Baldur’s Gate 3 gives you the freedom to choose how you progress through the game as long as you’re willing to accept the consequences of your actions, which can range from mildly annoying to catastrophic.
Stealing the Druid’s Idol in Emerald Grove can have negative consequences if you aren’t able to accomplish this peacefully, as it starts a war between the Tieflings and Druids that’s only useful if you’re planning to side with Minthara and the Goblins. However, you can get the Druid’s Idol to stop the ritual without any fighting.
Best Method To Get the Druid’s Idol Peacefully in Baldur’s Gate 3
There are a few ways you can do this. I prefer to rely on Mage Hand, because it was the most consistent method when I was testing options.
Since Mage Hand has a limited duration, you’ll need to go into turn-based mode when you’re in the Sacred Pool. I started this mode at the entrance to the area with the Idol, but I’d suggest heading to the stairs to your left when you enter and starting turn-based mode there instead.
This is an ideal location because there aren’t any druids in that area, meaning they won’t see you pocket their idol.
Once you’re in position, go into turn-based mode and cast Mage Hand. You can do this using a scroll or the spell. I had Gale with me, so I just had him cast Mage Hand and it was added into the turn rotation.
Send the Mage Hand over to the idol and drag it to the stairs, or you can go to another location that doesn’t have druids in sight. It takes about four turns to get the idol from its starting point to the stairs.
When the idol is in a location where druids can’t see it, you can just grab it. This lets you complete the quest to stop the ritual so the Tieflings aren’t removed from the location without starting a fight, and even if you talk to druids with the idol in your bag, they seem to not be aware that it’s gone.
Alternative Ways to Steal the Druid’s Idol Peacefully
Depending on your positioning, you might be able to send a character to the idol alone and line yourself up in a way where druids can’t see you take the idol.
I didn’t have great luck with this method, and almost always ended up having to give the idol back if I didn’t want to start a fight. If you want to avoid using Mage Hand, then I’d recommend either pushing the idol to a location where it can be taken without being seen or picking up Wyll and having him grab it.
Wyll, as a warlock, has access to both Devil’s Sight and Darkness, which means he can cast magical darkness and see in it.
Since the druids in the Grove can’t see through magical darkness, cast Darkness over the idol area and have Wyll grab it. It’s easy enough, but I prefer the Mage Hand method since it’s straightforward and doesn’t take long to set up or execute.
If you’re trying to get the idol because you feel pressured by time to help the Tieflings rather than for the quest reward, I’ve found that you get more time than you think to handle Kagha, who’s the reason the ritual is taking place.
After several playthroughs, I completed the ritual once, which made the rest of Act 1 unnecessarily difficult. Confronting Kagha, or killing her, will stop the ritual. Then, if you really want to complete the quest to steal the idol, you can grab it when the ritual is stopped and turn it in.
At that point, the druids aren’t watching it as closely anymore, so the task to steal it peacefully becomes easy in Baldur’s Gate 3.
