How in Avernus did I totally miss this secret treasure-stuffed shortcut to the Underdark in Act 1 of Baldur's Gate 3 no less than seven times?

Baldur's Gate 3 guide to getting into the Zhentarim hideout and then the Underdark, with a wood elf druid female with glowing eyes shown looking at the viewer.

I've played Baldur's Gate 3 a lot now. And, let me tell you, I've played through Act 1 more times than a lot. I just can't help creating new characters! This restart-itus has become even worse recently, too, thanks to me delving into the world of Baldur's Gate 3 cosmetic mods, which are letting me take character aesthetics to a whole new level.

And, while I'm now overly familiar with Act 1 of Baldur's Gate 3, I'm still astonished that after playing through the game so many times, with so many different characters, I'm still being surprised by in-game content that I've never seen before, such as my recent discovery of a swag-laden shortcut into the Underdark that I'd totally missed on every other run to date. Naturally, spoilers now follow.

Start by ducking around this corner in the top left-hand corner of the Waukeen's Rest inn's central courtyard. (Image credit: Future)

Hidden in plain sight

I'm referring to the Zhentarim (Faerûn's black market trading organisation) hideout, which while I'm sure some PC gamers have found during their playthroughs of Baldur's Gate 3, I managed to miss entirely, on repeat. Well, entirely until I ran through Waukeen's Rest with my most recent character, the wood elf druid Flidais, and noticed I'd never been in that particular locked door in the inn's stable area.

Next, get your way through this locked door. Pick it, destroy it, or get onto the building's roof and sneak in through the back. (Image credit: Future)

The door in question can be bypassed in a number of ways, be that picking its lock (Astarion FTW!), breaking it down or, if you get a bit stack happy with crates, having one or more of your adventurers jump onto the roof of the building and then sneak in to it around the back through a whole in the rear wall. Equally, if you have any characters with Enhanced Leap or Misty Step, or a Potion of Flying on hand, then you can also get up on the roof tiles that way.

At the back of the barn look for this hidden trap door. (Image credit: Future)

Regardless of the option you choose, proceed past the door and then avoid being ambushed by a crouched, ambushing Zhentarim scout. Once you are past the scout you will find, nestled at the back of a very ordinary looking barn, a hidden trap door. Proceed through the trap door and you'll find yourself in a hidden storage area loaded with containers. Many of these contain useful items or camp supplies, so it's worth raiding them all, but what you want to do next is check out the large wardrobe that's tucked up the far left corner of the room.

Be sure to raid every container in this room for a welcome bounty of consumables. (Image credit: Future)

Successfully interact with this wardrobe and you'll discover that it is actually a secret door that once opened leads down to the Zhentarim hideout proper. And, aside from featuring characters and content you've never seen before if, like me, you'd missed this area in your previous Baldur's Gate 3 runs, this hideout also boasts some really juicy treasures that will help you in your adventure, as well as a direct shortcut into the Underdark.

Then, in the corner of the room, head on over to and interact with this wardrobe. (Image credit: Future)

Here be treasures

I won't go into a detailed list of what's on offer down here, but rest assured for a low-level party it is a smorgasbord of usefulness. There's consumables, such as potions and camp supplies, weapons, wearables and coin, as well as maybe the most useful thing of all in Baldur's Gate 3—explosive smokepowder barrels. Getting the barrels isn't a walk in the park (I won't spoil the surprise), but if you manage it, then you can fill your party's inventory with enough smokepowder barrels to blow even The Absolute into Avernus.

If you can avoid the smokepowder barrels blowing up in your face, you can bag them all, and there are A LOT of them. (Image credit: Future)

There's also some serious treasure chests to loot down here, too. (Image credit: Future)

Filled your pockets with loads of loot from the Zhentarim's Black Market operations? Well then, why not then make straight for the Underdark, making use of the Zhentarim's own personal lift directly down into the Deepearth. This lift, the base station of which I had discovered previously but had been unable to activate from below, means you can enter the Underdark without having to make your way through the ruined Selûnite temple.

Then ride down into the Underdark in your own private lift. (Image credit: Future)

There's no massive advantage to doing so, and indeed I was disappointed to discover I couldn't enter the goblin camp in reverse (there's no lever to trigger the hidden door, meaning you're stuck facing a brick wall), but it does mean you can easily bag a clutch items and weapons (such as the simply superb Phalar Aluve longsword) from the Underdark early.

Be sure to go grab the Phalar Aluve longsword early once you get to the Underdark. (Image credit: Future)

You'll also have your breeches absolutely stuffed with sausages and cheese wheels, meaning that you'll be able to bag a few more long rests before tackling some of the tougher Act 1 foes. Neat! And chapeaux to Larian for continuing to surprise me even after putting literally hundreds of hours into Baldur's Gate 3.