How to open the pod and rescue Shadowheart in Baldur’s Gate 3

There will come many points in Baldur’s Gate 3 where you’re trying to solve a puzzle, and you’re hitting a brick wall trying to figure out the answer. No matter if it’s simple or tough, sometimes the solution can fly right over your head. This can even be true for the first puzzle in the game, when you’re still in the Mind Flayer ship. We’ll help you out if you’re wondering how to open the pod and rescue Shadowheart in Baldur’s Gate 3.

How to free Shadowheart from the Mind Flayer pod in Baldur’s Gate 3

As soon as you jump into gameplay after creating your character, you’ll need to find a way to escape the Mind Flayer ship. Along the way, you’ll meet Lae’zel, a githyanki, and should eventually stumble upon a half-elf named Shadowheart, stuck inside a pod. How you can open the pod and rescue Shadowheart in Baldur’s Gate 3 is by finding the rune to place into the console.

Screenshot by PC Invasion

At first, there doesn’t seem to be a way to open the pod. If you check the console to the right of the pod, you can try interacting with it. Sadly, nothing happens, but you notice it seems dormant, and that there’s a socket to hold something. Other than heading straight towards the hull of the ship, there’s one other room available. Head into that room, and near the very back, you should see a chest, and a corpse.

Screenshot by PC Invasion

On the corpse’s body is an Eldritch Rune. Add it to your inventory, and you can head back to the console by the pod. Now, you can insert the rune into the console, and will it to open. Whatever the Mind Flayers inserted into your brain, it can help you in this situation.

The pod door finally opens, and Shadowheart falls out. From here, you can decide to take her with you, or desert her. But since you went through all the trouble to get her out, you may as well team up with her. Clerics are highly-useful allies!

Baldur’s Gate 3 is available on Steam.