In Baldur’s Gate 3, if you manage to acquire a working Moonlantern in the Shadow Cursed Lands, you’ll eventually face a choice to free the Pixie trapped inside. Considering the lanterns are almost essential to escaping the Shadow Curse, you may be conflicted.
The Pixie powers the protective light, tempting you to keep it hostage to ease your travel. If you are not sure whether to free the Pixie in Baldur’s Gate 3, this is what you need to know.
What happens if you free the Pixie in Baldur’s Gate 3?
You should free the Pixie from the Moonlantern in Baldur’s Gate 3. If you free the Pixie, you will attain the Pixie’s Blessing. This buff works as a much better, permanent version of the Moonlantern, making you immune to the effects of the Shadow Curse.
The Pixie’s Blessing applies to the entire party, meaning you can venture around the Shadow Cursed lands without any trouble from the local blight. Whereas torches and the Moonlantern are severely restricted, the Pixie’s gift is by far the most powerful tool to avoid the Shadow Curse. Instead of doing your best to fix the broken Moonlanterns, it is better to go with the Pixie’s Blessing.
Freeing the Pixie also helps to complete the Stop the Presses side quest in Act 3, as the Printing Press will automatically be friendly and articles can be changed without an ability check. If you didn’t free the Pixie, an ability check stands in the way of completing this particular side quest.
What happens if you trap the Pixie in Baldur’s Gate 3?
However, if you’re going the evil route or playing the Dark Urge, you can always kill or trap the Pixie. There is some benefit to keeping the Pixie trapped; the Moonlantern is much better at spotting Wraiths.
Despite this benefit, your entire party will still be limited to a relatively small radius, always centered around the character wielding the Moonlantern.
Trapping the Pixie also has consequences in the Stop the Presses side quest in Act 3, as you need to pass an ability check for the Printing Press to become friendly. This isn’t too hard though, so do whatever you feel is the best choice for your character.
How to free the Pixie in Baldur’s Gate 3
The only working Moonlantern is obtained from Kar’niss, and it contains the Pixie, which will give you the blessing. There are no other Moonlanterns to fix. Whenever you acquire a Moonlantern, whether from ambushing Kar’niss or not, you can inspect it.
Once you inspect it, your character should be able to observe the Pixie trapped inside. Let the Pixie go, but make sure to select the magical creature’s blessing as your reward; otherwise, you will be out of the lantern and the permanent buff.
This action can be done at any time after you get the Moonlantern. Though there are various ways to travel through the Shadow Cursed Lands, none are better than the Pixie’s Blessing.
