SHOULD I SAVE THE NAUTILOID BRAIN IN BG3?

One of the first decisions we will have to make in Baldur’s Gate 3 is decide whether to save or whether to eliminate the brain that we find in the Nautiloid (the octopus ship in which we start at the beginning of the game). It is a psionic creature (that race of somewhat Lovecraftnian beings that have captured us) that is trapped in its elven host (its name is Myrnath) and who will ask us for help.

In case you have never come across this peculiar NPC, you can easily find it where you start the game. Not in the room you start in, just the next one. You will have to use an elevator (Neural Device) to get there, but come on, by holding down “ALT” to see the interactable objects on the screen you will see it easily.

I’m already clarifying that at least as far as I know (I don’t know if maybe later this could have a greater implication, in that case I will update the post to explain), this is not a decision that has too much importance except because it can be a great help for the start of the game, but well… now I explain in detail what you should do with this brain.

WHAT HAPPENS IF YOU DELETE IT?

There really is nothing wrong with it, there are no negative consequences beyond losing the small advantage that we will obtain if we save him, something that It’s not that big of a deal either, so I would recommend that you do what you want most.

Of course, if you are one of those who really enjoys Lore, you should know that the brain has some quite interesting dialogues and I really like them. The thing is that I liked the experience of freeing him more than that of eliminating him (because then he dies and that’s it, nothing happens in itself).

HOW CAN I SAVE THE BRAIN?

At first you will have several dialogue options, here it does not matter what you choose, but of course, never choose the “Destroy the brain” option. Anyway, to activate the options that allow us to save him, you will have to select the dialog option of:

I think there is no possibility of saving you anymore. Tell me what you want me to do.

After this you will have 3 different options to save him:

1. [INVESTIGATION] Inspect the exposed brain: This is the best option of all without a doubt, the higher your character’s Intelligence, the easier it will be for you to pass the test. dices. I recommend that regardless of the Intelligence your character has, you always try this route because even if you fail, you can try the next two, so you have nothing to lose.
2. [STRENGTH] Crack Skull: The option you should choose if your character has good strength stats, but remember to always try to choose the previous option first.
3. [SKILL] Remove the brain from the skull carefully: You know, it is the one you should choose if your character has a lot of skill after trying the [RESEARCH] option.

The three options will allow us to save it, so choose the one that best suits you according to your character, but as I said, at the beginning always try the [INVESTIGATION] option. If you pass the dice roll for this first option, you will not save him with that alone, but a new option will appear:

• [MEDICINE] Try to extract the brain, but keeping the inflammation in mind: This roll is based on Wisdom, but the good thing is that for this roll we will have an advantage, which It implies that we will roll two dice and we can choose the highest one, so the probability of failing is much lower.

If you fail any of the rolls to save him (except [INVESTIGATION]), nothing bad will happen, you simply will not be able to save him and it will be your choice whether you want to eliminate him or simply leave him there to his fate.

If you manage to save him, a new dialogue will appear in which you will have to choose between two options:

1. [SKILL] Mutilate the Brain: If you pass the roll, he won’t even notice it, but you will apply the “Lobotomized” status to him. I haven’t noticed any difference in him from having this condition, so I don’t understand, but he will still be alive.
2. Do not harm the creature, any injury could weaken it: This is what I recommend the most because it seems that the first option is not of much use, in case it applies some kind of debuff, it would be counterproductive since we want it to be in good shape.

WHAT HAPPENS IF I SAVE YOU?

The brain (which in the game is called “Nos”, but this name is due to a question that you can ask through dialogues) will grow some kind of legs and will It will unite our team, which will be of great help for this initial part of the game (the Nautiloid), especially since it is the beginning and we have few companions.

The bad thing is that when you beat the area you won’t know anything more about him, but hey, I guess temporary help is still better than getting literally nothing.

After this I recommend that you rescue the prisoner of the Illithids.

Also keep in mind that it will be very useful for us to be able to count on his help a little later in case you want defeat Zhalk , something that I highly recommend because it will give us a very good sword.