This quest guide will show you all of the possible outcomes for the Missing Shipment in Baldur’s Gate 3 to help you make the best decision.
The Missing Shipment starts when you stumble across a pack of Gnolls. They are fighting a group of traders who they have backed into a cave. This quest gives you the potential to access one of the best Act 1 merchants and secure a few very strong upgrades before progressing further into the story. There is also one choice you can make that is particularly punishing without much of a reward.
This Missing Shipment Baldur’s Gate 3 quest guide will contain spoilers.
Starting the Missing Shipment Quest
The easiest way to start this quest is to travel northwest of the Blighted Village and kill the gnolls on the Risen Road. You first stumble upon bloated hyenas leading to the quest start. If you don’t kill them quickly, they will transform into much more powerful gnolls and fight you.
You can also loot the carts on the road to find a letter detailing the delivery instructions to Baldur’s Gate. This isn’t necessary to start the Missing Shipment quest, but it does give you more context on the delivery. Searching the Dead Caravan Agent will allow you to read the Shipment Orders and add the quest to your quest log.
North of the hyenas is a pack of gnolls who have cornered travelers in a cave, Rugan, and Olly.
The group of gnolls is a tough fight, but if you run toward the large gnoll first, you’ll find out it has a tadpole in its head. You can meet a very easy roll to force it to attack either the traders in the cave or the other gnolls.
The Four Missing Shipment Quest Pathways
There are four general paths you can take through Baldur’s Gate 3 Missing Shipment Quest, and you make your choice almost immediately. If you spared the traders in the cave, you have all four options available to you, but your dialogue options can force you into a specific line if you aren’t careful.
1. Side With the Traders
If you kill the gnolls and speak positively with the travelers, they’ll invite you to have a drink with them at the Zhentarim hideout.
This is in Waukeen’s Rest, directly west of the caves, where you’ll stumble upon a gate and burning buildings. This prompts a line of quests, but you can quickly help put out the fires and return to the Missing Shipment quest.
Heading directly west, you will walk under an arch and move a few boxes to reveal the entrance to the building there. This entrance is directly to the east of the cows.
Salazon is the man inside who almost attacks you when you enter. If you followed this path and Rugan gave you the passcode, “Little Serpent, Long Shadow,” you can speak it to him and he will let you inside.
Once you reach the inside of the Zhentarim hideout, they’ll disarm the traps. You then speak to Zarys to finish the Missing Shipment quest, awarding you with the crossbow Harold in Baldur’s Gate 3.
2. Kill the Traders And Deliver the Missing Shipment Yourself
The second option you can take is to kill the traders, then follow the delivery orders on Rugan’s body to deliver the order yourself.
This option is much easier to fall into, as Rugan is quite hot-headed. If you rub Rugan the wrong way, he will quickly attack you, forcing you to kill them and take the shipment. Additionally, you can also force the gnolls to kill them and go take the shipment yourself.
From here, you follow the same steps to the Zhentarim hideout. Returning the shipment will gain you a lot of favor with Zarys, award you with Harold, and give you the same benefits of utilizing the Zhentarim Hideout.
3. Convince Rugan to Sell the Shipment With You Instead
You can also convince Rugan to sell the shipment with you and split the profit.
If you pass the necessary checks, he will mention a fence in Baldur’s Gate that will buy the item in the missing shipment. The Zhentarim kill Olly and capture Rugan. You have two choices with different outcomes if you choose to do this. The first option is to kill Rugan and join the Zhentarim. You still get to trade with Brem, but you are not awarded with the Harold crossbow.
Joining the Zhentarim allows you to deliver the shipment to the client in Baldur’s Gate yourself. This opens up more favorable relations with the Zhentarim than options one and two. With this choice, instead of merely being a friend of the Zhentarim, you can aid their operations.
You can also save Rugan and kill the rest of the Zhentarim members. This causes Rugan to run away, and you can choose to deliver the shipment yourself or keep the item.
4. Open the Missing Shipment for Yourself
While there are many different actions you can do to complete the quest, you may wonder what’s in the missing shipment.
If you take the shipment for yourself and decide to open it, you’ll find an Iron Flask. With some closer inspection, you’ll recognize the Iron Flask as a container capable of holding very powerful monsters.
Opening the flask will reveal a level 5 Spectator, a very powerful enemy that will immediately attack your party. If you manage to defeat the spectator, you’ll receive a small amount of experience and nothing else. Because of this, there isn’t much of a reason to open the flask for yourself when you could deliver the shipment and reap the great rewards and trading items from the Zhentarim Hideout.
Baldur’s Gate 3 Missing Shipment Items
One of the primary reasons why you’ll want to side with the Zhentarim is the merchant, Brem.
Brem is a great trader with some really strong items to sell. One notable item is the Titanstring Bow, a fantastic bow for the strongest Act 1 Astarion Build.
The Titanstring bow is so good because it rolls additional damage equal to your strength modifier.
The Titanstring bow is one of the most powerful weapons you can get in Act 1. By pairing it with an Elixer of Hill Giant Strength, you can one-shot enemies early in the game. Since Astarion attacks so quickly, you can almost always take out a high-threat enemy from stealth. Read this Titanstring bow guide to learn more about how that works.
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