Should You Kill the Mystic Carrion in Baldur’s Gate 3 (BG3)? – Answered

Do we need a mummy?

Mystic Carrion in Baldur's Gate 3
Screenshot by Prima Games.

The Mystic Carrion is tied to two different quests, Find the Mystic Carrion and Destroy the Mystic Carrion. But you don’t need to fight the elusive mummy if you don’t want to, and in this guide, we’ll go over whether it’s best to kill the Mystic Carrion or leave him alone.

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Who is the Mystic Carrion in BG3?

The Mystic Carrion in BG3 is a mysterious and secretive Mummy Lord found in Philgrave’s Mansion. He claims to be a spirit medium who works with wealthy clientele from Baldur’s Gate’s Upper City. Mystic Carrion has some nice wares for sale but, upon approach, will immediately dismiss you and your party for being too poor for his services. But if you ask Mystic Carrion if there’s anything you can do for him, he’ll perk up and request your aid, starting the Find Mystic Carrion’s Servant side quest.

Should You Kill the Mystic Carrion in BG3?

Yes, you should absolutely kill Mystic Carrion in Baldur’s Gate 3. The being has ruined countless lives and you can still complete any quests tied to him after his defeat. We would even go a step further and say that killing the Mystic Carrion allows you to complete the battle task, along with looting some of the best items in his personal shop.

After killing the Mystic Carrion, you’ll find the following items as loot: rusty key, spell scroll, key, Staff of Cherished Necromancy, Armour of the Sporekeeper, and Veil of the Morning.

Staff of Cherished Necromancy Stats

Here are the stats for the Staff of Cherished Necromancy.

  • One-handed damage: 1d6 + 2 (3~8) Bludgeoning damage.
  • Two-handed damage: 1d8 + 2 (3~-10) Bludgeoning damage.
  • Elemental damage: 1d4 (1~4) Necrotic damage.
  • Rarity: Very Rare.
  • Enchantment: +2.
  • Versatile.
  • Dippable.
  • Range: 1.5m.
  • Weight: 1.8kg.
  • Price: 480gp.
  • Heightened Necromancy: Creatures have a Disadvantage on Saving Throws against your Necromancy spells.
  • Life Essence Harvest: When the wielder kills a hostile creature with a spell, they greedily absorb its energy and gain Life Essence until their next Long Rest.

Armour of the Sporekeeper Stats

Here are the stats for the Armour of the Sporekeeper light armor

  • Armour class: 13.
  • Weight: 4.5.
  • Value: 1,000.
  • Malefic Funghi: The wearer gains a +1 bonus to Spell Save DC and when dealing Necrotic damage, they deal an additional 1 Necrotic Damage.
  • Spore Sacks: While imbued with Symbiotic Entity, you can spread Bibberbang Spores, Timmask Spores, and Haste Spores.
  • Very Rare.

Veil of the Morning Stats

Here are the stats for the Veil of the Morning.

  • Armour Class: 10
  • Weight: 1.8kg
  • Value: 1,600gp
  • Let the Undead Blanch with Fear!: Undead have Disadvantage on Attack Rolls against you, and you have Advantage on Saving Throws against their actions and spells.
  • Turn Undead.

Where to Find the Mystic Carrion

The Mystic Carrion is found in the Lower City of Baldur’s Gate in Philgrave’s Mansion during Act Three. There are a few ways to the mansion.

  1. The first way is passing a perception check to reveal a hole in the wall, specifically at these coordinates, (X:-27, Y:-166). You will need to use the Enlarge/Reduce spell to squeeze through.
  2. The second way is on the other side of the building at the coordinates, (X:-8, Y:-158). Pass up the green Dragonborne and descend down the steps until you see a cutout of a door. To remove the stone slab, you have to succeed a DC25 Sleight of Hand check. Or you can simply use the Knock spell.

When you initially speak to the Mystic Carrion, he wants you to find Thrumbo and return him. Of course, Thrumbo will offer you his own story, and the quests don’t end there. The painter, Oskar Fevras, also needs the services of the Mystic Carrion to get rid of the spirit haunting his wife’s mansion. The good news is you can still get both of these quests done.

A masked character named Thrumbo in Baldur's Gate 3.
Help out poor Thrumbo. (Screenshot by Prima Games).

Where to Find Thrumbo

Thrumbo is located in the Lower City in Baldur’s Gate. He is the undead servant of the Mystic Carrion and it is your quest to find him. Here’s how:

  1. Teleport to the Heapside Strand on the map.
  2. Go down the three flight of stairs leading to the boats.
  3. Depending if you have been here or not, you might be preparing for a fight with the Sahuagin.
  4. After the fight, go into the small house with the stairs and enter the double doors.
  5. Thrumbo will be on the right-side inside of the wardrobe.

In our own Baldur’s Gate 3 playthrough, we ended up killing Thrumbo in the hopes that we could resurrect him after and throw the Mystic Carrion off our trail. But as soon as you speak to Thrumbo, the Mystic Carrion will smell Thrumbo on you, so you have to provide evidence or fight.

Well, Thrumbo just so happens to have the key to killing the Carrion. So we took the jar from Thrumbo’s corpse, killed the Mystic Carrion, and looted all his belongings. The chest in the main room will have the torch you need for the painter’s quest as well.

How to Defeat the Mystic Carrion in BG3

You can kill the Mystic Carrion by destroying his heart. If you tried killing Mystic Carrion beforehand and he resurrected, it’s because he has various body parts, particularly his heart, are jarred and stored away. There are four jarred body parts in total and finding and destroying each one will severely weaken Mystic Carrion.

The four jarred body parts you can find and destroy are

  • Jar of Mystic Carrion’s Lungs: found in the Mortuary in the Lower City’s graveyard (X: 27, Y: 19).
  • Jar of Mystic Carrion’s Brain: found on a table in the Ancient Lair through the Passageway west of the Undercity Ruins waypoint in the Lower City sewers.
  • Jar of Mystic Carrion’s Liver: found in a Gilded Chest to the left of Mystic Carrion’s brain in the Ancient Lair.
  • Jar of Mystic Carrion’s Heart: inside Thrumbo. If you didn’t kill Thrumbo, you can convince him to give you Mystic Carrion’s heart by talking to him after finding and reading the book “Funerary Jar Form and Function” found in the Ancient Lair.

With each body part found and destroyed, the fight against Mystic Carrion will be far simpler:

  • Head back to Philgraves’s Mansion.
  • Fight the mummy.
  • All of his fiends on the first floor will assist him, so be prepared for a tough fight.
  • You can’t truly win unless you have the jarred heart from Thrumbo.

Destroy the jarred heart and there will be no way for the Mystic Carrion to return in Baldur’s Gate 3. Based on his writings, the menace to the city won’t exactly be missed, and you can expect fewer murders.

That’s it for the Mystic Carrion in BG3, but if you still have the itch to hunt down undying ancients, here is my guide on where to find the Hag in Act 3 of Baldur’s Gate 3.

About the Author

Daniel Wenerowicz

Dan has been writing gaming guides, news, and features for three years after graduating with a BA in writing . You can find him covering Call of Duty for eternity, action-adventure games, and nearly any other major release.