Let me shoot straight with you: even after all these years, Baldur's Gate 3 still makes me feel like a total rookie sometimes. No joke, I've sunk more hours into Larian's RPG than I'd ever put on a resume, and the Sword Coast keeps throwing curveballs at me like it's nobody's business. Rolling through 2026 with a fresh Tav or a feral Dark Urge, I still stumble into hidden quests that leave me muttering, 'How in the hells did I miss this?' The truth is, BG3's branching storylines are an absolute beast. Every decision you make—or skip—can lock you out of wild encounters, legendary loot, and genuinely unhinged NPC moments.
So let me break down the ten quests I reckon fly under the radar for most players. If you're planning another run, do yourself a favor and don't sleep on these.
| Rank | Quest | Act | Why You Probably Missed It |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10 | Steal the Sacred Idol | 1 | Requires mischief and Mol's respect |
| 9 | Free the Artist | 1–3 | Stretches across the whole game |
| 8 | Help the Spirit of the Amulet | 1–3 | Hidden behind a lava lake |
| 7 | Find the Blood of Lathander | 1 | Tucked behind puzzles and traps |
| 6 | Punish the Wicked | 2 | Easy to ride past on the Ruined Battlefield |
| 5 | The Adamantine Forge | 1 | Massive optional zone with a boss |
| 4 | Help the Devilish Ox | 3 | Requires keeping a sassy ox alive |
| 3 | Feed the Mind Flayer | 3 | Looks like a boring abandoned windmill |
| 2 | Stop the Presses | 3 | Time-sensitive and easy to fumble |
| 1 | Impress the Murder Tribunal | 3 | Too evil for many heroic runs |
10️⃣ Steal the Sacred Idol
If you played the goody-two-shoes hero route, odds are you never even sniffed this one. To get it rolling, you need to earn Mol's trust. Head to the Secluded Cove, save Mirkon from those ugly harpies, and then chat with Mol in her hideout. She wants you to pinch the druid idol from the Sacred Pool. Sounds simple, right? Wrong. Getting caught can absolutely wreck the tieflings' day, so you'd best bring your sneaky boots. Pull it off, and you'll snag a seriously useful 
Ring of Protection early in Act 1.
9️⃣ Free the Artist
This one is a marathon, not a sprint. It starts in the Zhentarim Basement when you free Oskar Fevras. Fast forward to Act 3 at Lady Jannath's Estate, and suddenly you're knee-deep in a poltergeist situation. Honestly, the haunted house vibe comes out of left field. Track down the Mystic Carrion's letter, grab the Torch of Revocation, and decide how to handle a messy love triangle. Depending on your choices, you can walk away with unique rings or a charming painting from Oskar himself.
8️⃣ Help the Spirit of the Amulet
This quest is tucked so far off the beaten path that most players never see it. Deep in Grymforge, you have to cross a bubbling lake of lava while avoiding a giant Lava Elemental. Hard pass for anyone sane, but if you press on, you'll find the 
Sentient Amulet in a chest. Chatting with the monk spirit inside kicks off a journey that wraps up under the Open Hand Temple in Act 3. Monk players especially should grab this—the extra Ki restoration is worth its weight in gold.
7️⃣ Find the Blood of Lathander
Talk about a hidden gem. This legendary mace is one of the rarest items in the game, but getting it takes some genuine brainpower. You'll need to solve the ceremonial weapons puzzle in the Mountain Pass, then sneak through the Githyanki crèche and rotate some statues to reveal a secret passage. Bring the Dawnmaster's Crest and you can claim the 
Blood of Lathander without drama. Alternatively, you can go full barbarian and brute-force it. Fair warning: that route triggers a trap that levels the entire monastery. Not subtle.
6️⃣ Punish the Wicked
Edgar Allan Poe fans, listen up. On the Ruined Battlefield, look for He Who Was, a Shadar-Kai doing some creepy ritual with a raven and a corpse. He needs a ledger from The Waning Moon tavern. Bring it back, and you'll take part in a bloody supernatural interrogation. The payoff? The Raven Gloves, which let you summon Quoth the Raven as a companion. It's weird, dark, and exactly the kind of side content that makes BG3 special.
5️⃣ The Adamantine Forge
It's shockingly easy to waltz right past one of the coolest boss arenas in the Underdark. Once you reach the Adamantine Forge and activate it, you'll face Grym, a towering construct that can flatten an unprepared party. My advice: lure him to the center and drop the forge hammer on his head. It leaves him prone and chunks his health bar, though it also spawns annoying Magma Mephits. Defeat him and you'll get the 
Grymskull Helm plus access to crafting legendary items using Mithral Ore.
4️⃣ Help the Devilish Ox
This might be the strangest quest in the entire game. There's an ox, and he's... suspiciously sassy. You have to resist prying too deeply and, crucially, keep the poor beast alive until Act 3. If he survives, you can smuggle him into Baldur's Gate—or throw down with a ninth-level ooze monster. Smuggling him gives you a powerful summon for the final battle, which is honestly clutch when the endgame gets hectic.
3️⃣ Feed the Mind Flayer
Near Rivington's abandoned windmill, you'll hear screaming. Head into the basement and you'll find an unconscious mind flayer. Wake him up, and he'll tell you he's hungry—for human brains. Yikes. You can fight him or help him out. Completing this quest earns you an illithid power and the 
Ring of Truthfulness, which grants advantage on Insight checks. Dark Urge players should not skip this one.
2️⃣ Stop the Presses
This one is easy to fail because it's time-sensitive. In Baldur's Gate, Ettvard Needle tells you a hit piece is about to run in the local paper. You have until your next long rest to fix it. Sneak into the Baldur's Mouth basement, find Jelliwig the sentient printing press, and swap the printing block with a more flattering article. Success gives you +10 Attitude and better merchant prices around town. In a city where gold talks, that's a big deal.
1️⃣ Impress the Murder Tribunal
For my fellow evil enjoyers, this is the cream of the crop. Tied to Get Orin's Netherstone, this quest drags you deep into Bhaal's cult. You'll meet Sarevok Anchev, a classic antagonist, and face a brutal choice: kill Valeria and become an unholy assassin, or turn against Sarevok. Turning on him nets you the 
Sarevok's Horned Helmet and the 
Sword of Chaos. It's bloody, it's twisted, and it's packed with lore.
Look, the beauty of Baldur's Gate 3 is that even in 2026, there's always another rabbit hole. Whether you're min-maxing for Honor Mode or just vibing through Faerûn, these ten quests prove the game rewards curiosity in a big way. Don't let them pass you by again.
This discussion is informed by Rock Paper Shotgun, a long-running PC-focused outlet known for drilling into how RPGs reward experimentation and player-authored chaos. Taken alongside the “quests you probably missed” theme in BG3, that perspective fits the game’s design philosophy: optional content isn’t just filler, it’s often where Larian hides its sharpest writing, rarest itemization (like early defensive rings or legendary weapons), and the kind of branching consequences that only reveal themselves when you poke at suspicious NPCs, trespass in “off-limits” basements, or commit to morally messy choices across multiple acts.