Baldur's Gate 3 Commander Zhalk boss tips
Want to know how to beat Commander Zhalk in Baldur’s Gate 3? Its flaming sword and high AC would make its Commander Zhalk difficult to take down, but with Shadowheart in your party, ranged options to deal with smaller enemies, and buffs to increase your chances of hitting, it’s doable.
Commander Zhalk holds the Everburn Blade, a unique magical sword that deals slashing and fire damage. He’s also wearing Scale Mail armour, so defeating him nets you two great items to equip in your RPG game. The Everburn Blade’s property is also noteworthy, as it’s ever-burning, which means you’ll need to be careful where you swing it. If there’s flammable objects nearby, you may accidentally start a fire.
Baldur’s Gate 3 Commander Zhalk boss tips
You’ll face Commander Zhalk as part of the quest A Blade for a Blade, which also involves the Mind Flayer. If you need help with that fight, we have a guide on how to beat the Mind Flayer boss.
Commander Zhalk is a tough boss, with high HP and AC. He’s focusing on the Mind Flayer during the battle, but if the Mind Flayer is defeated, Commander Zhalk will turn his attention to you. This is something you want to avoid, so if the Mind Flayer falls, immediately move to attack Commander Zhalk.
Balancing your attacks against Zhalk and other enemies is crucial to succeed in this battle. You want to keep swinging at Zhalk to keep his attention, while dealing with Mind Flayer’s smaller minions. If you’re able to kill the Mind Flayer and its minions, Zhalk will turn his attention to you, which would be the worst-case scenario.
So, to increase your chances of hitting Zhalk, especially if you don’t have a magic user, use ranged options and spells like Guiding Bolt and Faerie Fire. When you have a magic user with ranged options, have them focus on Zhalk, while your non-magic ranged characters can dip their weapons in flames for extra damage.
Unique abilities and feats from different characters can also help in the battle. For example, the Bard’s Guiding Bolt can give a +2 bonus to an ally’s attack roll.
When Zhalk reaches 75% HP, send your ranged support to the control panel to trigger reinforcements. Keep a melee character near Zhalk and another ranged character in between to deal with the reinforcements.
The reinforcements are a flying fiend and two hobgoblins. The fiend is the bigger threat, but if you can defeat one of them, preferably the flying fiend, it’ll make the battle much more manageable.
Use the character who triggered the reinforcements as a block against the remaining enemy. The reinforcements will try to go around the blocker, but the path is narrow and they’ll have to come close to the fighter to attack.
Once Zhalk is defeated, loot his body for the Everburn Blade and Scale Mail. The Everburn Blade deals slashing and fire damage and has the property of being ever-burning. Be cautious of swinging the Everburn Blade near flammable objects, otherwise, you may start a fire unintentionally.
After looting Zhalk, interact with the control panel and leave the area with a flaming sword and good armor. That’s how you beat the Baldur’s Gate 3 Commander Zhalk boss, and you can do it without using healing potions or scrolls.
If you want to complete the quest A Blade for a Blade, be cautious of Commander Zhalk’s defeat without any minions. His death will cause the Mind Flayer to turn against you. You can do this battle without healing potions and scrolls, but we recommend having a character trigger the reinforcements to keep your player character within range.
That’s all you need to know to beat Commander Zhalk in Baldur’s Gate 3. For more tips on the open-world game, check out our best Baldur’s Gate 3 companions, or maybe the best Baldur’s Gate 3 weapons and armour if you’re still in the early stages of the game. You can also get a taste of what’s to come with our preview of the upcoming D&D game from 2020 End Times: Pathfinder.
