Baldur’s Gate 3: All Time-Sensitive Quests in BG3 Listed

Time-sensitive quests are the bane of a completionist’s existence, but fortunately, we now know all the quests you must finish ASAP. Here are all the time-sensitive quests in Baldur’s Gate 3, listed.

All Time-Sensitive Quests in Baldur’s Gate 3, Listed

Like a good night’s sleep, Long Rests are essential to a healthy, bug-free game. And it also ensures you get all those juicy cutscenes at camp. But if you’re terrified that a long rest will irreversibly destroy a quest, don’t worry. Here are all the time-sensitive quests in Baldur’s Gate 3.

All Act 1 Time-Sensitive Quests in Baldur’s Gate 3

There are quite a few quests run on a timer, either based on long rests or story beats, in Act 1. I’ll divide them into sections for the sake of the reader’s convenience.

All Emerald Grove Time-Sensitive Events in Baldur’s Gate 3

• Emerald Grove Battle
  • Found once you approach the gate to the Emerald Grove. If you take one long rest without finishing or joining the fight, the tiefling who opens the gate will die. He’ll then have a grave, and you can speak to his friends to get unique dialogue. The unique dialogue seems Time-Sensitive, so speak to them before taking a long rest just in case.

• Druid Grove Ritual
  • This quest is found at the Emerald Grove and starts once you enter through the gate. The ritual will conclude after 10+ long rests.
  • However, you can stop the timer entirely by completing Kagha’s side quest.
• Investigate the Beach / Harpies and Tiefling
  • From the Emerald Grove, you can access a beach. But once you find the beach, you’ll automatically trigger the timer on the quest ‘Investigate the Beach’. Taking one long rest will lead to the boy on the beach dying unless you kill the harpies.
  • Likewise, failing to rescue the boy before dealing with the Goblin Camp will lead to him dying, even if you never discovered the beach.
• Save the Tiefling Child Thief
  • Once you arrive in the Emerald Grove and go to speak to Kagha, you’ll get a cutscene where a tiefling child is being threatened by a snake. If you don’t resolve the situation, and let her get back to her parents before dealing with the goblin camp, she’ll be dead.
• Tiefling Bard
  • Near the ritual area in Emerald Grove, you can find a tiefling bard struggling to compose a song. You’ll have the chance to help her and gain musical proficiency until the goblin camp is dealt with.
• Sazza the Goblin Prisoner
  • In the northwest corner of the Emerald Grove, you can find Sazza the goblin imprisoned. She’s being threatened by a tiefling. She’ll die if you don’t deal with her situation before defeating the goblin camp.

All Wilds Time-Sensitive Events in Baldur’s Gate 3

• Dying True Soul
  • While wandering the wilds near the Owlbear Cave, you will likely stumble across a True Soul and his two disciples. Once your companions note they hear voices, you have one rest to speak to the disciples, or they’ll be gone.
• Owlbear
  • If you enter the Owlbear Cave but don’t interact with the Owlbear and her cub, the goblins will kill the Owlbear mother after one long rest. The owlbear cub can then be found at the goblin camp.
• Burning Inn
  • Once you stumble upon the Burning Inn at Waukeen’s Rest, the timer will start. Taking one long rest will lead to everyone inside the burning inn dying. So, once you’ve enter the area, you must commit.
• Bugbear Assassin
  • Most people will probably stumble upon this event from the Emerald Grove, but it’s possible to trigger it in the wilds. Once you’ve found the bugbear assassin, you’ll need to immediately kill the assassin to save his target, looking through the telescope. Doing so will save her, and you can then pickpocket a Soul Coin from her. Or kill her, I guess.
  • If you haven’t found her or the bugbear assassin, she’ll stay alive even after completing the goblin camp.
• The Zhentarim Hideout
  • Information surrounding the hideout, found in a hidden cellar near Wakeen’s Rest, is conflicting. Some state that after one long rest, the camp vanishes. Others claim it’s a story beat. In my experience, accepting the quest from the Zehntarim leader stops the timer, whatever it may be.
  • Either way, be sure to interact with the artist being held captive in the hideout to prevent being locked out of his quest in Act 3.
• Caravan Ambush
  • Once you’ve stumbled upon the caravan ambush to the far north of the map, you must save the merchants or kill the gnolls attacking them immediately. Taking a long rest will lead to their deaths.

All Blighted Village Time-Sensitive Events in Baldur’s Gate 3

• Gnome Strapped to Windmill
  • At the far west of the Blighted Village, you can find a gnome strapped to one of the fans of a windmill. If you don’t deal with the situation, he’ll eventually disappear. Uncertain at the moment of how many long rests that might be.

All Underdark Time-Sensitive Events in Baldur’s Gate 3

• Save the Poisoned Gnome in the Mushroom Village
  • You’ll find a poisoned gnome once you’ve found the Myconoid Village in the Underdark. You must give her an antidote before saving Nere or starting Act 2. Otherwise, she’ll die. You’ll find her on top of the mushroom with Leader Spaw in the Myconoid Colony.
• Save Nere at the Grymforge
  • Unfortunately, the timer for this quest starts the moment you enter the Grymforge. Nere and the gnomes trying to free him will die if you long rest, visit the camp, or leave the zone twice. Harsh.

All Companion Time-Sensitive Events in Baldur’s Gate 3

• Lae’zel at the Mountain Pass
  • Once Lae’zel leaves to confront the Githyanki party, you can technically just leave her. But going to camp will kill her. Likewise, she seems to die if you just leave. So, her death is likely on a proximity trigger.
  • Don’t worry; you can always have Withers resurrect her.
• Gale Hungers for Magic Items
  • Gale will periodically get an exclamation point over his head in Act 1. When this happens, it likely means that he needs a magical item to sustain himself. He’ll ask for a magical item every two rests. If you refuse to give him a magical item two times, he’ll leave.

All Act 2 Time-Sensitive Quests in Baldur’s Gate 3

Fortunately, Act 2 has significantly less time-sensitive quests you have to worry about. Additionally, you won’t really have to worry until after the assault on Last Light Inn.

All Shadow Cursed Lands Time-Sensitive Events in Baldur’s Gate 3

• Get the Moonlantern from Spiderman
  • Once the Harpers prompt you to join their ambush to get a Moon Lantern, you don’t have to go. But failure to do so will lead to the enemy carrying the moonlantern to vanish after a certain period. Uncertain of how long of a period.
• Release the Pixie in the Moonlantern
  • Once you’ve got a Moonlantern, you have until the end of Act 2 to release it. When you’ve reached Act 3, the Moonlantern will vanish.
  • Opening the Moonlantern is a good idea, as it will help you with a certain side quest in Act 3.

• Save Rolan
  • Rolan will die if you stumble upon him and don’t step in to help him fight the shadow thralls that are attacking him. His survival is purely proximity-based. So long as you don’t stumble upon him, you’re fine to explore and go to Moonrise Towers.

All Moonrise Towers Time-Sensitive Events in Baldur’s Gate 3

• Save the Prisoners
  • There are several prisoners in Moonrise Tower, depending on how you’ve played the game. You’ll have until you’ve dealt with Nightsong; So, free them before you get to the end of the Temple of Shar.
• Assault on Moonrise Towers
  • The assault on Moonrise Towers can lead to Jaheira dying. However, the triggers for this are still being discovered. Personally, I could take a long rest before joining Jaheira in Moonrise Towers, and did so at the tower’s gate. Still, keep this in mind.

All Companion Time-Sensitive Events in Baldur’s Gate 3

• Halsin and the Shadow Portal
  • During the quest to save Thaniel, Halsin can die. This happens if you leave him alone once he goes to the beach, and you leave him alone by taking a long rest.

All Act 3 Time-Sensitive Quests in Baldur’s Gate 3

Did you think you had to manage your time in Act 1? Well, get ready to build a schedule around Act 3. There’s quite a bit here that can go off the rails, so long-rest accordingly.

• Stop the Presses
  • Once you’ve started the printing press quest, taking one long rest will cause them to publish another bad story about you.
• Saving Your Companion from Orin
  • At some point in Act 3, Orin will kidnap one of your companions. She’ll then threaten to murder them. However, you have an infinite time to save them, so long as you don’t start the murder tribunal. Once you’ve interacted with the murder tribunal, your companion will be murdered after three long rests.
  • Uncertain if you can just resurrect them with Withers, but you likely can.
• Avenge the Drowned
  • This quest, which will get you the titular Wavemother’s Robe, must be done before completing the Iron Throne. Otherwise, the quest giver will be dead. And it’s very hard to loot her body with everyone mourning around it nonstop.
• Save Counselor Florrick
  • Assuming you’ve saved Florrick from the burning inn in Waukeen’s Rest in Act 1, you can save her again. But this time from prison. However, upon entering Lower City, you have five long-rests before she’s executed.
• Killing Mystic Carrion
  • Mystic Carrion is the worst. But if you want to put down the nigh-immortal mummy for good, you need to destroy his heart. If you start a fight with Mystic Carrion but don’t kill his heart, then take one long rest; Mystic Carrion will respawn at full health. He’ll then kill the zombies he fled from him and hide his heart in a different place. Unsure of where that place is.
• Saving Duke Ravengard and the Gnomes Too
  • The Duke and a few Gondians are being held prisoner in the Iron Throne, an underwater prison. Once you enter the submarine, you have six turns to free everyone in Irone Throne before it explodes. Once it explodes, it will kill Duke Ravengard and any Gondians within the ship.

Do Short Rests Progress the Story?

Both long rests and short rests are essential to the game, as they’re your main source of healing and restocking spell slots. Unlike long rests, short rests do not progress quests or time. Feel free to use them as much as you can without worry. However, you can only replenish short rests by long resting, so be smart with their use.

Resting in Baldur’s Gate 3 is important top keep your companions in healthy tip top shape. Check out our guide on how to rest in Baldur’s Gate 3 here.