Baldur's Gate 3 Guide | How To Beat Commander Zhalk

Here's everything you need to know on how to defeat Commander Zhalk in Baldur's Gate 3.

Game Guide by Ornstein on Dec 27, 2024

Commander Zhalk is a powerful cambion wielding the infamous Everburn Blade in Baldur's Gate III. He shows up aboard the Nautiloid during the prologue of the game and is an optional boss who, if killed, can reward you handsomely. Although the fight is pretty intense, good planning, smart positioning, and resource management can ensure success.

Understanding The Battlefield

The fight with Commander Zhalk takes place right in the middle of the Nautiloid, surrounded by a lot of Mind Flayers and other cambions. Setting-wise, this is going to be a pretty chaotic situation, but you can turn it to your advantage.

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Zhalk is busy fighting the Mind Flayers, meaning he will not be focused on you first. Still, he has that gigantic health pool, devastating melee attacks, and fire-based abilities that could easily overwhelm an unprepared team. If this wasn't enough, the Everburn Blade deals bonus fire damage in combat.

Before you attack, take a moment to survey the area. Use scattered items and high terrain to your tactical advantage and expose places that could serve as chokepoints to control the flow of combat. Keep in mind the timer for the Nautiloid's self-destruction; you can't afford to idle too much.

Preparing for Combat

Get ready for the fight against Zhalk. Make sure your party is healthy, and you've got healing consumables in stock, like potions or scrolls. If at all possible, equip your heroes with ranged weapons so you can keep at a distance and react to Zhalk's ability to close the distance in very short order. Grease, Sleep, and Hold Person spells work wonders in this combat.

If you have Shadowheart or Lae'zel in your party, get them set up carefully. Shadowheart's spells will do much to help the health situation, and Lae'zel's battle acumen is invaluable. If you can scrounge the Nautiloid for many kinds of potions, scrolls, and throwables like Alchemist'sFire or Grenades that can cause massive damage or create highly favorable battlefield conditions, do so.

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Zhalk Tactical Engagement

When starting the fight, don't immediately attack Zhalk right off the bat when he is busy fighting the Mind Flayers. Take this opportunity to clear minor enemies in the room or set up your party for an ambush. Keep your weak characters out of Zhalk's melee range. One hit from the cambion can easily one-shot a low-health party member, so it's important to keep your distance.

When you are ready to have your party attack Zhalk himself, make full use of attacks and spells with a ranged reach to whittle down his health points outside his counterattack range. Magic Missile and Eldritch Blast are great spells for consistent damage.

Characters capable of applying crowd control should aim to apply such status effects that impede Zhalk's movements or potentially put him in hazardous terrain. A popular option is to place Grease underneath his feet, causing him to trip and lose some precious turns.

If you have consumables like Alchemist's Fire or a vial of acid, make use of them to create a field of damage that limits Zhalk's movement. These do stacking damage and drain this big health pool.

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The Mind Flayers aren't usually allies but will join forces with you against Zhalk. Allow them to soften him up before committing your whole party to combat. Note that once the Mind Flayers fall, he will focus entirely on your party. It's a matter of timing your attacks so you can take advantage of the chaos they cause without risking your party.

High Ground Control

Elevated platforms and narrow passageways aboard the Nautiloid grant a modicum of tactical advantage. Keep ranged attackers on high ground to increase the rate of fire and make targets harder for Zhalk to reach. Place melee fighters on chokepoints or use hit-and-run tactics to avoid being batted around repeatedly by Zhalk.

Conserving Resources

Prologue: You have limited healing and magic slots, so make use of them judiciously. Save those healing spells when one of your party members is at death's door or when Zhalk readies his critical hit; mind your consumables. If one of your characters is about to die, don't hesitate to retreat temporarily, as this may give Zhalk's aggression to another target and give you some time to recover.

Securing Victory and claiming the Everburn Blade

In the later stages of the battle, be very vigilant about party health and position. The blows Zhalk unleashes can become deadly when he is in a low-health state. Focus fire at low health, and he is done for. In exchange for all your effort, you get the Everburn Blade, which is an extremely powerful early-game weapon imbued with fire damage and a good choice for melee.

Baldur's Gate 3, PC, Gameplay, How To Beat Commander Zhalk, Screenshot, NoobFeed

After defeating him, take a minute to scavenge the remaining resources in the room before immediately approaching the helm of the Nautiloid. The self-destruct timer of the ship assures you that too much lingering will cost you the triumph that you've been working for.

Finally…

Defeating Commander Zhalk in Baldur's Gate 3 requires careful planning, great strategy in its execution, and management of resources. While he is one of the formidable bosses in a prologue, Everburn Blade rewards and the feel of winning against such an engaging fight make everything worth it. Win the battle and set up the framework for your journey in the Forgotten Realms: use the chaos on the battlefield to your advantage, make use of Mind Flayers as distractions, and watch your positioning.

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