Free the Artist Quest in Baldur’s Gate 3
During the “Free the Artist” quest in Baldur’s Gate 3, you will encounter the Mystical Lich, who knows how to free Oscar from ghostly possession. But, of course, not for free! In exchange for the information, you need to find Trambo, the Lich’s runaway servant.
Where to Find Trambo
You can obtain information on where to find Trambo in several ways:
- Talk to the zombie beggars, who can be found in various places in the city. You can identify them by the green fumes around them. The friend of Trambo won’t freely share information, so you’ll need either persuasion or intimidation.
- Find a note about the escape in the Filgrave Mansion on the 3rd floor in a small room. This is possible after passing a magic check (15) when examining the beggar’s painting on the floor. The note provides a hint about the location.
- Randomly stumble upon the location, thereby finding the Mystical Lich’s servant.
To save you the trouble, we will immediately tell you where to go. Trambo is located in a small house near the pier to the east of the Mystical Lich’s hideout. The easiest way to get there is from the Dump Shore teleport. Descend the steps to the embankment and head to the farthest corner to the house. Inside, search the cabinet to find the terrified Trambo. If you come here without the quest, the unfortunate creature will simply ask you to leave, but if you have the quest, a full dialogue will start.
You can either kill him immediately or first listen to his story about how he became a zombie and why he ran away from his mummy master.
Kill or Save
After listening to the zombie’s story, you have the choice — kill Trambo or kill the Mystical Lich.
- Kill Trambo
If your goal is simply to complete the task of obtaining the vessel, then you kill the zombie without any remorse. Trambo is a fairly weak opponent, so there will be no difficulties. This option is not very profitable because you will just deliver the “Scavenger’s Heart” vial, and the Lich will only:
- Give you a cancellation torch to lift the curse from the artist.
- Throw in some money, but only if you start blackmailing the Lich and pass the “Intimidation” or “Persuasion” check.
No other perks are foreseen compared to the next option.
- Kill the Mystical Lich
If you decide to help the poor creature, choose in the dialogue with Trambo the line where you share the “secret” hidden inside him:
Note: This dialogue line appears only if you managed to visit the Mystical Lich’s secret lair in the sewers and read his notes.
For more details on how to get there, read our article “The Brain of the Mystical Lich.”
After this, the zombie will vomit the vessel, which you can then pick up from the floor.
To ultimately defeat the Mummy Lord, you must destroy the heart vial. If you’re playing on lower difficulty levels, you can limit yourself to just this.
To destroy the vial, do the following:
- Throw the obtained bottle a respectful distance from yourself.
- Move your group away from the vessel as it causes significant area damage when it explodes.
- Select a character skilled in pyro spells, like Gale. Shoot the spell at the vessel.
It will explode, thus depriving the Mystical Lich of immortality.
If you’re playing on higher difficulty levels “Tactics” or “Valor,” you’ll need to find the brain, lungs, and liver to ease the fight with the villain:
- Lungs — located in the basement of the morgue on the grounds of the Lower City Graveyard. Descend to the basement and find the jar in one of the rooms.
- Brain and Liver — in the secret laboratory of the Mystical Lich in the sewers. The easiest way to get there is from the hatch near the “Baldur’s Gate” teleport.
The destruction of the vessels is exactly the same as in the case of the heart, which we have already described earlier. Interestingly, some players place all 4 vessels next to the Lich and blow them up. This removes about 50% of the boss’s health.
Return to the Lich and engage in a fight. After the victory, you will receive the following rewards:
- You can take from the Mystical Lich’s body the equipment he previously sold for a lot of money and his unique staff.
- Trambo will give you the “Dungeon Lord’s Ring,” which grants the 6th-level spell “Create Undead.” Allows raising a mummy to fight on your side once before a long rest. The ring is perfect for a necromancer build.
- In the gold chest in the main room, you can take the cancellation torch to lift the artist’s curse. The key will be on the body of the defeated Lich.
- Trambo becomes a merchant instead of his master Lich.
- Everyone in the building becomes friendly characters, even the monsters on the 3rd floor.
- Alternate End
If you kill the Mystical Lich but do not destroy his heart, after completing the quest, if you return to the boat hut after a long rest, you will find a note on Trambo’s body:
