Baldur's Gate 3: How To Solve Defiled Temple Stone Puzzle

There's a mysterious stone puzzle in the Defiled Temple — here's how to solve it.

First Published August 7, 2023, 09:02

Within Baldur's Gate 3 are many puzzles, secrets and dangerous traps that'll make, or break, your party. Regardless of your own personal skill, there will be plenty of times where you'll encounter something that leaves you feeling a little stumped. If you've pushed your way through the Goblin Camp and found your way into the Defiled Temple, then you should have stumbled across one such puzzle.

Earlier on in the Goblin Camp, your party might have encountered a Goblin who's acquired what he thinks to be Dwarven poetry off the body of a now-roasting-on-the-spit Dwarf. With some convincing, your party will be able to receive the "poetry" from the Goblin only to discover that it's actually a note referring to a puzzle hidden somewhere in the area. Heading further into the Goblin stronghold, and through to the Chapel area, you'll stumble upon the Defiled Temple. 

Your party will be unable to progress further unless they solve a strange stone puzzle on the floor. By passing a Perception check, it will be revealed that the puzzle is the one that the Dwarf's note refers to. Now, all that's left to do is solve it. 

Baldur's Gate 3 Defiled Temple Stone Puzzle Solution

Approaching the stone puzzle on the floor, you'll see four circular, movable panels. Each one contains four holes, some filled, some empty. By interacting with each panel, you'll be able to move around the empty and filled holes. The trick is to work out which holes need to be filled on which panel. Fortunately, the solution is much simpler than it first appears. The panels should be filled as follows:

• The stone panel to the north should have all four of its holes filled.
• The east and west panels should only have three holes filled, each.
• The south panel should have all four of its holes left empty.

With the panels correctly oriented, all characters will receive some XP and the way forward will open up. This leads further down into the temple, where some mysterious happenings, and dangerous enemies await.

There's also another way to seeminly open the way deeper into the temple. Move toward the northern part of the room, past the puzzle to where the locked temple passage is. To the right is a lever, disguised as a wall decoration. Interacting with it reveals that it can be unlocked and used, should you have the ability to do so. While we haven't tried using this lever, it's likely that forcing it to unlock with a lockpick will likely bypass the puzzle and open the door.

For more Baldur's Gates 3 guides, including Character and Class guides, be sure to check out our hub.

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