Baldur's Gate 3 guide: Everything you need
Baldur's Gate 3 tips: Be prepared
Baldur's Gate 3 classes: Which to choose
Baldur's Gate 3 multiclass builds: Coolest combos
Baldur's Gate 3 romance: Who to pursue
Baldur's Gate 3 co-op: How multiplayer works
If you've stumbled across an owlbear cub and its mother while exploring Baldur's Gate 3, then you might be wondering how best to handle the situation without bloodshed. It's easy to anger the protective owlbear if you get too close, and you might not even realise it's there until too late to back away unnoticed.
The Forgotten Realms are full of choices, and it's impossible to know the outcome of every decision you make and what consequences it might have further into the story. Some choices might be relatively minor, like the Owlbear conundrum, but you still want to do the right thing for those involved—unless you're giving in to your Dark Urge, of course.
Still, if you want to know how to save the owlbear cub so he can return to your camp, here's what you need to know.
Where to find the owlbear nest
The owlbear nest is found inside a cave, to the northeast of the Blighted Village, and you'll need to look for the small stream to find the entrance. You can check the exact location on the map above. Once inside, you can head in either direction to reach the Owlbear and its cub and when you get close enough, a short cutscene will play which ends in a dialogue choice.
If you have Speak With Animals, you can use Persuasion or Intimidation to reason with it, otherwise, you'll need to rely on the other choices, all of which require you to win a roll. Animal Handling and Survival are Wisdom checks, and Performance is Charisma; all of which have a 15 difficulty rating. If you really don't want to fight the owlbear mother, your best bet is to do a quick save beforehand—even when the choice is up on your screen.
That said, if you succeed with your checks and don't initiate combat, the owlbear will still engage you if you get too close again.
If you do end up in a fight and you want to save the owlbear cub, concentrate your attacks on the mother. Once she's been dealt with, the cub will lose its hostility and you'll have to choose whether to attack it. Obviously, if you want it to join you later, you should let it live.
Whatever you decide, look for a headless corpse at the back of the cave near where the owlbear was standing which holds The Oakfather's Embrace, a nice set of medium armor that deals Radiant damage whenever the wearer is hit. You can also find an Owlbear Egg which is basically 40 camp supplies, in case you're short.
Rescue the owlbear cub from the Goblin Camp
Whether or not you decide to kill the owlbear mother in the cave, the cub will end up at the Goblin Camp after you've rested a couple of times, assuming you decided to spare its life.
The difficulty of this part will depend on whether or not you're on speaking terms with the Goblins. If you're not, you'll need to clear the entire outside area of the camp, near the main gate. Otherwise, you can persuade them to let you in.
However you get inside the camp, head left once you're through the main gate and look for Krolla and the owlbear cub next to her—or just the owlbear cub on its own if you fought your way in. Tell her you're going to take the cub with you when you leave and pick whichever option you're most likely to win. Either save beforehand or bribe her with gold if you want to be safe. Speak to the owlbear cub before you leave so it knows how to find your camp. You'll need to do one more roll check here, so save first.
The next time you head back to camp and end the day, the owlbear cub will appear while you're sleeping. Choose either the Animal Handling option—you'll need to pass a wisdom check—or offer it food, which it will eat before running away. From that point on, the owlbear cub will return to your camp sporadically, and you can build more trust.
