Baldur’s Gate 3: The Owlbear Cave and how to open the Gilded Chest of Selûne

After leaving the Druid’s Grove — the camp with the Tieflings and the druids in Baldur’s Gate 3 in Act 1 — you’ll be heading west. Along the way, you might spot the Owlbear Cave where you’ll find a secret that lets you open the Gilded Chest of Selûne. You can miss out on a cuddly companion if you make the wrong decisions here, so this guide will show you exactly what you need to do.

How to find the Owlbear Cave in BG3

The Owlbear Cave is located in the center of the Wilderness in Act One of Baldur’s Gate 3, west of the Druid Grove. More specifically, the entrance to the Owlbear Nest can be found right outside of the Blighted Village. The main storyline will take you through the Blighted Village, but if you haven’t found it yet, just head west along the main road from the Druid Grove.

Before crossing the bridge at the eastern entrance of the Blighted Village, turn north and venture into the wilds. There, you’ll come across a small river crossing. To the northwest of this crossing is the entrance to the Owlbear Cave. You can also access it from within the Blighted Village itself, as there’s a rocky crevice leading to the Owlbear Nest on the northeastern side of the town.

How to get the Owlbear Cub in Baldur’s Gate 3

Once you reach the Owlbear Nest in Baldur’s Gate 3, you can fight the Owlbear and kill it or take the pacifist route by sneaking around it or talking to it. Killing the Owlbear is a fun fight, but ultimately, it doesn’t feel right… unless you’re doing a Dark Urge playthrough.

I recommend sneaking or you can use Speak with Animals to talk directly with the Owlbear mother who won’t be happy you’re intruding into its home. Either way, there are only a few outcomes here.

There aren’t any major story decisions to make within the Owlbear Nest in Baldur’s Gate 3, but you can miss out on a companion if you aren’t careful. You can recruit the Owlbear Cub as a pet for your camp just like you can with Scratch the dog if you play your cards right.

Should You Kill the Owlbear in BG3?

If you get too close to the mama Owlbear guarding her egg, she will immediately become hostile and initiate combat. If you have a party member that knows Speak with Animals, then you can engage in dialogue with the mama Owlbear. The only outcomes here are fighting and killing the Owlbear or leaving and ignoring it, however, no matter your approach. Even healing the Owlbear won’t keep it from want you dead or gone.

Your traveling companions don’t have any opinions about the Owlbear one way or the other, either, so you don’t have to worry about losing or gaining approval with your party based on your decisions.

Regardless of the Owlbear’s fate, the Owlbear Cub will show up in the Goblin Camp shortly after so you can adopt it. Killing the mother won’t affect your chances of recruitment for the child, but she will give you a ton of XP and allow you to freely explore the cave.

How to avoid the Owlbear in the cave to reach the Gilded Chest

There are multiple methods to avoid the Owlbear and peacefully navigate the cave in Baldur’s Gate 3, but it’s best to have Speak with Animals active for safety. Druid players will have an easy time with this, but you can use a Potion of Animal Speaking to do the trick as well.

You can even find one next to the nearby Gilded Chest! You can then convince the mother to stand down as long as you don’t approach the cub.

I recommend you use the cragged rocks on the left side of the cave to climb down toward the pool in the center of the Owlbear Cave to avoid it. You’ll see the Gilded Chest of Selûne, a glowing blue chest surrounded by the pool, beckoning you.

How to open the Gilded Chest of Selûne in Baldur’s Gate 3 (BG3)

If you attempt to open the Gilded Chest of Selune, a spell will blast your character for a ton of damage, so don’t do that. Instead, you’ll need to use the jump action to cross the gap to the nearby statue.

Behind the statue, you’ll find an alcove. While walking around this alcove, a Perception check will reveal a Selûnite Prayer Sheet. If you fail the Perception check with one character, try again with another. At least one of you should roll well. Pick this up and jump back to where the chest is.

The next part can be a bit tricky. What you need to do is give the Selûnite Prayer Sheet to the character with proficiency in Religion, but not Shadowheart (her worship of Shar can complicate things).

Actually, for the best outcome, ungroup your party and have Shadowheart stand near the start of the cave, or even better, outside the cave. However, almost any party member use the Selûnite Prayer Sheet, and I’ve had good rolls with both Lae’zel and Astarion.

Then, get close to the chest, open your inventory, select the Selûnite Prayer Sheet, and have the character with the Religion proficiency select “read.” If you’re having trouble, have other characters read the sheet; it should work! This will magically unlock the Gilded Chest of Selûne, preventing it from damaging anyone who attempts to open it. If it doesn’t work, try a different angle in front of the Gilded Chest.

If Shadowheart is nearby, she will warn you. There are several skill checks here (Insight, Intimidation, and Persuasion). If you attempt to use Insight, you can enter Shadowheart’s mind to learn some info about her.

Beware, though, because she’s going to disapprove of this. I recommend skipping all of this by having Shadowheart be somewhere out of sight. Then, you won’t run into any trouble when you romance Shadowheart down the road.

What rewards are in the Gilded Chest?

The Gilded Chest of Selune has the following contents:

• Selûnite Rite
• Silver Necklace
• Bloodstone
• Idol of Selûne
• Moondrop Pendant

These aren’t much, but the Owlbear Cave Gilded Chest is a good early loot cache in Baldur’s Gate 3 that teaches you a lot about the game. The best you can do with these items is sell them for some extra gold, which is a very valuable resource in the early stages of the game.

With the Owlbear Cave crossed off your exploration list, you can proceed through the first Act of Baldur’s Gate 3 and continue your search for the Druid Halsin.