From Act 1 to Act 3, Baldur’s Gate 3 manages to keep attention with a flood of epic quests and missions. However, there is one task that you can confidently leave aside.
Which task is it? The affected quest line revolves around Oskar Fevras, the artist. You can first meet him in Act 1 when you enter the Zhentarim hideout in Waukens Rest. The Zhentarim are a mercenary group hiding there from the soldiers patrolling Waukens Rest.
You encounter the mercenaries as part of the quest line about the lost cargo. This is a quest reward if you win a fight on the Road of Resurrection. In doing so, you must fight a horde of gnolls that keep two of the Zhentarim mercenaries pinned down in a cave.
When you get hold of the cargo, you can open it and take the container inside. It contains a so-called beholder. The spherical creature has 150 hit points, hundreds of small eyes, and a huge mouth. In combat, you can throw the container once to gain an advantage.
However, you should bring the cargo to the Zhentarim closed. This means you’ll miss out on the beholder, but you also won’t have to face the mercenaries, making the rescue of the artist easier.
The rewards are unfortunately only worth your time to a limited extent
What do you get for completing the task? Upon successful completion of the quest in Act 3, Oskar Fevras paints a picture for you. Unfortunately, you have no influence over what kind of picture it will be. It could be a portrait of a random companion, or it could simply depict one of your hirelings that you can hire via Lazarus.
Additionally, upon successful completion, you can look forward to a corresponding achievement. But that’s all you can look forward to. And that after about 16 in-game quests that must be successfully completed.
What must be done for completion? First, you need to get Oskar out of the mercenary cave alive. You can buy his freedom for 1000 gold – a high sum in Act 1. However, the mercenary that owns Oskar can also be convinced or threatened accordingly.
If Oskar survives the hideout, you will meet him again in Act 3 in Baldur’s Gate. There, you must then follow the newly opened quest line. The tasks are long and complex, but the story is interesting.
Should you save Oskar or not? The question has two facets: If you want to play a good
character, saving him is the morally right decision. A evil
character, however, might not care about Oskar.
On the meta-level, there is the facet of what you want as a player. Do you want to unlock the success at the end that comes with the quest line? Or are you particularly keen on your random portrait? In both cases, it would be advisable to save the artist.
How did you decide? Did Oskar get to live in freedom or did you leave him to the mercenaries? Feel free to tell us in the comments.
More about Baldur’s Gate 3: The 3 most powerful NPCs for your final battle
