Arts and Crafters
Arts and Crafters is a sock puppet who stays perfectly harmless for most of a level. Then you collect your last notebook, and suddenly looking at him is a mistake. Hold his gaze, and he charges, spins around you and teleports you somewhere else in the school, usually far from the elevator you were heading for. Here is how to handle him in Baldi’s Basics Plus.
When he becomes dangerous
Before you have all the notebooks on a level, Arts and Crafters does nothing. He only becomes hostile once you have collected every notebook, exactly the moment when you want to reach the elevators as quickly as possible. That timing is what makes him dangerous: he doesn’t threaten your notebooks, he threatens your escape.
How he attacks
- You look at him. Keeping him in view for more than about a second provokes him.
- He charges. He opens his mouth and rushes at you at high speed.
- He circles you. When he reaches you, he runs in circles around you, faster and faster.
- He teleports you. You end up at a random place on the level.
After the teleport you are somewhere new, often far from the elevators, while Baldi is at full speed for the level. Since version 0.5, a teleport by Arts and Crafters also resets Baldi’s sound queue, so he heads straight for the last position he was alerted to unless something distracts him.
How to avoid him
| Method | How it works |
|---|---|
| Don’t hold eye contact | Glance and look away. Short looks don’t provoke him |
| Use look-back | Looking back at him in short glances while facing away keeps him calm |
| Step into a room | He doesn’t enter rooms, so a room is a temporary shelter |
| BSODA | Pushes him away for a moment |
| Faculty Nametag | He is one of the characters it affects, so you can avoid the chase |
Once your last notebook is in your hands, walk the halls looking at the floor ahead and the map rather than straight down long hallways. You will spot him with short glances instead of a long stare.
When he charges anyway
If he has already opened his mouth and started his charge, you have two choices. Break line of sight by stepping into a room, which he won’t enter, or push him away with a BSODA. Running in the open usually doesn’t work, because he is much faster than you.
If he teleports you, don’t panic. Open the map, find the nearest open elevator and remember that Baldi now knows where you were. Move away from that spot first, then plan a route.
Being teleported away from the elevators with Baldi at full speed is how many lives are lost in the last seconds of a level. Treat the end of a level as the most dangerous part, not the safest.
Planning your exit around him
Because he only becomes active after the last notebook, you can prepare while he is still harmless:
- Note where you last saw him before collecting the final notebook.
- Collect the last notebook as close to an elevator as you can.
- Plan a route through rooms rather than long open hallways.
- Keep a BSODA or a Faculty Nametag for the walk out.
He and the other characters
- Beans. If Beans spits while Arts and Crafters is charging you, the gum vanishes without hitting anything.
- 1st Prize. If he teleports you while 1st Prize is pushing you, the teleport can rarely fail. It is a known bug.
- Student Shuffle. Crowds from this event can push him around, and version 0.14 added a fix for a movement effect that could stay on him after the event ended.
Plus and Classic
Arts and Crafters was already in Baldi’s Basics Classic, where he also wakes up once you have every notebook and reacts to eye contact. The big difference is what happens when he catches you. In Classic he takes you and Baldi back to the start. In Plus he teleports you to a random place, so the result can be anything from a minor detour to a disaster.
FAQ
Can I look at Arts and Crafters at all?
Yes, briefly. Short glances are safe; holding eye contact for more than about a second provokes him.
Does he enter classrooms?
No. He doesn’t enter rooms, so a room is a safe place to wait for a moment.
When does he become active?
Once you have collected all the notebooks on the level.
Meet the rest of the school in the Characters section, and read how Baldi speeds up after the last notebook.
