How to Solve the Defiled Temple Floor Puzzle - Baldur's Gate III Guide - IGN (2024)

Struggling to solve the mysterious BG3 floor puzzle that's found in the Defiled Temple? This guide provides a comprehensive walkthrough that explains everything you need to know about how to find and solve the Defiled Temple floor puzzle in Baldur's Gate 3.

Defiled Temple Floor Puzzle Walkthrough

Need help with a particular step? Click the links below to jump to...

• How to Find the Defiled Temple
  • Secret Entrance Through the Rocky Crevice
• How to Solve the Defiled Temple Floor Puzzle
• Rewards: What the Puzzle Reveals
• Alternative Defiled Temple Floor Puzzle Solution

How to Find the Defiled Temple

The Defiled Temple is located in the Shattered Sanctum, which is the location you are directed to explore for two quests: Save the First Druid and Find the Nightsong. After making it past the goblin guards, enter the Shattered Sanctum and head west up the stairs (left from the altar).

From here, you have two options. You can attempt to lockpick the rightmost door, which is Priestess Gut’s room. (If you’ve already interacted with Priestess Gut already, the door will be open!)

Or, you can jump across the gap on the right where the wall is crumbled. Either way, check your surroundings, and don’t get caught!

In this area, there is a clue in the adjacent room that is visible through the gap in the wall. This will end up being the solution to the Defiled Temple puzzle.

You’ll find another locked door in Priestess Gut’s room. Lockpick the door to access the Defiled Temple.

To the left, an ogre named Polma, Bodyguard of the High Priestess, will be patrolling the room. You can attempt to stealth your way past Polma, convince them that you belong, or buy your way in with gold.

Or, if all else fails, attack.

Enter the archway and turn left into a second archway to find the Defiled Temple puzzle. There will be four intersecting circles on the floor, each with white and black dots.

• Now that you're inside, jump to our How to Solve the Defiled Temple Floor Puzzle below for full instructions.

Secret Entrance through the Rocky Crevice

There is another way to get inside the Defiled Temple, but it requires a small-sized creature to access. This method will work if you are a gnome, halfling, or a Druid who can wild shape transform into a raven or a cat.

Follow the same steps above to enter Priestess Gut’s room. At the broken wall where you can see the puzzle clue through the gap, there is a wooden ledge in the rafters. Stack boxes on top of each other by dragging them with your mouse or controller. Jump on top of the stack of boxes and jump again to reach the wooden ledge.

Alternatively, you can fly to the ledge if you have the ability. Or, if you’re Lae’zel, you can just jump straight up there!

Walk across to the adjacent room and jump down.

Find the rocky crevice to the left. You may need to succeed on a passive perception check to find it. Only small creatures can fit through this entrance.

You’ll exit into the hallway right outside the Defiled Temple puzzle room.

How to Solve the Defiled Temple Floor Puzzle

To get started with solving this strange floor puzzle, be sure you're facing the puzzle from the entrance archway. Once you're facing the right direction, the key to solving the floor puzzle will be to rotate the moon plates until the bottom plate has all the black dots.

This will also correspond with the clue you found in the room adjacent to Priestess Gut’s room. To solve the Defiled Temple floor puzzle in the most efficient manner, simply rotate the plates as you follow the five steps below:

Step 1: Rotate the bottom plate.

Step 2: Rotate the right plate.

Step 3: Rotate the bottom plate.

Step 4: Rotate the top plate.

Step 5: Rotate the right plate.

If you followed the steps above, you'll soon hear a click, indicating the puzzle has been solved, followed by your character saying, “This goes very far down. We’ll have to go in to see the bottom.”

Rewards: What the Puzzle Reveals

Head up the stairs straight ahead to find a secret door at the back of the room that opened after you solved the puzzle. This reveals one of the entrances to the Underdark.

Alternative Defiled Temple Floor Puzzle Solution

There is one alternative solution to get past the Defiled Temple puzzle. This requires a successful passive perception check roll. To trigger this behind-the-scenes roll, head to the back right corner of the room and walk up the stairs.

If your automatic perception check is successful, your character will say, “Something over there,” and a lever will be revealed on the side of the platform.

Lockpick the lever (or use the Priestess' Key, if you have it) and activate it to open the secret door.