The sentient amulet in Baldur's Gate 3 has some interesting properties and possible downsides, making it hard to decide what to do with it.
Summary
- The Sentient Amulet can be found in the Adamantine Forge in Baldur's Gate 3 and is a tough item to acquire, requiring fighting, navigating hazards, and opening a high DC lock.
- The amulet contains a spirit with a side story and useful abilities, making it more valuable to keep than sell in the game.
- The player can choose to either accept the spirit's madness or refuse, leading to different outcomes and upgrades for the amulet, but both options have risks.
The Sentient Amulet is a particularly interesting find in Baldur's Gate 3, but its suspicious nature makes deciding whether to keep it or sell it a tough choice. This unusual accessory can be found in the Adamantine Forge in the Underdark, although it isn't that easy to loot. Acquiring it will require fighting a Lava Elemental, carefully navigating environmental hazards in turn-based mode, or making good use of movement spells, as the chest that holds it is well-protected by molten danger. The last challenge is a lock with a high DC, which can be handled by finding the key but might take Astarion a couple of tries to pick otherwise.
Equipping the sentient amulet reveals how much it stands out from other necklaces in the game, as it contains a spirit that is all-too-willing to communicate with the player. For those who want to play it safe in the Forgotten Realms, it's never a bad idea to treat equipping any possibly cursed objects with a healthy dose of suspicion, but that doesn't necessarily mean it's not worth using. The ultimate payoff to the amulet's story doesn't come until Act 3 of Baldur's Gate 3, however, so it's difficult to make an informed call when the amulet is first acquired.
You Should Keep The Sentient Amulet In Baldur's Gate 3
Selling the sentient amulet in Baldur's Gate 3 won't ruin any playthrough, but there are several valid reasons why keeping it on hand is more worthwhile than taking the gold and moving on. The most obvious one may be the story component, as the spirit within the amulet has an obvious side story to reveal that will be lost by selling off the trinket. This character claims to be a monk and wishes to be taken to the Open Hand Temple on the outskirts of Baldur's Gate, where he can reunite with his granddaughter.
More than that, however, the sentient amulet also has general utility that outstrips many low-level equippable items that can be obtained by the same point in the story. With a level two shatter Evocation spell and a Ki restoration feature, this is a perfect trinket for any Monk protagonists and generally useful even for classes that don't employ Ki points. Moreover, completing the quest can lead to two different options that bring new power to the table, either by upgrading the features within the amulet or introducing a new ability entirely.
The Outcome Of The Baldur's Gate 3 Sentient Amulet Quest
There's obviously no way to discuss where using the Sentient Amulet leads in Baldur's Gate 3 without spoiling the side story, but knowing the potential outcomes can be useful for anyone on the fence. Speaking to a knowledgeable monk at the Open Hand Temple will reveal that the woman that the amulet spirit searches for is dead, buried in the crypt beneath the temple. It's possible to venture down into the crypt through the kitchen cellar, which can easily be accessed by an unlocked hatch.
Opening the correct tomb will lead to the spirit of the amulet attempting to possess the object of his search, at which point he realizes once and for all that the dead body can't offer him what he wanted out of it. He will then request the ability to pass his madness to the bearer of the amulet instead, a choice which offers a unique advantage. Accepting his madness will permanently grant the spell Tasha's Hideous Laughter to be used once per long rest without expending a spell slot, pushing the debilitating hilarity on an enemy instead – although taking this path doesn't come without any risk to the character.
It's also possible to refuse this offer outright, which will make the spirit attack along with the three other corpses in the crypt. This isn't a particularly challenging fight unless the party is low on health and spell slots, but it can come as a surprise. Defeating the spirit in this fight will result in the amulet being upgraded instead, removing the High Spirits condition that it can inflict, extracting more damage out of the shatter spell, and Ki restoration is determined by a Monk's martial arts die instead of a base number of 2.
Downsides To The Sentient Amulet In Baldur's Gate 3
The High Spirits condition that the sentient amulet inflicts on its bearer is its biggest downside, which forces a Wisdom saving throw each time the amulet's abilities are used. Failing this check will induce the Hysterical condition on the user, which forces the prone condition for a turn in combat by leaving a character rolling with laughter on the ground. Although monks tend to have solid Wisdom stats to help them succeed on this check, there's never a guarantee that employing the amulet won't leave someone exposed in battle.
The major drawback to accepting the monk's offer at the conclusion of the quest is the necessity of passing two separate checks to avoid being inflicted with a loss of one point of Wisdom as a tradeoff for receiving Tasha's Hideous Laughter. Although this isn't much of an obstacle to save save scummers in Baldur's Gate 3, it can be threatening to anyone refusing to manipulate re-rolls. Taking the fight instead is arguably the safest option, although this decision ultimately depends on whether the upgraded amulet is more valuable to the user than gaining Tasha's Hideous Laughter in place of these abilities.
There's plenty of fun to be had by keeping the sentient amulet in Baldur's Gate 3, both in terms of story and abilities that it brings to the table. The monk will also occasionally comment from inside the amulet throughout the game, adding a touch of extra content even before his story reaches its climax. Selling the amulet is still a reasonable option for those concerned by its downside or uninterested in its unique features, but in most cases, the gold doesn't add as much to a Baldur's Gate 3 playthrough as the sentient amulet does.
