Baldur’s Gate 3: How to find and enter Zhentarim Hideout

There are many layers to the Zhentarim Hideout in Baldur’s Gate 3. Not only is it difficult to find, but it’s easy to only see its first few rooms without exploring its entirety. Here’s how to find the Zhentarim Hideout, also known as the Zhentarim Basement, in BG3.

Zhentarim Hideout location in Baldur’s Gate 3

You’ll find the Zhentarim Hideout during Act One at Waukeen’s Rest. It’s in a small house at coordinates (X: -111, Y: 611), where several wooden crates wi🗹ll block the door. Clear them away to access the building.

Waukeen’s Rest location

Waukeen’s Rest is located north of the Blighted Village and west of the Emerald Grove. Depending on your route, you’ll likely encounter two groups of Yeenoghu-cursed hyenas, who can give you a hard time and potentially wipe your team if you’re low-level. Defeating them will provide you with some valuable EXP and an inspiration point for Karlach if she’s in your party.

Upon entering Waukeen’s Rest, you’ll first see a group of Fist Recruits trying to save Grand Duke Ravenguard in a burning building. Whether you help them is up to you; it’s not required to access the Zhentarim Hideout, but it will give you a choice between a rare lightning-infused quarterstaff, longbow, or trident.

If you decide to help them, you can save multiple NPCs from the fires on the first and second floors, including a trapped man stuck under wooden beams and Counsellor Florrick. I recommend swapping over to turn-based mode during th🍎is, as the fire will rapidly spread around the building, and the NPCs and your𓃲 party can be quickly wiped out within a few seconds.

Once you’re ready to head to the Zhentarim Basement, head north from the fire building to find the small house leading to its true location.

Entering the Zhentarim Basement

Be careful, as entering the Zhentarim Hideout’s first door is the easiest part of this process. If you’re lucky, your characters will point this out through a Perception Check, revealing that someone is moving inside the building.

You’ll immediately encounter an NPC, Salazon, who initially threatens you to leave. If you have a stealthy character in your party like Astarion, you can use them to sneak through Salazon’s field of vision and eliminate him. Otherwise, you can get through this first encounter with zero casualties if you succeed in a few speech checks.

While the dia🍌logue may change slightly depending on your race, class, and other traits, below are the first few I found:

• Wait – listen! (DC 10 Dexterity roll)
• Read his mind. (DC 11 Intelligence roll)
• Prepare to attack.

Reading his mind allows you to repeat the secret phrase and access the basement. He’ll give you a key to go down freely without hurting anyone. Otherwise, you can attack him right away or pass the dexterity check to lead into the next set of dialogue options:

• Careful. You won’t kill me, but you will make me mad. (DC 15 Charisma roll)
• Just calm down – I’m not here to fight. (DC 15 Charisma roll)
• Prepare to attack.

The first t🥂wo options will have൲ the same results, with him giving you the key to the basement.

There’s more to the Zhentarim Hideout than you think

Once you descend the hatch to the basement, you’ll initially find a bunch of vases, wardrobes, and other miscellaneous decorative items in a small space. While this looks like a small area, the hideout’s true location reveals itself once you open the hidden wardrobe at coordinates (X: 382, Y: -259). You’ll need to succeed a DC 12 Sleight of Hand check, so bring your most dexterous character to the area.

Now that the wardrobe is💙 unlocked, you can descend the ladder to unlock the Zhentarim Hideout fast travel point. A whole lot is going on down here, with the list below highlighting a few encounters you can have:

• An introductory conversation with Zarys, who you can give the Find the Missing Shipment’s strongbox to.
• Oskar Fevras, the artist you can save if you wish.
• Brem the merchant
• Indra, Istor, and Isbeth, the wolves who’ll frighten Shadowheart if she’s in your party.
• Multiple locked iron gates containing treasure chests.

Tread carefully, as it’s easy to make these guys hostile if you fail certain checks or walk into the wrong mines. You can get a lot out of this area, but it’s also very easy to initiate a hideout-wide battle that can wipe out your party if you annoy the wrong people.