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Learn how to recruit the owlbear cub in Act 1 for your next Baldur’s Gate 3 play-through and the best way to find company at your camp.
How to Recruit the Owlbear Cub
When journeying through the forest in Act 1, you might come across a large cave that “reeks of owlbear.”
Journeying into the cave, you’ll encounter the cub behind its massive owlbear mother. While at first look it appears like you have to kill the mother to get the cub to join your party, you don’t have to fight the owlbear. You might not want to either, the mother is a level 3 enemy with 91 hit points. Considering how early in the game you can stumble across the cave, this probably isn’t the easiest enemy to take out.
The process of recruiting the owlbear cub is similar either way. If you decide to fight the mother, get ready for a difficult battle. Upon killing the mother, the cub will begin eating its mother, ignoring you in the process. If you do go this route, make sure you grab the owlbear egg from the nest. The egg is worth 40 camp supplies, covering an entire long rest.
Finding the Owlbear Cub Later
You’ll find the owlbear cub again either through the quest “Rescue the First Druid Halsin” or through going to see Minthara, if you’re siding with the goblins. Inside the Goblin Camp, you should see the owlbear cub to the left of the Fool.
When you speak to Krolla, she will talk to you about the game chicken-chasin’. The way you address this dialogue is essential for recruiting the owlbear cub.
While she will attempt to convince you to play, you don’t need to chase the owlbear through their arena. After initially speaking with her, you have to interact with the fool Volo behind you to get him to stop singing. Once Volo is off the stage, you can speak with Krolla again. After taking care of Volo, you can speak to Krolla again. The easiest course of action is to refuse to play, then interact with the owlbear.
What matters is that you have a chance to interact with the owlbear on your own. If you can cast Speak with Animals, you can talk with the owlbear and invite it to your camp. If you can’t, just make sure you reach your hand out and let it sniff you. You’ll have a prompt indicating that the owlbear can follow your scent back to camp.
The dialogue will indicate that you need to deal with the goblins before it can leave.
Once you’ve interacted with the owlbear, you need to talk to Krolla the goblin again.
You’ll have the option to tell her, “I’m leaving – and the owlbear’s coming with me.” You then either perform a skill check or use you Illithid powers to convince her to free it. When you succeed, the owlbear will run off, and you won’t see it for a few days.
Seeing the Owlbear At Camp
After a few long rests, the owlbear will show up at your camp looking for food.
When this happens, it is important that you give it some food, and interact positively with it. This is your chance at recruiting the owlbear cub. Eventually, it will get scared and flee. There are many unique ways the owlbear can get scared off, but they depend on which companions you have in your camp.
After your next long rest, the owlbear will show up again with a wounded paw. When it does, you’ll have multiple skill checks to tend to the cub, but treating it well will ultimately let you recruit the owlbear cub in your camp as a permanent companion.
Using the Owlbear Cub in Combat
Unfortunately, recruiting the owlbear cub does not allow you in combat, except for one encounter much later in the game.
Regardless, inviting the owlbear cub to your camp doesn’t cost you anything, and it’s much more fun to have around, especially in the midst of camp drama with the other companions. You can also pet it as much as you like. If you also invited Scratch the dog back to your camp, he’ll have a friend too.
Did You Miss the Owlbear on Your First Play-Through?
While it isn’t too much trouble to find, many players will miss recruiting the owlbear cub on their way over to the Goblin Village.
If you happen to clear out the goblins before interacting with the owlbear cub, you might run into a bug where you can interact with the cub at the empty village. The problem is there are no goblins around to meet the rest of the criteria. Often, this is early enough in the game where you could load an earlier save if you really want the cub in your camp.
Whichever decision you make, just know the cub cannot be used in combat. If you missed recruiting it, just go find the owlbear cub on your next play-through!
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