Baldurs Gate 3: Owlbear - how to beat? Baldurs Gate 3 guide, walkthrough
The Owlbear is an optional boss in BG3. From our guide you will learn how to defeat the strong opponent and how to get the small Owlbear - The Oak Father's Embrace, the egg of the Owlbear.
Last update: 02 October 2023
Owlbear is one of the stronger early-game opponents you'll encounter while exploring the vast world of Baldur's Gate 3. The creature dwells in its Nest near the Druid Grove. Owlbears are aggressive and protective of their young. It should be noted the Owlbear is a completely optional enemy, but beating it grants additional rewards and experience.
- How to reach the Owlbear Nest?
- Preparing to fight the Owlbear
- How to defeat the Owlbear?
- Reward for defeating the Owlbear
How to reach the Owlbear Nest?
Related map marker: Owlbear (Blighted Village) @ Act 1
You can easily get to the Owlbear Nest from the Druid Grove. If you're far away, warp to near the Druid Grove or the Blighted Village.
We've marked the Owlbear Nest's location above. You can easily get there by leaving the Druid Grove and taking a path through the forest. Then you will reach a waterfall and a rushing stream.
To get to the Owlbear Nest, you will have to cross the stream, and then follow the path down to the cave. You'll notice large tracks on the ground.
Preparing to fight the Owlbear
Just before the start of the fight with the Owlbear, consider casting auxiliary spells like Bless, which will provide heroes with a bonus to attack and defensive rolls. This is also a good time to cast Mage Armor and increase your squishy spellcasters' Armor Class.
If you don't want to kill the Owlbear Cub, you're gonna need some kind of control spell to exclude it from the fight. We recommend Sleep if you have a spellcaster on the party. If none of your party members know this spell, you can use a scroll instead. You'll need to upcast Sleep at Level 2, as the Level 1 version won't be enough to affect the Cub.
If you decide to spare the Owlbear Cub, you can invite him to your camp at a later time. You'll learn more about it on the Camp page.
You can also focus down the larger Owlbear. The fight ends the moment it dies.
During the fight, the Owlbear will try to shorten the distance separating it from the party members as much as possible in order to attack with its sharp claws. This will give your heroes a negative Threatened effect, which reduces the effectiveness of their ranged attacks. Before you attack, you will need to move away from the target to increase your hit chance.
A red arrow will appear next to the Owlbear if it's able to get an opportunity attack off as you walk away. It can still miss, of course, but don't risk it if you're low on health.
How to defeat the Owlbear?
The Owlbear is a challenging foe, especially at lower levels. You can talk to it first if you'd like, but you'll be better off initiating the fight yourself to gain an advantage.
It is best to start the fight with a surprise shot when the enemy turns around and starts patrolling the rest of the cave - this will surprise it and skip its turn, letting you attack again. While sneaking, be careful not to enter the area of vision of the Owlbear, which is marked in red.
During the fight with the Owlbear it is worth keeping it in one place or at least out of range of any of the team members by immobilizing or reducing its movement speed, for example, by pinning it down (through bow attacks) or by using one of the spells like Ray of Frost. Spells granting Advantage on attacks are also useful, such as Cleric's Guiding Bolt, which maintains its effect until the next time you hit the opponent.
It will also be important to find an elevated position, especially when your character uses ranged weapons (short or long bow) or uses spells that gain a height advantage bonus like the Warlock's Eldritch Blast.
You should eliminate the Owlbear ASAP, so focus on dealing as much damage as possible, making sure your attacks have relatively high hit chances. Some of the spells, such as Magic Missile, cannot miss - use them.
Reward for defeating the Owlbear
Defeating The Owlbear will, of course, be rewarded accordingly. In the belly of the defeated creature, you will find an item needed to create the Vision of the Absolute - a rare blue spear.
In the nest, you will find an Owlbear egg, which is worth a real fortune, and after searching the nearby skeleton, in addition, a rare item - The Oak Father's Embrace.
This is some very good light armor, with 13 AC, +3 Dexterity and the Order of Nature trait, which deals 1d6 radiant to all undead attacking its wearer. Unfortunately, this armor also causes the wearer to take additional 1d6 damage from animals, so you should change the armor whenever you're about to face any.