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QuestsupportingOptionalModerate

Help the Devilish Ox

A multi-act optional quest in which the Strange Ox asks for help reaching the Lower City, rewarding cooperation with a possible later ally while concealing the creature’s dangerous nature.

RoleOptional multi-act quest involving the Strange Ox
Statusavailable
Importancesupporting
RewardPotential later ally; alternative rewards if the Strange Ox is killed
TimeVariable
  • Quest typeOptional
  • Campaign spanActs 1–3
  • Act 3 locationRivington barn
  • Required interactionSpeak with Animals
  • Primary choiceHelp or kill the Strange Ox
  • Potential outcomeLater ally or item rewards

The quest is multi-act and its Act 3 stage is centered on the Strange Ox’s request to reach the Lower City.

Key takeawaysSpoilers

The quest rewards patience and careful use of animal communication rather than immediate combat.

  • Follow the creature across acts The Strange Ox is first encountered in the Emerald Grove, appears again at the Last Light Inn, and becomes the focus of the Act 3 objective in Rivington.
  • Use Speak with Animals The Act 3 conversation in the Rivington barn depends on being able to communicate with the Strange Ox.
  • Choose between aid and loot Helping the Strange Ox can preserve it as a later ally, while killing it yields the Shapeshifter's Boon Ring and the Hat of Fire Acuity.
  • Expect a revelation The creature’s bovine appearance conceals a powerful shapeshifting ooze, making the quest’s peaceful route a deliberate act of trust rather than a simple animal rescue.

Help the Devilish OxSpoilers

Help the Devilish Ox is a multi-act quest centered on the Strange Ox, an enigmatic creature encountered first in the Emerald Grove, then at the Last Light Inn, and finally in Rivington during Act 3.

The quest is unusual because its important events are spread across the campaign rather than presented as a single conventional objective chain. The Strange Ox appears to be an ordinary animal at first, but its repeated appearances and guarded behavior establish that it is hiding something. Players who want to pursue the quest should treat each meeting as part of the same storyline and avoid killing the creature before reaching its later request.

The Act 3 stage begins in the Rivington barn. Use Speak with Animals to converse with the Strange Ox; without a way to understand it, the central request cannot be properly pursued. The creature asks to be smuggled into the Lower City and transforms into a Strange Apple so that it can travel onward without drawing attention.

Helping the Strange Ox preserves the possibility of turning it into an ally later in the game. The alternative is to kill it, which exposes the creature’s true nature as a powerful shapeshifting ooze and provides items including the Shapeshifter's Boon Ring and the Hat of Fire Acuity. This is a meaningful branch rather than a cosmetic choice, so players should decide whether the potential ally or immediate loot better suits the run.

Where this sits

First encounterEmerald Grove
Second encounterLast Light Inn
Quest branchRivington and the Lower City
  1. 1Emerald GrovelocationThe Strange Ox is first encountered here.
  2. 2Last Light InnlocationThe creature appears again during Act 2.
  3. ●RivingtoncurrentThe Act 3 conversation begins in the barn.
  4. 4Lower CitydestinationThe destination requested by the Strange Ox.

Treat the three appearances as connected stages of the same Strange Ox storyline.

Requirements

The Act 3 stage requires reaching Rivington and being able to communicate with the Strange Ox.

  • RequiredReach RivingtonThe relevant Act 3 encounter takes place in the Rivington barn.
  • RequiredUse Speak with AnimalsApply Speak with Animals before attempting to converse with the Strange Ox so its request can be understood.
  • RecommendedKeep the Strange Ox aliveThis is recommended if you want to pursue its request and preserve the possibility of gaining it as a later ally.
  • OptionalRemember earlier encountersThe Strange Ox’s appearances in the Emerald Grove and at the Last Light Inn form the wider context for the Act 3 quest.

Objectives

  1. Encounter the Strange Ox during the campaignThe creature can be found in the Emerald Grove in Act 1 and again at the Last Light Inn in Act 2.
  2. Find the Strange Ox in the Rivington barnThis is the Act 3 starting point for the quest’s central request.
  3. Communicate with the Strange OxUse Speak with Animals to hold the conversation and learn what it wants.
  4. Help smuggle the Strange Ox into the Lower CityThe creature transforms into a Strange Apple to facilitate the journey.
  5. Decide the Strange Ox’s fateHelping it supports the later ally outcome; killing it provides the listed item rewards.Optional

WalkthroughSpoilers

  1. 01

    Encounter the Strange Ox

    Meet the Strange Ox in the Emerald Grove

    During Act 1, look for the creature in the Emerald Grove and speak with it if you can communicate with animals. This is an early introduction to the entity rather than the Act 3 request, so do not assume the quest is resolved after this meeting.

    Location: Emerald Grove

    TipRecord the creature’s identity and behavior; the later appearances are connected to this first meeting.

  2. 02

    Continue the Strange Ox storyline

    Find the Strange Ox again at the Last Light Inn

    During Act 2, the Strange Ox appears again at the Last Light Inn. Treat this as another stage of the same multi-act storyline and avoid attacking it if you intend to preserve the peaceful outcome.

    Location: Last Light Inn

    Watch outKilling the creature before the Act 3 stage prevents the later request and its possible ally outcome.

    Checkpoint
  3. 03

    Start the Act 3 stage

    Locate the Strange Ox in the Rivington barn

    In Act 3, travel to Rivington and search the barn for the Strange Ox. The quest’s actionable branch begins here, so this encounter is the important location to revisit when following the creature’s request.

    Location: Rivington barn

    Checkpoint
  4. 04

    Communicate with the Strange Ox

    Prepare Speak with Animals

    Use Speak with Animals before initiating the conversation with the Strange Ox. The relevant request is communicated through the animal conversation, and the quest cannot be properly followed if you cannot understand what the creature is saying.

    Location: Rivington barn

    Watch outDo not skip the animal-conversation requirement if you want to hear and act on the request.

  5. 05

    Agree to help the Strange Ox

    Hear the request to reach the Lower City

    The Strange Ox asks for help being smuggled into the Lower City. Its solution is to transform into a Strange Apple, allowing the creature to make the journey without traveling openly as an unusual ox.

    Location: Rivington barn

    TipThis is the point where the quest changes from a series of sightings into a direct escort or smuggling request.

  6. 06

    Resolve the quest branch

    Choose whether to help or kill the Strange Ox

    You can cooperate with the creature’s plan or turn against it. Helping keeps open the possibility that the Strange Ox becomes an ally later, while killing it reveals its ooze form and awards the Shapeshifter's Boon Ring and the Hat of Fire Acuity.

    Location: Rivington

    Watch outThe decision is consequential: killing the Strange Ox removes the later ally possibility.

    Missable
  7. 07

    Complete the quest’s consequences

    Continue with the chosen outcome

    If you help, continue through the game with the Strange Ox’s survival intact to preserve its later ally outcome. If you kill it, collect the available item rewards and accept that the quest’s cooperative conclusion is no longer possible.

    Location: Rivington and the Lower City

Mission mechanicsSpoilers

The central mechanic is recognition across multiple acts. The Strange Ox is not confined to one quest area: its appearances in the Emerald Grove, at the Last Light Inn, and in Rivington create a continuity check for the player. The quest therefore rewards players who remember unusual NPCs and resist treating every animal encounter as unrelated background content.

Speak with Animals is the practical gate for the Act 3 conversation. Once communication is possible, the Strange Ox explains that it wants to enter the Lower City and uses the Strange Apple transformation to make the request feasible. The transformation is part of the creature’s deception and also reinforces that its apparent animal identity is not genuine.

The final mechanic is a mutually exclusive moral and material branch. Cooperation protects the Strange Ox and can lead to a later ally, while violence exposes the shapeshifting ooze and produces immediate named items. Because the two outcomes serve different goals, decide before attacking whether the run values a future ally or the available equipment more highly.

What works and what does not

Strengths

  • The quest uses appearances across Acts 1, 2, and 3 to make a seemingly minor creature feel persistent and significant.
  • The Act 3 request is easy to understand once Speak with Animals is active: the Strange Ox wants help reaching the Lower City.
  • The final branch offers a clear contrast between preserving a potential ally and taking immediate named item rewards.

Weaknesses

  • The quest’s multi-act structure can be easy to miss if earlier meetings with the Strange Ox are not remembered.
  • The creature’s unusual nature is not obvious from its initial bovine appearance, so players may not realize that an early attack closes off later content.
  • The available source material does not establish a detailed combat strategy for the ooze form, so this quest is better approached as a choice-driven encounter than as a conventional boss guide.

Best uses

  • Choose the cooperative route when preserving unusual NPCs and potential allies is more important than immediate loot.
  • Choose the hostile route when the Shapeshifter's Boon Ring and Hat of Fire Acuity are the priority for the current build.

Choices and consequencesSpoilers

  • Help the Strange Ox reach the Lower City

    The Strange Ox survives and can become an ally later in the game.

    Spoiler
  • Kill the Strange Ox

    The creature reveals its true form as a powerful shapeshifting ooze, and items including the Shapeshifter's Boon Ring and the Hat of Fire Acuity become available.

    Spoiler
  • Attack or kill the Strange Ox during an earlier appearance

    The later Act 3 request and the possibility of preserving the creature as a future ally are lost.

    Spoiler

Quest checklist

  • Encounter the Strange Ox in the Emerald GroveAct 1 appearance.
  • Leave the Strange Ox alive if pursuing the full questAn early hostile choice can prevent later stages.Optional
  • Find the Strange Ox at the Last Light InnAct 2 appearance.
  • Reach the Rivington barnAct 3 quest location.
  • Activate Speak with AnimalsRequired to converse with the creature in the Act 3 stage.
  • Listen to the request involving the Lower CityThe Strange Ox wants to be smuggled onward.
  • Choose the cooperative or hostile outcomeThe choice affects ally access and item rewards.
  • Preserve the Strange Ox if you want the later ally outcomeDo not kill it after learning its true nature.Optional
  • Collect the named rewards if you choose violenceThe listed items are the Shapeshifter's Boon Ring and Hat of Fire Acuity.Optional

Failure conditionsSpoilers

  • The Strange Ox is killed before the Act 3 requestThe multi-act storyline cannot continue to the Rivington conversation if the creature does not survive its earlier appearances.
  • The Strange Ox is killed after the Act 3 conversationThis ends the cooperative route and removes the possibility of having the Strange Ox become a later ally, although the hostile route provides named items.
  • The Act 3 conversation is attempted without Speak with AnimalsWithout the ability to communicate with the Strange Ox, the request to reach the Lower City cannot be properly followed.

On failure

The quest is missable because its outcome depends on keeping the Strange Ox alive through its earlier appearances and making the Act 3 choice deliberately.

Rewards and dropsSpoilers

  • Potential later ally
    The cooperative outcome allows the Strange Ox to become an ally later in the game.
  • Shapeshifter's Boon Ring
    Available among the rewards if the Strange Ox is killed.
  • Hat of Fire Acuity
    Available among the rewards if the Strange Ox is killed.

AftermathSpoilers

The Strange Ox is more than it appears

If the Strange Ox survives, it remains a mysterious entity whose secretive and sometimes dark nature is not fully dispelled by the quest. Completing the cooperative route can also make it an ally later in the game, while killing it ends that possibility in exchange for its named item rewards.

Trivia

  • The creature’s identity changes from an apparently ordinary ox to a Strange Apple during the Act 3 request.
  • The Strange Ox’s appearances are distributed across three major campaign locations: the Emerald Grove, the Last Light Inn, and Rivington.
  • The quest’s title refers to helping the Strange Ox even though the creature’s hidden nature is that of a shapeshifting ooze.

Sources

Relationships

characters

  • Strange OxCentral characterThe enigmatic creature whose request and hidden nature define the quest.

locations

  • Emerald GroveAct 1 locationThe first known location where the Strange Ox is encountered.
  • Last Light InnAct 2 locationThe Strange Ox appears here again during Act 2.
  • RivingtonAct 3 locationThe Rivington barn contains the Act 3 conversation that starts the quest’s decisive branch.
  • Lower CityRequested destinationThe area the Strange Ox wants to reach by transforming into a Strange Apple.

items

  • Shapeshifter's Boon RingHostile-route rewardA listed item reward obtained if the Strange Ox is killed.
  • Hat of Fire AcuityHostile-route rewardA listed item reward obtained if the Strange Ox is killed.