Save Emerald Grove and its residents or raid it with Goblins to kill everyone in Baldur’s Gate 3 is a choice you will get during Act 1. This is a tough choice to make as you will end up losing some companions. However, I will guide you through the whole process by explaining the consequences of every choice you can make.
Raid Emerald Grove with goblins and Minthara in BG3
To raid BG3 Emerald Grove instead of saving it, you first need to side with the Nightwarden Minthara. She is available in the Shattered Sanctum area of the goblin camp. Kill Halsin before you approach her to get her approval.
Lead her to the Emerald Grove and help her kill all the Tieflings and Druids. You can make the fight easier by stealing the Sacred Idol, creating a battlefield between Druids and Tieflings.
The choice to raid the Emerald Grove in BG3 will only become successful if you kill Rath, Zevlor, Halsin, Kagha, and Wyll. Karlach, being a Tiefling, disapproves of your actions and leaves the party. If you haven’t recruited her yet, you won’t be able to do it in the future.
However, it allows you to romance Minthara and recruit her later in the game. This will also prevent you from getting Halsin’s help with the parasite inside your brain. Eventually, Halsin will disappear from your camp, and you will have to kill him.
Side with Halsin and Save Emerald Grove
Now, the question is, what will happen if you side with Halsin in Baldur’s Gate 3? Halsin can be saved by starting the “Save the first Druid” quest in the Druid Grove. Halsin is available in the Worg Pen area of goblin camp, north of Shattered Sanctum.
Upon saving Halsin, he will ask you to help him take down three goblin leaders. Help him kill all the leaders and goblins inside the goblin camp. This will resolve the issue between Druids and Tieflings, potentially saving all the Tieflings in the process.
You can only protect the Emerald Grove by killing Minthara instead of raiding it in BG3, making her unavailable for romance or recruit later. Astarion and Lae’zel strongly disapprove of your actions, hurting your chances with both.
However, you will gain Wyll and Karlach’s approval as your party members. Druid Grove keeps standing where you can get help to remove the parasite from your brain, potentially leading to the good ending of BG3.
Should you raid or save the Emerald Grove?
Well, this is a tough question to answer. But I have a fantastic solution to it that I will discuss a bit later. Both options have pros and cons, leading to highly polarizing results.
If you want Druids and Tieflings on your side, you can choose Saving the Grove. On the other hand, siding with Minthara will allow you to gain her approval, increasing your odds of getting into the relationship later on.
No matter which side you choose, you will get a new parasite, and the quest will move to the Moonrise Towers.
An alternate choice to stay neutral
But, as I mentioned above, there is another option I consider the best. What if you want to recruit Wyll, Karlach, and Minthara in the same playthrough? If you want that, stay neutral. Don’t lead a raid with Minthara and her minions on Emerald Grove. Free Halsin, but don’t complete his quest to take down all three goblin leaders.
Once you have done everything else in the area and recruited Wyll and Karlach, make your way to the Rosymorn Monastery. Complete the tasks there and proceed to Act 2 of Baldur’s Gate 3. You will get a warning from the game that this is a point of no return for Act 1.
Proceed, and the Grove vs Goblins event will happen without outside interference. You didn’t kill the goblin leaders on Halsin’s orders, so druids don’t have an edge.
As Minthara doesn’t know the location of Emerald Grove (she kept Halsin to extract that information), she will fail in her mission by the Absolute. They will imprison her due to this failure and inability to acquire the Artefact in your possession.
You can save Minthara in BG3 and recruit her later in Act 2. Druids of the Grove finish the ritual of erecting a protective barrier against goblins, thus also saving the refugees in the process.
Wyll doesn’t die, and Karlach never becomes angry with you. Astarion and Lae’zel remain neutral, and their disapproval is not that strong. In this way, you will end up recruiting Wyll, Karlach, and Minthara in the same playthrough, with you having full chances to romance any of them.
