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Baldur’s Gate 3is full of quests where you’re tasked with aiding others, but few are as mysterious as that of the cursed monk’s. In Grymforge, you might stumble upon an amulet harboring a tormented soul that forces you to laugh hysterically whenever you use the amulet.
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Despite its unnerving nature, the amulet provides powerful effects that might be worth using until the conclusion of its quest, spanning all the way to the city of Baldur’s Gate in Act Three. But should you use theSentient Amulet, or is it more trouble than it’s worth? This guide will break down the Help The Cursed Monk questline for you to decide.
Where To Find The Cursed Monk Amulet
You’ll be able to find the Sentient Amuletin the Grymforge (X:-647, Y:385)area of the Underdark, accessible through theduergar skiffs at the Decrepit Village(X:22, Y:-209).
Getting to Grymforgecan be a challenging process, but the rich quests and secrets in the area, such as that of theAdamantine Forge, make it well worth it.
The Sentient Amuletcan be found in the lava area of Grymforge, to the direct south of theAncient Forge Waypoint(X:-610, Y:294).Fight the Lava Elemental, then proceed to the rock island in the middle of the lava field.
The Lava Elemental can be a tough fight if you try to brute force it. Note that it hasvulnerability to cold damage, but is invulnerable to fire damage, and willregain 10d6 hit pointsper round if fought in lava.
Unlock the Adamantine Chest with aDC 25 Lockpicking (Sleight of Hand) check,and you’ll find the Sentient Amulet inside.
Once you interact with it, the Cursed Monk spirit inside the amulet will force you tomake a Wisdom saving throw to avoid laughing—note that Clerics will have an advantage on the check.
Regardless of if you pass or not, however, the Cursed Monk will request thatyou bring it to his granddaughter, who lives at theOpen Hand Temple in Wyrm’s Crossing. Until you get there inAct Three, however, you are free to make use of the Sentient Amulet’s effects.
The Sentient Amulet grants you the ability to:
While the effects of the Sentient Amulet aregreat for monks, be warned that you’ll occasionally need to makea Wisdom saving throwto avoid going into hysterics when using it—potentially incapacitating yourself in the middle of a fight.
How To Help The Cursed Monk
To complete the quest, you’ll need to findthe crypt in which the Cursed Monk’s granddaughter is buried.
This crypt can be foundunder the Open Hand Temple. you’re able to get here by going into thekitchen area of the Open Hand Temple(near Rivington Waypoint, at the start of Act 3). Climb through theOrnate Wooden Hatchthere to get under the temple.
This area is home toseveral major questlines.While you’reunder the temple, you can complete a part of the longFind Dribbles the Clownquestlineto avoid backtracking here later.
The crypt area can be found to thewest of the altar room—interact with thesouthwest coffinto find the remains ofShirra Clarwell.
Shortly after this, the spirit of the monk will enter Shirra Clarwell’s remains, anddemand that you take on his curseinstead.
Should You Inherit the Monk’s Curse
A successfulDC 15 Arcana checkwill reveal that helping the Monk will give you access to a powerful spell, at thepotential cost of losing Wisdom.
Should you choose toaccept to inherit the monk’s curse, you will need to maketwo checksin order to pass without issue. You can useWisdom or Constitution to pass a DC 15 check, or have theIllithid tadpole take one of the checks for you—in which case theDC will be lowered to 2for that check.
If you fail any of the checks, yourWisdom stat will be permanently loweredby -1 per failed check. This can be a hefty penalty, so be careful!
Should you choose todecline to inherit the monk’s curse, it willraise four zombies to fight you.These zombies will have approximately30 health (60 on Tactician), and should berelatively easyfights at this stage of the game.
Note that declining to inherit the curse and successfully defeating the zombies will lead themonk to simply disappear, cursed for eternity, leaving you with nothing to show for the quest—theSentient Amulet will also lose its effects.
What Do You Get From Helping The Cursed Monk
If you chose to accept the Monk’s curse, you’ll receive the ability to castTasha’s Hideous Laughter(Level One Enchantment Spell) at will.
Tasha’s Hideous Laughter is a solid spell thateffectively incapacitates and prones a target, giving attackers advantage on the attack roll.
That said, at the level you’ll be during this point of Act Three, there may bebetter crowd-control options availableto your spellcasters.
If you have a monk in your party, you should take some time todecide whether losing the effects of the amulet are worth the reward.
