How to beat Commander Zhalk in Baldur's Gate 3

Commander Zhalk in Baldur’s Gate 3 is an optional boss who you encounter at the end of your journey through the Nautiloid, where you’ll find him fighting a mind flayer and wielding the Everburn Blade, a very powerful greatsword that's great for Act 1 of Baldur's Gate 3.

Although, if you want to get some XP and, more importantly, the sword, you’ll need to beat him in a fight. There are a number of ways to do this and survive, so we've laid out how to beat Commander Zhalk in Baldur's Gate 3 in one piece.

Baldur's Gate 3 Commander Zhalk guide

Commander Zhalk in Baldur's Gate 3 is a powerful devil that normally you'd never be able to kill on your own, but with the Mind Flayer helping it's a lot more plausible - though still difficult. Here's how to handle it:

1. Before the fight starts, make sure you free Shadowheart. If you don't know how to do that, reload a save and use our guide on how to free Shadowheart from the pod in Baldur's Gate 3.
2. You'll also want to make sure you have Us the Intellect Devourer on your side. For more info on that choice, check our page on whether to remove or destroy the brain in Baldur's Gate 3.
3. Once you see Zhalk and the Mind Flayer fighting, save the game, then kill all the minions first. Zhalk will ignore you while he fights the Flayer - there's a tentacle alien trying to eat his brain, after all.
4. Send a character with a good ranged attack near the transponder console, but don't interact with it yet. We recommend using Shadowheart for this.
5. Have your characters spam all their most powerful attacks at Commander Zhalk, with at least one standing close but not in melee range. Us the Intellect Devourer doesn't have a ranged attack, so you might as well send them in to tear up with claws, if they can.
6. Zhalk and the Mind Flayer should keep fighting, doing high damage to each other.
7. Commander Zhalk has high defences, 150 HP, and takes half damage from all non-magical weapons, as well as Fire, Lightning, Ice and Acid damage. Radiant Damage and similar effects are your best option.
8. You have fifteen rounds to deal with the ship - but actually, you have less. On turn five, two more Cambions will start moving in, though it'll take a couple of rounds for them to reach you. You need to be done with all this before they arrive - you'll have no real hope of killing all three enemies.
9. The moment Zhalk is dead, the Mind Flayer will turn on you. There's no reason to kill it though - move a character over to Zhalk's body and loot him to pick up the Everburn Blade.
10. The moment you have the blade, have the character standing near the console trigger it to immediately end the fight and escape safely.

None of this is easy and it's pretty dependent on the Mind Flayer getting good rolls and killing Zhalk, but it can be done (I've done it more than once). Reload a save if it fails and you're determined to get your reward so you can try again. And speaking of rewards!

Alternatively, you can get the sword without a fight by using some devilish tactics. Shadowheart’s spells include the Command spell. It isn’t prepared, but you can change spells while out of combat by bringing up the spellbook and swapping them around. Once you have the spell equipped, simply cast “Command: Drop” on Zhalk to make him drop the blade, pick it up and scarper.

Commander Zhalk rewards and the Everburn Blade

You’ll get 75 experience for killing Commander Zhalk, and more importantly will be able to loot his body for the Everburn Blade, if you decided against effectively mugging him.

This is one of the best Baldur's Gate 3 weapons in the early game, a two-handed greatsword that permanently does an extra 1D4 Fire Damage to whatever it hits - plus it looks cool. Keep in mind that as a martial weapon, not all of the Baldur's Gate 3 classes can use it properly. You'll need to be proficient in Martial Weapons (or at least Greatswords) and not a small creature. Still, even if you can't use it, it'll make a great gift for the Baldur's Gate 3 Karlach companion you meet later, or can work nicely in Lae'zel's hands.

After this, you'll need to work out where to go after the crashed ship in Baldur's Gate 3. Or want to see what we thought of the full release of the game? Check out our Baldur's Gate 3 review to find out!

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