After leaving the Druid’s Grove — the camp with the tieflings and the druids in Baldur’s Gate 3 — 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. Here’s our mini-guide to help you out.
How to get the Owlbear cub in Baldur’s Gate 3
The Owlbear cave in Baldur’s Gate 3 is west before the Blighted Village and north. But, if you’re at this guide, you likely already knew that. Once here, you can fight the Owlbear and kill it or take the pacifist route by sneaking around it or talking to it.
I refrained from doing that since the Owlbear cub could later join your camp in Baldur’s Gate 3. You can fight and kill the Owlbear here, including the Owlbear cub. There aren’t major story consequences to doing this, but it’s pretty heartbreaking, no matter how valuable the egg they’re guarding is. If you want the Owlbear cub to join you, you have to find it in the Goblin Camp later and have it join your party then.
How to avoid the Owlbear in the cave to reach the Gilded Chest
There are multiple methods, but it’s best to have ‘Talk to Animals‘ active for safety. Druid players will have an easy time with this, but you can use a Potion of Animal Speaking that’ll do the trick. You can even find one next to the 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 it, 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 where the statue is. Behind the statue, you’ll find an alcove. While walking around this alcove, a Perception check will reveal a Selûnite Prayer Sheet. 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. 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 can pull through, and I’ve had good rolls with 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.
Related: Baldur’s Gate 3- Best Feats for Gale
What’s in the box?
The chest 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. The best you can do with these items is sell them for some extra gold.
