Baldur’s Gate 3 – Sorcerous Sundries Vault Guide

Uncover legendary magical artifacts concealed within Sorcerous Sundries, a crucial location during Baldur’s Gate 3’s third act that holds significant story implications.

Baldur’s Gate 3 presents countless hidden discoveries, with Sorcerous Sundries serving as a specialized emporium for arcane practitioners. This comprehensive guide details vault access methods, valuable rewards acquisition, and Tharchiate Withering curse removal procedures. Note: This content reveals significant plot developments.

Strategic party composition proves vital for vault exploration success. Since this location advances Gale’s Wizard of Waterdeep companion quest, his presence becomes mandatory for narrative continuity and dialogue options. Additionally, include Astarion or any character possessing exceptional Sleight of Hand proficiency to handle the numerous traps and secured containers throughout the complex. Additionally, this area enables final activation of the Necromancy of Thay grimoire acquired earlier in your journey.

Pro Tip: Consider preparing spells like Knock and Find Traps before entering, as they significantly streamline the exploration process.

Accessing the Baldur’s Gate 3 Sorcerous Sundries Vault requires conversing with librarian Tolna Tome-Monger. Inquire about restricted texts while maintaining whispered conversation tones. Choose dialogue options exploring Crown of Karsus lore, persuading her to disclose additional intelligence. She will indicate a key location within her private quarters.

Tolna’s chamber occupies the second level, adjacent to Lorroakan’s magical projection and guardian constructs. Detection remains possible here, making Greater Invisibility application on Astarion or high-Stealth characters highly advisable.

Utilize lockpicking to open the door, swiftly acquiring the Sorcerous Sundries Basement Chest Key from the desk. Immediately interact with an unusual-looking volume on the corner bookshelf, activating a magical portal. Note that an additional key resides within the shelf interior. Your party must traverse the portal, though sentries will likely detect your presence, necessitating DC22 Charisma-based skill checks.

Gallery

Left: Tolna Tome-Monger; Right: Portal entrance.

Successful portal traversal grants access to the vault interior. The complex features multiple chests along perimeter walls. Approach them confidently as the flooring possesses magical properties. If visual identification proves challenging, employ spells revealing invisible objects. Some players benefit from permanent Detect Invisibility capability resulting from Volo’s surgical mishap.

Exercise extreme caution as the area contains numerous magical traps. We recommend party separation, allowing Astarion to disable traps without accidental activation by other members.

The rear chamber contains The Red Knight’s Final Strategem, providing a Scroll of Artistry of War: Conjures six spectral entities targeting your selected opponent, inflicting 18-78 force damage.

You can grab the Scroll of Artistry of War.

Proceeding to the opposite sector reveals a room featuring three wizard-named portals: Silverhand, Elminster, and Karsus.

Only the Silverhand entrance remains accessible initially, with the other two secured. Entering it transports you to a compact chamber saturated with traps. These can be neutralized manually or via wall-mounted lever interaction. Furthermore, specific doorway transitions lead to alternate zones, creating a straightforward labyrinth structure.

The Elminster and Karsus doors are locked, but you can still pass through the Silverhand door. Just watch out for traps.

This segment focuses on obtaining the Annals of Karsus, essential for advancing Gale’s Wizard of Waterdeep narrative arc. To acquire this volume, access the Silverhand chamber and navigate these specific portals:

• Abjuration – Transports to subsequent chamber
• Silver – Contains corridor leading to lever mechanism unlocking Karsus portal
• Wild – Exit through this gateway returning to primary area

Enter Karsus’ sanctum to discover multiple valuable items:

• Foebreaker – Inflicts 3-13 damage; bypasses bludgeoning resistance; +2 weapon enhancement; missed attacks still deal 1 bludgeoning damage
• Scroll of Dethrone – Manipulates Weave threads causing 30-80 damage

The Annals of Karsus contains secrets about his magical artifacts.

Our primary objective remains the Annals of Karsus. This manuscript reveals three artifacts granting immense power to their possessor: the Crown of Karsus, the Scepter of Karsus, and the Orb of Karsus.

You receive three decision options regarding artifact acquisition. We recommend selecting the third alternative–“Better not get ahead of yourself, the crown is still out of reach”–since obtaining that crucial item requires additional progression.

Don’t commit to a decision just yet.

Common Mistake: Many players prematurely commit to artifact decisions, potentially locking them out of optimal narrative paths.

Additional exploration remains as another chamber awaits discovery. Return to the main sector, traverse the Silverhand portal, then follow this sequence:

• Evocation – Advances to next chamber
• Wish – Features corridor containing lever mechanism unlocking Elminster portal
• Foresight – Returns to primary chamber

With the Elminster portal activated, acquire the Pyroquickness Hat, causing self-immolation when dealing fire damage with leveled spells. However, it provides bonus action during that combat round. The room additionally contains multiple scrolls and the Tharchiate Codex within a protective case.

The Tharchiate Codex causes a debilitating debuff, but it can be cleansed soon enough.

Upon studying the codex, you learn unparalleled necromantic techniques for commanding undead forces. Regrettably, your selected character contracts the Tharchiate Withering affliction, reducing Constitution by 5 points. Fortunately, applying Remove Curse to this character eliminates the effect, granting Tharchiate Vigor passive ability, providing +20 temporary hit points until subsequent long rest.

As additional context, if you transported the Necromancy of Thay from Act 1, you can finally decipher its contents. This bestows the Danse Macabre incantation, enabling summoning of six ghouls as battle companions.

Advanced Strategy: Consider having multiple characters learn Remove Curse or keep scrolls handy, as the curse can significantly impact combat effectiveness.

Following Baldur’s Gate 3 Sorcerous Sundries Vault egress, Elminster greets you, delivering subsequent Gale quest progression instructions. Simply visit Mystra within a Lower City structure to receive her strategic directives.

Baldur’s Gate 3 overflows with engagements and mysteries. You’ll undoubtedly experience an epic requiring hundreds of hours to fully complete. For additional guidance, explore our Complete Guide for comprehensive assistance.

Time Estimate: Allocate approximately 30-45 minutes for comprehensive vault exploration, including trap disarming and puzzle solving.

No reproduction without permission：SeeYouSoon Game Club » Baldur’s Gate 3 – Sorcerous Sundries Vault Guide Master the magical vault puzzle to unlock powerful spells and complete Gale's quest in Baldur's Gate 3