Who is the Guardian in Baldur’s Gate 3 and How to Find Them? Explained

Ever since Baldur’s Gate 3 was released, one question has been plaguing the minds of many players who have begun their journey. The one question is: who is the mysterious Guardian? The full answer to the question might not be as trivial as you think.

The Guardian in Baldur’s Gate 3 is a mysterious NPC that you’ll need to create after creating your own character. They’re neither playable nor do they act as companions, but they do show up in some important cutscenes in the game, and you can interact with them using dialogue options.

You can only customize their looks, not their stats or class, since you’ll only interact with them through conversations. They appear in dreams and are a manifestation of the Illithid tadpole parasite inside your head, which is why the more you use your Illithid powers, the more they’ll appear.

In simpler words, The Guardian encourages you to progress through the Illithid skill tree, which provides completely separate abilities to your character from the ones that you’ve already gotten from your chosen class. There are 25 Illithid abilities available throughout the game.

In your first encounter, they’ll ask you not to remove the parasite from your brain but instead tell you to master the Illithid abilities in order to not turn into a Mind Flayer and also save the world of Faerun in the process. They also claim to have protected you during the Nautiloid Crash, but whether you believe this story and trust them or not is totally up to you.

Trusting The Guardian means embracing the parasite and mastering the Illithid abilities, which might affect the relationship you have with your companions. It’s also worth noting that your companions are visited by their Guardians in their dreams too, so you’re not that special.

1. How to find The Guardian in Baldur’s Gate 3?

To find The Guardian, use your Illithid abilities once and then take a long rest at your camp to make them appear. The best place to use these powers is at the Goblin Camp, west of the Emerald Grove, as your Illithid abilities can control the majority of the Goblins there.

Once you do that, they’ll keep appearing in your dreams, revealing more information about themselves, but you don’t need to keep using your parasite abilities to meet them after the first encounter. They’ll guide you and your companions throughout your journey and keep popping up at various points in the campaign.

The Guardian could even be romanced in early access, but that still remains to be seen in the full release. You might never meet The Guardian if you don’t use your Illithid abilities, so it’s up to you to make the choice. Their role in the campaign is still a mystery, but the more you meet them in your dreams, the more you learn about their identity.

2. About Baldur’s Gate 3

Baldur’s Gate III is a role-playing video game developed and published by Larian Studios. It is the third main game in the Baldur’s Gate series, based on the Dungeons & Dragons tabletop role-playing system.

A partial game version was released in early access format for Windows, macOS, and the Stadia streaming service on 6 October 2020., followed shortly by a release on the PlayStation 5 on 6 September 2023.