Baldur's Gate 3 Guide | How To Beat Ketheric

Here's everything you need to know on how to beat Ketheric Thorm in Baldur's Gate 3.

Game Guide by Ornstein on Jan 01, 2025

Ketheric Thorm is a multi-step process, and one has to be prepared and plan to know much about his powers. Ensure your group is well-equipped with potions, magical scrolls, and a lot of spells that can counter his powers before the fight begins. Ensure a well-rounded party is brought up with melee, ranged, and spell-casting abilities by undertaking all aspects of that skill.

Special attention should be given to enlisting items and spells that deal radiant damage, thus making them much stronger toward undead foes. Consider packing characters or artifacts blocking necrotic damage, as this is a crucial part of Ketheric's arsenal.

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Phase 1: Ketheric and His Minions

Throughout most of this first phase, Ketheric shares the field with a mix of undead creatures and the odd spellcaster or two. This phase is all about crowd control. Use Hold Person, Sleep, and Fear spells to neutralize the minions and let you concentrate on Ketheric. Alternatively, area-of-effect spells like Fireball or Thunderwave can clear out the lowly creatures and then leave you free to work on the boss.

Ketheric is resistant to most elemental damage types but weak to radiant damage, so center your spells around Guiding Bolt or any abilities from Clerics and Paladins. Be very careful not to clump up your party because Ketheric does frequent area strikes that really, really hurt.

Phase 2: Ketheric's Transformation

When you cut Ketheric's life down to a critical point, the fight immediately transitions into its second phase. He retreats to the higher part of his chamber and assumes a far more fearsome form, one that has more abilities. During this phase, he gets access to many heavy-hitting necrotic attacks and can summon even more reinforcements.

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The most important thing you want to do is maintain high mobility and maneuverability. Use the arena's verticality to your advantage by placing your range up high for better accuracy and massive, massive damage. Spells such as Mass Healing Word and Healing Spirit become very pertinent in this phase of the fight as Ketheric starts to show his cruel side.

Summon Handling

Left unimpeded, summoned creatures from Ketheric may overwhelm your party. If possible, kill them as fast as possible with area-of-effect spells or high-damage melee attacks. Be aware of spellcasting minions that may disrupt your plan with their debuffs or crowd-control capabilities.

Have a main tank or toughest character take the attention of the summoners while your damage dealers whittle down Ketheric. Use Banishment or Counterspell if you have such, judiciously, to temporarily remove from battle the most dangerous enemies.

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Final Phase: Shadowfell Monstrosity

After Ketheric's defeat in his second form, the battle goes into a final stage, where he merges with a creature from the Shadowfell. This is the most difficult stage of the battle, as he deals tremendous damage and is very resistant to everything. Your strategy has to be one of attrition and concentrated damage, using every benefit and debuff possible to shift the odds in your favor.

Abilities like Bless, Haste, and Hex can dramatically improve the effectiveness of your party in combat. Coordinate your attacks to hit the monstrosity's weak spots, and keep your most fragile healer safe, positioned to facilitate the team.

Final Tips For Victory

Timing and resource management are essential in this battle. In the first round of the battle, do not exhaust all your most powerful spells and abilities; reserve some for higher levels. Observe your surroundings—utilize obstacles and high ground to get tactical advantages if possible.

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Before the battle, ensure that all the spell slots, abilities, and hit points have rested. Items that give resistance to necrotic damage or improve saving throws will be quite useful in this battle, so it would be a good idea to equip them. Lastly, patience will allow you to adjust everything mid-battle.

In The End…

The battle with Ketheric Thorm tests the cohesion of your party, preparedness for changes in battle, and proper planning. Now that you know his strengths and exploit his weaknesses, you will win and get through one of the most critical turning points in all of Baldur's Gate 3. Take your time and get properly prepared for this, remembering that persistence and smart strategy play a huge role.

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