Screenshot by PC Invasion
In Baldur’s Gate 3, your actions (and even your inaction) impact how the plot develops. Characters you meet may become allies or enemies. Many of them can be spared or eliminated in various ways. One example of this dynamic in action is the Find the Missing Shipment quest in Act 1, which requires you to decide what to do with precious cargo. Here is our guide telling you what to do with the Caravan Strongbox in Baldur’s Gate 3.
Baldur’s Gate 3 – what to do with the Caravan Strongbox
You encounter the Caravan Strongbox along the northern portion of The Risen Road. If you’re having trouble reaching that area, check our guide outlining all ways to get to The Risen Road. Once you access the region, win a battle outside a large cave opening and then acquire the Caravan Strongbox within that cave. Either open the Caravan Strongbox or keep it closed and bring it to the Zhentarim Hideout for your reward.
Screenshot by PC Invasion
You first acquire the Caravan Strongbox in a remote cave. Two characters named Rugan and Olly have found the chest within the cave ahead of you, and they are badly outnumbered by aggressive enemy mobs as you arrive. Your initial choices are:
- Save Rugan and Olly so they can deliver the chest themselves.
- Clear away the monsters and persuade Rugan to leave the chest to you by utilizing Intimidate and/or Persuade options.
- Either Kill Rugan and Olly or let the Gnolls do the job (pictured above) and take the chest for yourself.
I have not progressed far into the game after choosing all of the above options. However, I’m generally in favor of keeping characters alive until that option goes away. For the purposes of this guide, let’s suppose you choose the more difficult approach and clear the monsters out of the cave, saving Rugan and Olly in the process. This approach leads to the most follow-up options.
If you decide to take out the monsters, make their leader your ally. At level five, Flind is an enduring threat. Its minions make the battle a nightmare, however. They fire acid, or frenzied flurries of arrows. Save your progress before approaching the area. If Flind approaches you near the start of the battle, use your parasite abilities to convince it to feed on its cohorts. Karlach won’t approve, but you can regain her approval by talking Rugan out of the chest after saving him.
Screenshot by PC Invasion
Once you gain access to the chest through any of the above approaches, decide whether to open it before delivering it. The chest contains generally uninteresting items. For me, the bounty consisted of: a Black and Jade Green Dye x2, 23 gold, and an Iron Flask. None of that loot sounds like much, but the flask is actually important.
If you open the chest and throw the flask you find inside, you release a Spectator monster that you can (maybe) defeat. Rugan and Olly may even help you in the battle. However, even if you defeat the monster, this choice displeases your Zhentarim contact at Waukeen’s Rest.
Screenshot by PC Invasion
If you return the Caravan Strongbox to Waukeen’s Rest unopened, you receive a more useful reward. You don’t need to have visited the area previously. Take the chest to the northwest corner of Waukeen’s Rest, near the stable stall with the frightened ox. When you frighten Salazon in the nearby room, recite a password you learned. Then head around the shelves where the man cowers to find the Hatch that leads to Zhentarim Basement.
In Zhentarim Basement, find the Wardrobe near the back corner and open it to access the Hidden Stairs. Follow them to meet with Zarys. There are a number of ways this conversation can go, depending on what has transpired already. In my case, I needed to kill Rugen and then Zarys asked me to deliver the chest to Baldur’s Gate. By joining the ‘family,’ you gain the option of purchasing The Jolty Vest armor for 663 gold from the local merchant, Brem. This seems like the best possible outcome.
From what I can tell, a final option is to keep the chest without bothering with Zarys. Then you should be able to pawn it later in the game, at Baldur’s Gate. I don’t yet know if the story changes while taking that approach. At this point, it seems the best thing to do with the Caravan Strongbox is to return it unopened.
Baldur’s Gate 3 is available on Steam.
