Prologue - A Nautiloid in Hell

Watch the opening cinematics and choose either a custom character or an existing one (Origin characters). **The Dark Urge** is a unique Origin character who does not appear in the game unless you select them. Baldur's Gate 3 has an infinite amount of dialog options based on character, class, race, etc so choose however you wish. For custom characters, I will refer to them as Tav.

If an item is *italicized* it means there is something worth investigating for dialog. When I **bold** an item, it means its loot and to you can pick it up if you wish. Items have two numeric discriptors, a weight scale in white and a gold scale. For example, jewels get decent gold and are light weight. Perfect for selling. A heavy cauldron selling 1 gold? Not so much. It's important to examine these items and see if it's worth picking up.

## First room

You wake up onboard the nautiloid. Before going forward, right behind your *Mind Flayer Pod* (if playing as Tav, Gale, Astarion, Dark Urge), there is a ramp to an upper level. Go up and go past the second *Mind Flayer Pod*. On a table at X:51 Y:-408, you will find a **Onyx** and *Rune Slate*. Take the Onyx and listen to the slate if you wish. Continue down until X:35 Y:-409 there is a **Cartilaginous Chest**. Take the item(s) inside and use "Pick Up" to put this chest in your inventory. You will see why shortly. Head back down to the lower level where your Pod is.

On this lower level where we started, there are 3 mind flayer pods to the right of yours you can examine for additional dialogue.

> DIALOG/INVESTIGATION CHECK: In the center of the room is the Nursery, a conversation will trigger and you have the option of doing your first roll of the game - an [Investigation] check. Now we have three options. Reach towards the pool, do an Investigation roll to investigate the pool or just leave it alone. A successful check hints that the casing of the nursery is fragile and the slightest touch could cause it to crumble. A failed check doesn't notice anything at all. Reaching towards the pool causes it explode, causing you to take some Force damage.
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There is a dead Mind Flayer next to the Nursery that you can loot. It's usually a **Topaz** or another jewel you can sell for decent gold. There is also a fourth Mind Flayer pod you can check out. Next to the pod, you'll notice another ramp going up to another **Cartilaginous Chest** at X:44 Y:-441. Take the loot/gold and also "Pick Up" the chest itself. Go back down.

Now before we exit this first room, if you took damage from the nursery there is a Restoration pod blue/white glowing tentacles. Use it if necessary. Examining the Sphincter opens the door to the second room.

## Second room/Us

Entering the room you will hear a child's voice calling out to you. Ignore it for now and turn right you will see a Dead Goblin and an Illithid Record. You can loot the goblin for a bit of gold and reading the record allows you to hear some minor dialog. Going a little further to the next table with the Brain Jar on it, you can read the the three Rune Slates for additional dialog.

Further up in the northern most point in the room is a *Cerebral Aquarium* and an Eldritch Tablet on the table you can check out.

Now, let's find the source of the voice. If you examine the Neural Apparatus it will activate an elevator to the upper floor. You will find the body of Myrnath sitting in a hair in front of bunch of brain jars.

> US DIALOGUE/CHECKS: Almost immediately, a [Perception] check takes place and if successful tells you the brain quivers in anticipation. You're given 3 options of dialogue. The first option "Who am I talking to.." triggers a [Arcana] check. A successful Arcana check tells you you're talking to an Intellect Devourer, a minion of the Mind Flayers. "I think you're past of the point of saving" will trigger several options. You can [Investigate], use [Strength] or [Dexterity] checks. You can also destroy the brain or just leave. A successful Investigation check will give you the option of a [Medicine] check. The [Medicine], [Strength] and [Dexterity] checks all lead to the same outcome if successful/failed. Note if you fail the check, you'll only be given the option to destroy the brain/leave. After a successful extraction, you're given an option to make the creature more subserviant to you. This triggers yet another [Dexterity] check. If this fails, you will turn the creature hostile. Sparing the creature/successful Dexterity check will leave it friendly. US tells you we need to go the helm. You opt to have Us join you or not. Us acts as a familiar and does not equip weapons or armor.
> The Dark Urge: The second [Dexterity] check, provided only if you pass the first, has a situational advantage check.
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Decide Us' fate and take the Neural Apparatus back down. Exit to the east to trigger a scene and your first battle.

## Third room/first battle

Lae'zel enters in dramatic fashion and all your dialog options all lead to the same outcome: a battle with imps. If playing as Lae'zel, her dialog is replaced by Losiir, a githyanki warrior who follows her same flow of dialog.

> Battle #1 - vs. 3 Imps: A very simple, quick fight. If Us was recruited, have Us take out the Imp to the right. Have Tav/Lae'zel take out the other two. Lae'zel can use long range to take out the imp further back. The imps should go down in one turn.
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After the battle, loot the various bodies of the Mind Flayers, Imps, and Thralls for loot if you desire. The Imps carry weapons while the Mind Flayers carry more valuable loot. The Imps do carry crossbows for characters with appropriate profiency. Climb the Arterial Mesh and loot the bodies as you continue to climb up. You will see a Sphincter that takes you to the fourth room.

## Fourth and fifth rooms/Shadowheart

As you enter the fourth room, you will see a panel with 3 buttons, 3 panels, and two cultists strapped to chairs. If you examine the Sigil, a successful [Arcana] roll will reveal "Unleash", "Aggression", and "Annihilate". Unleash provides a sapped debuff to the cultists. Aggression causes the cultists to attack you. Annihilate kills both cultists without a fight.

> Tav, Lae'zel, & Us vs. Sacrificed Cultists: Another very simple, quick fight. Have Us or Tav/Lae'zel use melee/long range appropriately and take them down fast. Loot their bodies. If you took any damage, their is a restoration pod to the right of the entrance you can use.
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If not playing as Shadowheart, she will appear in this room calling for help. Right outside her pod, there is a **Backpack** which contains loot. Now, depending on your alignment you need to make a choice: do you leave Shadowheart behind or do you take a moment to help her? If you do not intend to help her, skip the next section.

Helping Shadowheart: Now this is where class comes into play. Barbarians/Karlach can simply rip the door off and avoid the unnecessary searching. Warlocks also can avoid this using their powers on the sigil next to her pod. Don't use fire on the Nautiloid Tank as it causes a explosion and doesn't do anything. If you're neither of those classes: we take the scenic route. Head to the eastern room. If you didn't attack or attempt to hurt Us, the Intellect Devourer will leave you alone. You can kill it with no reprecussions from Us. Loot Dead Thrall near the entrance for a Gold Key. Examine the Mind Flayer pod to see the dazed woman inside. Behind her is a sigil with a button. You can push the button and see what happens to the pod. Behind the sigil, there is a 3rd **Cartilaginous Chest** (pick this up after looting it), a Slave Mind, as well as a Dead Thrall, who has the missing piece we need in the form of an Eldritch Rune as well as some loot. Return to Shadowheart. Use the Rune on the panel next to her pod. You can do an [Arcana] to learn more about the pod. You get your first [Illithid] power check if you have no other resources to free Shadowheart. Free her and talk to her.Before exiting to the south, let's look at the table to the southwest. There is a **Elaborate Reliquary** chest, which uses the Gold Key from the previous room. Inside is another Onyx and some gold. There is also a **Dark Mind** jar, a **Burnished Necklace**, and an *Illithid Manuscript*. Exit to the next room.

## Sixth room/Commander Zhalk fight

In the next small room, there is a **Restoration Pod** and some banter between Shadowheart and Lae'zel, provided you saved Shadowheart. If you're playing as Lae'zel, this dialog is replaced by Losiir.

> Helm Prep: Go to Shadowheart's spellbook and give her the **Command** spell. Remember the three chests we collected? Well, time to put them to use! The first red area leading to the helm you're going to want to stack your chests (I did two on one side, 1 on the other) completely blocking the entrance the helm. This prevents two heavy hitting Cambions from joining the battle. Provided they don't fly over the other one. Just a small note: YOUR CHARACTERS CAN DIE PERMANENTLY IN THE UPCOMING FIGHT. Be mindful of being too close when one of the two big bads focuses their attention on you.
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Now with our barricade and spells prepared, we can proceed a few different ways. When you're ready, proceed into the helm to trigger a scene and your first big battle of the game. You walk into a fight between Mind Flayers and Cambions.

> **Option 1** - Ignore the bosses and run to the transponder at the end. This is the simplest method but you miss out on a great two handed weapon that goes a long way. The random imps and beasts are of no challenge. A fire bolt to the nautiloid tank to the right takes out the imp and the beast immediately. Use Dash if an enemy is not in range.
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> **Option 2** - The "mugging" method. Follow Option 1 but we rob Commander Zhalk. To accomplish a succesful mugging, have Shadowheart use **Command: Drop** on the Commander and he will drop his Everburn Blade, provided he doesn't Save. Have Lae'zel or your tank then go and steal the blade off the floor. This may require a polite Shove to the Commander to let him know you're in a hurry. After that, connect the transponder and leave.
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> **Option 3** - If you want the achievement, this is the route you need. Shadowheart's first move should be to get Commander Zhalk to drop his Everburn Blade. Make sure you save beforehand in the chance it fails. Have your Lae'zel or another tank run over in his direction and follow the steps above. Without the Everburn Blade, Commander Zhalk has high evasion but is a pushover offense wise. You can use the surrounding nautiloid tanks to blow them both up if you like. Make sure someone is heading to the helm to kill the adds and make a run for it. Use **Dash** when needing to cover some distance and you cannot get any offense in. A few turns s in, two Cambions will join the fight. If you setup the barricade, most of the time they'll be distracted trying to destroy it unsuccessfully. Once the Commander is dead, the Mind Flayer turns on you but goes down much easier. Kill them both and get some nice EXP and a great weapon. Now, time to go!
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> Overall, make sure Commander Zhalk goes down first for 75 EXP. Then focus on the Mind Flayer for another 75 EXP. Provided this is harder with two characters, I did this with just Shadowheart and Lae'Zel. The beauty of this game is using the surrounding environments to your advantage. You can equip the Everburn Blade mid-fight which gives you an edge in the battle.
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