Poor Counselor Florrick. If you make it to the lower city, you’ll find that there’s a notice on the gallows calling for her death, but fortunately, we can free her: here’s how to save Counselor Florrick in Baldur’s Gate 3.
How to Start the Free Counsellor Florrick Quest
So you saved Counsellor Florrick from the burning building in Waukeen’s Rest in Act 1 of BG3, and she somehow made it through Act 2. Well now Counsellor Florrick has gotten herself into a pickle yet again in Act 3 and needs your help.
If you examine the notice on the gallows you’ll encounter immediately upon entering the lower city, you’ll learn that a famous name will meet the rope soon enough: Counselor Florrick, who only has five dawns to live. And to save her, we’ll have to find her.
The first clue you’ll get on how to do this is actually right beside the notice. Speak to the guard about Counselor Florrick and he’ll tell you she’s being held in the Wyrm’s Rock Prison.
Fortunately, we have a waypoint that’s right outside of it.
Free Counsellor Florrick: How to Get into Wyrm’s Rock Prison
The quickest and easiest way to get into Wyrm’s Rock Prison is to get yourself arrested and allow the guards to throw you in jail. You can do this as soon as you enter Rivington, and it’s actually a solid way to quickly access the Lower City once you start Act 3. This will put you in a cell alongside Counsellor Florrick, but getting out could prove more of a hassle.
With that in mind, it may be best if you just walk right into the prison.
Travel to the Wyrm’s Rock guard house then head downstairs. You’ll find that the doors to the prison are locked. But that’s okay! Just pickpocket the sleeping guard beside the door to pop right in.
You can also lockpick the door without upsetting anyone since the only nearby guard is asleep, but pickpocketing the key will spare you a lockpick.
If you happen to wake up the guard, Breva Brightmoon, before slipping inside, there are a few ways to get past him. If your character knows Counsellor Florrick is inside, you can use Persuasion or Deception to convince Breva to let you into the prison. Or you can intimidate him. Either way, you should be able to easily get into the prison without much hassle.
What happens next seems to vary. In our playthrough, we could wander freely in the prison without trouble, but we’re not sure if this is because we pickpocketed the key instead of lockpicking the door, or because we asked Gortash for a polite conversation, which made all guards friendly with us.
The Passive Way
If the guards are friendly, you can walk straight inside the prison right past all the guards, and you’ll find Counsellor Florrick in the farthest cell to the left. All you need to do now is approach her and start a conversation. Just keep in mind the guards aren’t likely to stay friendly if you immediately lockpick the cell and pull Counsellor Florrick out.
The Stealthy Way
If the prison guards aren’t friendly, we highly recommend ungrouping, using your highest-stealth character (Astarion is a good choice), and then using invisibility to make your way to Counsellor Florrick’s door. If you don’t have a way to make yourself invisible, simply hiding will do the job.
You’ll have to make your way down the long corridor to the last cell on the left, but there are a lot of nooks and crannies along the walls for you to hide and the guards aren’t all that perceptive. You should be able to slip by them pretty easily.
How to Unlock Counsellor Florrick’s Cell
Speak to Counsellor Florrick, then use Persuade to keep her from giving up hope or Intimidate her by saying you’re going to beat some sense into her. You only need to roll a 10 or better.
She’ll then ask you to free her. If you don’t want to lockpick the door, switch the game over to turn-based. You can do this by selecting the giant circular hourglass button to the far right of your hotbar.
With turn-based on, use your high-stealth character to pickpocket the guard that’s patrolling the corridor Counselor Florrick is in. This guard has the key to Counselor Florrick’s cell.
Important to note is that the guard will notice that she’s been pickpocketed. Station the rest of the party near the front doors, as they can successfully lie to her (there’s no throw here) about not having it. We believe this will prevent her from accusing your actual thief, but either way complete the next part quickly.
Free Counsellor Florrick: How to Escape Wyrm’s Rock Prison
Once you successfully have the key, open Florrick’s cell. Then, use invisibility, either as a spell, potion, or scroll on Florrick. To use a potion on an NPC, you’ll have to select it from your inventory and throw it at them. You’ll get a percent chance on the likelihood that it works.
We had a 30% chance, but Florrick still turned invisible, so it seems like it’s quite generous. Once she’s invisible, leave the prison through the front door, then head out of the guard post and toward the bridge.
If you don’t have the means to make Counsellor Florrick invisible, you can try hiding and sneaking your way out. But Florrick doesn’t have the best stealth, and you may find that sneaking out is a little more difficult than sneaking in.
The east passage in the prison leads to a storeroom and a breakable wall. If you’re adamant about using stealth without invisibility, we recommend you have Florrick use Misty Step to reach this passageway.
Attacking the Guards
If all else fails, you can raise the alarm and attack the guards. There are five in total: Breva Brightmoon asleep at the entrance, the mage patrolling the corridor, and three warriors taking a break in an alcove down the middle of the corridor. None of them particularly tough, but the mage’s ranged attacks and debuffs can be a nuisance if you’re not careful.
Florrick is useful enough with her own set of spells, and there are only a handful of guards to knock out. Once all the guards are down and you’re out the prison doors, you’ll be free to walk around. Nobody else seems to mind that you’re carrying around a fugitive.
Now just head out of the fortress and toward the bridge. You’ll get a cutscene and Florrick will promise to find you allies in the fight for Baldur’s Gate, ticking off another box for the Gather Your Allies quest.
Nice! And after you free Counsellor Florrick, since you’re in such a caring mood, why not solve the Open Hand Temple murders? Doing so will open up a whole new quest in the lower city, which is well worth doing.
Published: Dec 4, 2023 03:08 pm