s Vault and the Tharchian Codex
As you will no doubt notice, only one of the three doors can be passed through at the beginning. The doors to Elminster’s and Karsus’ vault are locked and no rogue with a thief’s tool can change that.
Instead, slip through the door labeled Silver Hand and then follow our list to reach a lever that unlocks Elminster’s vault:
- Silver Hand
- Summoning
- Wish
Once you have kept this order, you will reach the lever mentioned above. Avoid the trap in front of it or disarm it so as not to risk any unnecessary damage. Then flip the lever and return to the exit room.
The door to Elminster’s Vault is now open and you can loot the treasure chamber, which will also give you possession of the Tharchian Codex. This book is very important for necromancers.
Give it to the character who has already tried his hand at Thay’s necromancy. With the codex, this book can finally be completely unraveled. That is, if you want to.
Reaching Karsus’ vault and the annals of Karsus
For the second vault, which is not yet accessible to you, the same procedure applies as for Elminster, but now you have to look for other doors to get to another lever.
This means that you return to the exit room and slip through the door labeled Silver Hand again. Behind it, follow the list below to reach the second lever:
- Silver Hand
- Abjuration
- Silver
- Demon
At the end you will reach another lever, which is protected by a simple trap. Bypass or disarm it, flip the lever and return to the exit room to enter Karsus’ vault.
In the vault, you will finally find the powerful book The Annals of Karsus, which Gale can read to better understand the Crown of Karsus. If he reads it, you will give him a new objective.
This will also advance Gale’s personal quest. Elminster will show up at your camp and, once Gale has spoken to the old wizard, will grant you an audience with Mystra.
