The demonstration of amplified spontaneous emission at soft x-ray wavelengths has highlighted the need for normal incidence optics for soft x-rays. Specifically, x-ray laser cavity components will be needed to further advances in x-ray laser research. In this paper, we present the fabrication, characterization and analysis of two possible cavity components, an x-ray beamsplitter and a highly dispersive multilayer mirror. Each of these can be used as x-ray laser cavity output couplers.