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The Counting House
 | Spoiler warning: The following content contains unhidden spoilers. Read at your own risk. |
The Counting House is a heavily guarded banking and storage facility located in the Lower City of Baldur's Gate in Act Three. It is found along the southern coast of the Lower City, between Flymm Cargo and Old Garlow's Place, and encompasses the counting house, it's underground storage facilities, and the docks to the south-west.
Overview
Obtaining a Bank Pass
To enter further into the bank, you must show a Bank Pass to Cashguard Captain Faril. The Bank Pass will get you access to the lower levels of the bank, including the safes and vaults.
You can purchase the pass from Head Clerk Meadhoney for a large sum of gold. Alternatively, if you succeed in a 
or Insight check during the dialogue, you can persuade him into giving you a "temporary" pass which is, in fact, just a normal pass. Or you can steal the pass from the Head Clerk's office upstairs, on a cabinet at X: -102 Y: -180. If progressing through the Aid the Underduke quest, you can also make a Persuasion, Intimidation, or Deception check to convince Meadhoney to give you the pass.
The Counting House - Vaults
The Counting House Safes are found immediately after proceeding down the stairs and through the Vault Door at X: -91 Y: -158. Each safe is tucked behind an ornate iron door that cannot be interacted with; bypassing each requires teleportation like 
, Arrow of Transposition, or intangibility effects like 
. Keep in mind that locks cannot be picked while in Gaseous Form. Level 10 transmutation wizards can pass through the vaults with shapechanger for no recourse cost by flying around the gates. These safes each have a 
DC 20 Sleight of Hand check lock. The keys for these safes follow the naming convention "Counting House Safe n°X Key".
Through the door directly opposite the safes, on the left-hand side from the entry corridor, are the Counting House Vaults. Sigil circles protect each vault, teleporting trespassers back to the entryway should they walk, fly, or jump over them. These circles can be bypassed with effects like Misty Step, careful jumping around their edges, or by disabling them by pressing the two buttons located at X: -971 Y: 797 and X: -975 Y: 797.[note 1] These vaults each have a DC 25 Sleight of Hand check lock. The keys for these vaults follow the naming convention "Counting House Vault n°X Key".
The Counting House - High Security Vaults
At the deepest part of the Counting House, beyond a vault door requiring a DC 99 Sleight of Hand check, are the High Security Vaults. This "impossible" lock can be bypassed in numerous ways:
- Entering the passcode to open the door by walking over four of the nine pressure plates in a correct order. Reading
Flintdigger's Abridged Dwarven History (in the Head Banker's office on the top floor, at X: -93 Y: -181) hints at the password being 1-3-5-6.
- Unlimited attempts are allowed, so it's possible to brute force the passcode until all four symbols are entered in the correct order.
- As hinted in
Cleaning Staff Note at X: -947 Y: 789 and 
Counting House Vault Rules in the stack of scrolls at X: -958 Y: 772, by creating an electrified surface and short-circuiting the lock. - Brute forcing
Thieves' Tools on the door until a critical success is rolled.
Venturing into the High Security Vaults for the first time will trigger a battle between Bhaal Cultists and Counting House workers, with the cultists always hostile. The Reaper of Bhaal enemies start the fight invisible and hidden in the hall alcoves and will attempt to flank the opponents. Winning the fight and speaking to head banker Rakath Glitterbeard will initiate the quest Return Rakath's Gold.
These high security vaults each have a DC 30 Sleight of Hand check lock that has 
which prevents Knock spells from opening it. The keys for these vaults follow the naming convention "High Security Vault n°X Key". Lockpicking and looting these vaults will not trigger any security response.
Counting House docks
Docks line the southwestern perimeter of the Counting House. They can be reached through the door at X: -114 Y: -193 connecting to the antechamber descending into the vaults, or from the southern end of Flymm Cargo and the eastern end of Water Queen's House. Being spotted by any of the dock patrols, which include two Steel Watchers, will at best result in ejection, and at worst a fight.
Cargo boats and locked treasure chests are strewn about the docks. Each chest requires either a DC 10 or 15 Sleight of Hand check to unlock. Though none of chests contain unique loot, claiming them all will garner a windfall of valuables, scrolls, potions, and raw gold. Two 
Smokepowder Barrels and an excellent vista of the city's port can be reached by climbing to the top of the locked tower at X: -161 Y: -219. Travelling west from there leads to the Lustrous Lass, a ship steeped in disease and carrying a deadly Cursed Imp stowaway.
Notable characters
Counting House staff
Cultists of Bhaal
- Two Death's Head of Bhaal
- One Invoker of Bhaal
- Four Reapers of Bhaal
Related quests
Notable loot
Loot not found in a vault:
Amulet of Restoration - In a chest titled 'Private Stash' X: -85 Y: -185 in the eastern room down the very first flight of stairs.- 2x
Smokepowder Barrel - At the top of the locked tower at the Counting House docks X: -161 Y: -219.
Safes
| Safe No. | Key and its location | Loot |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Counting House Safe n°1 Key - Found in an Opulent Chest X: -1308 Y: 1020 in the Szarr Palace, in the room left of the main ballroom. A button in the room to the right needs to be pressed, which will open the left door and close the right door |
|
| 2 |
Counting House Safe n°2 Key - Sold by Skittle at Heapside Prison in the Basilisk Gate Barracks in the Lower City. Since the key costs nothing, it must be gained through Trade instead of Barter[Needs Verification] |
|
| 3 |
Counting House Safe n°3 Key - Found in a DC10 locked Heavy Chest X: 1459 Y: 841 in Bonecloak's Basement underneath Bonecloak's Apothecary in the Lower City |
|
| 4 |
Counting House Safe n°4 Key - Can be looted or pickpocketed from Head Clerk Meadhoney in The Counting House main lobby |
|
| 5 |
Counting House Safe n°5 Key - Can be looted or pickpocketed from Harvard Willoughby at the Elfsong Tavern in the Lower City |
|
| 6 |
Counting House Safe n°6 Key - Found in a Backpack X: 978 Y: 1203 in a hidden base through a DC15 locked Hatch X: 61 Y: -123 by the eastern docks in the Lower City |
|
| 7 |
Counting House Safe n°7 Key - Can be looted or pickpocketed from Oliver Tefoco at Beehive General Goods in the Lower City |
|
| 8 |
Counting House Safe n°8 Key - Found in a mailbox X: 65 Y: -95 above the entrance to the Guildhall in the Lower City |
|
108 gp
Vaults
| Vault No. | Key and its location | Loot |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Counting House Vault n°1 Key - Can be looted or pickpocketed from Captain Grisly in The Blushing Mermaid in the Lower City |
|
| 2 |
Counting House Vault n°2 Key - Unknown location |
|
| 3 |
Counting House Vault n°3 Key - Can be looted or pickpocketed from Alan Alyth, the barkeeper of Elfsong Tavern in the Lower City |
|
| 4 |
Counting House Vault n°4 Key - Can be looted or pickpocketed from Roger Highberry in Highberry's Home in the Lower City. |
|
| 5 |
Counting House Vault n°5 Key - Can be looted or pickpocketed from Avery Sonshal in Felogyr's Fireworks in the Lower City |
|
| 6 |
Counting House Vault n°6 Key - Can be looted or pickpocketed from Omotola at The Glitter Gala in the Lower City |
|
High security vaults
| Vault No. | Key and its location | Loot |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |
High Security Vault n°1 Key - Found in a Display Case X: 4972 Y: 704 in Ramazith's Tower (accessed via a portal in Sorcerous Sundries in the Lower City), underneath the invisible barrier. Unlike the other keys, this one is labeled as simply "Heavy Iron Key" and the vault number is written within the item's tooltip |
|
| 2 |
High Security Vault n°2 Key - Can be looted or pickpocketed from Lady Jannath in Lady Jannath's Estate in the Lower City |
|
| 3 |
High Security Vault n°3 Key - Found in Cazador's Sarcophagus X: -1926 Y: 947 in Cazador's Dungeon underneath the Szarr Palace in the Lower City |
|
| 4 |
High Security Vault n°4 Key - Found in an Opulent Chest X: -246 Y: -249 on the second floor of the Water Queen's House in the Lower City |
|
| 5 |
High Security Vault n°5 Key - Found in a Safe X: -34 Y: 203 hidden behind a painting on the top floor of Wyrm's Rock Fortress in Wyrm's Crossing |
|
| 6 |
High Security Vault n°6 Key - Found in an Opulent Chest X: -48 Y: 98 in the northwestern section of the Iron Throne |
|
| 7 |
High Security Vault n°7 Key - Can be looted or pickpocketed from Nine-Fingers Keene in the Guildhall in the Lower City Sewers |
|
| 8 |
High Security Vault n°8 Key - Found in a Jewellery Box X: -398 Y: -1591 in the Cloister of Sombre Embrace underneath the House of Grief in the Lower City |
|
| 9 |
High Security Vault n°9 Key - Reward for completing Return Rakath's Gold or can be looted or pickpocketed from Rakath Glitterbeard in The Counting House |
Gallery
Interior of The Counting House.
Footnotes
- ↑ This button can be activated with a ranged attack.
