How to Solve Balthazar Bookcase Puzzle in Baldur’s Gate 3 (BG3)

During the Investigate the Thorm Mausoleum quest, you’ll be rewarded with a key to the room of General Thorm’s advisor. Players can take advantage of this location to unlock a rare item of Baldur’s Gate 3, which harnesses powerful dark abilities. We’ll show you the solution to the Balthazar’s bookcase puzzle to help you with this endeavor, providing you with a few tips and tricks.

BG3 Balthazar Bookcase Puzzle Solution

Balthazar’s room can be found on the first floor of Moonrise Towers at the coordinates ‘X: -130, Y: -186’. You can use the key Z’rell gives you to open it; otherwise, you may run into trouble when lockpicking it. As you enter the room, you’ll find a bookcase at the coordinates ‘X: -145, Y: -174’, where your party will cast a roll for a Perception check.

According to the information within the Attention Acolytes book (on a desk in the room), you must place a heart on the Ancient Altar next to the bookshelf. Fortunately, this interaction doesn’t actually require you to rip out your organs right then and there, as the item can be found nearby.

BG3 Balthazar Bookcase Puzzle Heart Location

The heart for the puzzle is on top of a table at the coordinates ‘X: -139, Y: -177’ across from the Attention Acolytes book.

With the heart in hand, you must interact with the fourth row on the shelf from the top-right side to unlock the Ancient Altar, which will be labeled ‘Protruding Book.’ It’s recommended not to grab any other books here, as they are rigged with deadly traps.

After you select the row of books, you’ll notice a ‘Click!’ sound from the altar, and you can press on it to drag the heart over. Keep in mind that you must select ‘Insert’ after placing the item, or else it will not register correctly. Then, you can go inside the secret room to gather some valuables, including an Opulent Chest.

If you want to gain a Shadow Lantern, you must interact with the glowing Ritual Circle on a desk, allowing you to enlist Gale’s help with its creation.

BG3 Lantern Recipe in Balthazar Bookcase Puzzle

While at the Ritual Circle in Balthazar’s room, you can place the Dead Pixie and Broken Moon Lantern to produce the Shadow Lantern with Gale in your party (you can possibly do this with others.) If you can’t interact with these resources, you can play as Gale and select ‘Pick up the ingredients. Craft the Shadow Lantern’ after you press the Ritual Circle.

The Shadow Lantern is a rare Versatile Club with 4~9 Damage, featuring the Level 6 Conjure Shadow Lantern Wraith ability. This technique can pull an undead creature (medium or small-sized) from the device to join you in battle. Although it may seem like it has the same properties as the Moon Lantern, it does not alleviate the harmful effects of the Shadow-Curse Lands.

Now that you know how to solve the Balthazar bookcase puzzle, you can carry on with other riddles with our Silent Library guide. Be sure to also explore the relevant links below for more Baldur’s Gate 3 content.