by At the end of our tour of the Nautiloid (the first area of Baldur’s Gate 3) we will have to overcome a battle in which we will find to Commander Zhalk, although he will be fighting a Mind Scourge.
It is the typical enemy that is out of our reach right now because it is level 8 and is basically much superior to us in terms of statistics. The normal thing would be to ignore him, but if you manage to defeat him you will get a juicy reward (his two-handed sword) and you will also unlock an achievement.
I highly recommend that you eliminate it because that sword is undoubtedly a very good weapon to start with in the game (either for your character or for a companion), the thing is that it will not be easy, but in this post I will explain a method with which you can achieve it relatively easily.
PREPARATION FOR BATTLE
The more companions you have who can help you in this battle, the better, so I recommend that you do the following two things before the battle:
- Release Nos (the brain).
- Free Shadowheart (The Prisoner of the Illithids).
I have a guide for both things, so if you are interested, give click to see in more detail how you can get it.
In addition to this, you should pick up a specific item that is very close to the Pod where Shadowheart was locked. The object in question is called «Nautiloid Tank«, it is like a… «violet floor lamp». To collect it you must left click on it and select the “collect” option.
To finish off the battle setup, be sure to equip these two Spells to Shadowheart (in case you saved her, but since it’s the start of the game, you could start over again since it wouldn’t be as much of an investment of time). time):
- Empireful Order: We can make an enemy flee, drop his weapon, remain motionless, fall… the truth is that it is a very useful spell in general and In this battle he will come VERY well.
- Blessing: A maximum of three characters on our team will obtain a +1d4 bonus on attack and saving throws, this will also be of great help.
Also equip yourself with some medicine just in case. If you don’t know how to change your characters’ spells (you have to do it outside of battle), you have to press the “K” key and there you can select them.
HOW TO DEFEAT HIM
The first objective will be to collect the other three Nautiloid Tanks that are on the battlefield (there are two on the left and one on the right, they are easy to see) while at the same time you eliminate the small enemies that are in the area (“Imp Lesser” and “Lesser Infernal Boar”). Luckily for us, the Mind Scourge will keep Zhalk distracted, so we can do it without problems.
When you have collected the 3 Nautiloid Tanks and cleared the first enemies in the area (leave those in the area behind Zhalk for later), take the opportunity to attack Zhalk a little (you won’t cause much damage and you will miss a lot, but Damage him as much as you can for a few turns; “Blessing” will help us deal more damage). Before starting the offensive, I recommend that you use “Empire Order” on Zhalk and select the “Release” option (a submenu will appear with the different actions).
This will cause her to drop her weapon, so pick it up with your character who is best suited for it (if your main character doesn’t make good use of it, equip it to Lae’zel). By doing this we will increase our damage and reduce the boss’s, so 2×1. If you only want the weapon, you can go ahead and ignore the next thing we will say, at the end of the day what is most worth defeating this boss is his weapon and you already have it, but if you defeat him you will also get an achievement.
After attacking him a little, you must drop all the «Nautiloid Tanks» near him (you open the inventory and drag the object to the area of the ground you choose that is close to the carrying character) and move all your characters away. It is important that you place the tanks as close together as possible.
As soon as you have your characters somewhat far away (it is not necessary to go to Cuenca, but a reasonable distance) throw a «Fire Bolt» (Shadowheart has it) at one of the «Nautiloid Tanks» and you will create an explosion in a chain that will cause enormous damage (if you didn’t put the Tanks together too much, they may not all hit). Most likely, Zhalk will die or at least be left with low enough health that it is easy to finish him off with ranged attacks (otherwise the boss will kill you). which is nice because we will also vent the Mind Scourge who tanks the boss in the process and he lasts much less than the boss).
Once achieved, quickly go to interact with the “Transponder” to get away from the Nautiloid and that’s it.
REWARDS FOR DEFEATING HIM
This is what we will get by defeating Commander Zhalk:
- Everburning Sword: A rare powerful greatsword that can only be used in two hands with very good damage for the start of the game. Very good weapon if you have become a Barbarian, Warrior, Paladin or something like that; otherwise you can equip it to Lae’zel.
- 2d6+3 Slashing Damage.
- +1d4 Fire Damage.
- Attention to Detail: An achievement of the game, the good thing is that if you didn’t do this at the time it is easy to get because it is at the beginning of the game.
If you are only interested in the sword and you don’t care about the achievement, you know, take it away with “Empire Order” and get out of there.
