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House of Hope
The House of Hope is a location in Avernus. It can be accessed through a portal after performing the required ritual in the Devil's Fee, Baldur's Gate during Act Three. This is Raphael's home, and prison to many Eternal Debtors who made the mistake of contracting him.
Arriving
Haggle with Helsik
To access the House of Hope, the player must travel to the Devil's Fee in the northern-central part of the Lower City X: -37 Y: -10. From the Lower City Centre Wall waypoint, head north up the path and go inside the gate towards the large house. Inside you will talk to the proprietor, Helsik, who will provide the components to open a portal, given that the player meets one the following conditions:
- Spend 20,000 gold.
- Succeed a DC 25 Intimidation check and pay the lower price of 10,000 gold,
- or a DC 20 Persuasion check to gain access in exchange for the Gauntlets of Hill Giant Strength from the House. [note 1]
Helsik will then provide the player with the Grimoire Bound in Imp Skin, a Ritual Pouch containing the required items, and instructions on how to perform the ritual itself. Head upstairs and inside of the ritual circle, pull out all of the items from the bag. The note, Opening a Hell Gate, will explain all the steps involved. The order in which the steps are performed is irrelevant.
Alternative solution
The Ritual Pouch and the Grimoire Bound in Imp Skin can also be pick-pocketed from Helsik, the grimoire providing hints to complete the ritual. If the items were stolen, Helsik will comment on the player's thievery after completing the House of Hope, but won't be hostile and still happily trade.
Duplicates of five of the ritual ingredients, but not the grimoire or the instructions, can be found in various places around Helsik's room: the skull on the wooden casket in the middle of the room next to a row of books on the left side of the double door, incense on the small table next to the southern balcony door; infernal marble in the opulent chest beside the door to the bedroom; a diamond in the gilded chest near the desk by the window; and a Coin of Mammon in the gilded chest on the bedside cabinet.
At the top of the stairs is a Ward trap placed that will cast a Fireball spell each time it is stepped on. On its right is a Ward shaped as an Imp that recites; "Gravelled tongue, sanded throat. Hard to swallow... hurts to breathe...". Placing any water or wine[note 2] will disarm the trap, replying "Too wet. Too cold. No fun. Begone!".
Opening the portal
Place the items in the correct order and use the portal to head to the House of Hope:
- Place the skull on the star point near the altar
- Place the coin of Mammon on the next point to the right (if your character is facing the altar)
- Skip a point and place the diamond on the next point after that
- Place the incense on the point following the diamond
- Place the Infernal Marble in the centre of the star
Like what was said above, the order of placing these items doesn't matter as long as they are placed in their correct places.
Be careful with mods when using the portal, and in the House itself![See: Bugs]
Exiting
The House of Hope is exited through the same portal the party used to enter.
This portal remains open for the rest of the game, except during the combat encounter with Raphael, and allows free passage between the House and Baldur's Gate.
Raphael will appear and engage in conversation and eventually in combat with the party when one of the following conditions is met:
- The party has stolen the Orphic Hammer.
- The party has destroyed the Soul-Sworn Contract.
- The party has freed Hope.
Warning: Trying to exit while having freed Hope and Raphael still being in possession of your Soul-Sworn Contract will lead to an instant, automatic Game Over!
Overview
Foyer
The portal exits into the House's foyer, which has a large door and four Pillar of Souls. Using the door will summon Hope, who will introduce herself and give the party four sets of Debtor's Attire, which will disguise them from the Eternal Debtors while in the house.
Feast hall
The next room north of the foyer is the feast hall, where Raphael transported the player during his first introduction. Gone are the lavish displays of food and ordered furniture, the player now sees the reality of Raphael's illusory temptations as they truly are; rotting food, disorder and wandering, trapped souls.
Cleaning the hall is a lone Infernal Mason, who introduces himself as the architect who built Moonrise Towers.
Main Corridor
The Main Corridor is shaped like half a circle and can be accessed from the east and west exits from the Feast Hall. It connects all the rooms of the House and is populated by several Eternal Debtors. In the Main Corridor various contains can be found which contain a Debtor's Attire. The Prison Hatchway, which leads to Hope's prison, is located on the east end of the corridor.
Chamber of Egress
East of the feast hall is a large room filled with portals leading to a number of different locations. The portals are all closed, but can be interacted with to hear a brief line about each destination. The player avatar and origins each have a different line.
Scrubbing the floor of the room is its keeper, Nubaldin, who can be persuaded into revealing Hope's physical location and give additional information regarding Enver Gortash.
Eastern Balcony
North of the Chamber of Egress a balcony can be found from where it's possible to go outside the House. Outside, just north of the balcony is a Passageway which leads to Hope's prison. Also on the outside, through jumping from rock platform to rock platform one can reach the Boudoir.
Boudoir
In the centre of the Main Corridor is entrance to the the boudoir; the northernmost room in the House. Access to the boudoir requires either the Boudoir Invitation from The Archivist in the archive, or traversal across the platforms from the Eastern Balcony.
In the first section of the room are some locked opulent chests, one of which contains a Potion of Angelic Slumber. A pool sits in the centre of the room, with some restoration facets that will restore the party's resources as if they had taken a long rest (does not work during fighting or after having beaten Raphael).
Further back, the party will find Haarlep lazing about. They can be talked into giving up the password for the Orphic Hammer/Soul-Sworn Contract's shield, or killed. A large portrait west of the bed can also be opened with a key from Haarlep to find the password.
Raphael's Vault
The entrance to Raphael's Vault is directly south of the entrance to the Boudoir. To enter, the party must first succeed in a DC 10 Perception check to spot the infernal gem, then interact with the infernal gem by passing a DC 10 Wisdom check, followed by a DC 20 Arcana check. Inside is the Helldusk Helmet, Staff of Spellpower, and Mol's contract if she survived Act One.
Western Balcony
the Western Balcony is located north of the Archive. Here, the Eternal Rat can be found.
Archive
The westernmost room of the Main Corridor is the Archive. Opposite the entrance is a lever which opens a shortcut back to the feast hall.
Inside the Archive are several books with information related to the House and to the Crown of Karsus. More notably, there are three pedestals with rare equipment, and the Archivist who is keeping an eye on them.
The pedestals each have a pressure plate (which can be disarmed) that alerts the House if the item is removed. The northern pedestal holds the Gauntlets of Hill Giant Strength, the southern the Amulet of Greater Health, and to the west is, depending on the player's choices when dealing with Raphael in Sharess' Caress, either the Orphic Hammer or Soul-Sworn Contract, which can only be accessed by removing the shield with a password.
Hope's prison
At the eastern end of the Main Corridor near the Chamber of Egress is the Prison Hatchway, which leads down beneath the House and into Hope's prison. The prison can also be reached through the Passageway which is found outside, just north of the Eastern Balcony. Hope herself is at the centre of the room, bound by two unbreakable chains held by rocks which can be broken with the Orphic Hammer.
There are also two Spectators, one of which drops the Burnished Ring, and five Vengeful Imps.
Characters
Creatures
Related quests
- Save Hope
- Deal with the Devil
- Acquire the Gauntlets for Helsik
- Free Orpheus
- The Githyanki Warrior
- Help Kith'rak Voss
- Find Mol
Notable loot
Notable items obtained in this location, whether looted, or obtained as a quest reward:
Boudoir
Helldusk Gloves, acquired by defeating Haarlep
Potion of Angelic Slumber, inside a locked Opulent Chest DC 15
Archive
When stealing from daises in Archive, the House will become hostile unless their pressure plate is disarmed first. This requires DC 15 Perception check to unveil followed by a DC 20 Sleight of Hand check to disarm.
Gauntlets of Hill Giant Strength, stolen from a dais
Amulet of Greater Health, stolen from a dais
Orphic Hammer, stolen from a dais, must have the necessary words in order to turn off the shield (if no contract with Raphael was made in Sharess' Caress)- Soul-Sworn Contract, found on a dais, must have the necessary words in order to turn off the shield. Can not be obtained, only destroyed. (if a contract with Raphael was made in Sharess' Caress)
Raphael's vault
Staff of Spellpower
Helldusk Helmet
Contract: Mol (if Mol survived Act One)
Hope's prison
Burnished Ring, acquired after defeating Spectator during the quest Save Hope
Foyer
Helldusk Armour, acquired after defeating the final encounter of the area
Gloves of Soul Catching, reward from the quest Save Hope
Gallery
Top view
The portals
The hatch to Hope's prison
Bugs
- As of Hotfix #4, the portal will be bugged and will not work if you have a mod that increases the level cap. A workaround is to reset your party to 1st level by talking to Withers, and then perform the ritual. You can then level up again once you've entered the portal. (Fixed In Most Recent Patch)
- If you have a mod that allows you to have more than 4 party members (summons don't count) then this will cause issues as Hope's Disguise will only work for the first four characters meaning you will alert some of the house residents. To remedy this, additional disguises can be found in the Wardrobes scattered throughout the hallways.
Notes
- ↑ After Patch 6, Helsik no longer sells the Gauntlets of Hill Giant Strength if they are given to her for the quest Acquire the Gauntlets for Helsik, but they still can be pickpocketed.
- ↑ There is a bottle of Stagswift Tonic and Frostkiss Ale below a Stuffed Deep Rothé head on the stairway.
- The Grimoire Bound in Imp Skin's hints can be deciphered as follows:
- "Place that which has no eyes but used to see at the western point of the circle" -> Place the skull west of the altar.
- "Two spaces lie opposite that point. 'Pon the left - place what is cut but cannot bleed" -> At the opposite direction from which you placed the skull there's two points; on the left one as you face them (i.e. the northern of the two points to the east), place the diamond.
- "To the right - that which smells but cannot sniff." -> Place the Incense on the right of where you placed the diamond (i.e. the southern of the two points to the east).
- "Besides the dead remains - the aspect of the Avariced lord sits clockwise so." -> Place the Coin of Mammon next to the skull clockwise (i.e. on the point to the north-west).
- "Then the circle's centre shall receive the internal marvel of infernal marble." -> Place the infernal marble in the centre.
- "Finally - and I mean no disrespect - go to hell" -> Self-explanatory: "Enter the House of Hope".
- The portal between Baldur's Gate and the House of Hope will remain open for the rest of the game, except during the confrontation Raphael.
- Entering the House of Hope causes Raphael to disappear from Sharess' Caress, thus becoming inaccessible until the confrontation.