Help the Devilish Ox

The Strange Ox needs help getting into Baldur's Gate

Help the Devilish Ox is a quest in Act Three of Baldur's Gate 3. It can be started by speaking with the  Strange Ox in Rivington.

Objectives

Help the strange creature.

• We met an odd creature. It has the shape of an ox, but is clearly something else. It wants to get into the city. Wonder why?
• We ran into that strange creature again - the one who was pretending to be an ox. It wants to get into the city. Wonder why?

Smuggle the creature into the city.

• We met an odd creature. It has the shape of an ox, but is clearly something else. We agreed to help it reach the city. It transformed into an apple so we could carry it.
• We agreed to help the strange creature reach the city. It transformed into an apple so we could carry it.

Defeat the strange creature.

• We angered the strange creature. We're in for a fight.
• We tried to eat the apple. The creature was furious. We're in for a fight.

Quest Complete

• We brought the creature to the city as requested. Seems it left us a note.
• We defeated the strange creature.
• We decided not to bring the strange creature into the city.

Walkthrough

In order to receive this quest, the Strange Ox must have survived in both the Druid Grove and Last Light Inn and must not have been attacked by the party at Last Light Inn. There are also cutoff points for the quest: failed interactions with the Ox, crossing into the Lower City, or progressing the main storyline too far – a recommendation would be to trigger this quest in the earliest stages of Act Three.

The Strange Ox can be found in Rivington, inside a stable near the Requisitioned Barn X: 41 Y: -143. A  DC 15 Insight Check indicates that the Ox is indeed the Strange Ox from past encounters. Using  Speak with Animals allows its quest to be undertaken. The Ox says that it is delighted to see the party. It then further elaborates that it is trying to get into the city proper. After this, the following options appear:

• Not until you tell me exactly what you are.
• I suppose so. What form will you take?
• [DARK URGE] Charge, charge through the city streets with me, leaving virgin hearts as smear-stains.
• Maybe some kind soul might. But not me.

Smuggle the ox

The Strange Ox transforms into an apple.

If the dialogue option, "I suppose so. What form will you take?" is chosen, the Ox transforms into a  Strange Apple, which the party must pick up to complete the quest.^{[See: Bugs]} This Strange Apple spawns on the ground, making it easy to miss. Forgetting the apple causes the quest to fail upon entering the Lower City, and losing out on its possible reward. The journal reads, "We decided not to bring the strange creature into the city," even though the party can go back, retrieve the apple, and bring it there; the quest remains uncompleted. If properly brought to the Lower City upon entering for the first time, the Ox declares, "Oh-ho! Thank you for the lift, my friend. Thank you very much indeed. Ta-ta!" The quest then ends, and it disappears, leaving behind the  Shapeshifter's Boon Ring and a  Slightly Slimy Note.

Attack the strange creature

The Strange Ox transforms into an ooze.

If the dialogue option, "Not until you tell me exactly what you are," is chosen, the Ox tells the party they do not want to go down that road. The following choices then appear:

• I assure you I do. Tell me what you really are, or I'll strike you down myself.
• Fine. I'll help you. Let us leave it at that.
• Then you go your way, and I'll go mine.

If the dialogue option, "I assure you I do. Tell me what you really are, or I'll strike you down myself," is chosen, the Ox transforms into a level 9 ooze and attacks.

If the quest was accepted, the party can still attack the Strange Apple, causing the Ox to reveal its true form and begin combat. This can be done even after the quest has failed.

Once defeated (200 xp), it drops the  Hat of Fire Acuity, the  Shapeshifter's Boon Ring, and two random high-quality gems (e.g.,  Diamond and  Jade).

Quest rewards

If smuggling the Strange Ox and safely delivering it to the Lower City:

•  Shapeshifter's Boon Ring – if the ring was obtained earlier, the Ox leaves a random potion of moderate value in place of the ring.^{[See: Bugs]}
• The Strange Ox also becomes an ally as part of ⁠Gather Your Allies and can be summoned with  An Apple a Day during the final battle against The Netherbrain.
• Because the Strange Ox remains alive, the party cannot receive the  Hat of Fire Acuity.

Bugs

• In a multiplayer game, the quest reward is not given if the Strange Apple is in the inventory of the avatar character of a player other than the host when entering the Lower City. The reward is still given if the apple is in a companion's inventory, even if the companion is controlled by a non-host player.