Spoiler: The Zhentarim and the Missing Shipment possible paths

[McChuggernaut]

Don't want to know what happens? Then don't read this. You have been warned.

I did this quest every way possible. It is incredibly complex, but most people won't see even a tenth of what it has to offer. It's very easy to end quickly, and think you got all you could out of it. This is what I found:

First off, there are multiple ways into the Zhent hideout. You can pass a couple rolls when you enter the barn containing the hideout entrance at Waukeen's Rest to have the dude hiding in the barn (Salazon) give you a key that will let you in. Second, you can save the two Zhents protecting the chest first, and they will give you a password.

Once in, their leader will offer you a quest to help get their lost shipment back if you didn't already. Go save the two trapped Zhents from the gnolls, then walk back to their hideout (Teleporting back doesn't seem to give the two time to return to their hideout, and they need to be there for you to complete the quest that way.). Their leader will then give you a small amount of gold. She claims it will be a lot, but in my experience it was only a few hundred coins or so. This gives you access to the "Special Stock" their merchant has.

If you also chose to extort the two trapped Zhents for gold, they will be pissy at you. If you didn't and left amicably, Rugan offers to have you meet up with him in the Eflsong Tavern in Baldur's Gate after you return and talk to him at the Zhent hideout. What comes of this invitation is currently unknown, since BG3 is in early access at the time I'm writing this, and we don't have access to the city of Baldur's Gate.

The "Special Stock" is pretty crap. Just some pricey basic +1 weapons and armor. Not worth it at all, imo. You can find or pickpocket better or equivalent stuff just on the first map. This is a rather paltry reward for all the trouble you go through to finish this quest.

I tried the following options (Every option I could find.):

If you pass a scripted History check when first talking to the two Zhents after you rescue them (Always pick the top conversation option. Others can lock you out of this path.), you can reveal to them that you know they are Zhentarim. This in turn unlocks a Persuasion check to convince them to welch on their deal, and you both sell and split the profit for what's in the box. The plan is for you to take the box to a fence in Baldur's Gate later on and split the profits, but...

On arriving back at the hideout, you find that the jig is up, Rugan is tied to a chair being tortured and Olly is dead (Although for me, the cinematic was bugged and Olly was still standing there till the end of the cutscene, at which time his body is on the ground.). You have 3 options at this point. One is to pass an automatic History check and quote a line from the writings of the founder of the Zhentarim, which prompts Zara to let you live IF you obey her and kill Rugan. You can also pass a difficult Persuade check, saying you are "smarter than Rugan", and she will let you go as long as you, again, agree to kill Rugan (These two choices both result in you keeping the chest, being called a Zhentarim "recruit", and told to go ahead and deliver the chest to Baldur's Gate. You do not gain access to the merchant's "Special Stock". You can loot the bodies of Olly and Rugan.) Finally, an extremely difficult check allows you to Intimidate them, which results again in having to kill Rugan but keeping the chest, the option to deliver it yourself, no access to the "Secret Stock", and being able to loot Rugan and Olly's bodies.

You could, I presume, simply not return to the Zhentarim hideout, but that probably keeps you from working with them in the future. No idea what happens to Olly and Rugan if you don't. Presumably they are still killed.

Stealing the chest/contents while they are alive or threatening them into handing it over - They never show back up at the hideout. You can't return the chest yourself. The outcome is the same whether you unlock it or not, remove the contents or not. This may be an oversight or bug.

Killing them/gnolls kill them - Now, this is very strange. If they both end up dead, you DO get the option to return the chest yourself, an option which you DON'T get if you steal/take it while they live.

Both Zents dead and returning the chest UN OPENED - If you do this, their leader seems much more pleased with you, tells you that you are a "friend of the Zhents", and she will have work for you in Baldur's Gate. You lose possession of the chest.You aren't told you can see the merchant's "Special Stock" but you still get to. Strangely, the merchant will tell you after you back out of the trade menu that he "Can't show you the "good" stuff" till his leader says so, but he already showed it to you anyway...this is an obvious bug.

Returning the chest Unlocked (But with the flask still in it) - Upon unlocking the chest, the quest immediately fails with the message "You broke the seal. No point in returning it now.". You can't do that, it seems.

If you decide to keep the flask in the chest for yourself, you can do two things with it:

Give it to Gale - It counts as an "artifact" he can absorb as part of his story series of quests.

Open it - A spectator pops out. Upon death it drops...NOTHING!

So what's the best outcome? I would say making the deal to fence the chest, returning to the hideout, then passing one of the persuade checks and killing Rugan. All your options stay open (keeping the chest, delivering it for the zhents, finding it's "owner", working for the Zhentarim later on, giving the contents to Gale, or opening the flask.). You get to loot Rugan and Olly. The worst option is keeping it and opening the flask. You just fight a monster that drops nothing, you lose everything else, and the quest ends there.

As for what happens when you keep the chest and continue the quest branches in Baldur's gate, I don't know yet because the game ends at the end of Act 1, before you get access to the city, and we won't until full release!

[Gvyomar]

[MeyerX]

I'm confused. Chatting with Rugan I convinced him to work together. I got the password, the chest. I did some other stuff inbetween and finally went searching for the hideout. Entered just fine. then I reach the lower area.

When I approach the gate a conversation starts. Zarys recognizes me as the savior of Rugan (who is strapped to a chair down there). I am welcomed to enter the Hideout.

But when I actually move forward towards the gate, a fight starts! Why? I don't get to talk to Zarys or anybody this way :-(

What am I missing? What could I have done wrong? I'm not sure whether I already opened the chest before - if that makes a difference at this stage I would need to go back a few saves.

[['w']]

Try to just take the chest with you without ever looking into it, did you have to unlock it, if so guess that's the reason?

Then again I wonder if one should even take the chest to those guys, if this isn't already a breach of secrecy.
And then I wonder if one is even supposed to enter their hideout.

[MeyerX]

Publicado originalmente por |wilb|:

Try to just take the chest with you without ever looking into it, did you have to unlock it, if so guess that's the reason?

So I went back to the gloll fight and made sure to not touch the chest apart from picking it up and this time the guys in the hideout did not attack.

[['w']]

ah nice, I had to kill them all :D

Take a very very good look around in the hideout

[Duncan Flex]

Well, i have come across this chest a few hours earlier. Now she always tries to pick a fight, i tried putting the artifact again in the chest but since i opened it i am doomed to fail the quest? Any ideas on how to progress, like i cant re-lock the chest or something, right?

[['w']]

Publicado originalmente por Duncan Flex:

Well, i have come across this chest a few hours earlier. Now she always tries to pick a fight, i tried putting the artifact again in the chest but since i opened it i am doomed to fail the quest? Any ideas on how to progress, like i cant re-lock the chest or something, right?

yes please try! there is a spell that allows you to lock it, please tell me what happened!!!

[Tyreseus]

Just a couple things as I did this earlier today going one route...which was Olly and Rugan both survived (didnt happen in EA for me), and I intimidated them to give me the chest. I did not open the chest.

Upon entering the Zhentarim basement (and after freeing the artist) you get the encounter referenced above: Olly dead, Rugan being tortured. If you pass any of the stated checks (there's an intimidate, persuade, the hidden history check that can lead to the Manshoon quote - note that depending on your class, you may get a different option, eg thieves can use perception to see the area is set up with "explosives" and mention it as a threat), then you get to be one of the gang (so to speak) and are given two options: Follow the Zhent order to Kill Rugan, or not follow the order.

If you dont follow the order, the Zhent go hostile. You do not, from the trader, get any of his special loot (as stated above). I WILL DISAGREE that the Zhent trader has nothing of value...he has gloves of thievery that gives advantage on sleight of hand checks. Albeit, I believe there may be spells that can provide similar. I also think some of the weapons are worth it early game (+1 longsword, a magical rapier, a bow that can allegedly uses strength for damage).

If You kill Olly per the above, you get access to the above stated trader.

On a personal note, my main is an avenger oath paladin and I hated the option presented since I knew of the overall practicality on a "meta game" level. My paladin will not kill someone helpless as Rugan did; at the same time there are items on the trader if you kill Rugan I knew would be useful.

So I "roleplayed" the dilemma this way: My paladin cant stand Zhentarim, he deals with them out of sheer necessity as much as the avenger oath allows for justice. Upon freeing the artist, he, and two other group members went to see if they could catch up with the artist before he left the basement to see if he needed any further help. Meanwhile, Astarion walked towards Rugan and was confronted with the option of killing Rugan or...being killed. Very, very easy choice for Astarion...bye bye Rugan.

My paladin and the other two group members returned to see Astarion had killed Rugan and Astarion also filched gold and a couple items off the vendor's newly found inventory ( ;) ). My paladin inquired what happened, and upon being told by Astarion that he followed a Zhent order to kill, my paladin pretty much lost his cool and decided the entire Zhent outpost must be cleaned out...

So, in some strange retribution for a helpless Rugan, my paladin led the charge to avenge (an evil, but at the time, helpless) Rugan's death against all other Zhent in that basement. The greater evil had to be eliminated...

;-)

ps yes, oath stayed intact...they are zhentarim after all :P

[zionff9]

Anyone know why the door just wouldnt open at all. I have the key. I ssaved the people didnt extort them. It said I used the key but the bookshelfnever moved. I lso tried to go up through the underdark and it just seems I have Zero access, Anyone else?

[ChalkStorm]

I carried it all the way to Baldur's Gate in Act III for the Zhentarim, and found no one who wanted it, had no mention of it in my quest log, and ultimately vended it because there wasn't anything else to do with it.

[NorthernDavid]

A lot of traders have had their inventory adjusted between Early Access and release, so any comments on a trader's stock from early access, should pretty much be ignored.

[Nullity]

I rescued the two in the cave. Well. 1 of them, the boy died. Let the guy take the chest back. Came back and talked to Zhent. Got the crossbow, paid for the prisoner, then killed the mercenaries. I guess i will see if that causes problems down the road. Had some nice loot in a back room. Found a piece of infernal iron among other things.

[husband 2]

my personal goal with the quest was to gain some boons from the Zhentarim for returning Rugan and keeping the chest for myself (like we discussed with Rugan in that cave) but obviously that didn't work out so i tried saving Rugan even if the quest is bugged and you can't meet him later in Baldur's Gate, managed to break it even more because after i free him and kill the rest of the Zhents he just disappears. The best course of action for myself that i've found was to enter the hideout, get the inspiration that way (from Astarion's charlatan background), read the artist's thought and find out that the whole meet up is a trap, go to Brenn(?) and buy the poor sod and agree to meet at Baldur's Gate (dunno if you can actually meet him there but alas) and then just load into another location to avoid talking to the mercenaries altogether, that way i get to save Oskar (the artist) and still have the chest and the quest still reads "The chest is ours, but we could try to find its owner" so i ASSUME i can find the dude that wanted the Zhents to deliver the chest to him and do it myself. I don't really care for the quests you can get from the Zhentarim and their stock, plus they are kind of enemies of Baldur's Gate as far as i know so my conscience is clean and i might still get to do something with that chest.

[CheckYourSix]

Anyone know if killing the Zhent in the basement in Act 1 affects the Zhent quests later in the game?

[BROWNBEAR666]

its it possible to seal the chest again?.... like arcane lock or somthing