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Adam Braunstein
Adam is RPG Informers resident VR enthusiast and a dedicated member of the team. He loves RPGs more than any other genre and enjoys nothing more than getting lost in a huge open world. His standout titles are Fallout 4, Skyrim and Bloodborne, and longs for the day when RPG's release on VR platforms as standard.
Latest posts by Adam Braunstein (see all)
- Are AI Generated Games The Next Big Thing? - February 2, 2024
- If You Play 3 Games A Year, Stop Voicing Your ‘Expert’ Opinion - January 9, 2024
- Is Sony’s Adaptive Difficulty A Good Idea? - January 7, 2024
Table of Contents
- Quest Details Up Front
- Brief Walkthrough
- Extended Walkthrough
- Discovering Waukeen's Rest
- Waukeen's Rest is Burning
- Rescuing the Trapped Man
- FAQ
- Question: Is Waukeen's Rest optional?
- Question: How do you avoid activating environment battles?
- Question: Can you rescue the Grand Duke at Moonrise Towers?
- Putting the Fires Out
Baldur’s Gate 3 has a way of making even the most mundane situations become unpredictable thrill rides. It’s that DND DNA that keeps every moment of the game a gripping one, and it makes it so that you never speed through a moment without first considering what the consequences will be.
One of those situations is the area known as Waukeen’s Rest. It seems like it’s just an ordinary Inn on the outside, but it quickly becomes something far more complex and interesting. There is a surprising amount to do in Waukeen’s rest, so let’s jump in and see what this area has to offer in Baldur’s Gate 3.
Quest Details Up Front
- Quest Location:Waukeen’s Rest
- Quest Length:1 hour
- Requirements:None
- Difficulty:1 hour
- Rewards:Various loot, the Spellsparkler, The Joltshooter, or the Sparky Points weapons. You can only receive one.
Brief Walkthrough
- Step One:Talk with the Flaming Fist
- Step Two:Figure out a way into the building
- Step Three:Save the people in the building
- Step Four:Escape the building
- Step Five:Discover the fate of the Grand Duke
Extended Walkthrough
Discovering Waukeen’s Rest
The path to Waukeen’s rest is a difficult one, with you being required to traverse not only the Blighted Village but also the Risen Roads to get there. Whether or not you take on enemies along the way is up to you. Once on the Risen Road, travel north, and you’ll find yourself coming upon Waukeen’s Rest, an inn that has seen better days.
Waukeen’s Rest is Burning
There is quite a mess to sort out when you arrive at Waukeen’s Rest, and the first thing to do is talk with the Flaming Fist mercenaries outside. You’ll find out quickly that an important figure known as The Counsellor is trapped inside the burning building and that time is of the essence in terms of getting them out alive.
You need to get through the doors somehow, and you can roll a strength check to knock it down with your natural strength, but you can also attack the door until it breaks.
Once inside, you’ll have a unique experience in the game as the environment becomes an enemy, taking turns to unleash things such as explosions that can harm your characters and the Flaming Fist members who enter with you. In order to remedy this, you can use the various barrels of water strewn throughout to put out fires or use spells that turn surfaces wet. This will make navigating the inn far easier and limit your need to heal every few steps.
There are several civilians in here that you can save, but the only really important one is the Counsellor. You will be battling against an unseen timer on who lives or dies in the inn, so you’ll need to move quickly once you’re inside. There are two ways to get to the Counsellor.
- You can travel throughout the inn, extinguishing fires as you go and risking injury to not only your party but Flaming Fist mercenaries.
- You can hop through a window in the back of the Inn to get in and find multiple water barrels to extinguish the fire.
- Or, you can explore the nearby barn, jump up to the second floor, and arrive immediately at the door that Counsellor Florrick is behind.
We’re going to detail the easiest method.
If you want to save the Counsellor whose life timer gets activated via the environment, producing an explosion, you have to first leave the building through the door you came in and find an alternative entrance to the right that is blocked by a barrel. Break the barrel with normal attacks, and then take the crates and use them to create a platform so that you can hop up to the top floor. You can also get up here via a jump if you prefer.
You will need to pick a lock in order to get to the Counsellor, but as long as you save here and have a decent Rogue in your party or a lock-picking kit, you should be able to get to her without too much of an issue.
She turns out to be Counsellor Florrick, who will task you with helping her find the Grand Duke who has been kidnapped. It turns out that the Grand Duke also happens to be Wyll’s father, and if he’s in your party here, he will comment on the situation and beg you to help as well.
This then kicks off the quest to get to Moonrise Towers, as this is the assumed location of the Grand Duke. For your efforts, you will be rewarded by Counsellor Florrick with a choice of three weapons, The Spellsparkler, The Joltshooter, and The Sparky Points. Each weapon will benefit a different playstyle, so choose accordingly, depending on which party member you want to upgrade the equipment of.
Rescuing the Trapped Man
This side quest is available in Waukeen’s Rest as well and will become active once inside. You’ll need to navigate to the second floor of the burning building, and you’ll hear a man screaming inside behind a door that is inaccessible.
Time is of the essence once again, so you’ll need to break that door down quickly and then figure out a way to lift the beams off of Benryn, our screaming man in question.
To do this, we will need to either pass a strength check of 10 or an investigation check of 15. Failure of any of these will cause you to enter a full turn-based mode. If you succeed, you will also enter turn-based mode, but you can end it by getting to the door fast.
If you manage to free him, he will follow you outside and ask you for a favor. You will need to go back into a burning building to find a Dowry Ring.
The way to find it is by going to the left of the inn to find a stable. You will know you’re in the right place when you see the Hafling corpse. If you move to the end of it, you’ll get a perception check. If you pull it off, you’ll be able to discover a chest that has the Dowry Ring inside.
Return to Benryn, and you’ll have the choice of keeping the ring or giving it to him. The result is the same, so make your choice, and you’ll end the quest.
FAQ
Question: Is Waukeen’s Rest optional?
Answer: No, you must go through this area to receive the quest to head to Moonrise Towers.
Question: How do you avoid activating environment battles?
Answer: There are generally triggers that cause the environment battles to start. Learn what they are, and you’ll be able to avoid them.
Question: Can you rescue the Grand Duke at Moonrise Towers?
Answer: No, it turns out the Grand Duke is not there at all but located in Baldur’s Gate later in the game.
Putting the Fires Out
Although Waukeen’s Rest is beyond saving, at least you’re able to do some good there before you leave. Make sure on your way out that you loot any bodies you can find. Some of the Flaming Fist mercenaries will take offence if you do this, leading to them turning on you if you do it too many times, so be stealthy about it, and you’ll come away with some pretty decent equipment to either use or sell.
