BG3 How To Stop The Presses Quest Guide And Best Choices
Navigating the bustling streets of Baldur's Gate in Act 3 brings unique challenges, none more pressing than controlling your public reputation. The quest titled Stop the Presses tasks players with infiltrating the local newspaper block to prevent a slanderous article from destroying the party's image. Managing this quest efficiently requires stealth, quick thinking, and a solid understanding of the printing press mechanics.
How to Trigger and Prepare for the Quest
This time-sensitive quest begins immediately after speaking with Ettvard Needle near the Baldur's Mouth Gazette building. He informs you that a highly damaging story about your exploits is scheduled to print for the next morning's edition. To prevent permanent damage to your companion relationships and city-wide reputation, you must resolve the issue before taking a long rest.
Preparation is key since entering the lower levels of the Gazette constitutes a major trespassing violation. Utilizing invisibility potions, disguise self spells, or high-dexterity characters will make sneaking past the mechanical guards significantly easier. It is highly recommended to clear your inventory of heavy items to maximize your stealth capabilities during this infiltration mission.
Infiltrating the Baldur's Mouth Basement
The primary objective is to reach the printing press located deep within the basement of the facility. Players can find an entrance through a locked side door on the roof or by sneaking past guards in the main office. Once downstairs, you will encounter multiple Steel Watchers patrolling the dimly lit corridors meticulously.
Carefully observe the patrol patterns of the automated sentries to find the ideal moment to move between hiding spots. If combat breaks out, it can alert the entire building, making the subsequent puzzle mechanics much harder to manage peacefully. Reaching the central chamber introduces you to the talking printing press, which holds the key to changing the upcoming news headline.
Finding the Best Headline Substitution Plates
To successfully overwrite the negative story, you must locate hidden printing plates scattered throughout the basement area. The best choices include highly favorable stories, such as articles praising your heroism or benign local interest pieces. Inserting a positive story like "Cutest Cat in the Outer City" ensures your public image remains completely untarnished.
Be cautious not to accidentally insert alternative negative or neutral plates that still paint your party in a questionable light. Finding the optimal plate requires searching the wicker baskets and metal shelves located in the adjacent storage rooms. Once you find the correct plate, interact with the printing press mechanism to swap the text before escaping the area safely.
Consequences and Best Choice Outcomes
Completing this quest successfully yields immediate benefits when you explore the city the following day. Citizens will greet you with praise, and local traders may offer better prices due to your stellar public reputation. Failing the quest or resting too early results in a massive wave of negativity, causing guards to become suspicious and companions to express deep disapproval.
The absolute best choice is to sneak through using non-lethal methods and swap the text with the most positive plate available. This approach guarantees full rewards without triggering unnecessary combat with the city watch or the Steel Watch network. Taking control of information proves to be one of the most powerful tools at your disposal in the final act of your journey.