Lord Gortash has effectively taken control of Baldur's Gate by the time the party reaches the city in Baldur's Gate 3, and that includes control over the local media. The gazette Baldur's Mouth sings Gortash's praises, and it has fewer kind words to spare for his enemies.
As a result, the party can end up right in the paper's crosshairs, with the paper's editor Ettvard Needle being quite eager to ruin the party's reputation in the city. To avoid this fate, players must sneak inside and stop the presses in one of the stealthiest quests of Baldur's Gate 3.
How to Start Stop the Presses
When players first arrive in the Lower City, they can come across the Baldur's Mouth building as they explore the eastern part of the map. It's close to the Elfsong Tavern and east of the Wine Festival patio. The front door is unlocked, and the party can walk in if they like. Players can speak to the writers and editors in the main chamber, but the only person with something significant to say is Ettvard Needle.
Needle will insult the party and threaten to ruin their reputation in the city. This happens no matter what the party did on the way in, even if they allied with Lord Gortash and plan to follow through on that alliance. After all, if no one trusts the party, that makes them easier for Gortash to control. Once he delivers this threat, Needle will force the party to leave the building.
The deadline for this reputation-ruining is one day. If players start a long rest after speaking to Needle, "Stop the Presses" will end and everyone in town will distrust the party. This means it's much more likely that someone will call for the Flaming Fist to attack or arrest the party for minor infractions like trespassing or interacting with forbidden doors and locks. It's not a game-ending condition, but it's a headache that players can avoid by completing this quest.
Luckily, this timer only starts when the party speaks to Needle. Players can spend as much or as little time in Baldur's Gate as they like. The only time they need to worry about "Stop the Presses" is when they try to start a conversation in Baldur's Mouth.
Sneaking into Baldur's Mouth
Players can respond to Needle's demand by attacking the guards, but this can also damage the party's reputation. On the bright side, killing Needle will replace the negative article with one about the editor's death. Still, the best way to handle this threat is to leave the building and start looking for an alternate way in.
There are a few ways to get into and around the building, but most of them involve magic. The party should be at or around level 10 by this point, so magic should be easy enough to come by.
On the west side of the building, players can spot two doors that lead into the main chamber of Baldur's Mouth. The lower door is close enough to the ground for a strong jumper to reach, but it's locked and in sight of a guard. The upper door also has a lock, but no guard. In fact, it's isolated enough that a party member can break it down without anyone noticing. However, it's far enough away that the party will have trouble reaching it even with a jumping spell or potion active. On the other hand, it's not too far away for a character to reach with Misty Step, Dimension Door, or Fly.
Another way up is on the south side of the building. The rooftop south of Baldur's Mouth is low enough to jump to, and characters can jump to one of two wooden platforms with a Jump potion or spell active. Don't jump to the west platform, however, because its height and location give it a bad angle to reach any other location. Instead, jump up to the highest rooftop south of Baldur's Mouth, walk to the northeast corner, and from there jump to the southwest corner of the east platform. From there, characters can reach the roof of Baldur's Mouth.
Even if players sneak onto the building from the west, they should take a moment to explore the roof of Baldur's Mouth. A loose board on the west side will reveal a hidden cache with a successful Perception check. Inside is a set of items that can make the rest of the infiltration much easier. It includes two sets of thieves' tools, a Potion of Flying, a Potion of Speed, and a disguise kit.
How to Reach the Baldur's Mouth Basement
Once players get into the Baldur's Mouth building, they'll need to get at least one party member into the basement. This is a difficult infiltration, so send in one party member on their own to avoid attention and wasted resources.
There are brightly lit areas and guards everywhere in the building, which means regular stealth is out. Instead, use a disguise or Invisibility to get across. Step one is to use the lever lower the catwalk that links the upper door to the rest of the building. This will let the party member escape the building the same way they came in.
Once across, there are two ways down to the basement. First, there's an elevator on the upper floor in the southeast corner. Second, there's a staircase on the lower floor along the south wall. The party member ends up in a safe place either way, so choose whichever route is easiest.
How to Sneak Past the Steel Watch
The basement is its own region, so what happens in the basement will stay in the basement. Players can fight the guards down here without alerting anyone else or ruining the party's reputation; however, fighting two Steel Watch at once with one party member isn't easy.
Luckily, the Steel Watch bots follow predictable patrol routes that a sneaking character can easily evade. To get past the first robot, sneak behind it until it turns left and stares into the next hallway. Use this moment to enter the room at the far end of the hallway, and close the door after getting in.
This room contains a gilded chest that holds the newspaper's weekly takes. It's not a lot of gold, but there's no one around to stop the party from taking it.
More importantly, there's a stack of boxes concealing a barricade on the west wall of the room. Move the boxes and destroy the barricade (which has no toughness trait) to gain access to the next room.
In this next room, check the desks on the north wall for a special item called "Cutest Cat You've Ever Seen." Players may need to highlight items to spot and take it. The item is an article players can feed into the automatic press, and unlike the article currently in the press, it has nothing to do with the party. Players can also find an article titled "Make Big Money by Trading with Adventurers," which paints the party in a positive light. It's in a wicker basket on the west side of the room next to a stone pillar.
Next, the party member must evade the second Steel Watch robot. The robot can spot the party member if it's looking at the door when it opens, so move the camera into the hallway and listen for the Steel Watch's location. Once it starts moving away from the door, it's safe to open.
Getting past this robot is a two-step process. First, follow the Steel Watch as it walks south. There's a side door on the west wall, so duck inside to enter a darkroom. A curtain across the doorway will keep the Steel Watch from seeing inside even when the door is open. Be sure to grab the silver ingots in the room and read the papers to learn some of what's happening in Baldur's Mouth, but don't bother grabbing the "A Public Danger!" article. This article is just as negative as the one already in the press.
Next, wait for the Steel Watch to walk north of the darkroom and sneak up to the door at the south end of the hallway. Don't forget to close this door after getting through. The party member has now reached the automatic press.
Of course, there's one other way to sneak past the Steel Watch: complete the quest "Disable the Steel Watch" first. The newspaper won't replace the robots in the basement with other guards, and so moving around the basement is easier if the bots are broken.
How to Stop the Presses
The press in this room is a Gondian invention powered by a fey spirit. Unlike another fey spirit bound to a moonlantern, this one is perfectly happy with its current situation. With that said, th quest is much easier if players freed the pixie Dolly from the lantern.
If the party saved Dolly, the press spirit will agree to help them replace the negative article immediately, with no checks or arguments required. All they need is a neutral or positive article to replace it. Aside from the two articles found in the north room and the negative article in the darkroom, there are two more negative articles out in the open in the press room and one more positive article ("Adventurers, Our Best Hope for the City") in a wicker basket on the south wall behind the press. Players can also find three more neutral and positive articles in wicker baskets in the main chamber upstairs.
If the party didn't help Dolly, they'll need to convince the press spirit with a skill check. Depending on dialogue choices, players can choose between Persuasion, Deception, Performance, Athletics, and Sleight of Hand. Failing a check will cause the press spirit to ignore the party and print the existing article.
Passing a check or saving Dolly will cause an "Insert Item" prompt to appear. Simply bring up the inventory, insert a neutral or positive article, and then escape the building. The party member must get past the Steel Watch again, but doing so involves the same tricks as getting to the press in the first place. If the party has any Invisibility spells or potions left over, now is the best time to use them.
Once the whole party is reunited and outside the building, simply begin a long rest to end the quest and enjoy either the same or a higher reputation with the Baldurian populace.
Baldur's Gate 3 is available now on macOS, PC, and PS5.