Baldur’s Gate 3is a game that’s rightfully earned so many plaudits and awards, so it’s rare to see an aspect of the game consistently criticised. Alas, there is one quest in Act 3 that many people hold in a negative light, and that quest is Free The Artist.
For those who haven’t encountered this one, it can be picked up by going to the Zhentarim Hideout during the first act. There you’ll find Oskar, an imprisoned artist who fled his engagement to a highborn lady in Baldur’s Gate. Free Oskar and you’ll be able to continue this quest in Act 3, where things become less simple.
Baldur’s Gate 3: Free The Artist Quest Walkthrough
There are a lot of things to consider when doing the Free The Artist quest. Here’s everything you need to know.
After reaching Baldur’s Gate, you’re able to go to Lady Jannath’s estate to check on the artist. Unfortunately, the manor is now very very haunted. These spirits are incredibly frustrating to fight against, becoming invisible at will. There are also the Cursed Skulls that constantly cast Thunderwave and knock you about the lavish house, often messing up the camera and causing general confusion. It’s easily one of the least pleasant fights in the game.
After fighting off these spirits, you find out that our beloved starved artist Oskar has been possessed by a tormented spirit and you’ll need to enlist the help of the undead Mystic Carrion to free him. To get Carrion’s help, the party must find his runaway servant Thrumbo. To find Thrumbo, you need to find three other undead around the city, none of which have any map markers.
After all of that, Thrumbo tells you that Carrion murdered him in life and needs to be destroyed. Should you find it in your heart to help Thrumbo, you’ll need to once again trapeze around Baldur’s Gate, destroying Carrion’s jarred organs to weaken him before facing him in combat.
After travelling all of Baldur’s Gate twice on undead business, you return to the Jannath Estate to find that the spirit tormenting Oskar is a very displeased ex-lover of his. In his infinite vanity, Oskar believed that she had taken her own life because of him, and she’s not happy about being disturbed. If you, for some reason, decide to save Oskar from her wrath and also lie to his wife about the source of the haunting, then he’ll reward you with a portrait.
Except the portrait isn’t even of you like Oskar advertised. It often appears as a random party member, like Shadowheart and Halsin. After all of that, a reward of a near-worthless generic portrait feels like salt in the wound. This quest has spawned numerousangry Reddit threads, with the sorest points being the Cursed Skulls, the lack of map markers for the undead servants and the paltry reward.
If you want to complete this quest as painlessly as possible, then check outour walkthrough.
Baldur’s Gate 3
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