Baldur's Gate 3: How To Beat Ketheric Thorm (Tips & Strategies) (2024)

Beating Ketheric Thorm in Baldur’s Gate 3 is the most vital part of Act 2, allowing you to progress into the third and final act of the game. However, this boss fight is not easy and consists of three very distinct phases, all of which require a certain strategy to be defeated.

This article contains spoilers for the encounter with Ketheric Thorm in Baldur’s Gate 3 and the events connected to the boss fight.

Ketheric Thorm is a high half-elf who has taken control of the Shadow-Cursed Lands and is the reason for the curse upon the entire region. Leading the cult of the Absolute from the Moonrise Towers, just south of Reithwin Town, Ketheric is said to be immortal – though his invulnerability stems from his captured asset, Dame Aylin, the Nightsong in Baldur’s Gate 3.

Ketheric Thorm - Phase One In Baldur's Gate 3

Moonrise Towers Boss Fight

Before facing the villain, you must delve into Shar’s Gauntlet and, deep within, find Nightsong. She can be found inside the Shadowfell in Baldur’s Gate 3, and regardless of what you decide her fate to be, this will permit you to face Ketheric Thorm. The first encounter with Ketheric Thorm will take place at the top of the Moonrise Towers in Baldur’s Gate 3 following the release or death of Dame Aylin.

The ideal strategy here is to dedicate one long-range specialist like Astarion to deal with the multiple mobs from afar, while the rest of the party deals as much damage as they can to Ketheric himself. Regardless of how you divide up your team, you should try to have at least two party members entirely focused on Ketheric the entire time.

Note that Ketheric's most annoying habit is how mobile he stays during this fight, so you will need to have party members adept at following him. Lae’zel’s jumps usually do the job quite well, and she often hits multiple times, so if you're utilizing her, then she may be an ideal choice for this. Meanwhile, Gale and Shadowheart are good for casting AoEs against the group of weaker opponents.

Even though the goal is simply lowering Ketheric's HP, you should be wary of putting weaker characters in his way, as Ketheric strikes quite hard. Even with high defense, Lae’zel, who is often a tank in his face, can take quite a beating and see herself in danger of falling in battle. Once his HP is sufficiently lowered, you will trigger a cutscene with Ketheric in Baldur's Gate 3, in which he will contest your presence, recapture Dame Aylin, and proceed into the Mind Flayer Colony.

Ketheric Thorm - Phase Two In Baldur’s Gate 3

Mind Flayer Colony Boss Fight

After clearing out all the side objectives inside Mind Flayer Colony, such as saving Mizora and Zevlor, or solving the Necrotic Laboratory puzzle in Baldur’s Gate 3, you should find yourself in the elevator that takes you to the arena. Be sure to use the blue-colored device to the right of the elevator to restore the team’s HP and spell slots beforehand.

After heading down, you will witness another cutscene with Enver Gortash, Orin, and Ketheric, all of whom compose the Chosen of the Dead Three. You will learn about their plot and, once you are in control of your party, you will initiate Phase 2 of the Ketheric Thorm boss battle. It's highly recommended that you make a quick save before officially starting the fight, just in case things go poorly.

The fight will automatically initiate if Ketheric sees you approaching him with any character, so the best strategy to employ here is to split the team up and use stealth to position yourself. At the far right end of the arena, you will see that Dame Aylin is once again bound to chains, thus granting Ketheric his immortality.

To ensure that you'll be able to quickly remove Ketheric's invulnerability, use a Potion of Invisibility and silently approach Dame Aylin, but do not interact with her. This will ensure that, once the fight starts, you will be within range to free her quickly. After positioning a character to save Nightsong at the right end, you will need to select another Baldur's Gate 3 party member to go to the left wing.

Unfortunately, there you will encounter a group of mobs that interfere with anyone dealing damage to Ketheric. A good strategy here is to, once again, make the chosen character invisible, and lead them toward the mobs. This character must clear out the group swiftly before they have the time to strike or spread out. Shadowheart has some decent AoEs to use, though Lae’zel can utterly destroy them, depending on the skills she has.

The last two characters in the party can be grouped and moved toward Ketheric, which will initiate the fight. Once the fight has commenced, you need to use the character in charge of freeing Dame Aylin as soon as possible. The character on the far left will also need to exterminate the mobs, preferably in the first round. Alternatively, you can start the fight by freeing Nightsong.

Once the battle starts, a Mind Flayer at the right corner of the map will also engage, trying to control Dame Aylin and damage your character. If she hits your character while subdued, she can deal a lot of damage – Nightsong should not be harmed, however, as she is still your ally in Baldur’s Gate 3.

If possible, you can make your character on the right use Misty Step to reach the higher platform where the Mind Flayer originally was and continue to strike it from a safe vantage point, breaking his Concentration over the spell that controls Dame Aylin. With Dame Aylin freed, and the left mobs dealt with, you should dedicate most of your efforts to harm Ketheric Thorm.

The only exception may be your character on the far right, who will be engaged in a battle against the Mind Flayer in Baldur’s Gate 3. Nevertheless, if the creature is quickly dealt with, then your character and Nightsong can come to help fight Ketheric. During the battle, Ketheric uses Incubate Death, which creates dangerous and explosive Necrolites, and Deadly Order, which will make the Intellect Devourers and other mobs focus on the targeted character.

Once his HP is fully depleted, a short cutscene will play out where he will be thrown into the pit behind him, and Myrkul, the Lord of the Dead, will challenge you, complaining that you have struck down its Chosen champion. When this happens, you will officially initiate Phase 3 of the boss battle against Ketheric Thorm in Baldur’s Gate 3. However, you can skip part of this encounter if you persuade Ketheric to repent of his sins in the conversation before the fight by passing the Charisma Check.

Ketheric Thorm - Phase 3 In Baldur’s Gate 3

Apostle of Myrkul

The fight against the Apostle of Myrkul in Phase 3 of the Ketheric boss fight is quite different. This opponent is large, does not move, but deals a massive amount of damage. The first immediate threat it poses is the Gaze of the Dead which may frighten the target, thus making them unable to move, while also dealing damage.

Another dangerous attack this enemy will use is Call of the Damned, in which it will create a vortex with itself in the center and essentially pulls those in range close to it. Even with the occasional Necromite and Intellect Devourer, the team’s focus should be killing the boss as this threat is large and likely to wipe out the entire party if not dealt with swiftly.

At this point, if you have completed most of the side quests in Act 2 of Baldur's Gate 3, you should have a good amount of damage output. If you focus your team’s efforts on surviving and dealing as much damage as possible to the boss, all your enemies should go down quite easily. Thankfully, the boss' defeat also results in the deaths of all other nearby opponents, so this is the quickest way to end the fight.

Once everything is done, your party will be rewarded with Ketheric's Warhammer, Ketheric's Shield, and Reaper's Embrace. After you've collected your rewards, you are ready to proceed into the third and final act of Baldur's Gate 3, where the last of your enemies awaits you.

Source: YouTube/ZaFrostPet

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Baldur's Gate 3

RPG

Franchise

Baldur's Gate

Platform(s)

PC , macOS , PS5 , Xbox Series X

Released

August 3, 2023

Developer(s)

Larian Studios

Publisher(s)

Larian Studios

Multiplayer

Local Multiplayer

ESRB

M for Mature: Blood and Gore, Partial Nudity, Sexual Content, Strong Language, Violence

How Long To Beat

100+ Hours