One of the most challenging optional goals in Baldur's Gate 3 is to save the prisoners of the Iron Throne trapped in an underwater jail beneath the Lower City. This Act 3 quest will test your skills to the limit and may cause your party to make a few sacrifices. There are complicated steps you need to be aware of if you want to have a chance at success.

The Iron Throne Prison is located underwater and acts like a smaller dungeon in Baldur's Gate 3 that you and your party have to explore quickly. You only have a limited number of turns to save every prisoner before the place collapses. The number of rounds is determined by your game's difficulty, but it will be hard to rescue everyone in any mode due to this restriction.

You want to save every person you can in the Iron Throne Prison for extra help in disabling the Steel Watch guards that are protecting Gortash, one of the main bosses in Act 3 who possess a Netherstone.

Things To Know Before Reaching The Prison

Learn How Much Time You Have

You have 8 turns on Explorer difficulty, 6 rounds on Balanced mode, and only 5 turns total on Tactician and Honor mode to rescue everyone in the Iron Throne Prison. Although you can always lower the difficulty of this challenge if you aren't confident in your party's abilities, many achievements will be lost if you fail to complete your goal in a harder mode. Make sure to long rest before finding a way to the Prison.

The goal is to save as many as possible, but for those looking to save everyone, it's recommended that a save be created before beginning the challenge. This trick, known as Save Scumming in Baldur's Gate 3, can help you readjust if you fail your first few attempts.

Thankfully, no side quests or other events in the game impact this challenge or the number of rounds your party is given. As you attempt to rescue prisoners, keep in mind that your party should always come first if time is winding down faster than you expected. With the right tactics, you may be able to save everyone, but it's better to lose an unfortunate soul from the jail rather than an important companion character.

Where To Find The Iron Throne Prison

Dive Deep Underwater Beneath The Lower City

The Iron Throne Prison is rigged to explode at Gortash's command, which makes infiltrating it a death sentence for pretty much everyone inside. The moment you approach the Prison, Gortash will start the countdown to the location's destruction in Baldur's Gate 3. However, you need to find a way to reach the area first by going to Flymm Cargo warehouses in the Lower City.

Defeat a few enemies on the first floor of the main building of Flymm Cargo, then go to a hidden dock in the building's basement. Your party will run into Redhammer the Deviser; a diver who commands a submarine that can travel to the Iron Throne Prison. Someone in your party needs to convince Redhammer to take you to the Prison with at least a DC 20 Charisma check.

The only way to reach the Iron Throne Prison is through Redhammer's submarine, so don't start the "Avenge the Drowned" quest in Act 3 that may result in this character's death until you have already tried to save the prisoners.

Reaching the Prison will trigger the challenge to start after a cutscene where Gortash mocks your party and triggers the impending explosion of the underwater base. Once again, the number of rounds is determined by your game's difficulty. For those playing with friends in a multiplayer party, try to use the first moments of the opening round to form a strategy between your characters based on the time you all have.

Tips For Rescuing Every Prisoner

Leave No One Behind By Recruiting Allies

The enemies in the Prison will use every trick they can to prevent you from saving anyone before the end of the last round. You need speed to get through this challenge, with extra movement and the ability to perform multiple tasks in a single turn. Take your time to check your surroundings on each of your party's individual turns, and think about what enemies are capable of doing in Baldur's Gate 3.

As you can see in the above video by YouTube creator Gamerpillar, there are a variety of guard enemies you'll run into trying to rescue prisoners. Try to unlock the doors of powerful allies who will assist you the moment you free them from their cells. Although many allies will simply run for the exit, some may have some fight left in them to help take out multiple foes along the way.

Haste is one of the best spells in Baldur's Gate 3 for this whole encounter, as the effects last for 10 turns to last the entire challenge. This magic will not only let you take multiple Actions on your turn but also raise your Armor Class to make you harder to hit. Other spells like Misty Step also help your characters move around faster to reach prisoners as soon as possible.

Enemies are just as likely to attack prisoners as they would you or your party, so make sure to take the majority of damage from their attacks in Baldur's Gate 3. Summoned minions can be helpful here to tank some hits, and maybe save a prisoner or two from being killed instantly. Cast spells or use abilities that confuse and distract targets, or debuff them to make it harder for them to act in combat.

Save The Iron Throne Prisoners

There are 14 hostages within the Iron Throne Prison, including 13 Gondians and an extremely important figure in the city of Baldur's Gate. You can save Duke Ravengard in Baldur's Gate 3 along with the other prisoners if you search for the east section of the Prison itself. Nearly everyone can be found in the west and south sections of the area, but along with a good number of enemies as well.

Duke Ravengard is marked for death by Wyll's Warlock patron, the devil Mizora. Saving him from certain death in the Iron Throne Prison could cause problems with this infernal figure later in the game.

No real tricks, besides some good magic and strong skills, will help you rescue everyone in the Prison. All you have to do is interact with cell doors once you find them to free prisoners and have them roll Initiative to be included in the Prison's combat rounds. If you manage to save everyone and still have some time left, head to the north section of the prison for some rare loot that could help your party during future quests.

Use chokepoints within the prison to block sections near the exit from enemies trying to slay the prisoners as they attempt to leave. Characters with high health, such as those of the Barbarian or Fighter class, work the best in these situations to tank hits from prison guards. With a little bit of luck, you should be able to save everyone in the Iron Throne Prison, reuniting many with their loved ones in Baldur's Gate 3.

Source: Gamerpillar/YouTube