Baldur’s Gate 3: Should You Open the Caravan Strongbox?

Should you open the Caravan Strongbox in Baldur’s Gate 3? If you’re like me, your instinct is to loot everything for yourself because you might find something useful. However, depending on what you’ve decided to loot, there can be consequences to your decision.

Should You Open the Caravan Strongbox in Baldur’s Gate 3?

Opening the Caravan Strongbox will make the Zhentarim fight you, and you’ll be unable to trade with their merchants. So no, you shouldn’t open the Caravan Strongbox.

You’ll get a rare crossbow for returning it unopened, and you’ll be able to purchase better items from the Zhentarim merchants. Overall, this is a much better deal than the items you’ll get from opening the strongbox, which for me was an Iron Flask, some gold, and an ingot.

Where to Find the Caravan Strongbox in BG3

The Caravan Strongbox can be found in Act 1. It’s in a cave to the northeast of Waukeen’s Rest, and you’ll end up fighting with gnolls at least for a little bit.

You can use Illithid Wisdom to tell the gnolls to eat the survivors in the cave, then tell them to leave when they complain they’re still hungry if you want to avoid as much fighting as possible. After that, you can go into the cave and grab the strongbox to complete “The Missing Shipment.”

If you want better items, you shouldn’t open the Caravan Strongbox in Baldur’s Gate 3. It seems like this was added as a test for delayed gratitude, but it’s worth your time to keep it closed and return it properly instead of taking the mediocre items contained within it. For more content, check out our BG3 guide hub for topics like can you return to Act 1 and should you take the Mountain Pass or Underdark?