Baldur's Gate 3 Strange Ox dialogue choices

The Strange Ox in Baldur's Gate 3 certainly lives up to their name.

The unusual bovine in Emerald Grove seems like they have something to say to you, but like most encounters with other human and human-adjacent entities in Baldur’s Gate 3, you can easily lock yourself out of a useful interaction by picking the wrong choice.

As for why you’d want to, well, that’s a bit more complicated.

Baldur’s Gate 3 Strange Ox

Baldur's Gate 3 Strange Ox dialogue choices

The Strange Ox is near the platform where the Tieflings are training and one of the spots where Rolan wanders around grumbling, assuming you convinced him to stay. Chat with the Ox to prompt a set of dialogue options.

• [Arcana] The ox makes you uneasy. Try to discern why
• A fine-looking beast you are
• Ugh. Hideous cow
• Leave

If you pass the Arcana check, you get a short blurb telling you how unique the ox is. As with any encounter with suspicious or unusually intelligent animals, that’s your sign to use the Speak with Animals spell. Speak with Animals is a divination spell that Bards, Gnomes, and nature-oriented classes can learn. If you don’t know it, you can purchase a Potion of Animal Speaking from the merchant near the entrance to the grove’s hollow.

Some players said they could chat with the ox just by passing the Arcana check, but I tried a few separate times and still got nothing.

With the spell cast or potion consumed, chat with the ox again to trigger another set of choices. Tell them to explain themselves, and then choose the Persuasion option.

We recommend including Shadowheart in your party for the extra dice score her Guidance ability offers, or Wyll, if you taught him that skill.

Where did the Strange Ox go in Baldur's Gate 3?

The Ox says they’re off to Baldur’s Gate “with or without the rest of these poor sods,” though whether that means the Tieflings, the Druids, or the other cows is unclear. We haven’t actually found them in Baldur’s Gate itself yet, but we also haven’t checked every cow in the city.

There’s a decent chance the Strange Ox might transform into something else later as well. Some are reporting that the Ox drops a Shapeshifter’s Boon ring if you kill them, an accessory that increases damage dealt while in shapeshifted form. At a glance, it seems like the Ox is probably a Druid bent on leaving the grove before their kin seals it off. We’ll update once we know more, though.

Check out our Baldur's Gate 3 walkthrough if you're looking for more help, and wander over to our tips for the best classes and subclasses for beginners, and the must-have party members if you want to optimize every interaction.