Commander Zhalk Baldur's Gate 3 - the first elite boss encountered during the main story quest "Escape from Nautiloid" Before the final scene of the prologue, Illithid urges the hero to quickly get to the control and connect the control room in order to escape from the ship before it is destroyed. It is not necessary to engage in a fight with the boss, but if you win, you can get the two-handed sword of commander Zhalk (one of the best at the beginning of the game), useful drops and experience points.
In of level and characteristics, Commander Zhalk is significantly superior to the characters from the main character’s squad, which makes him a difficult opponent. Only 15 turns are allotted for the battle: if time runs out, the ship will be destroyed and the mission will fail. In the guide we will tell you in what ways you can kill commander Zhalko in Baldurs Gate 3 and how to get the Eternal Flame blade.
How to defeat Commander Zhalk in Baldur's Gate 3
To defeat commander Zhalk on the Nautiloid and take valuable loot from him, you need to carefully prepare for the battle and choose a specific battle strategy.
How to prepare for battle
Before the battle, you need to enlist the of your allies - the more characters in the squad, the easier it will be to win. At the current stage, only three companions are available:
Recommended in advance rescue Shadowheart from the capsule, to add her to your squad, she will come in handy due to her abilities to buff and heal allies. This will be useful for any battle strategy. Before the fight, you can take a short break to restore ability points. It is important to save the game manually in advance so that you can return to the beginning of the battle at any time.
In a separate article, they described how find partners and assemble a team in Baldur's Gate 3.
How to kill Commander Pitiful
At level 8, Commander Zhalk has a health reserve of 150 HP. In addition, at the end of the 7th turn, two more combos will be sent to help him, so he cannot do without tactics. There are two ways to defeat the boss: help Illithid, or use Shadowheart and Laezel to deprive the commander of the blade at the very beginning of the battle. Both strategies are equally beneficial and can complement each other.
With the help of Illithid
After entering the hall, you need to get rid of all the small enemy units, with the exception of the demon, which is closest to the boss. When Commander Zhalk is killed, the Illithid will become hostile to the main team, but if the demon is left alive, the mind flayer will temporarily switch to it, and not to the character and partners.
Combat tactics revolve around buffing a temporary ally and keeping them alive at approximately the same level as the boss. The game can be saved directly during the battle, for example, after each successful action or crit. strike. After killing the Pathetic, you can immediately go to the switch, or stay and finish off the Illithid, however, there will be no valuable reward for killing the mind flayer, only experience points.
With the help of Shadowheart and Laezel
The second option involves the active use of the skills of Shadowheart and Laezel. Before entering the wheelhouse, you need to equip Shadowheart with the skill "Order" This can be done through the heroes menu by calling it with the TAB key, in the “ tabSpells».
The caster must approach Commander Zhalk and use the skill “Order - Drop" It is recommended to save before casting, because the ability has a low chance of triggering.
If the skill is applied successfully, a system notification “weapon lost” will appear and the commander will continue melee combat, which will reduce his outgoing damage. Laezel will need to get close to the drop and pick up the Eternal Flame sword. It is recommended to immediately equip the blade on the Githyanki and continue the battle in close combat.
Please note that the character who picks up the blade must interact with the chopping transmitter. Otherwise, the blade may disappear after crashing.
Rewards for killing Commander Zhalk
For killing commander Zhalko you can get the following drop:
- Blade "eternal flame"- a unique two-handed sword. 4-17 units damage on a roll of 2d6 +1d4, dealing constant fire damage. Can be equipped by any class that wields two-handed swords or martial weapons.
- Scale armor is the starting equipment for Warrior class characters with random characteristics.
How to get the Eternal Flame blade without killing Pathetic
You can get the Eternal Flame sword without fighting the boss. To do this, you need to knock the weapon out of Zhalk’s hands using the Shadowheart skill “Order - Drop", then pick up the blade, get to the cutting transmitter and complete the quest without a fight.
We hope our guide helped you learn how to defeat Commander Pity in Baldur's Gate 3 and get the Blade of the Eternal Flame. If you have any questions or notice something that is not described in the manual, leave a comment, we will definitely answer. Read others Baldur's Gate 3 guides in the relevant section of our website.
Don't forget about the purple tanks, one is located next to Shed. A couple more can be found in the wheelhouse. During the battle, move them to the illithid and the Wretched and monitor their health. It should be approximately the same - about 40 units. Then hit the tank with fire. As a result, they will both die, and you will receive not only loot, but also experience.
There is no point in leaving one of the demons - by the time we kill Zhalk, his assistants will already show up. And the illithid will be almost dead. Judging by the screenshots, this is an easy level, for “tactics” everything is a little more complicated.
If you want to kill Zhalk, then 2 conditions are important:
1) Shadowheart immediately uses a dash and rushes as close to him as possible, on the 2nd turn he uses the “throw weapon” command and it works.
2) Basic - The illithid's first attack against Zhalk is successful and causes damage. If we miss, we load the save, because... The illithid's damage is not enough to kill the Wretched before his minions enter the battle.
I didn’t see much benefit in treating the illithid - it’s better to spend Shadowheart’s moves on weakening the enemy.
In fact, it's not hard to kill Wretched, it's hard to kill him BEFORE his minions get close enough to strike the group. And they will hit the group, and it will hurt. Plus they have an attack of opportunity when you try to escape. There is a very high chance that all of your partners will simply be killed. Therefore, when 2 tieflings have already entered the lock, it is better to make legs. All the same, the commander only needs a sword, and you can get it almost immediately.
***By the way, my blade never disappeared, although either Shadow or the toad always picked it up.