How to solve the Baldur’s Gate 3 strange ox puzzle (BG3)

Baldur’s Gate 3 presents a sprawling world packed with mysteries and adventure. One of the earliest mysteries is an ox you meet early in the campaign. Here is our guide explaining how to solve the strange ox puzzle in Baldur’s Gate 3.

Baldur’s Gate 3 – how to solve the strange ox puzzle

In The Hollow area, you will find a strange ox standing near some stone columns (see the below screenshot). From a distance, it might not look like much. However, drawing close to the animal makes it clear you have encountered a bit of a mystery. To solve the strange ox puzzle, you must talk to the creature using the Speak with Animals ability.

Screenshot by PC Invasion

When you first encounter the ox, you may not have created a custom character who possesses the Speak with Animals ability. If you don’t already have a character with that ability and don’t wish to use a one-shot scroll, you’re in luck. You can find and recruit Wyll after clearing the Removing the Parasite quest in Druid Grove. If you need additional information, check our guide detailing how to find and recruit every companion. Wyll can easily converse with the ox.

Note: If you approach the ox early in the campaign and find you don’t have the ability or item needed to converse, you can always save the meeting for later. I avoided the ox throughout most of Act 1. Right near the very end of the act, well after I had resolved the uncomfortable situation with the Tieflings and Druids, I returned. The ox was still waiting for me in the same place.

When you’re ready, talk to the ox with Speak with Animals enabled. The animal shares its opinion that your conversational overtures are ‘quaint.’ You then have several follow-up dialog options. Choose the top option. You will attempt to discern what it is about the ox that makes you uneasy. The ox may refuse to explain itself, but you can roll for the Persuasion option, which will cause the ox to finally reveal its plans to head for Baldur’s Gate.

Following your conversation, you’ve done everything you can with the ox during the Druid Grove encounter, short of ending its life. If you decide on such a violent approach, make sure to attack with ranged weapons. It explodes when defeated and leaves behind the Shapeshifter’s Boon Ring. That equipment improves the efficacy of any relevant abilities. Perhaps the ox itself was actually a shapeshifter of some sort?

Baldur’s Gate 3 is available on Steam.