In Baldur's Gate 3, Avenge the Iron Hand clan is a third act side quest in which you need to will destroy the Steel Guard foundry using a rune powder bomb. In this guide, we will tell you how to start the mission and infiltrate the factory, where to place the explosives, and what to do with Vulbren.
Important: This mission is directly related to the quest “Disable the Steel Guard” and “Save the Gondians”, so we will often refer to them. At the same time, the branch with the gnomes and the consequences of your decisions related to them will be considered here.
Completing the quest “Avenge the Iron Hand Clan”
How to start the quest
If you have successfully completed the “Save Wulbren” quest, you will be able to chat with the Iron Hand leader on the first floor of the Lunar Towers after you have dealt with Ketheric Torm in the dungeon. He will tell you about his grandiose plans, which will be realized by him in Baldur's Gate. This will lead to the start of the corresponding mission, but it will be possible to continue it only after the transition to the third act.
Where to find the secret hideout of the dwarves
The next time you can encounter the dwarves is when you approach the Southern Outpost at the crossroads in Rivington. Answer Manip's questions while the Steel Guard scans you. When you are one step away from being arrested as Absolute's enemies, Nimble will appear and throw a solar grenade at the guards. They will lose interest in you, as they will set off in pursuit of the gnome.
Now go east and climb down the ledges and vines down to the cave entrance (X: 33, Y: 32). As you approach the passage and pass a Survival check (15), you will see footprints leading into the darkness. Enter Englayron's cellar, go up and walk a little forward. The guard will speak to you.
Go to the southwest room and you will find Wulbren and Bark Root there (if you helped him in the quests “Save the Dwarf” and “Save the Dwarves in Grimforge”). Talk to the first one, who will offer to destroy the steel guards along with the Gondians. If you abandon this plan, you will receive new inspiration for the “People's Hero”. Then you can chat with the gnome again and he will agree to take a rune powder bomb.
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Note: You don't have to use a bomb to blow up the foundry – you can destroy it in other ways. You can use explosives during a fight with some strong enemy, so you shouldn’t refuse to get them.
How to get into the foundry
The Steel Guard Foundry is located in the southwestern part of the Lower City, not far from the teleportation point “Gray Bay Docks”. There are several ways to enter the factory.
- You can teleport behind the bars, jump over them, or simply pick them, and then go to the double doors ahead and open them (requires a 20 Sleight of Hand check). Be careful, as there is one steel guard patrolling this side – use stealth mode to avoid getting caught by him.
- You can also just break through the grate with a blunt weapon and go inside. If you are spotted by a steel guard, you can convince him that you are allowed to be there by passing a Deception, Intimidation, or Persuasion check (difficulty level 22). As a result, you will be able to safely navigate the area around the factory – we recommend going to the platform (X: -276, Y: -175) on the south side of the building and interacting with the lever to open the entrance to the foundry.
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Where to find Zanner Toobin
After entering the plant, head west. When you find yourself in the main workshop, a cut-scene will start in which they will show how the cultists force the Gondians to work, threatening to kill their families and blow up their collars. If you are not in stealth mode, the cultists will decide to attack you. You can convince the Gondians to help you by passing an Intimidation or Persuasion check.
If you fail to persuade the dwarves, they will remain hostile to you until you deal with Tamiya Holtz. After her death, the Motivator that the black hand was carrying will activate and you will need to turn it off by passing an Intelligence check (5). Talk to the survivors – they will panic, telling you that their families are being held hostage.
However, it is not necessary to fight with the guards now – you can continue to secretly go west to the security office. Open the door downstairs or upstairs by passing a Sleight of Hand check (15) or using a key that can be stolen from Tamiya. Inside you will find Zanner Toobin. He will tell you about the Gondian families and his daughter who are imprisoned in the Iron Throne prison, and will ask you to get them out of there. As a result, the task “Save the Gondians” will begin.
How to destroy the Steel Guardians foundry
Important 1: To complete the task “Avenge the Iron Hand Clan” it is not at all necessary to save the Gondians from prison, so if you are playing a villain or simply do not want to help the prisoners, then you don’t have to worry if the Motivator is activated and all the Gondians die. You can simply go deeper into the foundry and plant a rune bomb.
Important 2: If you did not take explosives, then take Tubin with you (if you allowed the death of factory workers and their loved ones, then motivate him revenge), who knows how to activate the factory's self-destruct mode. If Zanner dies along the way, then use “Talk with the Dead” on him to find out the startup code for the desired system.
If you helped the Gondians, when you return to the foundry you will find that they have rebelled against their oppressors. Help them fight the guards, and then go back to the security office and go through the door leading to the lower floor of the Steel Guard foundry laboratory. You can also use the elevator.
Here, too, there may be battles between the Gondians and the guards, in which you can take part. Otherwise, we advise you to simply sneak between the guards. You need to move north to the large door (X: -195, Y: 458), leading to the Vestibule of the Control Center. Open it with the Control Level Key (dropped by one of the guards) or hack it with a Sleight of Hand check (25).
Note: If you have not yet freed the Gondians and are in stealth mode, then breaking the door will trigger the alarm and cause the death of the prisoners in the Iron Throne.
You will find yourself in the corridor of the Control Center, where there are containers with brains on the sides. Interact with the jug shown in the picture below to initiate a dialogue. Apparently, the steel guard caught the fugitive dwarf. You can take control of him and free the thief by passing a Wisdom check.
Go forward through the second door. If Toobin is with you, he will talk to you and tell you about the superguard Titan, and also inform you that he will not go further. Get ready for a difficult battle.
How to blow up a neural switch
So, you have to fight three Hellfire Guardians (level 11) and a Steel Guard Titan (level 12). We talked about the battle with him in detail in another guide. After dealing with the enemies, interact with the Neural Switch in the northern part of the room. If Tubin is nearby, he will be able to turn on the self-destruction system himself, asking you for permission to launch it.
If Zanner is not there or he died, then use his code or install a bomb with rune powder taken from Wulbren. Watch the cutscene with the destruction of the foundry.
Note: If you still cannot destroy the Titan, and you have explosives or Toobin's code in your hands, then you can secretly make your way to the switchboard. To do this, go into stealth mode, enter the room with the Hellfire Guardians and use misty step to get out of sight of the robot standing directly in front of the console (you can probably use an invisibility potion). Now just interact with the neurocyte and blow it up.
What to do with Vulbren
When you finally blow up the foundry, a cutscene will begin. Wulbren will then appear along with the other deep gnomes and congratulate you on your victory, but will tell you that all the Gondians should be killed (if they survived; or there is only one Tubin left) as they will always pose a threat to Baldur's Gate. If Bark is alive, he will object to Bongle, believing that he has a negative influence on the clan. You will have several answer options leading to certain consequences:
- If you are playing the role of a good soul and Ruth is alive, then select the answer “Perhaps the Dwarves of the Iron Hand need a new leader? What do you say, Bark?”, passing a Persuasion check (15). In this case, Bark will be able to form an alliance between the Dwarves and the Gondians, and both groups will become your allies in the final battle. Vulbren will leave, showering everyone with curses (we did not meet him in the future).
- If Root is dead, you can make a Persuasion or Intimidation check (difficulty class 20) to force Wulbren to leave without a fight. However, in this case you will only get Gondians as allies. Vulbren will promise to take revenge on you, but we never saw him again.
- When choosing the answer “Vulbren said everything correctly. For the sake of this city you must die, Gondians,” you will have to fight with the surviving Gondians (the dwarves will become your allies). If you say “I will not allow you to harm the Gondians,” then you will have to fight Bongle and his dwarves (the Gondians will become your allies).
Note that even if you plan to intercede for the Gondians, but did not save the prisoners from the Iron Throne and lied to Zanner about it, then Wulbren will point out the corpses floating in water, and the Gondians will automatically become hostile towards you.
Besides experience points, you will not receive any other reward for this quest. Unless you can enlist the help of the Gondians and/or the Dwarves in the final battle.
