The Outlast Trials: Silence the Idol Trial Walkthrough

Silence the Idol drops you into the Television Studio, where a captive man dressed as talk-show host “Bob Vanier” is paraded as a propaganda mouthpiece for Otto and Arora Kress. Your job is to maim him through a chain of rigged studio “accidents” across four sets, then end the broadcast for good. It is one of the longest and most demanding Trials in the game, and the solo run leaves no margin for mistakes.

Quick answer: Sabotage the Idol in Studios 1 through 3 (floor setup → UV code on the switchboard → pull the lever), restore every power station, drop the Studio 4 show to 0% approval with booing cassettes, push the saw into him, then leave on the shuttle.

Image credit: Red Barrels via YouTube/@UndyingMagnum

Loadout to bring into the Television Studio

The enemy pressure in this Trial is constant, so build around disrupting patrols and keeping quiet. Bring either the Stun or Blind rig to disorient enemies, pair it with the Noise Reduction tool to cut the sound you make, and take the Smash skill so you can break barricades in a single hit.

Co-op makes everything here easier, but the setup above is what carries a solo run through the tighter rooms.

Break into the studio and ruin the conference

You start on a rainy street outside the studio. Sweep the opening area for loot, then head toward the cars at the far end, where the Idol sits in his wheelchair. Spotting him completes Find the Idol.

Circle around the blue truck to an alley with a steel door. Pass through the two steel doors — the monster spawns in at this point — then run to the end of the alley and climb through the open window to infiltrate the studio.

Follow the straight hall to the control room and press the glowing red button. This triggers a cutscene and completes Ruin the conference.

Take the door on your left into a dark cafeteria. Switch on NVG, vault the counter, and cut through the kitchen and bathroom to reach the studio lobby. Grab every battery you can find here — you will need them later. Follow the ceiling sign to Studio 1 to enter.

The lobby is the best stockpile of batteries in the first half of the Trial, so clear it before moving on.

How the studio sabotage loop works

Studios 1 through 3 all run the same three-part pattern, so learn it once. First you arrange the set, then you unlock the switchboard with a code, then you pull a lever to injure the Idol on camera.

Set the floor: read the monitor by the entrance for the layout diagram, then slide the props along the yellow rails into position and face them the right way.
Crack the switchboard: head to the control room, aim the UV spotlight around the studio, and read the hidden codes it reveals.
Sabotage: return to the floor and pull the lever on the prop you placed in front of the Idol.

Reading switchboard codes

The switchboard has three colored button sets, each tied to a range of letters and numbers. You press two buttons per set, matching the codes the UV spotlight exposes on the floors, walls, or the set itself. A code reads like a letter paired with a number, for example E-03 or J-04 — select the letter, then the number, and repeat for each color.

Button set	Letters	Numbers
Red	A to E	01 to 05
Green	F to J	11 to 15
Blue	K to O	21 to 25

The codes are randomized every run, so you always have to scan with the spotlight. Confirming the wrong combination discharges an electric shock that damages you, so double-check each letter and number before you hit confirm.

Studio 1: the news set

Wait for the Idol to settle behind the news panel. Check the monitor by the entrance for the layout, then slide the floodlights to the right and park them directly in front of the Idol.

After the floor is set, the door on the right opens. Go inside, climb the stairs, and enter the Studio Control Room.

Search the studio with the UV spotlight to reveal the codes plastered around it. Enter them on the switchboard and confirm.

Walk back down and pull the lever behind the floodlights. The bulbs overheat and burst, driving burning glass into the Idol and completing Sabotage the recording.

Studio 2: the cooking show

Stay close to the Idol so he rolls forward on his own, and escort him to Studio 2. The entrance seals behind him, so rush back to the main lobby and follow the ceiling signs to Studio 2 — an enemy spawns here, and hurrying lets you slip in before he reaches the lobby.

Clear the lady statue from behind the kitchen counter, then put the chef statue from the studio’s right side in its place.

Position the camera on the counter’s right side (your right), with the lights on its left.

Head upstairs, read the codes with the UV spotlight, and enter them on the switchboard. Then pull the lever behind the chef to make the mannequin chop at the Idol, completing the sabotage.

Pushed props and the spotlight both make noise and light that can draw nearby enemies, so clear the room or wait out a patrol before setting up.

Recharge the power stations

Start escorting the Idol toward Studio 3 and an enemy spawns as you step out. Duck behind the stack of cardboard on the right, let him pass, then walk the Idol to the yellow gate. The gate is locked, which hands you the power station objective.

Batteries sit in the lobby, the kitchen, and the Battery Dispenser right next to the yellow gate. Feed three small batteries into the station by the gate to open the route forward, then work through the rest of the building.

Yellow gate station — ground floor, three small batteries.
Office Area — up the stairs through the gate that opens on your right.
Service Area — follow the signboards from the upper floor.
Audiovisual Area — third floor, the final station to fill.

After all stations have power, return to the Idol and guide him to Studio 3 without being interrupted. Go back through the lobby, then use the signs overhead to meet him inside.

Studio 3: the medical set

Arrange the floor using the monitor plan. Put the camera on the left, the lady in the middle, the lights on the right, and the large machine-like contraption directly in front of the Idol.

An enemy patrols this room and keeps re-entering, which makes the setup fiddly. Use the studio’s two entrances to loop around and shake him, and expect to do it several times before the floor is finished.

Go up to the control room, read the codes with the UV spotlight, and input them on the switchboard.

To disrupt the recording, pull the lever behind the machine-like device positioned in front of the Idol. Escort him to Studio 4 next; no enemies appear on the way. Then return to the lobby and follow the signs to meet him inside.

Studio 4: tank the approval rating

Studio 4 runs a live talk show, and you disrupt it by turning the crowd against the broadcast. Audience members with cassettes bolted into their heads cheer on command, and you need to flip those cassettes to boos.

Find the audience member highlighted by a UV lamp, get behind him, and pull the cassette from his head — it reads “Cheer”.

Take the cassette to the Recording room on the next floor and interact with the machine to overwrite it into a boo. Lock the door, because an enemy will try to break in while you work.

Carry the rewritten cassette back and plant it in the member’s head. He now boos, which disrupts the show.

Climb the rafters on the right to reach the UV spotlight and use it to spot the remaining audience members carrying cassettes. Pull, overwrite, and replant each one. Each flipped cassette drops the rating in stages — roughly 65%, then 30%, then 0%, which finishes Lower the show’s approval rating.

Censor the Idol and leave

With the show at zero, walk up to the Idol and find the saw set in front of him. Push the saw into his chest to kill him and complete Censor the Idol. From there, sprint back through the studio halls and the rainy street to the shuttle dock, call the shuttle, wait out the timer, and board it.

You will know the Trial is done when the objective switches to the shuttle extraction and the evaluation screen appears with your grade and task completions. After the final objective, regular enemies stop patrolling, so if you still want to grab loot, documents, or the secret room, that calm window before you board is the time to do it.