eXputer
Subscribe

Locationmajor

The Wyrmway

The Wyrmway is a hidden underground location beneath Wyrm’s Rock Fortress in Baldur’s Gate 3.

Importancemajor

Key takeaways

  • The Wyrmway is a hidden area beneath Wyrm’s Rock Fortress, reached through Wyrm’s Rock Prison.
  • Its main body contains four trials Justice, Insight, Strategy and Courage.
  • Completing all four trials opens the route to the Dragon’s Sanctum Failing a trial does not necessarily end the quest, but it causes undead enemies to appear.
  • The Chamber of Justice requires the The Cell judgement, while the Chamber of Insight requires eliminating Cristina Suelto.
  • The Strategy puzzle has several possible board layouts, so its solution is not identical in every playthrough.
  • The major rewards are Balduran’s Giantslayer, Dear Ansur and the Helm of Balduran.

About this guide

Spoiler warning: This guide covers Act Three content, Wyll’s personal quest, the identity of the Emperor, Ansur’s fate, the Helm of Balduran and the rewards for defeating Ansur.

Overview

The Wyrmway is a hidden underground location beneath Wyrm’s Rock Fortress in Baldur’s Gate 3. It is not simply the prison passage where the entrance is found. The location proper includes the concealed antechamber, the central trial hall, four trial chambers and the route onward to the Dragon’s Sanctum, where the party can confront Ansur, the legendary bronze dragon known as the Heart of the Gate.

The Wyrmway is tied primarily to Wyll’s companion quest, The Blade of Frontiers, and is also relevant to Wyll’s Origin quest. The party normally learns of it through the book The Legend of Ansur, but it is possible to reach the entrance independently once Wyrm’s Rock Fortress is accessible.

Location and boundaries

The Wyrmway lies below Wyrm’s Rock Fortress, but it is best understood as a separate hidden dungeon rather than another ordinary floor of the fortress. Its accessible entrance is inside the western part of Wyrm’s Rock Prison, where two dragon-head torches conceal an illusory wall.

The prison itself is not part of the Wyrmway. It is the neighbouring area used to reach it. Likewise, the Dragon’s Sanctum is treated as a child area of the Wyrmway for exploration and quest purposes, but it is distinct from the trial chambers and contains the Ansur encounter.

Neighbouring areas

The Wyrmway has no ordinary shops, taverns, houses, purchasable properties or conventional civilian district. Its functions are ceremonial, exploratory and quest-related.

---

Access and routes

Normal route through Wyrm’s Rock Prison

Casting a spell or firing an arrow may count as an attack and can attract the attention of prison guards, including Fist Ivarus. If avoiding a prison confrontation matters to your run, use a quiet approach, isolate the party member making the attack, or reach the alternative entrance described below.

Alternative route through the western cliffside

A second approach begins outside Wyrm’s Rock Fortress, on the western shore. A small mousehole leads towards Wyrm Rock’s cells. A sufficiently small creature or magical entity can use it to reach the other side of the concealed wall.

The passage behaves as though the creature is acting as a temporary key. Moving the creature away from the wall closes the opening again. The mousehole is listed at approximately X: -70, Y: 205.

Quest-led discovery

The intended route is connected to The Legend of Ansur. The book may be obtained in several progression states:

Reading The Legend of Ansur adds the Wyrmway objective to the journal, but the physical entrance can be reached before the quest formally directs the party there.

---

Normal route through Wyrm’s Rock Prison

  1. 01
    Enter Wyrm’s Rock Prison.
  2. 02
    Travel towards the western passage.
  3. 03
    Find the two dragon-head torches beside the concealed wall.
  4. 04
    Deal lightning damage to both torches.
  5. 05
    Once both flames turn blue, the wall between them becomes an illusion and can be passed through.
  6. 06
    Continue through the short cave passage and iron gate to reach the Wyrmway antechamber.

The antechamber

The antechamber is the first proper area inside the Wyrmway. Its murals present the traditional version of Ansur’s history:

A successful passive DC 15 History check can identify the elf as Balduran, the legendary founder of Baldur’s Gate. Githyanki characters have disadvantage on this check. The History check at the murals and the one at the entrance statue are linked, so success at one does not normally cause the same check to be rolled again.

At the far end stands a statue of Balduran beside a locked door. The statue speaks in elaborate verse and asks whether the party considers itself worthy. Answering in the affirmative opens the way to the trial hall. A DC 15 Arcana check can reveal that the statue has been enchanted with Magic Mouth. If Wyll is present, party dialogue can provide approval bonuses depending on how the challenge is answered.

Named antechamber directory

The first journal entry is on a granite bench. It forms part of a diary written by previous adventurers who attempted the Wyrmway. Further entries appear in the trial chambers, with a later entry obtainable only through the failure route.

---

The central hall contains four Balduran statues, each holding an emblem associated with one trial:

A statue glows when its corresponding trial has been completed. All four trials are intended to prove that the party is worthy of reaching Ansur.

---

Named antechamber directory

TrialSymbolMain challenge
JusticeScalesChoose a proportionate sentence
InsightBookIdentify the dangerous adviser
StrategyKnight chess pieceSolve a two-move lanceboard puzzle
CourageSwordProtect a torch carrier for four turns

Chamber of Justice

The Chamber of Justice lies on the far-left side of the central hall and has no conventional door. Its wall paintings tell the story of a man who:

The trial is not asking whether the accused committed a crime. It asks for a punishment proportionate to the complete story.

A shadow-covered Judge stands in the middle of a binding circle. The Judge is effectively invulnerable to ordinary damage and must be removed or displaced by magical means. Possible approaches include:

Using Remove Curse directly on the paintings requires a separate casting for each one. Other methods can make the Judge leave the binding circle, allowing the judgement paintings to be examined.

Place The Cell on the empty stand labelled The Waiting Judgement. Freedom is too lenient, while The Hanging is too severe. Either incorrect choice fails the trial and summons hostile undead.

Named directory: Chamber of Justice

---

Chamber of Justice: steps

  1. 01
    Steals apples to feed orphaned children.
  2. 02
    Is recruited to steal a powerful artefact.
  3. 03
    Is chased and captured.
  4. 04
    Is brought before a judge.

Chamber of Insight

The route to the Chamber of Insight begins on a nearly invisible path between two statues on the left side of the central hall. The chamber itself resembles a cavernous library, with bookcases lining a winding route.

At the end are three blood-red ghostly advisers:

Several books fly around the chamber. Each is associated with one adviser:

The books can be caught with a DC 15 Sleight of Hand check, although each party member can make only one catching attempt during the trial. Turn-based mode makes the moving books easier to target. Alternatively, spells such as Command: Halt, Command: Grovel, Fear or Hold Monster can stop them. Attacking a book risks destroying it.

Read all three books. Cristina Suelto is the adviser whose philosophy is harmful. She advocates destroying defeated enemies’ lands even after they surrender, supposedly to prevent future wars. Attack Suelto’s ghost to complete the trial. The other ghosts have only 1 hit point, but selecting the wrong adviser causes the trial to fail and summons undead.

Suelto’s Ethics of War can also be found earlier in the game in Ketheric Thorm’s private chambers at Moonrise Towers. Finding it earlier is not required, but it can provide context for the trial.

Named directory: Chamber of Insight

---

Chamber of Strategy

The Chamber of Strategy is in the lower-right section of the trial hall. Attuned Crystals obstruct the approach to the board. They can be:

The trial uses a lanceboard, a Forgotten Realms form of chess. The aim is to checkmate Black in two moves. The game presents one of several possible board layouts, so the exact solution varies between playthroughs. There are three attempts, represented by the red heart-shaped crystals above the board.

If Gale is present, he can offer advice. Accepting his help grants a small amount of wizard approval and may highlight a correct move. The board also indicates legal movement when a piece is selected.

There is an alternative brute-force solution: the Black King piece can be destroyed with lightning damage. The piece is vulnerable to lightning, and destroying it counts as passing the trial. This is useful if the board layout or chess rules are proving inconvenient.

Named directory: Chamber of Strategy

---

Chamber of Courage

The Chamber of Courage is the rightmost trial room. It is a rounded cavern crossed by a stream, with a Balduran statue in the centre and four stone orbs around the edges.

At the statue’s feet is the cyan-flamed Cemetery-Blue Torch. The party member who activates the statue becomes the torch carrier. The torch is equipped as a weapon and is bound to that character, so it cannot be freely passed to another party member.

The trial lasts four turns. The torch carrier must remain alive and not become Downed until the trial ends. The other party members should focus on protecting that character, controlling enemies and reducing incoming damage.

Attuned Crystals grow around the arena. Breaking one grants nearby characters Crystal Skin, providing resistance to elemental damage for two turns. Use the crystals strategically rather than destroying every one immediately. A useful approach is to break a crystal near the torch carrier at the beginning of a dangerous round, then move the carrier into its protective area.

Named directory: Chamber of Courage

---

Failing a trial does not necessarily prevent access to the Dragon’s Sanctum. The failure state instead triggers hostile undead in the relevant unfinished trial areas and in the central area. Once the undead have been defeated, the party can continue towards Ansur without completing every remaining puzzle.

This makes failure a progression route rather than a conventional game over, but it has several disadvantages:

Failure-route enemies

The location directory also records elemental and myrmidon enemies associated with the trial encounters:

The exact encounter state depends on which challenges were failed and how the area is approached. The undead should not be treated as ordinary permanent residents of the Wyrmway. They are progression-state enemies connected to trial failure.

---

The Dragon’s Sanctum is the deepest included subarea of the Wyrmway. The door from the central hall opens after either:

Inside, the party finds the remains of Ansur. Although the dragon was expected to be a living protector of Baldur’s Gate, the remains are a rotten carcass. Interacting with the body awakens Ansur’s spirit and begins the major confrontation.

The encounter reveals that Ansur was once a bronze dragon known as:

Ansur recognises the Emperor as Balduran. The ensuing dialogue exposes the Emperor’s connection to the founder of Baldur’s Gate and leads directly into the boss battle. Ansur’s history is bound up with Balduran’s transformation into an illithid and the two figures’ sharply different interpretations of what happened afterwards.

Ansur encounter

Ansur is an undead dragon and the main boss of the Wyrmway. The fight occurs in the Dragon’s Sanctum and includes powerful lightning-based attacks and a dramatic midair phase. The achievement Crash Landing is associated with knocking Ansur out of the sky while the dragon is airborne.

The party can take the Helm of Balduran from its altar without immediately waking Ansur under the current game behaviour. Interacting with the remains is what initiates the conversation and battle.

Named directory: Dragon’s Sanctum

---

The Wyrmway has very few conventional NPCs. Most named figures are encountered through dialogue, memories, quest progression or trial apparitions rather than as ordinary residents.

Ansur encounter: Practical preparation

  1. 01
    Take a full rest before entering the Sanctum.
  2. 02
    Bring lightning resistance or protection if available.
  3. 03
    Keep ranged damage available for airborne phases.
  4. 04
    Spread the party so one area attack cannot disable everyone.
  5. 05
    Save defensive reactions and powerful control effects for the dragon’s major attacks.
  6. 06
    Do not interact with the corpse until the party is ready to begin the fight.

Story-associated characters

Wyll, Ravengard, Florrick and Eltan are connected to the quest’s discovery and progression, but they are not residents of the Wyrmway itself. Gale’s involvement is limited to optional advice in the Strategy trial.

Story-associated characters

Trial figures

These figures are trial constructs, ghosts or magical entities rather than ordinary citizens. The Judge in particular is a magical obstacle rather than a normal combat opponent.

Ordinary NPCs and security

There are no shops, traders, service providers or civilian settlements inside the Wyrmway. The only conventional security presence is outside, in Wyrm’s Rock Prison. Fist Ivarus may react if the party uses an attack to activate the entrance torches.

---

Major rewards

The Helm can be collected before the boss conversation, while Balduran’s Giantslayer and Dear Ansur are obtained through the Ansur encounter.

Major rewards

ItemAcquisition
Balduran’s GiantslayerLooted from Ansur
Dear AnsurDropped by Ansur
Helm of BalduranTaken from the altar behind Ansur

Journals of past adventurers

The journals form a scattered record of earlier attempts to conquer the Wyrmway.

The fifth journal is therefore missable if the party completes every trial successfully and never triggers the undead fallback.

Complete verified item and literature directory

---

For a clean run with minimal combat

  1. 01
    Enter the Wyrmway through the prison’s western passage or the cliffside mousehole.
  2. 02
    Search the antechamber and read Journal of Past Adventurers Nº1.
  3. 03
    Examine the murals before opening the Balduran statue’s door.
  4. 04
    Complete Justice first, using a controlled method to dismiss the Judge and placing The Cell.
  5. 05
    Complete Insight next. Use turn-based mode to catch or stop the moving books, then attack Cristina Suelto.
  6. 06
    Solve Strategy. Ask Gale for help if present, or use the board’s legal-move indicators.
  7. 07
    Complete Courage last, with the toughest defensive character carrying the torch.
  8. 08
    Check that all four central statues are glowing.
  9. 09
    Enter the Dragon’s Sanctum.
  10. 10
    Take the Helm if desired, then prepare for the Ansur fight.
  11. 11
    Interact with Ansur’s remains only when ready to commit to the battle.
  12. 12
    Loot Ansur after victory and inspect the aftermath for the Emperor’s revelations.

Pre-entry checklist

---

The Wyrmway’s state changes according to the party’s actions elsewhere in Act Three.

If Ravengard survives

Ulder Ravengard can provide The Legend of Ansur after the relevant rescue events, provided Wyll is available as a party member or camp follower.

If Ravengard dies or Wyll breaks his pact

Florrick may confront the party in the Lower City. If Florrick is dead or still imprisoned, Cordula Eltan may fulfil the same narrative role. The book can be obtained through dialogue or looted if the encounter turns violent.

If a trial is failed

The party can still reach the Dragon’s Sanctum after defeating the spawned undead. However, the clean trial route is lost for that attempt, and the party may need to fight several groups of undead.

If all trials are completed

The central hall opens without the large undead fallback battles. This is the most efficient route for preserving resources for Ansur.

If the Wyrmway quest is completed

The journal can record that the party has forsaken its tasks in the Wyrmway and cannot return. The Wyrmway should therefore be explored thoroughly before completing the wider sequence that closes or resolves the quest.

---

The Wyrmway presents the heroic legend of Balduran and Ansur, but the Dragon’s Sanctum reveals that the legend is incomplete. Ansur was not merely an old guardian waiting to answer Baldur’s Gate’s call. He was a former companion of Balduran who opposed the transformation of his friend into an illithid and attempted to find a cure.

The location’s design reflects this tension. Its public-facing symbolism celebrates Balduran, its four trials judge the party according to civic virtues, and its hidden end reveals that the founder’s legacy is bound to betrayal, grief and conflicting memories. The Wyrmway is therefore both a ceremonial test dungeon and a concealed memorial to a broken friendship.

Sources