In the Gauntlet of Shar you’ll have to solve several puzzles, including a group of three Sharran trials. Each of these trials will reward you with an Umbral Gem, which you’ll need to advance further through the dungeon. This page will provide a walkthrough for the Faith-Leap Trial in Baldur’s Gate 3.
Where to Find the Faith-Leap Trial in Baldur’s Gate 3¶
To reach the Faith-Leap Trial you’ll need to advance a way into the Gauntlet of Shar, past the Statue of Shar puzzle at the beginning of the dungeon, through a sealed circular door to the north (solving the aforementioned puzzle unlocks it, although you can take a circuitous route west through a Cloaker lair). Once through the door to the north (or past the Cloaker lair, as you prefer) you’ll need to fight some shadow Justiciars, who will be in the shrine north of the Cloaker lair or just beyond the sealed door. After these Sharran specters are defeated, you’ll want to head down some stairs to the west (if you went through the door) or east (if you are coming from the shrine) to find the Gauntlet of Shar waypoint. From the intersection near the waypoint, head north and you’ll find the Soft-Step Trial and the Self-Same Trial to the west. Continue past them, go down some stairs, and you’ll find yourself standing in front of a door. Beyond this door lies the Faith-Leap Trial.
How to Complete the Faith-Leap Puzzle in the Gauntlet of Shar¶
This is an odd trial, compared to the others, inasmuch as you can’t cheese it. That said, once you understand how it works it’s not all that difficult. Go through the doors to enter the trial and you’ll find yourself before another altar that demands blood. More importantly, there’s a chamber beyond (west of) this altar, most of which is a pit save for three Darkness enshrouded platforms housing three more statues of Shar. If you look closely, you’ll spot some darker tiles forming a path across the pit. Your goal for this puzzle is to follow the path to the far end of the room, where the Umbral Gem resides.
There are some complications, however. First, it’s rather hard to see this path under ideal circumstances. Second, the path vanishes if you’re standing too close - you can see distant parts of the path, but not anything directly near you, making this something of a memory/guessing puzzle. Third, if you fall off the path you’ll be warped back to the beginning of the puzzle. Fail three times and that character will die. Finally, in case you thought you could just cheese things, if you jump or Misty Step across too much of the puzzle the game will count it as if you fell from the path. Shame, otherwise a simple Jump spell would allow you to traverse across the stable, Darkness-enshrouded platforms.
That said, there is one mercy Larian has granted that makes this puzzle more tolerable (besides the ability to save-scum through any mishaps). If you look near the blood-hungry altar at the beginning of the trial you’ll find some strange markings on the ground - golden lines on a black background. This is a map of the chamber, showing all three platforms and the paths that run over the pit. Using this as a reference, you should be able to navigate through the chamber - it’s not perfect, but it’s far better than just guessing, and the locations of the platforms in relation to the paths make it somewhat easy to navigate. Also keep in mind that while long leaps will be penalized, you can perform shorter jumps - useful when you’re trying to clear that last bit of space to reach a platform. You might want to keep a character near the beginning of the puzzle so you can easily swap between the two characters to get a good look at the map. And of course, when in doubt, be sure to quicksave.
Navigate to the far end of the trial chamber to claim your Umbral Gem. If you made an oopsie (like a certain page author might have) and forgot to make the blood sacrifice at the start of the puzzle, never fear - you can just have your map-looker shed some blood to activate the Umbral Gem, which your puzzle-walker can then scoop up. The game is also nice enough to allow you to just teleport back once you’ve claimed your prize.
Now that you have this Umbral Gem, continue exploring the Gauntlet of Shar with the aid of these walkthrough pages:
- Gauntlet of Shar and Temple of Shar Complete Walkthrough in BG3
- Umbral Gem Locations in BG3: Gauntlet of Shar, Puzzle & How to Get
- Soft-Step Trial Puzzle Guide at the Gauntlet of Shar in BG3
- Gauntlet of Shar: How to Complete the Self-Same Trial in BG3
- Should You Kill or Help Yurgir in BG3
- How to Complete the Riddle of the Night at the Silent Library in BG3
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