How to get the owlbear cub in Baldur’s Gate 3 and can you add him to your party?

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Half-bear half-owl creatures, owlbears are among the fiercest wildlife you’ll come across in the Forgotten Realms. The cubs meanwhile are adorable. The owlbear cub you can pick up in Larian Studios’ newest entry into the Dungeons and Dragons series is therefore the best of both worlds. If you want to get the owlbear cub in Baldur’s Gate 3 for yourself, we’ll go through how in this guide. Be warned though that it isn’t a particularly quick or easy process.

How to get the owlbear cub in a few easy steps

To get the owlbear cub in Baldur’s Gate 3, you’ll need to complete the following steps in order:

  1. Encounter the owlbear mother and its cub at the owlbear nest near Blighted Village. You’ll find it in the Forest and recognize it as a cave entrance near a stream. There are owlbear tracks in the mud.
  2. Encounter the cub a second time at the Goblin Camp west of the Emerald Grove.
  3. Speak to Krolla.
  4. Speak to Volo.
  5. Return to Krolla and denounce or partake in Chicken-Chasing, then convince her to relinquish the owlbear cub to your custody.

Completing all these steps will require you to pass a few various different skill checks, and while fighting actually isn’t necessary, it is one option open to you. Let’s go over each step in a little more detail.

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How to get the owlbear cub in Baldur’s Gate 3: A player approaches the cave entrance to the owlbear nest.

Step one – How to find the owlbear nest

To begin, you’re going to need to encounter a fully grown owlbear by stumbling in on an owlbear nest. The nest can be found in a cave midway between the Emerald Grove and the Blighted Village. Take the path just to the right of the bridge that leads to the village, and down towards the river. You’ll find the cave entrance just ahead. Enter the cave with your party, and you’ll run into a fully grown owlbear.

First, you’ll want to pass an Animal Handling skill check to study the creature’s behaviour. Doing this will reveal the owlbear cub at the back of the nest, which the adult owlbear is clearly protecting.


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After this, you have a few options open to you. You can pass a Survival check and back away slowly out of the cave. If you want to be bolder, you can pass a Performance check to puff your chest and roar. Lastly, you can attack the owlbear and kill it. If you choose this option, make sure to interact with the cub afterwards, but leave it alone and exit the cave. Fighting is the only way to get the owlbear cub – sadly, you have to make it an orphan to have it join you.

✓ Honour Mode

Note that on Honour Mode difficulty, there are two owlbears for your party to fight – both mom and dad are present, along with extra mechanics that make the fight tougher.

How to get the owlbear cub in Baldur’s Gate 3: A player encounters a large adult owlbear inside the nest, which approaches them slowly.

Step two – Encounter at the Goblin Camp

Next, you’ll want to head over to the Goblin Camp. If you haven’t found this area yet, head out to the main gates of the Emerald Grove. Travel west and you’ll run straight into the Blighted Village. You can either fight or sneak your way through, but you want to make it to the far side and continue westward. From here, you’ll run into the Goblin Camp. The main body of the camp is situated in stone ruins across a bridge to the north. This is where you’ll need to head.

So long as you have completed step one correctly, you should be able to find the owlbear cub off to the left as you enter, surrounded by a group of Goblins. Note that you may need to take one or two long rests back at camp before the cub appears.

Step three – Speaking to Krolla and Volo

How to get the owlbear cub in Baldur’s Gate 3: The Goblin Camp, situated upon the ruins of an ancient temple.

Once you’ve got the animal in your sights, you’ll speak to the Goblin Krolla. You won’t get far, as the bard Volo and his performance in the middle of the camp will prove an interruption. Speak to him, and you’ll easily get him carried away. Then you can resume dialogue with Krolla.

She’ll first want to tell you about Chicken Chasing, a game the Goblins have been playing, involving chasing a chicken (or now an Owlbear) around an obstacle course. It’s up to you whether or not you participate. You can decline, or accept, asking for the Owlbear as a prize. The outcome is largely the same either way. You can use Speak with Animals to talk to the Owlbear cub and assure that you win by convincing it to help you out.

Interact with the owlbear cub and you’ll get another Animal Handling check. Pass this one too, and you’ll be able to unlock the dialogue options you need to free it. With the animal anxious to leave, you can speak to Krolla again. Either immediately or following a victory in Chicken Chasing, tell her the animal is coming with you.

Step four – Obtaining the owlbear cub

How to get the owlbear cub in Baldur’s Gate 3: The owlbear cub in the Goblin Camp, anxious to escape.

You’ve got a few options available for what happens next.

  • You can use Illithid Wisdom to compel Krolla into giving the owlbear cub as a gift. The power needs to recharge every long rest, however.
  • You can persuade her that the animal is more trouble than it’s worth.
  • You can intimidate her into handing it over.
  • You can buy the owlbear from her for gold.
  • You can kill her and massacre the entire camp to free the cub. Initiating a fight at this point is risky though, as it can result in the cub’s death.

Whichever option you go with, upon success the Owlbear will follow your scent back to your camp. After a number of long rests, you’ll be able to find the Owlbear at camp. You’ll need to pass a third and final animal handling check. This could be to offer it food, or to tend to a wound the creature has sustained. Pull it off and the Owlbear will return again, finally becoming a permanent member of your camp.

How to get the owlbear cub in Baldur’s Gate 3: The owlbear cub and Scratch the dog stand next to each other, having become friendds.

Is saving the owlbear cub in BG3 worth it?

We would argue that the owlbear cub is worth it. The cub is also extremely cute. If you’ve got Scratch the dog at your camp too, then the animals will become friends with each other. In addition, the cub can become a strong ally during the game’s culminating fight.

✓ Did you know?

You can earn an in-game achievment for petting both Scratch and the Owlbear at once.

If nothing else, rescuing the cub is a feel-good thing to do, and it’ll gain the approval of several different companions. Shadowheart, Gale and Halsin will all approve of your kindness, so it can be a worthwhile move if you’re looking to romance any of them.

Can the Owlbear cub in BG3 join your party?

If you choose to save the Owlbear cub then yes, eventually, he can help you fight. Minor spoilers for the end-game going forward. Although the cub can’t just become a member of your party at any given point or be summoned in like Scratch can, when you reach the final battle and find your allies gathered, you’ll find the Owlbear – now spontaneously grown to full size – among them. Damon can even craft a unique set of battle armour for him. In the fight atop the Netherbrain, you’ll then be able to summon the Owlbear as an ally – and a pretty powerful one, too.

That covers everything you need to know about getting the owlbear cub in Baldur’s Gate 3. There are innumerable other little quests like this throughout the game though, alongside all the main gameplay aspects. If you’re looking to move the scuffed rock or just want to learn a bit more about how the Baldur’s Gate 3 character creator works, we have you covered.

About the Author

Finlay Cattanach

Fin is a Guides and Reviews writer for Videogamer.com. He's worked previously with Startmenu, The Loadout, and more. He plays everything from strategy and sandbox titles to FPS and souls-likes.

Baldur’s Gate 3

  • Platform(s): macOS, PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series S, Xbox Series S/X, Xbox Series X
  • Genre(s): Adventure, RPG, Strategy
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