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Navigating the cleverly-arranged traps of a wizard’s lair inBaldur’s Gate 3is not a task for the faint-of-heart, and no location calls more for the Arcanely-inspired than the vault of Sorcerous Sundries. This confusing labyrinth of a location houses some of Faerun’s most legendary and dangerous tomes.
Whether you’re a thief hoping to get your hands on powerful magic, a hero skirting the line of crime in the name of justice and defeating the Elder Brain, or a simp for Gale, you’ll likely find your way down in the vault. But will you be able to find what you’re looking for down here without getting torched?
Updated May 18, 2025 by Trinity Lerum:To ensure you don’t miss the powerful Artistry of War scroll, we’ve added more about the only spot to obtain this powerful spell. We’ve also got a few more tips for you on how to get through Sorcerous Sundries' dangerous vault with as few injuries and as much loot as possible.
How To Enter Sorcerous Sundries' Vault
There are two ways toenter Sorcerous Sundries' Vault:
The first method will put you directly inside one of the side rooms inside the vault and behind the portal room. Thesecond will be the position from which we begin this article,and entering this room from the first method is as easy as leaving the room to the south.
How To Unlock Karsus’s Vault: Annals Of Karsus
Once you’ve entered the vault and arrived in the portal room, go south andhead into the Restricted Area.
There arethree roomsin the Restricted Area:
You’ll need tobegin with Silverhand, though you mustbeware of the traps in this room and in every room to come.
Each room you teleport into will have traps inside. Seeing them willrequire an Arcana check.There are no off-toggles, so you’llneed a Trap Disarming Kit handy.
You can skip this entire puzzle if you have the Knock Spell. Use them on the Elminster and Karsus doors to receive their legendary tomes without any of the hassle below.
Through the Silverhand path, there will betwo rooms.Each room will havethree doors.To reach the end of the path, you mustselect the correct doorsto proceed through.
Tounlock the Karsus vault, enter two rooms in this order:
Enter the room that Silver revealsandstop halfwayto spy the trap. Disarm it. Once the trap is disarmed, proceed andmove the lever ahead.
To return to the previous room,click on the Shadow doorin the main chamber.
With Karsus’s door now unlocked,enter his vaultto find theAnnals of Karsusresting on the second shelfof the bookshelf on the west side of the room. If you haveGale in your party,this will trigger a unique cutscene.
How To Unlock Elminster’s Vault: Tharciate Codex
Return to the central chamber and journeythrough the Silverhand again. However, this time, you’ll do adifferent combination.
Tounlock the Elminster Vault, this combination is:
Just like with the previous lever room,travel halfway throughto spy and then disarm the trap.Pull the lever once it’s safe.
Then, return to the first room by walkingthrough the Foresight doorin the central chamber.
You may nowenter Elminster’s vault.Do so.
Inside Elminster’s vault, you’ll find thebook known as the Tharciate Codex.Reading this book will give you a curse.
However, you canremove the curseand turn it into a blessing that gives apermanent temporary 20HP bonusto the reader if you use theRemove Cursespell.
If you or a companion have been reading theNecromancy of Thay, be sure to let them read the Tharciate Codex, too. They don’t have to read it first and get the HP bonus, but knowledge from the Codex will enable them to finally finish the Necromancy of Thay and unlock its full power.
How To Get Curriculum of Strategy: Artistry of War: The Red Knight’s Final Stratagem
Before you leave the vault with your new arcane knowledge, go to the north wall of the portal room.Succeed a Perception check to find a hidden button, which reveals a connected room.
Inside is a locked display case with the rare tome The Red Knight’s Final Strategeminside. You canunlock the display case by passing a DC 20 sleight of hand check, so ensure you have a party member up to the task.
After youread the bookyou’ll be rewarded with the scroll.
We strongly recommend youhave a wizard learn this scrollinstead of using it once. This way, you’ll be able to use it multiple times.
With all three books now in your possession, you can leave the vault. This is a dangerous area, however, so you will need toleave this area via the portal at the start of the vault.Do so and thenimmediately travel to another waypointwith your spoils before you’re awkwardly discovered in Tolga Tome-monger’s office.
