Baldur’s Gate 3: How to find & recruit Scratch the dog

In Baldur’s Gate 3, you’ll come across a lot of characters and companions that can guide and aid you through your adventure. Scratch is one of those companions, so here’s how to get him in BG3.

Baldur’s Gate 3 is full of secrets, places to explore, and companions to aid you on your adventure. Scratch is one of the many companions, and recruiting him can be a little tricky. But with a little patience and the right choices, you can add this good boy to your camp.

Here’s what you need to do to recruit Scratch as a companion in Baldur’s Gate 3.

How to find Scratch companion in Baldur’s Gate 3

To find Scratch as a companion in Baldur’s Gate 3, you need to travel to the northwest area from Druid’s Grove, towards the Blighted Village. When you hit a bridge, turn to the right and follow the sinuous path until you come across a cave, ignore it and climb the crevice.

Once there, you will find a forest section with another crossroad. In the middle of that crossroad, you’ll find a white dog, and a corpse lying down not too far from it.

The dog, aka Scratch, is guarding his former owner’s body against looters (what a good boy!) and will only react poorly if you approach to loot the corpse.

How to recruit Scratch as a companion in Baldur’s Gate 3

To recruit Scratch as a companion in Baldur’s Gate 3, you first need to approach and talk to him. You need to cast Speak with Animals or drink a Potion of Animal Speaking. He won’t attack you unless you try to rob his master or provoke him first.

The safest approach if you want to recruit Scratch easily is to ask him ‘What happened here?’, and he will tell you the sad story of his owner’s demise. Then you can convince him to follow your scent to your camp if his owner doesn’t wake up.

Alternatively, if you do not have the Spell or Potion to talk to him, you can still pass some Skill checks involving Handling Animal and Perception to calm him down. Here are the options that will become available to you:

• Animal Handling: Kneel – you mean no harm.
• Perception: Peer at his collar.
• Intimidation: Stand down!
• Leave.

Choosing any of the first 3 options will make Scratch more docile, and allow you to pet him. You should follow them up by choosing ‘Motion him to follow,’ and then ‘Hold out your hand so he can follow your scent to camp.’

After some time, Scratch will appear in your camp, and if you start interacting with him, you can take him as a following familiar. Scratch has a high perception skill and the ‘Spot’ hidden trait, that allows him to pick up the scent of hidden enemies, and treasure.

That’s all you need to know about how to get Scratch as a companion in Baldur’s Gate 3. For more info and guides related to the game, you can also check out:

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