Whether stealing the Orphic Hammer or regretting a hasty deal with the devil, accessing the House of Hope behind Raphael’s back is essential. Fortunately, entering the House of Hope in BG3 is a breeze. We’ll help you create a devilish portal to reclaim some hope in a few simple steps.
Where to Find the House of Hope in BG3
To reach the House of Hope, you need to enter the Devil’s Fee shop to the north of the Lower City Central Wall portal. They are super close to each other, so you can spawn at the portal and then follow the short path heading north of the Apothecary. Head inside the Devil’s Fee and you will see Helsik, the main vendor, and an important key for entering the house.
The House of Hope itself can only be reached by using a portal and the ritual to open the portal is on the second floor of the Devil’s Fee. However, you’re going to need five different ingredients and potentially help from Helsik herself.
How to Enter the House of Hope in Baldur’s Gate 3
In order to open the portal to enter the House of Hope, you need to investigate the second floor of the Devil’s Fee. Five ingredients are needed for a ritual that opens up a portal, and there are two ways to obtain them. You can loot the Infernal Marble in the main chest on the second floor and then return to Helsik. You can then convince Helsik to help you reach the House of Hope and she will provide instructions for the ritual, as well as all five ingredients.
As we searched around the second floor though, we realized that all the ingredients existed in random containers. If you have proficiency with lockpicking, you can find everything you need without even speaking to Helsik or going to the House of Grief. But you will still need to place everything in the right order to spark the portal.
How to Open the Portal to the House of Hope in BG3
There are five ingredients to open the House of Hope portal: a diamond, a skull, an Infernal Marble, a Coin of Mammon, and incense. With all five items, you need to head to the ritual star on the second floor of the Devil’s Fee and place them all in the correct order. This star is made of blood and is hard to miss in the room.
Where to Find Items Needed to Open the House of Hope Portal
You’ll be able to get all five of these items directly from Helsik if you manage to convince her to help you. Otherwise, you can pickpocket the bag full of all five ingredients from her, or you can find the items in the following locations:
- A diamond: You can steal one from the medium-sized chest beside a bookcase and desk in a corner next to the ritual circle in Helsik’s room. Succeed a level 20 lockpick check. You can also buy one at the nearby Glitter Gala for 220 gold, or steal one from one of the traveler’s chests piled in the corner across from the stairs on the Glitter Gala’s second floor.
- A Skull: You’ll find one inside a wooden casket in Helsik’s room by a bookcase near the alter, or buy from Helsik for 1 gold, or steal one sitting next to a pile of books near the book cases on the lefthand side of the Devil’s Fee shop.
- One Coin of Mammon: You can steal one from the small chest atop Helsik’s bedside nightstand in her bedroom. Succeed a level 20 lockpick check.
- One Infernal Marble: You can steal one from the large Opulent chest beside Helsik’s bedroom doors and the ritual circle. Succeed a level 20 lockpick check.
- An incense: You’ll find one atop the little desk next to a pair of doors that lead out to the balcony near the alter in Helsik’s room, or atop the mantle beside a candle and horned skull where some cauldrons are hanging in Helsik’s bedroom. There’s also plenty sitting around the large Founder statue in the middle of Bloomridge Park right next door to Devil’s Fee.
We also recommend having the instructions for the ritual on hand for this part of the portal, but if you skipped Helsik entirely then you can find the order of these items below.
We found it easiest to have the altar on the top of your screen rather than the bottom. So the door next to the opposite side should be at the bottom of your screen. With that angle, the order of items is much easier.
Helsik House of Hope Ritual Order:
- Place the skull at the top of the star just below the arrow.
- To the right of the skull, or in clockwise order, place the Coin of Mammon.
- Skip one spot and continue clockwise.
- Place the diamond in the next spot.
- Place the incense in the spot after that.
- Finish the ritual by placing the Infernal Marble in the center.
You will know the process is working when any of the ingredients are lit up. Once all five are placed, the portal will open and you can choose to enter at any time. But be careful, because the House of Hope is one of the toughest areas and it won’t be easy to get back out.
How to Complete the House of Hope
We have several guides on the various steps for how to complete BG3’s House of Hope, which we’ll link to below, but here are a few of the fundamental steps you’ll need to take once you find your way into the House of Hope.
Explore the House of Hope
Before you do anything of significance in the House of Hope, you may be interested to know that there’s a legendary heavy armor set you can find throughout the devil’s house (along with a few other worth-while items), and parts of it may very well help with your inevitable fight against Raphael. You can check out our full guide on the Helldusk armor for specifics, but here’s the general location of each item:
- Helldusk Helmet: In a hidden treasure room behind the Feast Hall.
- Helldusk Gloves: From Haarlep in the boudoir.
- Helldusk Armor: From Raphael upon his defeat.
You can also obtain a pair of Helldusk Boots to round out the armor set, but you won’t find them in the House of Hope. Instead, you’ll need to enter Gortash’s personal chambers at Wyrm’s Rock and access his gilded chest.
If you entered the House of Hope to try and break your deal with Raphael, the treasure room behind the Feast Hall is also where you’ll find your contract alongside Mol’s contract and a very nice staff. To enter, you’ll need to interact with an infernal gem and pass a wisdom check of 10 and an arcana check of 20.
If you’re looking for the Gauntlets of Hill Giant Strength as requested by Helsik, you’ll find those in the Archives along with the Orphic Hammer. If you pass a perception check, you’ll be able to disarm the display the gauntlets are sitting on, and then you can safely steal them as long as the archivist isn’t looking your way. Or you can wait until you steal the Orphic Hammer and grab them on your way out.
Steal the Orphic Hammer
We’ll lay out the steps you need to take to steal the Orphic Hammer from the House of Hope below, but check out our full guide on how to get the Orphic Hammer for a detailed walkthrough.
To get the Orphic Hammer, you’ll need to
- Investigate the archives.
- Fool the archivist into giving you a pass to the boudoir or pickpocket the pass from him.
- Get the Orphic Hammer’s key from Haarlep in the boudoir.
- Use the key on the Orphic Hammer display.
Once you use the key and nab the Orphic Hammer, the whole house will go into alert. So make sure you’re prepared for a fight and to make a hasty retreat before grabbing the hammer. If you haven’t yet done so, make sure you grab the Gauntlets of Hill Giant Strength and the Amulet of Greater Health on your way out.
Free Hope
Once you have the Orphic Hammer in hand, you’ll be able to free Hope from the House of Hope if you so desire. At the very least, she’ll be of some help to you in the upcoming fight as you make your grand escape. Take a look at our guide on how to free Hope for the whole process, but here’s the quick rundown:
You’ll find Hope imprisoned in the chamber below the house, which you can reach by taking the elevator at the very end of the round hallway. Hope will guide you there, but you’ll have to fight your way through a slew of fiery balls and demons on your way.
Once you take the elevator down below, you’ll be greeted by two Beholders and a gaggle of imps. They shouldn’t pose too much of a problem, but the imps will use Eldritch Blast which can knock you off the platforms, so you’ll want to watch out for that.
After the small group of enemies has been dispatched, hop on over to Hope and equip the Orphic Hammer. To release her, use Unshackling Strike as an action against the red crystals holding down Hope’s chains. Once she’s free, she’ll start following you, and you can then take the elevator back up and make your way to the Entrance Hall for your exit.
You need to do a standard attack with the Orphic hammer to break the chains.
Defeat Raphael
When you get to the House of Hope’s Entrance Hall, you’ll be confronted by the devil himself, and he’ll be none too pleased. You won’t be able to talk your way out of things, but you can try to talk his “pal” Yugir into helping you out if you’re able to pass a DC30 persuasion check. As a bonus, Yugir can also become an ally for the Gather Your Allies quest if you’re persuasive enough and he survives the fight against Raphael and his jaunty showtunes.
Raphael has an apt 666 HP, AC 27, resistance to most damage types, and four Soul Pillars bolstering his strength in each corner of the room. You’ll want to take these soul pillars out as quickly as you can, but you’ll also have to contend with a whole troupe of cambions as you do so.
The Soul Pillars in Baldur’s Gate 3 are weak to Bludgeoning and Force attacks. To efficiently tackle them, distribute your party, prioritizing pillars away from Raphael. Position your healing support in the middle for quick access to all party members. Utilize Radiant spells, particularly Spiritual Weapon, to inflict “Thwarted Consumption” on pillars (but not Raphael himself), to prevent him from soul consumption. After destroying a pillar, shift characters to others and focus on healing during Raphael’s attacks. Once all pillars are down, strategically position melee and ranged characters around Raphael to optimize the battle.
If Raphael has no more Soul Charges, and all Soul Pillars are destroyed, Raphael can Multiattack in his Ascended Form. At this stage, he gets a +8 to hit twice; 5ft. Deals (1d12+5)*2 Slashing damage.
If you freed Hope, she’ll make for a decent healer, but she’s a bit fragile, so you’ll want to keep her out of the thick of things. The troupe of cambions tend to gather in one area, so large AOE spells and debuffs will come in handy here. Hope’s Divine Intervention can also be a life saver, both for dealing with the hoard and for healing.
When dealing with Raphael himself, you’ll want to use radiant damage if you can. He’s otherwise immune to fire and resistant to lightning, cold, poison, slashing, piercing, and bludgeoning. Raphael has low Wisdom, however, so he’s particularly susceptible to control spells such as Hold Monster, Tasha’s Hideous Laughter, and Otto’s Irresistible Dance.
Once Raphael’s health drops to 60%, he’ll transform into a devil form, increasing the amount of melee attacks he’ll throw at you. Try to keep him at a distance and use ranged attacks. He’s significantly easier to handle without his Soul Pillars and demon hoard, so the fight should get easier once you’re able to isolate him.
As a reward for slaying the devil, you’ll get
- Helldusk Armor.
- Gloves of Soul Catching.
- Some pocket change (126 gold).
- Raphael’s diary.
And that’s it for BG3’s House of Hope. While you are in the devil’s palace, make sure to help out Mol, unless you haven’t found Mol after the Last Light Inn within Baldur’s Gate 3.
