The Baldur’s Gate 3 is a role-playing video game in a fantasy world.
The Neural Switchboard in Baldur’s Gate 3 allows you to control the Steel Watchers in the Foundry.
The BG3 Neural Switchboard is a device that lets you control the Steel Watchers in the Foundry. You need a particular Neural Node item to solve a puzzle connecting the brain’s four parts.
Continue reading to learn what Neural Switchboard is and how to obtain the Neural Node.
Table of Contents Show
What Is Neural Switchboard In BG3?
The Neural Switchboard is a device in Baldur’s Gate 3.
It allows you to connect the four parts of a brain: Speed, Emotion, Memory, and Reason.
It is located in the Necrotic Lab of the Mind Flayer Colony.
In this location, players will find a Mind Archive machine containing various creatures’ brains.
The Neural Switchboard is part of The Foundry quest.
Moreover, you have to help a Githzerai named Zanner Toobin to destroy the Mind Flayer facility and rescue his family.
How To Use Neural Switchboard In BG3?
You need to have a particular item called the Neural Node to use the Neural Switchboard.
The Neural Node allows you to connect the four colored brain centers to their corresponding centers on the opposite side.
The colors are Speed (red), Emotion (blue), Memory (green), and Reason (yellow). Further, they are arranged on a web of Neural Nodes.
It would be best if you made sure that no two centers share a node, meaning they each have to have their path to the other side.
The players can view the puzzle from above by pressing O for ease. Moreover, solving the puzzle opens the door to a secret area.
There, you can find a Mind Flayer monument and a new brain that you can use in the Mind Archive machine nearby.
You can also get a boon from the brain if you agree to purge it.
How To Obtain The Neural Node In BG3?
The players can obtain a Neural Node from the corpse of a Mind Flayer named Zanner Toobin.
However, he was defeated by the Steel Watchers.
You can find his body in a room on the opposite side of the Foundry, past a large furnace and a conveyor belt.
You will need to fight or sneak past some enemies along the way, such as Goblins, Duergar, and Slads.
Once you reach Zanner Toobin’s corpse, you can loot it and obtain the Neural Node.
How to Solve the Puzzle?
Once you have the Neural Node, you can return to the Neural Switchboard and insert it into the socket.
This will activate the device and reveal a puzzle you need to solve.
It would be best to ensure that no two centers share a node. It means that each has to have their path to the other side.
The puzzle has multiple solutions, but one possible way to solve it is as follows:
- Connect Speed (red) from the left to the opposite side using the nodes on the top row. However, you must light up the right side’s red center.
- Connect Emotion (blue) from the left to the opposite side using the nodes on the bottom row. However, light up the blue center on the right side.
- Connect Memory (green) from the left to the opposite side using the nodes on the middle row. However, light up the green center on the right side.
- Connect Reason (yellow) from the left to the opposite side using any remaining nodes not occupied by other colors. However, light up the yellow center on the right side.
Further, you can check if you have solved the puzzle correctly by looking at the lights on each center.
If they are all lit up, then you have successfully connected them. If not, you must adjust your connections until they are all lit up.
Malfunctioning Of Neural Switchboard In BG3
Malfunctioning of the Neural Switchboard is a known issue.
It affects the players trying to complete the quest to disable the Steel Watch.
There are different reasons why the Neural Switchboard might malfunction, depending on your choices and actions.
Here are some possible causes and solutions:
1. Zanner Toobin Disappear
The NPC Zanner Toobin guides you to the control center and helps you use the Neural Switchboard.
He might disappear or die during the quest. This can happen if you long rest after rescuing him or if he gets killed by enemies or traps.
If this happens, you can try to find his corpse and use a Speak with Dead spell on him.
He will tell you you need a password, which is Gond’s name.
You can find this name in the book The Many Faces of Gond, which is on a bookshelf in the lab area before the boss fights with the Titan robot.
2. Zanner’s Corpse Damaged
Use Speak with Dead on him if Zanner’s corpse is too severely damaged.
Or, if you cannot find him, you can still get the password from another source.
You can get the Runepowder Bomb from Wulbren, a Gondian engineer in the Foundry.
He will give you the bomb if you rescue his family from the Iron Throne prison.
Further, if you persuade him with high charisma, the bomb has a note revealing Gond’s name.
3. Bypass Neural Switchboard
You can bypass the Neural Switchboard if you cannot get the password from either Zanner or Wulbren.
You need to solve a brain puzzle in the Necrotic Lab in the Mind Flayer Colony.
This will unlock a door that leads to a console that can override the Neural Switchboard.
However, you have to connect the neural map of a brain by following some clues.
The Bottom Line
Hence, solving the puzzle opens a secret area with a Mind Flayer statue and a brain.
The brain belongs to an ancient Illithid queen whose memories you can access and erase.
However, erasing her brain gives you a boost to one of your mental attributes.
