Baldur’s Gate 3 has a rich and diverse storyline. Any decision you make will alter the storyline further down the road. This is especially true for Act 2 and the fight against Ketheric Thorm in Baldur’s Gate 3. Ketheric Thorm is the commanding general of the army of the undead.
In Baldur’s Gate 3, Ketheric Thorm, alongside the other two characters, has started to gather forces against the Baldur’s Gate and wants to lay waste to all of Farun. Ketheric Thorm is chosen by the god of the undead, Myrkul. He has returned life to his daughter and wants to command the army to Baldur’s Gate.
Ketheric, Orin, and Gortash have joined their powers to fight against Baldur’s Gate by controlling the Elder’s brain. You must join forces to fight Ketheric Thorm and his companions to stop them from laying waste to Farun.
Ketheric Thorm location in BG3
Ketheric Thorm is the final boss of Act 2. He can be found at the top of Moonrise Tower. Before heading towards Ketheric Towers, you must complete the preceding quests.
These quests include going to the Gauntlet of Shar, collecting all the Umbral Gems, and finally saving Nightsong from dying. She will either be killed by Shadowheart or killed by Balthazar.
You must save Nightsong because she will help you in the battle against Ketheric Thorm in BG3. She is also why Ketheric becomes vulnerable to attacks instead of being immune to all attacks.
When you reach the door of the moonrise tower gate, you will come across Jaheira. You will need to ask her to join your team. She will tell you that she is committed to her people. If you insist, she will agree to fight alongside you.
Now, go through the door, and you will reach the top of the Moonrise Tower in Baldur’s Gate 3. He will be standing on a platform where the dialogue sequence will start.
Ketheric Thorm Dialogue options
When you approach Ketheric Thorm, there will be a few dialogue options. The first three will trigger him to get angry. At this, Nightsong will swoop in from above and throw him down. She is angry at what Ketheric Thorm in BG3 has done to her and Isobel and wants to take his life. This will then start the battle against him.
You can also roll a persuasion or intimidation check and ask him to surrender. This will make him ponder, but Nightsong will come from above, and the fighting will continue. This will prove valuable later on in the fight.
How to defeat Ketheric Thorm in Baldur’s Gate 3
The fight with Ketheric has three phases, depending on your dialogue choice. The first phase will occur on the rooftop. The next two phases will be in the Mind Flayer colony.
After you have ended the dialogue with Ketheric Thorm, the fight will start. If you have Nightsong with you, she will significantly damage him. The arena will consist of 4 Necromites on the left and four necromites on the right.
There will also be a mage called Susdera. She will be very annoying and needs to be dealt with first. Finally, there will be an undead dog called Squire in Baldur’s Gate 3, which is relatively slow and not a big problem.
Phase 1
Firstly, deal with the Necromites on the left and right. You can do this by using Ice Storm or any other AoE attack. They don’t have much health, and the Ice storm will also slow the undead dog down.
Next is to take care of Susdera. She will deal with many damaging spells, such as Fireballs, and can damage your whole group. She will also spawn more Necromites by placing eggs, which incubate and then release the Necromites. In the first phase, she is more dangerous than Ketheric or any other enemy.
You can take on Ketheric Thorm in Baldur’s Gate 3 when all the above are defeated. During the fight against the minions, he will come down from his balcony and hit you. He has melee-based attacks and not that much health to be problematic. When his health has dropped to about 30 to 40 percent, a cutscene will play where Nightsong will fly up, and he will summon his tentacle from one of the towers.
This tentacle will knock down Nightsong and take her with it. Ketheric will also flee the scene. Now, you will follow him down to the Mind Flayers colony.
Locate Ketheric Thorm in the Mind Flayer colony
Now, you will need to get down to the colony; you can directly reach the pillar from where the tentacle came from and jump down. If you had insisted before you went down through, Jaheira would have joined you before you came up the tower. You can now find her and make her join your team as a companion in Baldur’s Gate 3.
When you jump down, you must move towards the southwestern part of the colony indicated by the circle. This place is littered with monsters moving with precautions. When you reach a lift-like area, interact with the blue strings to the right of the lift and then go down it.
This will take you to a small corridor and a large door. As you approach it and open it, a cutscene will start.
You will find Baldur’s Gate 3 Ketheric Thorm, Orin, Gortach, and Duke Ravenguard as hostages. Ketheric, Orin, and Gortash will discuss an army marching towards Baldur’s Gate. They will be located in the area in the straight arrow. Later, they will summon the Elder brain, setting up a tadpole in Duke Ravenguard.
Phase 2
After Gortash and Orin’s conversation, they leave, and you can interact with your characters. You must position your characters to deal the most damage because the fight will be tough.
Now, start by moving your ranged attacker towards the left platform of the arena. This character will also take care of the Necomites here. Looking around the arena, you will also find Nightsong in restrains. You must send in one of your ranged or melee characters to help her.
She is also important because she will make Ketheric Thorm vulnerable to attacks in Baldur’s Gate 3. To move around, take a misty step, Dimension Door, or teleportation arrow with you so you are not spotted.
Finally, you must move one character before Ketheric Thorm to start the next cutscene. After he has delivered his speech, you can choose the persuasion dialogue option and make him repent for his sins. If you succeed with the persuasion roll, the fight in the second phase will not go through, and another cutscene will start in which he jumps to reveal the final phase boss.
If you haven’t cleared the persuasion check from Phase 1 or choose the Phase 2 persuasion check, the Phase 2 fight against BG3 Ketheric Thorm and his lackeys will commence. First, start by helping out Nightsong; this will take a complete turn off that character but will make Ketheric vulnerable to attacks in BG3.
After this, take care of the intellect Devourer to the left of the platform on the ground. This doesn’t have much health and can easily be defeated. Next, take care of the Necromites to the right platform. After that, you can focus your attacks on Ketheric in Baldur’s Gate 3, who has about 30% of his total health remaining.
He will deal damage through melee hits and incubate eggs to gather more lackeys to fight. Deal with the eggs like before, and don’t let them hatch.
You will also find the Mind Flayer, which has a few high-intensity attacks to deal extra damage, and it is better to deal with all the minions before the final phase.
Phase 3
When you have chosen the persuasion dialogue option or defeated him by bringing his health pool to 0, he will fall into the void in the platform, and from inside, the Lord of the Bones, called Myrkul, will rise. He will start the fight.
Ketheric Thorm in BG3 deals with melee attacks from his sickle while ranged magic attacks. He also sends out eggs, which release Necromites. If you have defeated all the minions before, this battle will not be a big problem because Myrkul doesn’t move and only stays in one place.
You can deal with ranged magical damage from a safe distance and place a melee-based character like Lae’zel to handle the harsh blows. He will, however, have the Bone chill aura around him. This aura blocks healing spells on the characters, so keep a close eye on your melee attacker.
If he consumes a Necromite, he will use the Finger of Death spell, which can damage his target. Finally, if you have Shadowheart in your team, you can pair her attacks with Nightsong to deal enormous damage and kill the beast without worry.
When the beast is dead, Ketheric will return, but he will fall and die. You must reach his body and retrieve the stone from his chest. This is the Netherstone in Baldur’s Gate 3. When you have the stone, the Dream Visitor will show up. She will tell you that the Netherstone is a way to control the Elder’s brain and the tentacles.
The Dream Visitor will tell you that there are three Netherstones, which are the key to controlling the crown worn by the Elder’s brain. She will then explain to us about Gortash being the chosen one for the God of Tyranny and Orin being the chosen one for the God of Murder in Baldur’s Gate 3. After she goes away, you can loot Ketheric’s corpse.
Ketheric Throm rewards and loot
After the fight and the dialogue sequence, you can loot the body. You will get the following items.
- Ketheric Warhammer
- Ketheric Shield
- Reapers Embrace
The Ketheric shield provides +2 armor class +1 on spell saves and attack rolls. You can also use this shield to deal with Shield Bash, which knocks enemies prone.
Reaper’s Embrace will provide a +19 armor class. You will have increased protection from magical damage. It gives an advantage on Dexterity saving throws but without will. Gives a disadvantage on Stealth checks. You will get the cantrip Howl of the Dead.
Ketheric Warhammer deals 3 to 15 damage, +1 enhancement, and 1d4 psychic damage.
