Baldur's Gate 3: Mountain Pass vs. Underdark – Which Path Should You Choose?
Navigating Act 1's Epic Crossroads: Mountain Pass or Underdark?
Baldur's Gate 3's Act 1 throws tons of choices your way! One major decision impacts everything: choosing between the Mountain Pass or Underdark! After you're done with the Emerald Grove and that nasty Goblin Camp, there's this big decision. Two paths completely diverge the narrative; and going one way over the other adds very different kinds of challenges and various benefits to the game. One of them is easy to ignore completely, but taking either creates totally unique situations!
The Mountain Pass is a scenic overland route, leading east from the Goblin Camp. The Underdark? It's a creepy subterranean journey – you can enter this route through that nasty Defiled Temple or using various different secret paths!
There is nothing stopping you from picking what seems most convenient at that moment. But understanding each option offers much deeper benefits, understanding these points shows how this decision matters!
Exploring the Mountain Pass: Lae'zel's Story and Awesome Loot
Choosing this option benefits Lae'zel's personal story – that awesome Githyanki companion. She talks a lot about finding her people, that githyanki crèche to cure that Illithid parasite infestation (it's on this path). This choice creates this really crucial aspect which may not immediately affect all, but greatly adds value for this specific character's role within the party's storyline. Completing Lae'zel's arc matters, especially in this crucial period where decisions would be extremely significant!
Even without Lae'zel, there's cool stuff. You'll find this totally abandoned Rosymorn Monastery which offers powerful gear, like the holy Blood of Lathander (it provides those seriously divine buffs plus that powerful Sunbeam spell). Finding it is fun for those who enjoy solving various interesting puzzles, showcasing just how easy this particular pathway would actually become; those advantages, added gear, could've made some early encounters far easier.
This is generally easier than the Underdark! It’s relatively simple for anyone simply looking for the easier choice!
Delving into the Underdark: A Deeper, Richer Narrative Experience
The Underdark isn't focused on one character unlike Lae'zel's story arc. This approach adds narrative density for the whole party, which doesn’t emphasize certain characters over others and includes tons of unique content; therefore if avoided – this results in missing tons of awesome Act 1 stuff. And there’s a chance for dealing with this pesky parasite; another thematic issue touched in other routes, yet, like before – the solution remains extremely ambiguous and requires more efforts.
There is tons of content here. Think those quests from that weird Myconid fungal colony, plus this major location: Grymforge! It's run by those absolutely insane Absolute forces, with opportunities to aid captured deep gnomes. These situations will directly lead to the Adamantine Forge—and this is extremely awesome—it is this super significant place that makes the strongest gear in Act 1! You have to defeat a nasty boss to obtain the gear, that’s part of this area, however; some of those key boss fight mechanics might be totally destroyed through understanding exactly how to defeat that foe.
It also contains another important location: That nasty, defensive Arcane Tower—which is full of serious loot; perfect for those players who want those additional power boosts! That area alone makes a large portion of early gameplay accessible, as there’s nothing but a few minor challenges to make all these very impressive gear-related objectives easily attainable for any party members! Don't forget those other objectives, including a whole chain of quests; and other side content that’s completely missed unless you explore here. All these elements would otherwise never exist if simply avoided!
Which Path Should You Take First? Underdark Wins!
Good news: taking one route doesn't completely block the other one. You can easily return and fully complete each, avoiding any major missed content. There is that Act 2 point of no return. However, it doesn’t need immediate concern and requires much later exploration. Yet a complete game involves completing each route!
For most, it's Underdark first. The sheer volume of quests and rewards there far outweighs what you find in the Mountain Pass. The path toward Act 2 from the Underdark is perfect – and you can go back to the Mountain Pass as needed from there. Going in reverse is fine too – but going to Underdark later feels like backtracking, because the path remains similar even throughout the gameplay. This makes the decision easier; choosing Underdark first offers some additional, unexpected advantages in terms of storyline, and some surprisingly obvious ways to progress further than expected.
Conclusion: Embrace the Underdark (But Don't Neglect the Mountain Pass!)
Both are crucial to a complete experience! However, if time’s limited? It is almost overwhelmingly better to prioritize the Underdark! That added narrative content is simply not replicated, adding significantly larger levels of additional gameplay than Mountain Pass! There is a strong benefit to simply adding in more game content than avoiding areas.
This game is so awesome because its choice-driven storytelling offers multiple, divergent paths to the end! But if you understand what those choices would add—those changes in story, in loot, those benefits which were obtained – that gives a really strategic approach to how a complete playthrough becomes possible! Make the smart choices, maximize your game experience and have a truly epic Baldur's Gate 3 experience.
