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How To Solve The Mind Link Puzzle In Baldur's Gate 3
Rewards For Solving The Necrotic Laboratory Puzzle
Act 2 of Baldur's Gate 3 takes you and your party toward a horrific Mind Flayer sanctum underneath Moonrise Towers, but the only way to reach this place is to solve a puzzle within a Necrotic Laboratory. A Flesh-Wrought Door blocks you from powerful items and secrets lurking beyond in the hidden lair of the creatures who caused your adventure to begin with.
Once you reach the Necrotic Laboratory in Act 2, you can see the splintered mind over a large red chasm beside a command console. Interacting with the console lets you manipulate the mind by creating a neural network across a series of multicolored nodes. Like the Silent Library puzzle in Baldur's Gate 3, you cannot use magic to give yourself any advantages or clues that would make this challenge easier.
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How To Solve The Mind Link Puzzle In Baldur's Gate 3
Connect The Matching-Color Neural Paths
Solving the Mind Link puzzles requires you to create four neural paths from different nodes along an unbroken chain that doesn't interfere with another route. Every starting node has a distinct color and shape with labels that can help you keep track of the connections you're making in Baldur's Gate 3. When you start, you may select either:
- Reason (Purple)
- Speech (Blue)
- Memory (Green)
- Emotion (Yellow)
No skill checks in Baldur's Gate 3 are involved at any stage of this puzzle, so make sure not to spend spell slots on magic like Guidance to boost your chances on a roll that will never come.
No matter what node you pick, you must create an uninterrupted line of the same color from the beginning icon to a point with a matching symbol inside the neural network. Selecting a node activates the line connecting multiple spots if you selected one of the starting 'brains' first.
Don't worry if you accidentally create a route that will get in the way of another chain later; you can always reset the pattern whenever you wish in Baldur's Gate 3.
Repeat this process until you eventually tie every primary node to its counterpart at the end of the projected mind. Make sure to use the edges of the network to leave plenty of space for the routes you generate as you continue to solve the puzzle in Baldur's Gate 3. Thankfully, there is no time limit to figuring out which paths complete the 'brain,' giving you plenty of chances to experiment and mess up.
Necrotic Laboratory Puzzle Steps
Below is a breakdown of the correct direction for each of the nodes that you must connect, which is demonstrated by Gamers Heroes on YouTube, ensuring you use the correct corresponding branches:
- Reason (Purple): Go to the right neuron and continue straight until you reach the end of the puzzle. The last neuron goes to the left to connect to the other section of the brain.
- Speech (Blue): Go straight and immediately take a right, and continue straight until you reach the end.
- Memory (Green): First, go down before making a left to get to the puzzle's center. Head straight up and then straight again to reach the end.
- Emotion (Yellow): Start by going straight to the center and then making a hard left. Follow the line, going straight, leading you back to the center before going straight again.
Before proceeding to your hidden rewards in Baldur's Gate 3, don't forget to speak to the Brain Jar near the puzzle, who can provide some interesting insights and initiate a mini-quest (coordinates X:697, Y:117). Slot the Waking Mind Brain Jar into the Mind-Archive Interface, allowing you to speak to Slack-Skinned Head.
If you choose to purge her mind using your Illthid Tadpole, you will gain the Githzerai Mind Barrier, which is a permanent buff that provides Advantage to Intelligence Saving Throws. Ensure to select the character you want to achieve this buff.
Rewards For Solving The Necrotic Laboratory Puzzle
Blade of Oppressed Souls, Braindrain Gloves, & Circlet of Mental Anguish
Solving the Necrotic Laboratory puzzle opens a path into a secret Mind Flayer lair in Baldur's Gate 3, giving you access to many new treasures. Some stand-out items include the Blade of Oppressed Souls, the Braindrain Gloves, and the Circlet of Mental Anguish.
Traveling into the depths of this area will also reveal the future plans of the evil aberrations and tie into the story of Lae'zel in Baldur's Gate 3 if she has remained your companion.
The Blade of Oppressed Soulsis a +1 Longsword magic weapon that deals 1d10 Slashing damage and 1d4 Psychic damage when hitting an enemy. The Braindrain Gloves have a trait called Mental Interference, which inflicts the Mental Fatigue condition for two turns whenever you deal Psychic damage to an enemy. These two items pair well together to consistently deal damage and cause this status effect during battles in Baldur's Gate 3.
Mental Fatigue is a condition that gives a character a -1 penalty to Charisma, Intelligence, and Wisdom, Saving Throws in Baldur's Gate 3 for every turn the affliction is active.
The final item, the Circlet of Mental Anguish, is a rare artifactthat lets you regain Hit Points when an enemy fails a Charisma, Intelligence, or Wisdom saving throw against one of your spells. If you use the Braindrain Gloves to cause the Mental Fatigue condition, enemies have a harder time succeeding on these saving throws.
This makes the Circlet a fantastic item for a spell caster who struggles with low health in Baldur's Gate 3.
Those who solve the Necrotic Laboratory puzzle can continue toward the end of Act 2 and prepare for the final confrontation against Ketheric Thorm in Baldur's Gate 3. As the final of Act 2 and precursor of Act 3, this is considered one of the hardest boss fights to overcome.
With the addition of the boss, Apostl of Myrkul, it becomes all the more challenging, but equipped with newly rewarded items; players should be able to handle the foes that await them in the city that their party arrives in during Act 3 of Baldur's Gate 3.
Source: Gamers Heroes/YouTube
Baldur's Gate 3
RPG
Systems
- Top Critic Rating:96/100 Critics Recommend:98%
- Franchise
- Baldur's Gate
- Platform(s)
- PC , macOS , PS5 , Xbox Series X
- Released
- August 3, 2023
- Developer(s)
- Larian Studios
- Publisher(s)
- Larian Studios
- ESRB
- M for Mature: Blood and Gore, Partial Nudity, Sexual Content, Strong Language, Violence
- How Long To Beat
- 100+ Hours
- Metascore
- 96
- Split Screen Orientation
- Vertical Only
- Number of Players
- 1-4
- PS Plus Availability
- N/A
- Local Co-Op Support
- 1-2 Players
