Much ofBaldur’s Gate 3’sfirst act centers around the Emerald Grove, a safe haven for druids that is currently under threat. With goblins trying to fight their way inside and a group of Tiefling refugees seeking shelter, tensions within the grove are rising, and Kagha, its current leader, plans to undertake a magic rite to seal the grove off from the outside world. This rite,the Rite of Thorns, requires a special idol to take place: the Idol of Silvanus,which players can find at the grove’s center.
For players looking to stop the Rite of Thorns and keep the druids from casting the Tieflings out,stealing this idolbecomes an early quest. But getting the item is harder than some may think, and it’s even more difficult to steal it without causing more bloodshed. But there are a few ways to get the Idol of Silvanus while keeping the peace in the grove, and committing the heist even allows players to give the idol to someone who needs it.
What Is Guarding The Idol Of Silvanus?
How Strong Is The Druid’s Security?
The Idol of Silvanus is deceptively well-guarded despite being loose in the center of a public area. When players first arrive in the grove, the idol is being used to conduct the Rite of Thorns, andnumerous druids are standing close by, staring right at it.Distracting all these druids from their tasks at once is nearly impossible to accomplish, and if any of them see a player try to take the idol, they will stop them before they can.
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The first thought many players will have is to use magic to hide themselves, with something likefog cloudordarkness, or eveninvisibility. But these approaches don’t work with the idol.Area-of-effect spells that obscure the NPC’s vision seem to be dispelled in the immediate vicinity of the idol,and invisibility or stealth almost always fail once players reach the idol’s position. But even if they did work, taking this approach would still cause issues in the grove.
Avoiding A War In The Druid’s Grove
Keep The Druids From Blaming The Tieflings
The main issue with stealing the druid’s idol is not in the act itself but in its repercussions. If players actually manage to remove the idol from its pedestal,the druids will immediately blame the tiefling refugees. This starts a battle in the middle of the grove, which can lead to multiple characters on either side being wiped out and the failure of many quests in the grove during act one. To prevent this, stealing the idol at a specific point in act one’s story is important.
It is important not to defeat goblins before stealing the idol, as doing so will change the status of the tieflings and remove the idol from its place.
The key is toinvestigate Kagha before stealing the idoland to complete her quest line to quell some of the grove’s tensions. Kagha is working with another group of druids that plan on taking over the grove and discovering her plans will let players confront her.
This leads to a fight with Kagha and the shadow druids hiding in the grove, during which Kagha can either die or be swayed to the player’s side. After this, the Rite of Thorns stops, the tension between the tieflings and druids goes down, andthe druids will no longer blame the tieflings if the idol goes missing.
BG3: One Act 1 Decision Is The Most Disturbing Way To Deal With Emerald Grove
It’s easy for the Emerald Grove situation in Baldur’s Gate 3 to end in violence, but one specific method has the most horrific results.
Not only that, but many of them will leave their posts around the idol, meaning there will be fewer eyes on it during the theft. At this point, there’s a pretty funny way to steal the idol with little repercussions consistently. Have one character in the grove swipe the thing in broad daylight and get caught by the druids. They will knock the characters out and put them in their makeshift jail cell. But as long as the idol is in the character’s inventory when they get knocked out, it won’t be returned to its pedestal; instead,it will be in the evidence chest, which is locked but entirely unguarded.
Where To Take The Idol After Stealing It
A Certain Tiefling Will Pay Well For This Magic Item
At this point, it’s as simple as escaping the jail cell and picking the chest’s lock to take the Idol of Silvanus without anyone being the wiser. From there, players can either hold on to the idol ortake it to a certain Tiefling that has use for it.That is Mol, the leader of the gang of child bandits holed up in a cave in the grove. Mol wants to sell the idol in Baldur’s Gate to help her gang of kids make it into the city and become established thieves.
Giving Mol the idol does not change her relationship with the party other than changing a few lines of dialogue in Act One. She can still be recruited as an ally in Act Three either way.
Giving the idol to Mol is not just charity. She will reward the player with a rareRing of Protection, apowerful ring inBG3’s early gamethat is muchmore helpful than the magic effects of the Idol of Silvanus.It’s important to receive the quest from Mol to steal the idol before stopping the Rite of Thorns, however, asBaldur’s Gate 3can bug out and keep the player from giving it to her otherwise. Still, this strategy is a pretty fool-proof way of stopping the druid’s rite, stealing the idol peacefully, and getting rewarded for doing so.
