Balder’s Gate 3 features a lot of unique and bizarre encounters and among one of them is a strange ox. You first meet this peculiar creature after you leave the crash site and get into Druid Grove. The Strange Ox is found on your way to Nettie’s place. Interacting with this strange creature is practically impossible initially, however, we will guide you through the whole process of interacting and exposing the true identity of the strange ox in Baldur’s Gate 3.
Baldur’s Gate 3 Strange Ox explained
As you are passing through the Druid Grove area, specifically the Emerald Grove, players will pass nearby a few cattle. Here, your character will automatically comment on how one of the Oxen looks different from the others. Here, you can try interacting with the Ox, but it won’t respond to you at all.
The only way to speak to the strange ox in BG3 is by using “Speak with Animals” spell. In case you are running a druid build, you are in luck as they know this spell by default. However, you can always find this spell for other classes too. Without this spell, players cannot interact with the strange ox, and as such will miss out on the entire interaction with the Strange Ox.
Unfortunately, players need to pass the Arcane check when talking to the Strange Ox in BG3. You need to have at least 10 Arcane to talk to Strange Ox and progress the conversation. The ox will refuse to talk to you, and you need to roll to check for Persuasion, Intimidation and Deception.
Either way, you need to roll more than 10 to progress. Apparently, this strange ox is actually an ooze enemy who has changed its appearance with the help of a special ring, Shapeshifter’s boon. Its only purpose is to deceive others and somehow enter Baldur’s Gate undetected.
How to interact with the strange ox
Your first interaction with the Strange Ox is in Act 1 of Baldur’s Gate 3, where you meet the ox randomly in Emerald Grove settlement, near Nettie’s shop. Here, players can try to get the ox to reveal its identity, but the ox won’t reveal itself and the best thing you can do is exhaust the dialogue and move on.
The next encounter with the strange ox in BG3 takes place in Act 2 near Last Light Inn, north of Moonrise Towers. You need to head into the barn for the inn to find the Strange Ox. You need to pass the Arcane skill check to interact with the Strange Ox here.
Players can push the ox at this point to reveal itself. Players can push the Strange Ox to tell you who he actually is, and the Strange Ox will reveal here that he is an ooze enemy who is using a Shapeshifter’s Boon Ring to stay as an Ox, as he is just tired of his previous life of bloodshed. Now, he just wants to eat hay and enter Baldur’s Gate.
If you decide to let the Strange Ox go, you will meet the Strange Ox for the third and last time. Here, the Stange Ox will attempt to enter Baldur’s Gate. You can talk to it but there are no significant dialogue options.
In all your encounters with the Strange Ox, you can either ignore the Ox and let it go on its way or kill it. If you let the Strange Ox, go, you will simply meet the Strange Ox at the next location, until the very end of the game where you find the Strange Ox ready to enter Baldur’s Gate.
Can you attack the ooze enemy?
However, if you attack the ox during any encounter, it will shift back and turns hostile. You can get Shapeshifter’s Boon ring as loot by defeating the strange ox in BG3. The ring is a powerful item that provides you with a 1d4 bonus to all your skill checks when you are under disguise or shapeshifted into an animal. The entire decision to attack and kill the Strange Ox is a moral decision that players need to make.
You can either let a potentially dangerous enemy enter Baldur’s Gate who claims to want to live a peaceful life or kill a dangerous enemy and ruin his chance to give up his evil ways and live a simple harmonious life. The only point that makes any difference is whether you want the Shapeshifter’s Boon Ring or not.
