The Focus at the Mountain Fortress in Gothic 1 Remake (Chapter 3)

The Focus at the Mountain Fortress is one of the focus stone objectives in Chapter 3 of Gothic 1 Remake. It runs under The Focus Stones, the main quest Saturas hands you after you finish The Water Mages’ Plan. To collect the stone, you cross a guarded bridge, climb through the fortress, solve a bookshelf puzzle to open a hidden door, and reach the elevated stone through a breach in the wall.

Quick answer: Beat the bridge golem with a blunt weapon (or let Lester do it), reach the library, then activate the three creature bookshelves in this order: sea creature, wolf, Molerat. Pass through the hidden door, drop from the attic, then exit through the wall breach to reach and grab the focus stone.

How to start The Focus at the Mountain Fortress

The quest becomes available once Saturas gives you The Focus Stones after The Water Mages’ Plan. Before heading to any focus stone, visit the tower Diego marked on your map when he gave you The Water Mages’ Plan.

Talk to the NPCs at that tower to mark each focus stone location on your in-game map. This conversation also sends the companion NPCs to their assigned stone locations, so Lester will then be waiting at the Mountain Fortress.

Where to find the Mountain Fortress

The Mountain Fortress sits southeast of the Old Camp. If you spoke to the NPCs at Diego’s tower first, the location should already be pinned on your map. Head toward the bridge that leads to the Orc Cemetery area, then take the right path upward into the mountains. Follow the tower in the distance until you reach a cave, pass through it, and take the path on the left at the fork to reach the bridge up to the fortress.

Lester waits just before the bridge. Speak with him for a warning about the golem ahead. Harpies and other dangerous enemies are spread through the area, so carry healing items and make a manual save before crossing.

How to beat the golem on the bridge

The stone golem blocking the bridge can only be damaged with a blunt weapon, so equip a mace or club if you have one. There’s a blunt weapon and a healing potion in the carriage nearby if you need them.

Speak with Lester at the bridge so he joins the fight. His mace can damage the golem, which matters if you don’t have a blunt weapon of your own.

Wait for the golem to finish its two-hit combo, then land a couple of hits and roll back to safety. Repeat that pattern, and let Lester handle most of the offense if needed.

Once the golem falls, cross the bridge and follow the winding path up toward the fortress, clearing Harpies along the way. Defeating the golem awards experience and an Ore Infused Root as a trophy.

How to reach the Mountain Fortress library

Inside the fortress you’ll see three paths. The left path leads down to the basement, which holds strong skeletons and loot such as an Amulet of Magic and a Ring of Enlightenment. The right path leads up to the focus stone and the puzzle rooms.

Take the right path. Go forward and pass through the first door on your right, then climb the stairs.

Pass through the opening on your right to reach an exterior walkway. Follow it, then re-enter the fortress through the opening on your left and continue up the stairs.

You’ll reach a room with a headless marble statue and wall paintings. Continue into the dining room and study the large painting on the wall, since it holds the solution to the bookshelf puzzle ahead.

Bookshelf puzzle solution in the Mountain Fortress

The large dining room painting shows a sea creature eating a wolf, and the wolf eating a Molerat. That food chain is the order in which you activate the bookshelves in the library. Each bookshelf has a creature statue on top, and you interact with them from largest predator to smallest prey.

Order	Bookshelf statue
1	Sea creature (Swampshark)
2	Wolf
3	Molerat

After you activate the three bookshelves in that order, the hidden door by the fireplace opens. Crouch through the opening, climb the stairs on your right, and follow the path to a ladder leading to the attic. The hidden chamber also holds chests with healing and magic energy items. From the attic edge, drop into the room below.

Locked chest key and Royal Guard Armor (optional)

The locked chest and the Royal Guard Armor inside are optional. If you only want to finish the quest, skip ahead to the focus stone. The armor is one of the best free mid-game sets, but reaching its key requires the Wall Climb ability, which you learn through Aiming High, a Swamp Camp side quest from Theron. Without that skill, ignore the locked chest.

After dropping from the attic, turn around. The door behind you leads to the locked chest with the Royal Guard Armor. Leave it for now and find the key first.

From the room you dropped into, go through the door across the room, climb the stairs, and continue to the end, where you’ll find an opening in the wall.

Approach the edge of that opening to get the Wall Climb prompt. Press the input shown and climb up and to the left to another opening. Pass through it, go right, and climb the stairs to an interior area with a couple of Harpies.

Defeat the Harpies, then use the exterior walkway with stairs to keep moving upward. The chest holding the key sits at the top, near more Harpies, and you’ll need to pick its lock. If you’re stuck on the lock, a free lockpick solver can help, since the correct sequence varies with your lockpicking training.

Loot the key, climb back down the wall, and return to the locked chest below the attic. Open it with the key to claim the Royal Guard Armor.

Note: The upper tower also rewards a thorough sweep. Players have found the Oak Bow on a weapon rack near the top, plus a chest containing the Storm Fist Rune, the Sword of Victory, and an Extract of Dexterity. None of this is required to complete the quest.

How to get the focus stone at the Mountain Fortress

Once you’ve either claimed the armor or skipped it, return to the room you dropped into from the attic and head to the opening in the wall. The focus stone is elevated, so you can’t simply climb to it. The wall breach is the route across.

If you want to keep Lester behind, speak with him in the laboratory and ask him not to follow. He’ll agree to wait there.

At the opening, look down and to your right to spot the focus stone below, then climb down to it.

Defeat the Harpies that appear, then interact with the stone to receive the Focus from the Mountain Fortress. Your quest log updates to confirm you have the stone.

Return to Lester and complete the quest

With the stone in hand, climb back up toward the opening you came through. About halfway up, look to your right and drop onto the exterior walkway that wraps around the tower. This is the same walkway you used on the way in.

Follow that route back to the library with the bookshelf puzzle, where Lester is waiting. Speak with him, and he’ll offer you the deed to the castle. You can sell it to a buyer and split the profit with Lester, or let him hold onto it for now. Keep the deed if you intend to finish the Special Pieces quest, since selling it elsewhere by mistake locks you out of that objective.

Leave the fortress and return to Saturas in the New Camp when you’re ready. Handing over the Focus from the Mountain Fortress completes the quest and advances The Focus Stones toward its remaining objectives.

Common reasons the quest stalls

A known issue can break this quest if you clear the Mountain Fortress before formally starting it, in which case Lester won’t interact with you. The same problem can occur if you give the focus stone to Saturas too early. To avoid it, start the quest line and speak to Lester at the bridge before clearing the fortress, and hold off on turning in the stone until the objective is active.

The Mountain Fortress is one of four focus stone stops in Chapter 3, alongside the Monastery Ruins, Troll Canyon, and the Stone Circle. Once all the stones are with Saturas, the story moves on to Flames to the Flood, so it’s worth grabbing the Royal Guard Armor and the tower loot here before you leave.