A projected mind in the Necrotic Laboratory area of Baldur's Gate 3 creates a fragmented puzzle that you must solve to open a path leading forward.

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• How To Solve The Mind Link Puzzle

• Rewards For Solving The Necrotic Laboratory Puzzle

Act 2 of Baldur's Gate 3 takes you and your party toward a horrific Mind Flayer sanctum underneath Moonrise Towers, but the only way to reach this place is to solve a puzzle within a Necrotic Laboratory. A Flesh-Wrought Door blocks you from powerful items and secrets lurking beyond in the hidden lair of the creatures who caused your adventure to begin with. Fixing a shattered consciousness broken by the Flayers will help open the way forward.

Once you reach the Necrotic Laboratory in Act 2, you can see the splintered mind over a large red chasm next to a command console. Interacting with the console lets you manipulate the mind by creating a neural network across a series of multicolored nodes. Like the Silent Library puzzle in Baldur's Gate 3, you cannot use magic to give yourself any advantages or clues that would make this challenge easier.

How To Solve The Mind Link Puzzle

Solving the Mind Link puzzles requires you to create four neural paths from different nodes along an unbroken chain that doesn't interfere with another route. Every starting node has a distinct color and shape with labels that can help you keep track of the connections you're making in Baldur's Gate 3. When you start, you may select either Reason (purple), Speech (blue), Memory (green), or Emotion (yellow).

There are no skill checks involved at any stage of this puzzle, so make sure not to spend spell slots on magic like Guidance to boost your chances on a roll that will never come.

No matter what node you pick, you must create an uninterrupted line of the same color from the beginning icon to a point with a matching symbol inside the neural network. Selecting a node activates the line connecting multiple spots if you selected one of the starting "brains" first. If you accidentally create a route that will get in the way of another chain later, you can always reset the pattern whenever you wish in Baldur's Gate 3.

Repeat this process until you eventually tie every primary node to its counterpart at the end of the projected mind. Make sure to use the edges of the network to leave plenty of space for the routes you generate as you continue to solve the puzzle in Baldur's Gate 3. Thankfully, there is no time limit to figuring out which paths complete the "brain," giving you plenty of chances to experiment and mess up.

Rewards For Solving The Necrotic Laboratory Puzzle

Solving the Necrotic Laboratory puzzle opens a path into a secret Mind Flayer lair in Baldur's Gate 3, giving you access to many new treasures. Some stand-out items include the Blade of Oppressed Souls, the Braindrain Gloves, and the Circlet of Mental Anguish. Traveling into the depths of this area will also reveal the future plans of the evil aberrations and tie into the story of Lae'Zel in Baldur's Gate 3 if she has remained your companion.

The Blade of Oppressed Souls is a +1 Longsword magic weapon that deals 1d10 Slashing damage and 1d4 Psychic damage when hitting an enemy. The Braindrain Gloves have a trait called Mental Interference, which inflicts the Mental Fatigue condition for two turns whenever you deal Psychic damage to an enemy. These two items pair well together to consistently deal damage and cause this status effect during battles in Baldur's Gate 3.

Mental Fatigue is a condition that gives a character a -1 penalty to Charisma, Intelligence, and Wisdom, Saving Throws for every turn the affliction is active.

The final item, the Circlet of Mental Anguish, is a rare artifact that lets you regain Hit Points when an enemy fails a Charisma, Intelligence, or Wisdom saving throw against one of your spells. If you use the Braindrain Gloves to cause the Mental Fatigue condition, enemies have a much harder time succeeding on these types of saving throws. This makes the Circlet a fantastic item for a spell caster who struggles with low health in Baldur's Gate 3.

Those who solve the Necrotic Laboratory puzzle in Baldur's Gate 3 can continue toward the end of Act 2 and prepare for the dangerous foes that await them in the city that their party arrives in during Act 3.

• Baldur's Gate 3

  Developer(s):

  Larian Studios

  Franchise:

  Baldur's Gate

  Genre(s):

  RPG

  Platform(s):

  macOS, Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 5

  Publisher(s):

  Larian Studios

  Summary:

  Baldur's Gate 3 is a long-anticipated sequel to Baldur's Gate 2, released in 2000 from BioWare and now being handled by Larian Studios. Set 120 years after the events of Shadows of Amn, Baldur's Gate 3 puts players in the role of a customizable protagonist who has been captured and infected with a parasite that will turn them into a mind flayer. Before the process is complete, the ship they are on crashes, leaving them on a quest to cure themselves as they meet up with other survivors. Gameplay is turn-based and can be played co-operatively online or tackled alone in a single-player campaign with NPC allies. 

  Prequel:

  Baldur's Gate 2

  Released:

  2023-08-31

  How Long To Beat:

  50 - 100 hours