For those following the Risen Road to the Waukeen’s Rest Manor, you’ll find a burning manor yard, surrounded by Flaming Fist !Paladins. These Paladins are part of Baldur’s Gate and desperately need help rescuing the Counsellor stuck inside the burning manor. You can of course chose not to do this, but, you could miss out on sweet XP and great rewards. Here’s a walkthrough on how to complete the Rescue The Grand Duke in Baldur’s Gate 3 so you can get access to the most needed goodness.

How to Complete Rescue The Grand Duke in Baldur’s Gate 3¶

To start this quest, you only need to enter the Waukeen Manor and interact with the !Paladin on the ground. You can now enter the Manor, and then approach the !Paladins rattling around on the door. If you so assist them, you can now start the rescue attempt.

Go through the dialogue with the !Paladins at the door as you want, and then find a way to barge down the door. If you’re a !Paladin, you get to roll advantage with your !Paladin and Strength modifier, and likely beat that door down easily. Other classes can get through too.

Either way, once you’re inside the Manor, you look for a very large bedroom with the Counsellor inside. The Keg Room leads directly to her, while if you went inside the Manor via the front door, you can follow the !Paladins up the stairs, and destroy some of the wooden doors. Two-handed weapon users can break through the doors and debris blocking the pathways easily. Still, weaker classes can dip their weapons in the nearby fire patches for some damage assistance if needed Once you break enough doors, the !Paladins will move up to the final door, where you once again need to break the door down and let her escape.

Once the Counsellor is out of the Manor, you can then interact with the Counsellor and get the quest progression update. She will inform you that some Drow and Goblins have taken the Grand Duke prisoner (yes, more Absolute). She tells you to head west, and directly west is the Moonrise Tower pathway, and some Githyanki for another side plot.

• There’s also a trapped man on the western side of the manor you can rescue. This starts a quest called Rescue The Trapped Man, and it leads to a potential reward with a dowry.

Rescue The Grand Duke in BG3: Rewards¶

However, for completing this stage of the quest, you can get a choice of three Rare quality weapons. The weapons are:

• The Sparky Points
• The Joltshooter
• The Spellsparkler

All three weapons have the Electric Veins modifier, which grants stacking Lightning Charges on the character. These Charges stack when dealing damage with the weapon, or spells and cantrips in the case of the staff. These charges also deal additional Lightning Damage on hit, depending on the number of stacks you have.

If you can access the trader in the Zhentarim Hideout, you can get the Jolty Vest. This armor piece is an AC 13 medium armor, with the Counter Shock modifier. The rule states that if the wearer takes damage while having Lightning Charges, the attacker must succeed a Dexterity Saving Throw or become Shocked. This is a great armor piece to pair with someone who takes any of these weapons, but it is much better suited to a Fighter, Paladin, or Barbarian who uses the Sparky Points weapon. It’s something to consider if you want some great synergy, albeit it means involving yourself in an entirely different plot that may have consequences.

• To do this, you will need to get one of the endings to the Finding The Missing Shipment quest where the boss leader gives you access to the Trader.

Moonrise Towers Location of the Grand Duke¶

Once you’re into Act 2, you will need to play through the second act of the game naturally. To do this, you need to figure out more information on what the Nightsong is, and then go to the Temple of Shar. This is the main part of the early stages of Act 2. To get to this stage, go and do the quests in Last Light Inn, and mess around in Moonrise Towers. You’ll also need to get your hands on a Moonlantern, which is the item you need to bypass the heavier Shadowlands fog, and actually proceed through the Act properly. You can read more on that in our how to get Moonlanterns guide for both the goodie and the baddie playthrough.

Once you’re done there, and you complete the Temple of Shar, you can now head off and do the Rescue the Grand Duke quest. You will find you need to do a little more main storyline, and defeat a boss and all that. But, once all that is done, you can find the Grand Duke in a cutscene. You’ll find he gets taken to Baldur’s Gate, albeit you cannot rescue him just yet.

Rescue the Grand Duke in Act 3 of BG3¶

Now you’re in Act 3, you will head into the Wyrm Crossing area as you approach the Lower City. You will need to visit Gortash’s ceremony, where he is proclaimed Archduke (Galactic Emperor). After that the tadpoled man is escorted away. Now you have two options, you can rescue the councilor protesting in the room, who gets stored in the Wyrm jail below. Feel free to rescue her and convince her of your struggles, and she can be an ally for the end game fight sequence. Ideally its best you kill the guards in the prison. You can sneak around hiding in broken wall and jail cells you can use Knock on or picklock, then break into the Counsellor’s cell. Then try to hide and sneak our, but chances are you’re getting caught. Once you’re out of the jail, move into the Lower City loading screen from the Wyrm’s area, and the Counsellor will thank you, run off, and you’ll complete that.

After that, follow through with the Steel Watch Foundry. Part way through you’ll learn there;s a secret prison, which you can access via the Flymm’s storage barn opposite the Grey Dock. There’s a secret hatch under a pile of boxes on the northeast side of the building. When you’re down there, convince the dwarf to take you to the Iron Throne. You will be able to rescue some family members from the workers, and while you’re down there, you’ll find that Grand Duke is in prison. You have 6 turns to rescue as many people as possible. We highly advise you rescue him as soon as possible, and get him on the submarine so you can get some really good allies and rewards for the battles to come.

Once he’s free, speak to him at camp, and he will tell you about the Counsellor. You will also get a new ally for the battle to come, which is mention in Wyll’s personal quest. He can also tell you to rescue the Counsellor in the Wyrm Rock Jail for more allies. If you’ve already done it, that’s fine as you get a conversation prompt right after it letting him know it’s done.