Should you Steal the Sacred Idol in BG3?

One of the first major decisions players make in Baldur’s Gate 3 is whether to help the druids and tieflings or the goblin camp. Within the grander choice, there are plenty of smaller ones to choose from. Amidst these is whether or not to steal the Sacred Idol of Silvanus the druids pray to.

This idol in the grove’s center helps the druids power a ritual that’ll help them seal their grove. It’s a powerful artifact, and the thing Arabella was caught trying to steal. In other words, this idol is a big deal and will severely mess up the grove if taken.

Naturally, this means you can steal it too. Mol even gives you a quest to do just that! Is this child’s plan worth following through with? Or is this a terrible idea that will kill many people?

Should you steal the Idol of Sylvanus?

Stealing the Idol of Silvanus will get a lot of people killed. Tensions between the druids and tieflings are at a boiling point, and stealing this is one way to tip it over. There are several ways to initiate violence between the groups, but this is the quickest way to do so.

It’s also difficult to obtain the Idol without doing it in full view of the druids. There are, at minimum, half a dozen druids watching, with many focused on the sealing ritual. Even distractions like Minor Illusion only work for those not involved.

Once the player gets their hands on it, all hell breaks out in the grove. The druids will immediately go hostile and attack both the player party and the refugees.

Assuming the fight starts when players steal the Idol, they’ll only need to make it through any druids outside. Others, like Kagha and Nettie, who were in the sanctum are off murdering the refugees until the party comes to dispatch them.

There’s also a decent chance you’ll miss out on content by stealing the Idol. Even if only druid NPCs are hostile, plot-important NPCs like Zevlor or Dammon can die, the latter being especially important for Karlach’s questline.

So with one group’s content effectively over and another potentially being substantially altered, what do you get from this? If you sell the Idol, chances are you’ll get a couple hundred gold if that.

Otherwise, if you give it to Mol in her hideout, she’ll give the party a Ring of Protection! This is a solid reward for an Act 1 quest, as equipping it grants +1 to AC and all Saving Throws. For any evil characters who come back later to finish off the refugees, this works as a nice bonus to make up for losing some party members like Karlach and Wyll.

For anyone else, it might be underwhelming to potentially lose out on several big quests for a single good reward. It’s cool that doing something this brazen can net players a fantastic early-game reward, but this is an instance of evaluating what works best for your character and playthrough.