If players help the tieflings and the deep gnomes during Act 1 of Baldur's Gate 3, they have an opportunity to help them both again during Act 2. Some members of both factions have found themselves in the prison below Moonrise Towers, and the party has an opportunity to break them out.
However, this breakout isn't a simple task. Guards are on constant patrol at the prison level, and scrying eyes are everywhere. Players of Baldur's Gate 3 can help both the tieflings and deep gnomes escape their cells and do so without breaking their cover, but they need to act smart and pick their battles.
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Updated On December 29, 2025, by Nahda Nabiilah: Players need to decide how to save the prisoners from Moonrise Towers once they enter the prison and see them behind bars. Completing the quest successfully offers many rewards once all of them safely return to Last Light Inn. There is more than one way to save them, with some variations in each plan, so choose carefully to ensure the prisoners' survival.
How To Rescue All The Prisoners From Moonrise Towers In Baldur's Gate 3
There are a couple of ways to rescue the prisoners from Moonrise Towers in BG3. You can either:
- Give Wulbren a weapon to destroy the walls of the cells.
- Pull the lever in The Warden's office to open the cell doors.
- Break the wall of the cells from the other side.
How To Retrieve Wulbren's Weapon To Destroy The Cell Walls
Convince Wulbren You Are On His Side
When players try to speak to either group of prisoners, a guard will interrupt. If players pass a DC 14 Deception or Persuasion check, they can fool the guards into letting them talk freely with Lia in the tiefling cell or Wulbren Bongle, the leader of the deep gnomes. Wulbren will be here no matter how players went through Act 1, but the tieflings are only present if they survived Act 1, and they're only friendly if players helped them.
Wulbren is suspicious of the party at first, but players can ease his suspicions by passing one of several skill checks or by name-dropping the deep gnomes players can help during Act 1. Wulbren will mention that he needs his hammer (or something equally useful, like a warhammer) to break out of prison. If the tieflings are present, he's willing to help them escape as well.
How To Get Wulbren's Hammer
If players speak to the warden in the central tower, she'll mention that she keeps the prisoners' equipment on the next floor up. However, this area is forbidden, and the warden and the guards will get upset if the party simply climbs the ladder up.
Instead, players should have the party jump onto the wooden platforms on the outside of the tower. These platforms lead up to the equipment lockup, and none of the guards care even if they spot the party jumping around.
A scrying eye patrols the equipment floor, but it's completely alone. Players can deal with it by entering turn-based mode and hitting it with a ranged weapon or thunder spell once or twice.
Several chests have valuable gear inside, and Wulbren's hammer is on the table against the railing. If Tav would rather skip this step, you could give Wulbren another weapon such as a normal Mace to destroy the walls.
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Destroy The Cell Walls
Once players return Wulbren's hammer, he'll ask the party to tell him when to proceed. Players should take advantage of this because once he breaks the back wall of his cell, all the guards in the prison will rush in and enter combat against the deep gnomes, the tieflings, and the party. The warden will open all the cell doors to allow the guards full access, and the tieflings, in particular, are easy targets.
To avoid this, players should enter the warden's room, shut the door, and ambush her. A scrying eye will enter the room at some point, so be sure to destroy it before it gets a chance to call for reinforcements. At this point, only two guards and one scrying eye will be left in the cell blocks.
Ambush them (destroying the scrying eye first) to prevent anyone from seeing the gnomes break out of prison. This way, the tieflings and gnomes will escape, and the party will still have the Absolutists' trust.
If you are unsure about ambushing the guards, you can go behind the cells and remove a good chunk of the walls HP using bludgeoning damage and destroy the chains holding the boat.
Next, ask Wulbren to proceed with the plan and make another character destroy the tiefling cell wall.
By the time the guards realize the prisoners have escaped, the gnomes and tieflings will be long gone.
Go In From Behind To Help The Prisoners
At one end of the prison is a pile of white stone, and above it is a ledge that a strong character can jump up to. Jump spells and potions also work. This ledge leads to the cave system the gnomes and tieflings can access by breaking the rear walls of their cells. The two walls are tough, but players can break them just like Wulbren can.
However, breaking these walls creates a lot of noise, and the guards will quickly notice, open the cell doors, and attack the escaping prisoners. Players can break both walls at the same time to give the tieflings as much time as the gnomes to escape, but at least two party members will be behind the prisoners instead of between them and the guards.
Of course, this only happens if the guards notice that the walls have broken. Players can obscure the cell walls with Darkness and Silence spells, making it hard for the guards to tell what's happening. The guards may still get suspicious or upset when characters cast these spells, but they can give the prisoners the head start they need to get away. Still, ambushing the guards one by one is probably the easiest way to break out all the prisoners in Moonrise Towers.
How To Free Prisoners By Unlocking The Cell Doors
Flip The Warden's Lever
Instead of giving Wulbren his hammer, players can simply flip the master lever in the warden's office that opens all the cell doors. However, doing so is very dangerous. First, touching the lever is an illegal act, and the party will be in big trouble if they get caught. Second, while the rear walls of the cells lead to a hidden boat the gnomes and tieflings can use to escape, opening the cell doors leads to the rest of the prison and all its guards.
Still, this is the most efficient method for players who are fully hostile to the Absolutists. If the party has carved their way through the guards on their way in, then the path will be clear for the prisoners to leave by using the docks outside. This method also means that players won't have to earn Wulbren's trust since they've proven which side they're on.
Safely Help The Prisoners Escape
To ensure that all the prisoners leave Moonrise Towers alive, it's essential to ambush all the guards in the prison and kill all the guards in the docks. If you miss or skip any of the areas, the gnomes and tielfing will enter the fight and most likely die as the guards could one-shot them.
Other than the guards around the cells, there are two guarding the dock door, one near the prison entrance, and two inside a room to the right where Minthara is tortured if she survived act 1. On the docks, two are patrolling each side of the tower, one is guarding the Zhentarim package, and one is at the end near the edge.
Once the tiefling escape to the docks, they'll go left and into the Shadow-Cursed Lands to eventually reach the Last Light Inn.
Rewards For Rescuing Prisoners In BG3
Return to Last Light Inn and speak with everyone after they reunite to receive some rewards. Alfira and Lakrissa reward some EXP and the 
Potent Robe. If Alfira is not at the Inn because of the Dark Urge, then the robe will not be rewarded.
Bex and Danis are found outside and speaking with them rewards 
Bex's handmade cookies. Rolan will also thank players as well as Barcus for saving the prisoners, which rewards more EXP and some Gold.
Baldur's Gate 3
-
OpenCritic Reviews
- Top Critic Avg: 96 /100 Critics Rec: 97%
- Released
- August 3, 2023
- ESRB
- M for Mature: Blood and Gore, Partial Nudity, Sexual Content, Strong Language, Violence
- Developer(s)
- Larian Studios
- Publisher(s)
- Larian Studios
WHERE TO PLAY
- Genre(s)
- RPG
