Baldur's Gate 3 Zhentarim Hideout: Location, Elevator, Un... (2024)

The Zhentarim Hideout is a location in Baldur’s Gate 3, home to an outcrop of gang members of the Zhentarim Gang, based in Baldur’s Gate. The gang is up to no good under this secret base, which you learn more about with their questline, and other interesting landmarks within the base. If you plan to investigate this location, here’s a landmark guide to Baldur’s Gate 3’s Zhentarim Hideout, featuring its location, Elevator and Underdark entrance.

Zhentarim Hideout Location in Baldur’s Gate 3¶

The Zhentarim Hideout location in Baldur’s Gate 3 is a secret base operating directly under the Waukeen’s Rest, which is a burning manor area. You can do two quests here if you want: Rescue the Trapped Man and the Rescue the Grand Duke. You don’t need to do these, but you will need to extinguish the burning pathway leading west of the Manor into the barn area.

Once you manage to extinguish the flames, either by using some form of Create Water spell, or by throwing a water barrel onto the flames, you can safely bypass. Now, you must watch a larger building to the side of the barns. This takes you into a storage room, where you encounter a man crouching behind some shelves. If you encounter the men in the cave near the Gnolls, you will already have the password to enter the location. If not, then you can use Detect Thoughts on the guy, find the password and get let in. Once you get the right password, regardless of your method, the dude will tell you to head into a trapdoor behind the shelves, into a basem*nt, then down some stairs into the Zhentarim Hideout Location.

Now, depending on how you got here, you must do some speech tests. Once the lady who runs the gang operation here is happy with you, you can safely explore the Zhentarim Hideout. She will also grant you the quest Find the Missing Shipment if you want a side quest. However, it’s not entirely necessary.

You may also start the quest Free the Artist while in the Zhentarim Hideout. You can either buy him out of his slavery, or kill the guards in this stage of the Hideout, and set him free that way. Depending on what mood you are in and how hostile you want this gang to be, which may have consequences down the line when you encounter gangs in the city of Baldur’s Gate.

If you explore deeper, you can find a few locked cell doors with goodies inside. However, you either need to break in using pick locks, or steal some keys from the guards further in the Hideout. You can pick lock the Zhentarim Keys, with one key used to open one of the two locked cells at the back of the cave system. Both of these keys are in the possession of Vol and Jarg, who their two animal companions guard.

If you manage to get the keys from these characters, then you can unlock the cell doors. Vol also has a key that allows you to open the chests in the cells too. These chests are rigged with explosives, so ensure you have some Trap Disarm tools. If you don’t get the key, then you need to roll a 20 to open the chests. They are worth opening if you fancy the risk and reward, as they contain a few valuable items, and around 600 gold in hard currency. Not to mention a 200 gold painting in one of the rooms too. To ensure you can unlock those chests, use Astarion’s Sleight of Hand bonuses, including his Dex. You can then get bonuses from Guidance from Shadowheart’s cantrip, making this very achievable. If you have a custom character Ranger, or other Dex-focused class, they will work fine too.

Zhentarim Hideout: Accessing the Elevator to the Underdark¶

One of the other things you can do is use an Elevator to gain access to the Underdark in the Zhentarium Hideout. To use the Zhentarim Elevator to the Underdark, you will need to do some pickpocketing or murdering. It depends on how villainous you feel.

There is an NPC patrolling, typically around the bottom layer of the rear end of the Zhentarim Hideout. The NPC you’re looking for is called Karad. You will need to get a pickpocket roll of 10 to successfully steal the Mechanism Key from him without getting spotted.

Once you have the key, you must move towards where one of the guard animals is called Ishtor. Get your party to stealth behind it so you are out of sight of the animal, and, ideally, away from Karad’s pathing. The other guards will not be able to see you. If you get close enough to the wall, someone will likely realize it is an illusion. But, even if they don’t, you can still move through it. If you successfully sneak through, you can use the Mechanism Key on The Elevator and arrive in the Underdark near the Selunite Outpost, which you access via the Defiled Temple Moon Puzzle. You can now use the Zhenatirm Outpost Underdark Elevator whenever you want. But, remember to be careful of the guards in the Hideout, as if they catch you walking through towards the elevator into the main Hideout, they will immediately turn hostile.

And there you have it. You now know just about everything from the Zhentarim Hideout in Baldur’s Gate 3. You now know how to access the Zhentarim Hideout Underdark, the hideout’s location, and all the goodies you can get from this while you’re here.