Where to Find Elven Chain in Baldur's Gate 3

Discover where to find the Elven Chain armor in Baldur's Gate 3. Learn about its stats, uses, and how to purchase it in Act 3.

Alright, so you're on the hunt for the Elven Chain in Baldur's Gate 3? It's a pretty neat piece of armor, especially if you're a spellcaster who doesn't normally get to wear armor. You won't find it until Act 3, so don't worry about it too much before then. Once you've pushed through the Wyrm's Crossing area and arrived in Rivington, just outside Baldur's Gate itself, you'll want to head towards the town. From the Rivington waypoint, follow the main road heading north. You'll see a circus off to your left (west) and a blacksmith's shop to your right (east). While you can chat with the blacksmith, Gyldro Anglerion, it's not actually where you'll get the armor. Keep going north along that building complex until you find The Rivington General store. The owner is a Brass Dragonborn named Exxvikyap. She's got a… very enthusiastic personality, but if you can get through her sales pitch, you'll find the Elven Chain among her wares. It'll cost you around 800 gold, but hey, she's apparently quite easy to pickpocket if you're feeling daring!

Now, about the Elven Chain itself: its main trick is letting you cast spells without worrying about armor restrictions. Back in the day (and in D&D), this was a big deal. But in Baldur's Gate 3, most characters who multiclass into or from martial classes like Fighter, Paladin, or Ranger get at least light and medium armor proficiency. If you're proficient, you can cast spells in most armors anyway. So, the Elven Chain basically just makes everyone proficient with it, even though it's medium armor. It's a bit of a workaround for its original purpose.

Its base stats give you an Armor Class (AC) of 14. However, it caps your Dexterity bonus to AC at +2, meaning you'll likely end up with an AC of 16. That's decent, but not exactly tank territory. For comparison, a Fighter/Mage multiclass could easily be rocking Half-Plate +2 for an AC of 19, and even a Warlock using the Mage Armor spell and the Gloves of Dexterity could hit an AC of 17. So, defensively, it's not always the best choice, especially when other options are available.

Where it really shines is for pure spellcasters like Wizards and Sorcerers who don't have armor proficiency and don't have a ton of Dexterity. Gale, for instance, might benefit. However, it's often just a slight improvement over Mage Armor or the Bracers of Defense, and it takes up an armor slot that could be used for a robe that boosts spellcasting. For Warlocks, you're probably better off with the Potent Robe.

To make it a bit more appealing, the Elven Chain also grants the “Elven Agility” boon. This gives you a +2 bonus to Initiative Rolls and Advantage on Dexterity Saving Throws. This is great for characters like Bards, Rogues, and Rangers. However, these classes often rely on Dexterity themselves, so the armor's cap on Dexterity bonuses might actually hinder them more than it helps, making its defensive perks a bit of a wash for them.