Summary
Across the three acts ofBaldur’s Gate 3, players can run into a rather strange ox. The party expresses that something about the beast seems off, and if players castspeak with animalstocommunicate directly with the ox, its dialogue suggests it is hiding something.Despite its protests that it is just an ordinary farm animal, the creature is indeed hiding a dark secret.
[Warning: This article contains spoilers for Baldur’s Gate 3]
While the exact nature of the ox can never be uncovered, its possession of the Shapeshifter’s Boon ring and a flashback it can show the player suggest that itis some kind of shapeshifting murderer, not unlike the doppelgangers that serve Bhaal in theLower City. Unlike those doppelgangers, however, the strange ox does not wish to cause any further carnage and instead desires to reach Baldur’s Gate peacefully while disguised. Towards the beginning of act three, players can choose whether to help this ox achieve its goals or stop it in its tracks.
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Helping The Strange Ox Yields Some Neat Rewards
Cast Speaking With Animals To Communicate With It
The ox can be found in an abandoned shack in Rivington, just outside the Lower City. While the creature has been cagey in past interactions, hereit asks for the player’s help breaching the city walls. It offers to turn into an apple and ride in the player’s pack until they pass the Basilisk Gate, promising aid in return.
Players can accept the offer and pick up the creature, now in the form of a “strange apple,” carrying it across the city’s threshold, where it hops out and rolls away. It leaves behind the Shapeshifter’s Boon ring, which grants buffs to creatures not in their natural form, and a slimy note that reads: “Thanks for getting me in! I owe you one.” After this,players won’t see the ox again until the final stretch of the game, when it reappears to lend its strengthagainst the Netherbrain.
It can transform into a myriad of creatures, including a Phase Spider and a Minotaur.
During this fight, it can be summoned as a greenish blob of ooze, which can transform into a myriad of creatures, including a Phase Spider and a Minotaur. It is tanky and helpful in combat, paying the player back for their earlier help. The ox is a powerful ally to make and one worth seeking out.
The Strange Ox May Pose Some Unforeseen Risks
Helping It May Bring Carnage To Baldur’s Gate In The Future
One must consider the implications of letting the creature in. It is clear from the flashback that the ox can show the player during their earlier interactions thatit has previously committed or been involved with violent atrocities. The creature may deny that it has any current violent intentions, but it is worth considering how quickly it will decide to attack the player and any surrounding innocents should they pry into its secrets.
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The ox may help the player fight, but it is certainly no saint, and it’s very possible that its reasons for entering Baldur’s Gate are malicious. A shapeshifter loose in the city can wreak all kinds of carnage, as the doppelgangers in Bhaal’s following prove. And at one point, the ox praises Cyric in its dialogue, who is a chaotic evil god in Faerun and definitely not someone with good intentions for innocent people. Despite what the ox claims,there is a good bit of evidence to suggest it intends to inflict more violencein the future.
Prevent A Possible Tragedy By Killing The Strange Ox
Gain More Rewards On The Expense Of Losing An Ally In The Final Fight
At the point in the quest where the strange ox requests help entering Baldur’s Gate,players can instead push the creature further, inquiring about its true identity. Doing this, or straight up attacking the creature, will cause a fight to ensue, during which the ox will transform into a powerful ooze. Killing this ooze ends the quest and yields several items as rewards, since the Shapeshifter’s Boon ring, a Hat of Fire Acuity, and some gemstones can all be found on the creature’s corpse.
Doing this will net players more physical rewards than siding with the ox. However, it also rids them of a potential ally in the final fight, andcondemns the creature to death based on assumptionsabout its true intentions. Such an action may be the most cautious, but it could hardly be called moral.
In the end, this choice largely comes down to whether or not players believe that they can trust the ox to keep its word. If they believe the ox will be a useful ally to the city and not a threat, there is no reason to keep it out. Alternatively, they get more rewards for striking the creature down, andpotentially prevent it from reaping chaos inside the city walls. And then there are players who care nothing for the lives of the people in the city, and would gladly help the ox get inside to introduce a bit more chaos.
