Harpies are one of the enemies that you will come across in Baldur’s Gate 3 and during a quest called Investigate the Beach, you will come across them trying to lure a child.
The child turns out to be one of the Tieflings called Mirkon, who is taking refuge at the Emerald Grove and has wandered too far, allowing a group of Harpies to lure him towards them.
This later requires that you fight the Harpies to save Mirkon, while also having to resist their Luring Song that causes a huge disadvantage to your party.
Where To Find Harpies At Emerald Grove?
The Harpies can be found to the northeast of Emerald Grove past the area that is blocked off by the druids, which you can enter after a cutscene where they are blocking the area.
If you head towards the beach (Secluded Cove), you will start to hear singing and eventually find Mirkon standing near the water.
Approaching Mirkon will begin a scene that reveals that the child is being lured by Harpies, which would lead to his death unless you intervene. (Harpies attack after the scene)
How To Ambush Harpies?
The Harpies will be focused on the child and instead of going directly to Mirkon, there is a path above where you can pass to gain a vantage point.
A good way to ambush the Harpies would be to position some of your ranged characters on higher ground and attack the Harpies.
This requires that one of your characters jump to the cliff or that you have one character head to Mirkon once the rest are in position.
How To Defeat Harpies?
Unlike most enemies, the Harpies have a way to disable most of your characters with their Luring Song, which causes nearby members to approach them.
This can cause a huge problem if multiple members of your party are lured by the song, but you can counter this by attacking the Harpies that are singing.
To disrupt the Luring Song by a Harpy, you will need to attack them, and this can be done with ranged attacks such as using bows or casting abilities such as Magic Missile.
Once a Luring Song has been disabled, you can continue to fight the Harpies without your team getting distracted.
How To Save Mirkon?
Mirkon may just be a Tiefling child, but this doesn’t change the fact that he is about to become Harpy Feed if left alone.
During the fight, the Harpies will attempt to attack and kill Mirkon, which makes it necessary to protect him while you attack the Harpies.
Mirkon will often run from the area where the fighting is happening, but some Harpies may chase after him, which makes it necessary to focus on them first.
Once all of the Harpies have been defeated and Mirkon is safe, he will later tell you to speak with Donni to gain access to their hideout where you can speak to their leader Mol.
Finding Mirkon Dead
If you happen to find Mirkon dead at the Secluded Cove, this will mean that the events have already taken place after you have progressed with the main story.
This makes it necessary to defeat the Harpies in the Investigate the Beach quest earlier (preferably when your party is level 3) or else Mirkon may become a victim to the Harpies.
His death can be triggered if you do a long rest after encountering him, defeating the goblin camp, or betraying Minthara before saving him.
Gale’s Reaction
After you save Mirkon, Gale will want to speak with you, and he mentions how he sees a similarity between himself and the child.
This is where he reveals that he has gotten into mischief as a child, which involved many strange things that he has done such as summoning a winged cat.
The winged cat he mentions is known as a Tressym, which is later revealed to be named Tara and you may encounter the creature later when you progress.
Verdict
The Harpies can be annoying, especially since they can fly around and tend to move to higher places which gives you a disadvantage.
Always focus on disrupting the Luring Song cast by the Harpies as this will continuously play unless they are stopped, which may disrupt more than one member of your party.
Saving Mirkon gives you access to the Tiefling Hideout where you can interact with Mol for a quest and even provide additional content when you meet her after you progress in the game.