Act 1 of Baldur's Gate 3 may just be a massive tutorial for the world of Faerun, but it is filled to the brim with interesting armor, weapons, and other items. If you are willing to dig around in every dark corner and chat with every NPC, you can end up with quite the collection of amazing gear to get you through the Underdark and into the Shadow-Cursed Lands. I have a lot of armor and weapons I love from Act 1, but here are some of my top favorites.
Best Weapons in Act 1 of BG3
There are tons of weapons in Act 1, and many of them are situationally good, depending on builds. I have a few favorites I try to pick up in every playthrough of Baldur's Gate 3, which I've detailed below.
Everburn Blade
On the Nautaloid in the beginning of Baldur's Gate 3, the player avatar, Shadowheart, and Lae'zel will run into a mind-flayer fighting a demon commander. The demon has a pretty massive amount of life, but using the Command spell, you can take his weapon for Lae'zel. This uncommon greatsword does an additional 1d4 fire damage to anything it hits.
Merregon Halberd
While you can get a whole bunch of these in Act 2, there is only one Merregon Halberd in Act 1, and it is located in the lava pools around the Adamantine Forge (X:-604, Y:197). It's a two-handed weapon with weapon enchant plus one, but that isn't the best part of it: the Merregon has double the reach of most melee weapons.
Phalar Aluve
There is a sword stuck in the ground at the beginning of the Underdark (X:115, Y:-188). In order to get it out, pass the religion check then bleed on the blade, or pass a strength check to yank it out. It grants performance plus one, and it also has the ability to sing. Use its unique ability called Phalar Aluve: Melody, and the following turn it will either Shriek (enemies in range get a debuff and take damage) or Sing (allies in range get a bonus to most rolls). This sword works well with respecced Shadowheart if she is a cleric of war.
Loviatar's Scourge
Take this weapon from the weird pain priest inside the Shattered Sanctum (X:241, Y:-22) of the goblin's camp by killing him. A mace that does an additional 1d6 worth of necrotic damage to nearby targets and the bearer, it also grants resistance to necrotic damage.
Sussur Weapons
With some Sussur bark from the Sussur tree in the Underdark, you can make a Sussur Dagger, Sickle, or Greatsword. Each of these is a basic weapon of that type with weapon enchant plus one, and silences any enemy it hits.
Best Gloves in Act 1 of BG3
Gloves are any equipable item for the character's hands, including items listed as Gloves, Gauntlets, Bracers, or similar. While gloves don't offer any AC protection, they can give some sweet bonuses for a variety of classes.
Bracers of Defence
If you look around the Apothecary's Cellar under the Blighted Village (X:-649, Y:-372), you will come across some gloves that are amazing for any monk build. When equipped, the Bracers of Defence give a plus two to AC as long as the bearer wears no armor and does not carry a shield.
Gloves of Power
Anyone out there who got the Brand of the Absolute from Priestess Gut can wear these gloves to get not only an additional plus one to Sleight of Hand, but also the unique ability called Absolute's Bane (grants chance on hit the enemy will take a 1d4 penalty to future attack rolls). Pick these gloves up right outside the Druid's Grove from some of the goblins that attack it (X:207, Y:437).
Gloves of Missile Snaring
The Gloves of Missile Snaring do what the name implies: they catch arrows out of the air a percentage of the time, but also reduces the damage from that projectile by 1d10 added to that character's Dexterity modifier. These gloves have to be purchased from the merchant named Arron in the Druid's Grove (X:290, Y:515); the price they cost will depend on your Charisma and your party's relationship level with him, but expect to pay around 160 gold.
Gloves of Archery
These gloves bear the ability called Corellon's Guiding Hand, which gives any character wearing them proficiency with longbows and shortbows, so each ranged attack with a weapon deals two additional damage. The Gloves of Archery can be found on the goblin merchant named Grat The Trader in the goblin camp (X: -95, Y:422).
Wondrous Gloves
The Wondrous Gloves are dropped by one of the three Mimic chests (X:-689, Y:371) hiding on the outskirts of Grymforge in the Underdark. They increase your AC by one, and grant an additional use of Bardic Inspiration.
Best Armor in Act 1 of BG3
Body armor comes in several varieties, including light, medium, heavy, and clothing. Each is designed with different classes in mind, but there are several pieces found in Act 1 that stand out from the rest.
Adamantine Scale Mail Forged Armor
Made in the Adamantine Forge in Grymforge (X:-551, Y:231), the Adamantine Scale Mail medium armor has 14 AC with an additional bonus of up to two AC from dexterity. It also has a passive attached to it called Backlash that states when a melee attack hits you, the attacker gets the reeling debuff for two turns.
Spidersilk Armor
Taken from Minthara (X:337, Y:37), Spidersilk Armor is light armor that should be given to Astarion or another rogue. It grants Advantage on constitution saving throws and an additional plus one bonus to stealth checks as well. It has an AC of 12.
The Graceful Cloth
This clothing has to be purchased from the vendor named Lady Esther (X:-46, Y:136), who can be found in the Mountain Pass. The woman who is looking to steal a Githyanki egg to raise for the Society of Brilliance, she also sells this amazing bit of clothing; it gives an AC of 10, increases your Dexterity by two (up to 20), and gives you the buff called Nimble as a Cat that grants +1 to Dexterity saving throws and increases your maximum jumping distance.
Best Boots in Act 1 of BG3
No armor set would be complete without shoes, and there are some awesome choices for powerful footwear in Act 1. My favorites are the Boots of Speed and the Disintegrating Night Walkers.
Boots of Speed
If you help the gnome named Thulla (X:82, Y:-99) that has been poisoned in the Myconid Colony, she can give you these boots. They give a bonus action called Click Heels that doubles your movement speed for a turn and gives enemies a disadvantage on opportunity attacks against you.
Disintegrating Night Walkers
Always make sure to loot the True Soul Nere's body (X:-637, Y:309) in Grymforge; he not only has an Illithid parasite inside his head, but these amazing boots on him. The boots give the spell Misty Step to the wearer, and prevent them from ever becoming enwebbed, entangled, ensnared, or slipping on ice or grease.
Best Head Gear in Act 1 of BG3
Head gear can be anything from a tiara to a helmet to a hat, and each one can have some great bonuses for the wearer. While there are any number of headbands, caps, and even hoods to choose from, there are a handful that have some interesting effects attached to them.
Related: Best Mods for Baldur’s Gate 3 (BG3)
Warped Headband of Intellect
In the Blighted Village, there are three Ogres (X:7, Y:361) that are standing around enjoying eating the remains of a person. You can ignore them, kill them, or even hire them to fight for you. But if you choose to kill them, Lump has a Warped Headband of Intellect. It raises the wearer's Intelligence ability stat to 17 (now it makes sense why that Ogre was so eloquent).
Shadow of Menzoberranzan
The Shadow of Menzoberranzan is found on the body of a dead Drow (X:55, Y:-68) hidden in the Myconid Colony. The only way to access it is to help out the Myconid Sovereign by killing all the Duergar on the Festering Coast. This hood grants Shrouded in Shadow (makes the wearer invisible for two turns on short rest).
Cap of Curing
The Cap of Curing adds a 1d6 roll of healing to every use of Bardic Inspiration on an ally. It is located in the Druid's Grove in a chest, near where Alfira is trying to compose a song (X: 288, Y: 489).
Haste Helm
The Haste Helm grants Momentum to the character wearing it for the first three turns of combat, and can be found in the moss-covered chest close to the Blighted Village's Waypoint (X:37, Y:406).
Best Amulets and Necklaces in Act 1 of BG3
While you will find any number of powerful necklaces in the first Act of Baldur's Gate 3, there are a couple that stand out from the rest as useful for just about any party makeup. These four neck armor are by far and away personal favorites of mine.
Pearl of Power Amulet
This necklace can only be purchased from the friendly mind-flayer Omeluum (X:116, Y:-86) in the Myconid Colony of the Underdark. It restores one spent spell slot.
Amulet of Restoration
Purchased from the female dwarf Derryth in the Myconid Colony in the Underdark (X:48, Y:-86). It gives the wearer Healing Word and Mass Healing Word bonus actions.
Sentient Amulet
The Sentient Amulet is a haunted necklace that you pick up in the lava pools of the Adamantine Forge (X:-633, Y:217). Inside it is the ghost of a long-dead monk who has been cursed with never-ending laughter; if you bring him along, you will get to use the amulet up until completing the quest in Act 3. The necklace grants the wearer the ability to speak to the ghost at any time as well as Ki Restoration (restores two Ki points on long rest) and the ability Shatter (on short rest, deal Thunder damage to all nearby creatures and objects; on save, targets still take half damage).
The Amulet of Lost Voices
I carry this Amulet in my bags for the whole game, putting it on only when I need to speak to a corpse (it gives the wearer Speak with Dead without needing to give up a spell slot for it). It's found at the very beginning of Act 1, in a heavy chest where you get Withers in the Dank Crypt (X:-290, Y: -229).
Best Rings in Act 1 of BG3
The last type of armor you can get in Act 1 are rings, since there are no cloaks available until Act 2. Each character has two slots for rings, and you will get enough of them in Act 1 to fill everyone's slots up, but there are two worth going out of your way for.
Ring of Flinging
Only found for sale from the Druid merchant Arron (X:290, Y:515), this ring gives everything the wearer throws at enemies or objects an additional 1d4 worth of damage.
Ring of Salving
The Ring of Salving can be bought from the friendly mind-flayer Omeluum (X:116, Y:-86) in the Myconid Colony in the Underdark. When you wear it, every time you heal another creature, they are healed by an additional two HP.
For more Baldur's Gate 3, check out Baldur’s Gate 3 – Most Popular Races in BG3 on Pro Game Guides.
