The most difficult dungeon in Baldur’s Gate 3, the House of Hope, lies hidden and beyond the average mortal’s reach somewhere within the Lower City. Should you be willing to find it and enter the lair of the devil himself, you could be rewarded with treasures beyond your wildest imaginings.
Of course, if waltzing into a devil’s home and stealing his treasures were easy, everyone would do it. During your staycation in Avernus, you’ll be risking life, limb, and soul for these treasures. If you want to make sure you find the right path to survival, you’ll want to follow this guide as closely as possible.
Updated on May 30, 2026, by Kaitlyn Peterson: This guide has been updated with information to reflect the most recent Patch, including tips on how to grab every reward in the House of Hope, deal with Harleep, and defeat Raphael.
How To Prepare For And Find The House Of Hope
Before you go looking for the House of Hope, you’ll want to ensure that you’re max-level (12). The fights inside the House of Hope are nothing to scoff at and are some of the most dangerous – but thrilling – experiences you’ll have in Act Three.
You’ll also ideally want to have:
- A way to resist Fire damage
- Alternative methods of damage if you normally deal Radiant damage
- A surplus of healing potions and special potions such as Bloodlust, Vigilance, etc.
- A balanced team of one physical tank, one healer, one spellcaster, and an additional member of preferred choice
The first and second notes are the most important, as most damage in the House of Hope will be fire-based, and most enemies in the House of Hope will have a special feature that reflects Radiant damage on the caster.
With the added special dialogue and her pre-existing resistance to Fire damage, Karlach is hands-down the best person to take with your party to the House of Hope.
When you’re ready, you’ll want to head over to the Devil’s Fee in the Lower City of Baldur’s Gate (North side of the map and east of the Lower City central wall).
The portal to the House of Hope is upstairs, but it will require you to solve a specific ritual puzzle. You can either try figuring it out on your own through a journal upstairs or finish with the help of Helsik herself at the front counter.
If you go upstairs without making a deal with Helsik, you’ll have to beware of the Thirsty Trap at the top of the stairs. Stepping on it will summon endless Fireballs to your position.
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How To Persuade Hope To Help You Explore Safely
When you first enter the House of Hope, you’ll encounter Hope at the front doors. Well, sort of. This Hope is actually a manifestation of the real Hope who is trapped in a prison inside the House of Hope. That said, you will need her help if you want to explore the area without immediately turning everyone inside hostile.
To do this, try asking her questions while passing several checks to Persuade her. After enough convincing, she will give you the Debtor’s Attire. This will allow you to traverse the House of Hope without issue, as long as you don’t do anything too crazy or attack anyone.
Once you’re inside, there’s a lot to explore, but you have plenty of time to do everything. Your goal is the Archives, but since taking the Orphic Hammer will turn everyone hostile, regardless of your disguise, there are a few other notable locations you should explore beforehand:
- Hope’s Prison
- The Secret Treasure Vault
- Mirror Teleportation Hall
That said, you can still go have a look at the Archives, just don’t take anything or do anything to cause suspicion. There is no way to sneakily take the Hammer, as you’ll have to lift a barrier first that will tip everyone off, so don’t even think about it until you’re ready to begin fighting.
The room you meet Hope in, where you first enter, is also where you’ll face Raphael later in one of the toughest boss fights in the game. If you want to cheese this fight a little bit, you can lay out some Smokepowder Bombs beforehand, which will still be there when you initiate the fight later.
If you do this, place them near each of the four pillars in the corners of the room, as destroying these will be your main priority at the start of the fight.
Enter The Secret Treasure Vault And Find Mol’s Contract
One of the first things you should do after exploring a bit is head to the wall that is across the hall from the magically locked door (this will later be revealed as the Boudoir Room) on the northern end of the House of Hope.
The wall will have an Arcane Gem puzzle on it that you will need to solve to reveal a hidden treasure vault. Unfortunately, a successful 20DC Arcana check will be required to enter, so you may want to save beforehand and use any advantages you have.
Inside, you’ll find the:
You’ll be able to take all of these items without turning anyone in the House of Hope hostile, so make sure you grab everything inside. Even if you have no use for the Helm and Staff, they fetch a reasonable price.
The Outer Portals Room
While exploring, there are also a few mirror portals you’ll come across. You cannot use these teleportation mirrors for anything or gain any prizes from them. However, fans of Dungeons & Dragons’ Faerun will find there are several Easter eggs here worth looking into.
You will not be teleported anywhere with any of these mirrors, so don’t worry about clicking on each one.
How To Enter The Archives
Once you’re done exploring, it’s time to head to The Archives. The Archives will be your first real target inside the House of Hope and are located on the far West side of the House of Hope.
You can either walk all the way around the building via the right side (which is suggested for at least exploring and understanding the layout of the map) or try unlocking the door to the left as you enter the dining hall.
You should still unlock the door connecting to the main room as you pass it, even if you don’t use it initially. This will be your shortcut for later and shorten the time it takes for you to reach Hope’s Dungeon if you wish to free her and the final boss of this dungeon, Raphael himself.
Hope can be found outside the Archives door. Talk to her and pass two checks that will convince her to tell you the Archivist’s secret: He’s afraid of Zariel’s High Inquisitor, Verillius Receptor.
As you enter the Archives, you may see Korilla speaking with the Archivist if you’ve spoken to her before. She won’t rat you out, but we recommend speaking with her if you’re looking for more lore and context about Hope.
Speak with the Archivist and tell him that you’re Verillius Receptor(Deception DC 15). If you don’t pass this check or didn’t get the clue-in from Hope, you’ll have to pickpocket the Archivist’s Boudoir Invitation to continue. You can alternatively kill the Archivist for the invitation, but doing so will turn all members of the house hostile against you.
If you successfully pass as the High Inquisitor, the Archivist will answer any questions for you. However, it won’t allow you to take any of the items here without consequence, so don’t try it.
Of note, there are three notable items here you’ll want to grab before leaving:
-
Orphic Hammer
-
Gauntlets of Hill Giant Strength
-
Amulet of Greater Health
The Gauntlets and Amulet can be stolen without turning everyone hostile, if you’re careful, and this is the way you’ll want to approach this room. This will allow you to grab these before you take the Hammer, the latter of which will turn everyone hostile, and there’s no way around it.
How To Steal The Gauntlets of Hill Giant Strength And Amulet Of Greater Health
If you brokered a deal with Helsik for the gauntlets or otherwise want these great items, you’ll need to steal them. Stealing them, however, is no easy task.
No matter where you go in the room, the Archivist will always follow the greatest gathering of people. Several other indentured workers patrol the area as well.
Additionally, each item is sitting on a rigged trap plate that will turn the house hostile and summon Raphael if you trigger it. This is to be avoided.
To steal these items, you’ll need to:
- Split the party. Leave the large group in the center of the room as one dextrous individual sneaks over to your object of choice.
- Walk up to the plate to pass a Perception check on perceiving the trap. If they don’t, you’ll need another party member to at least stand nearby temporarily and point it out.
- Begin sneaking (via Hide or through any Invisibility methods) and disarm the trap (DC20) before stealing the item of value. Repeat the process on the other side.
We do not recommend attempting to steal these items in Honour Mode before taking the Orphic Hammer. The risk of rolling a Natural 1, even on excellent party members, can undo your progress severely.
However, these items remain after taking the hammer, and there is no further punishment for stealing them, as the hammer will trigger Raphael anyway.
Once you’ve stolen the items and have your Boudoir Invitation, proceed to the main door in the hall that will now be unlocked and revealed as the Boudoir.
How To Enter The Boudoir And Find The Orphic Hammer’s Password
After taking the Boudoir Invitation from the Archivist, you’ll be able to enter this previously locked room on the Northern side of the House of Hope. Interact with the glowing door to enter.
Inside, you’ll find a potentially steamy scene with Harleep (but more on that later) and a fountain of restoration. This fountain will act as a Long Rest for everyone standing in it when activated and can be used an infinite number of times.
For that reason, you’ll want to use it almost every chance you get up until you attempt to leave. To do so, simply interact with the faucet, and it will restore everyone standing inside the fountain.
Once you’ve done that, you’re free to proceed to the bed in the back of the room, where you’ll find an Incubus who looks a lot like Raphael. Of course, this is just a facade, as the person you’ll actually be speaking with is Harleep, who takes on the appearance of Raphael at Raphael’s request.
With Harleep, you’ll have a few options regarding how you’d like to go about getting the passcode. The options are:
|
Option |
Description |
|---|---|
|
Speak with Harleep and accept their deal |
If you speak with Harleep and go along with things, you will be asked to strip, and the interaction will quickly turn into one of the more intense romance scenes in the game. This is a unique romance scene, however, where you’ll be able to decide what appearance Harleep takes on for the scene: a male or female demon. Throughout, you’ll have to answer questions and pass checks, but if things stay positive (ish?), it will ultimately lead to Harleep trading you the passcode in exchange for adding your physical appearance to their supply of disguises. Important things to note:
|
|
Fight Harleep and steal the password details |
If you would like to fight Harleep, you can either engage in conversation first and then turn on him or go straight for the fight. Since you should be freshly restored from the fountain, this shouldn’t be too bad a fight, but some Mephits will also join the fight from the balcony, so watch out for those. Once the fight is over, you’ll be able to get the password from behind the portrait and grab the |
|
Avoid Harleep entirely by sneaking. |
If you’d like to avoid the interaction altogether, you can sneak around the right side of the fountain to get the password from behind the portrait there, but you won’t see any of the scenes with Harleep and will miss the opportunity to grab the Helldusk Gloves. You’ll need to pass a Perception check to notice the trap on the painting. Disable it before pressing the button, and then unlock the safe with Raphael’s password in it. If you fail to notice or disable the trap, Harleep and their forces will attack as the rest of the house turns hostile. Raphael will appear at the exit as well. |
Helldusk GlovesIf you choose any option other than accepting Harleep’s deal, you will need to disable the trap on the portrait to get the password for the Orphic Hammer.
How To Take The Orphic Hammer
Once you have the password from Raphael’s vault in the Boudoir, you can head back to The Archives to grab the Orphic Hammer. Ensure you’ve done everything else you wanted to up to this point, aside from freeing Hope, as this will turn the whole place hostile.
Return to the Archives and speak the magic words in front of the hammer:
Give me my heart’s desire.
The forcefield will drop, and you can now take the Orphic Hammer, but be warned that taking it will immediately turn the house hostile and summon Raphael. That said, you won’t be forced to fight him until you attempt to leave through the front door.
So, with the Orphic Hammer in hand, you now have two options:
- Free Hope and have her fight alongside you.
- Leave Hope and fight Raphael alone.
Freeing Hope is recommended, as her spell Banishment can remove up to two non-Raphael enemies from the field entirely. She’s also a Life Cleric, meaning she’ll be instrumental in balancing the immense damage Raphael and his minions can deal.
How To Enter Hope’s Prison And Save Hope
To save Hope, you’ll first need to find her. Before you go looking for the Prison, go ahead and finish off any enemies in the main areas of the House of Hope so you won’t have to worry about them when you come back up.
Inside the House of Hope, there are two entrances to Hope’s Prison:
- Via a manhole in the floor to the right of the east wing door. This entrance will require a Strength check to open, but it is the recommended entrance since you’ll have a small area to gather and prepare before beginning the fight to save her.
- Via a secret passage off the northern balcony (the second door on the right when going counter-clockwise), accessible only by jumping down toward a green crevice.
Inside Hope’s Prison, you’ll be forced to fight several enemies, which will include a few Spectators, before you can safely leave with Hope.
How To Leave The House Of Hope
With the hammer in hand (and possibly Hope), you’ll want to make your way back to the location you started your House of Hope journey at: the far southern point of the map.
The house is now hostile to you, meaning you’ll have to face two patrolling Hellfire Spheres (one East side; one West side) and Debtors, if you didn’t kill them before going to Hope’s Prison or are skipping it altogether.
The Hell Spheres resist mostly anything except Cold damage. They can become extremely dangerous due to their high damage and health pool, and they have decent movement each turn.
Their aura can deal additional damage, so we recommend using your spellcasters with Ray of Frost to slow them down a bit while keeping a party tank, like a Berserker, up front to distract them.
If you’re having problems with the Hell Spheres and need to reset, entering Hope’s Prison again will take you out of combat, as enemies above cannot follow you into it. This can allow you time to heal, think, and better prepare to face them above.
The debtors are also problematic as lowering their HP or allowing them to reach you in melee will result in them exploding and becoming stronger, hellish enemies. Their explosions can deal large amounts of additional Fire damage.
To deal with the debtors, strike them from afar with powerful ranged attacks. This will keep their explosions far away from your party. Then, pick them off in any way you choose.
When you’re ready to leave, make sure no one is following you as you go through the southern door.
Raphael will appear when you interact with the portal in the center of the front room. So, before you do this, head back to the faucet to interact with it one more time. Once you initiate the fight with Raphael, it will become inactive.
How To Defeat Raphael
Raphael is no pushover. With 666 health and a mighty span of powerful feats and special fight gimmicks, you’ll have your work cut out for you.
We do have an in-depth guide on how to defeat Raphael, so refer to it for the most expansive form of information available.
However, if you’re only looking for some short tips, here are some to get you by:
- Bring someone with high-level Counterspell to mitigate some of Raphael’s damage.
- You can convince Yurgir to join your party on a DC30 Persuasion check. You should use your Inspiration for it if possible.
- Hope can Banish up to two creatures from the fight that are not Raphael, this includes Yurgir if you failed to convince him.
- Defeat all other enemies before Raphael to prevent becoming overwhelmed.
- Raphael gets his power from the four Soul Pillars. Destroy them with Bludgeoning and Force attacks.
- Radiant damage will turn off a Soul Pillar for a round if you cannot destroy it right away.
- Do not use Radiant damage on any enemies in this room.
- If you took the tip at the start of this article and set up bombs in this room, set them off first.
You will have the choice to spare or kill Korilla during this fight. You can toggle Non-lethal if you wish to save her for Hope’s sake. You receive no reward for it, however, beyond making Hope happy.
With Raphael defeated, you’ll have the 
Helldusk Armour – a legendary piece and the strongest armour in the game. This is the final piece of the Helldusk set in the House of Hope.
Speak with Yurgir if you recruited him, and loot anything else you may wish for before interacting with the portal.
It’s finally time to get the hell out of Hell.
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