Top 15 Things You Should Do in Baldur’s Gate 3 Act 1

There are various things to do first in Baldur’s Gate 3 Act 1 that will stick with you later on. From meeting various companions and critters to learning how to respec, craft, and find gear. Here are my top 15 things you should do in Baldur’s Gate 3 Act 1.

Things To Do First in Baldur’s Gate 3 Act 1

Here’s a quick breakdown of the things to do first in Baldur’s Gate 3 Act 1.

• Loot everything you can.
• Get the best early gear.
• Learn how to respec.
• Recruit Scratch the Dog.
• Learn crafting and alchemy.
• Be sure to recruit companions.
• Rescue the Owlbear Cub.
• Learn animal tongues.
• Acquire the Mask of the Shapeshifter.
• Unlock Adamantine Forge.
• Save or Destroy The Emerald Grove.
• Become a god.
• Find Explosives.
• Travel Through the Mountain Pass.
• Don’t forget to rest.

Loot Everything You Can

Don’t be shy about collecting as much loot as possible in Act 1. You may not need everything that you find, but you can always sell those unwanted things to merchants for gold. The more items you loot, the more you sell, and the more money you get.

It’s really an easy habit to form during your first days of gameplay, which will allow you to hoard a significant amount of gold really fast. One pro tip I have is to use the “Add To Wares” option when inspecting an item. This will mark it as Wares and you can then quickly sell all wares in the Merchant menu with one button.

Get the Best Early Gear

The best early location for getting your gear is Blighted Village, which is located to the west of your campsite in Emerald Grove. First, pick up the Hasty Helm from the chest at the Blighted Village waypoint. Then, find a Steelforged Sword inside the chest at the abandoned house in the village. Lastly, pick up The Speedy Lightfeet boots from the wooden hatch under the mill. I would also recommend crafting the Sussur Weapon for a nice early-game power spike against casters since Sussur weapons Silence their victims and don’t allow them to cast spells.

Learn How to Respec

There’s such an abundance of classes and subclasses in Baldur’s Gate 3 that it’s absolutely necessary to learn how to respec your character early on. You do this by releasing Withers from the Overgrown Ruins, after which he’ll appear in your camp. Speak to Withers, and for 100 gold, he’ll let you respec your stats. Don’t worry, your EXP won’t be lost and you can do this as much as you like so have fun experimenting!

Recruit Scratch the Dog

Right in between where you leave the Tiefling Camp thus meeting the first three Absolute wackos and before the Blighted Village, there’s a forest area with a river, a waterfall, and that Owlbear cave. In the northernmost part of this area, you’ll find the dog Scratch defending his fallen master.

Use Speak With Animals from a spell or potion and convince him you mean him no harm and invite him to join your camp. This is your best boy dog companion for life that you can pet and play with whenever you feel down during the game. Recruiting Scratch and the Owlbear Cub as we’ll show you below are definitely among the things to do first in Baldur’s Gate 3 if you love animals.

Learn Crafting and Alchemy

Crafting and Alchemy are two of the most important skills that you need to master early on in Baldur’s Gate 3 Act 1. These skills won’t only save you money but also introduce you to a whole array of useful potions and items. I’d recommend picking up any and all organic ingredients that you find on your way by holding the “ALT” key. Then, you can craft anything you want by pressing the “H” key. Also, extracting components you pick up will give you more recipes to craft so visit the Alchemy screen whenever you find some new ingredients.

Be Sure to Recruit Companions

There’s no question about just how important companions are in Baldur’s Gate 3. They’re not only very helpful, especially in the early stages of the game, but they can also fill the gaps in your own skills and stats. That’s why I strongly suggest recruiting companions that synergize with your main character. For example, recruit Karlach for a strong frontliner through Wyll’s quest in the Druid Grove or Gale for a magic-focused ranged character.

Rescue the Owlbear Cub

We mentioned the area with the Owlbear cave where you meet Scratch. If you enter that cave, meet the Owlbear, and deal with it without violence through Animal Handling, Survival, or Performance, you can meet the small Owlbear Cub later at the Goblin Camp. It’s found near the main entrance to the camp surrounded by Goblins.

Refuse to play Chicken-Chasing and then Intimidate, Persuade, or Dominate (Illithid Dialogue) the goblins to give you the cub or buy it for 500 gold. This cute little critter will then join your camp for the entire game. Speak With Animals is therefore the best spell in the game, don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.

Learn Animal Tongues

Animals hold a lot of information about the wilderness of Baldur’s Gate 3 and NPCs in general. Some of the races and classes can speak to animals and understand them. Forest Gnomes come with an exclusive trait. Also, certain classes like Druids and Rangers can cast Speak With Animals and even subclasses like Oath of Ancients Paladins or Fey Patron Warlocks. You can also craft the Potion of Animal Speaking using: 1 Essence of Accorn Truffle + 1 Salt (Any).

Acquire the Mask of the Shapeshifter

The Mask of the Shapeshifter allows you to change your race and appearance at any point in the game without losing your progress. I must warn you that this item is available only to the owners of the Digital Deluxe Edition of the game. You can find it inside the traveler’s chest at your campsite.

Unlock Adamantine Forge

Adamantine weapons and armor are extremely strong, and that’s why unlocking Adamantine Forge is definitely one of those things that you must do in Act 1. You can do so by exploring Grymforge past the rubble-cluttered gate with the Duergar and Rothe close where you disembark from your boat. Then, use Mithral Ore and Item Moulds you find in the Crucible to craft some incredible gear at the forge, which is located at coordinates X: -569 Y: 252.

Save or Destroy the Emerald Grove

The Druids at the Emerald Grove and the Absolute army at the Goblin Camp are your first two warring factions. You can choose to defeat all goblin leaders and save the Grove or join Minthara in the Goblin Camp Shattered Sanctum and invade the Grove. Whatever choice you make, just make sure to choose a side before leaving for the Underdark or the Mountain Pass or the quest will resolve itself without your decisions affecting it.

Become a God

You can become a sort of god-like entity to a tribe of fish people called Kuo Toa in the Underdark. They’re located in the southern portion of the Underdark and their unique quest will involve saving them from an evil ruler and having them worship you instead. Our guide on the Kuo Toa goes in more detail so be sure to check it out.

Find Explosives

Once you traverse the depths of the Underdark, you’ll encounter unpassable areas that can be cleared with the help of Smoke Powder explosives. You can find explosives by completing the “Rescue the Gnome” quest at Blighted Village. If you open the gnome’s backpack, you’ll find some unused explosives there. Alternatively, you can loot the corpses of two dead gnomes in Grymforge at coordinates X: -610 Y: 409.

Travel Through the Mountain Pass

If you don’t want to enter the Underdark, then you can take another route through the Mountain Pass. We’ve covered the differences between these two paths in detail in our guide: Mountain Pass or Underdark? Differences Explained. Basically, Underdark is a longer and more challenging route, while Mountain Pass is shorter and easier.

So I strongly recommend taking the Mountain Pass route. That said, the Adamantine Forge is Underdark exclusive so if you want to craft some powerful armor in the early game the Underdark might also be worth it.

Don’t Forget to Rest

The last thing you should definitely do is take a rest. This action restores your HP and spells, but it also finishes the day. You can take either a long rest, which fully restores your HP and requires you to have at least 40 Supplies, or a partial one, which restores only a chunk of your HP. Alternatively, you can take two quick short rests per day to restore some HP and limited resources based on your class like Fighter Action Surges, Warlock spells, or Monk Ki points.

Those are the top 15 things you should do in Baldur’s Gate 3 Act 1. I would say that recruiting all companions, animals, and Withers for respecing, as well as learning how to craft are the things to do first in Baldur’s Gate 3. Stay tuned for more BG3 tips and tricks articles like our best early-game spells and magic items.