So — you’ve entered the Shadow Cursed lands, and Act 2 of Baldur’s Gate 3 with them. Immediately upon arriving, you’re mistaken for a True Soul loyal to The Absolute — which leads me to ask: why is The Absolute such a threat when we can so easily infiltrate their ranks?
In any case, you lead a caravan of folks loyal to The Absolute, including some goblins, orcs, and a big ol’ drider — a drow with the lower half of a spider. It’s best not to ask if you want good dreams tonight.
It’s not long before the caravan is attacked by the Harpers, and you have a choice to make: defend the caravan and continue serving as a double agent, or attack the caravan and help the Harpers? It’s my goal to let the indecisive gamers out there know what immediately awaits them with each choice.
If you side with the Harpers
If you decide to take this chance to work alongside the Harpers and eradicate the caravan, you’ll have to fight and defeat the entire caravan, including the drider. It’s not an incredibly tough encounter, though the drider uses an ability that makes them invincible until they attack another creature, so it might be the last enemy you defeat for that reason alone.
As soon as the encounter ends, you will talk with the Harpers, who are immediately suspicious of you for turning on your “friends,” but you can talk them down. They invite you to visit the Last Light Inn, where you can earn the trust of the druid Jaheira, and meet and befriend Isobel, who will give you a condition that lets you get around easier in the Shadowlands. You can also nab yourself a Moonlantern from Isobel that will let you survive in the heavy Shadow-Cursed Lands.
If you side with the Caravan
If you side with the drider and the caravan, it doesn’t seem like much changes in the broad scheme of things. The fight is a little different because there are enemies at different elevations, as opposed to the caravan, who are all on the ground with you. In the aftermath, the caravan will remain on the battlefield until you are ready to go to Moonrise Towers, but you are free to explore in the meantime. This removes any real need to go to the Last Light Inn if you don’t want to.
But, if you still want to, you can talk yourself out of trouble just like you did in the morally good path. It helps that if you saved the Grove, Mol will vouch for you with Jaheira, which will make it seem like you didn’t just mercilessly cut down a bunch of her friends and colleagues. In any case, the biggest difference seems to lie in that you can safely make it to Moonrise Towers quicker than otherwise.
So, if you’re trying to speedrun Baldur’s Gate 3, you might be more comfortable siding with the caravan. But, if you’re interested in taking your time and getting everything you can out of the story, you might want to side with the Harpers. It also depends on which companions you’re looking to impress because certain companions will disapprove of your decision to side with the Caravan. For that matter, if you’re trying to make your character a paragon of justice in your playthrough, siding with the Caravan is, at the very least, some dark grey area.
Who are the Harpers in BG3?
The Harpers are a loose organization of goody-two-shoes in the Dungeons & Dragons universe. Also known as Those Who Harp, they dedicate themselves to protecting Faerûn from evil. While that may make them seem like a bunch of kind-natured heroes, they are also known to pursue glory and meddle in the affairs of others. It’s really a matter of perspective.
