Ghislev

Farslayer of Bhaal Ghislev, also referred to as Farslayer Ghislev, is a character who can be encountered in the Undercity Ruins area of Baldur's Gate 3, during Act Three.

“

The trial begins. Best me and pass, or die

„

— Farslayer of Bhaal Ghislev

Involvement

Ghislev serves as part of a "test" to any characters who want to enter the Temple of Bhaal.

When the party enters the area past the Undercity Ruins Waypoint, Ghislev will trigger a combat encounter with the party, take a very early spot in the initiative order, and will apply 1 round of  Surprised to all party members. The Surprised condition can be avoided by passing a DC 30 Perception check to spot the cultists or by otherwise moving close enough to the Farslayer to begin combat with him alone.

On Ghislev's first turn, he will cast  Bhaal's Power Word Kill Ritual. Ghislev will gain the condition  Ritual Chant: Bhaal's Power Word Kill, and apply a separate condition to all friendly party members within 55 meters of Farslayer called  Bhaalist Ritual Target. Both of these conditions have a duration of 7 rounds on Explorer difficulty, 6 rounds on Balanced difficulty and 5 rounds on Tactician difficulty.

Many  Invisible Bhaalist cultists in the area will gain the condition  Entranced Murderer, and attack alongside him once the party gets close enough to reveal their locations.

Combat

Attacks and abilities

 Bhaal's Power Word Kill Ritual ()

Rasp a word of power, compelling an enemy with 100 hit points or fewer to forfeit its meager existence and die instantly

 Range:  m / 333 ft

 Benign Transposition: Teleport ()

Teleport to a nearby, unoccupied space, or swap places with an ally.

 Range: 9 m / 30 ft

Recharge: Long rest

 Ray of Frost ()

1d8 (1~8) Cold

Reduces the target's Movement Speed by 3 m / 10 ft.

 Range: 18 m / 60 ft

 Ice Knife ()

1d10 (1~10) Piercing

+

2d6 (2~12) Cold

Throw a shard of ice that deals 1d10Piercing damage. It explodes and deals 2d6Cold damage to anyone nearby. It leaves an  Ice surface. On miss, the shard of ice still explodes.

This spell can be cast while you are  Silenced.

DEX Save

 Range: 18 m / 60 ft

AoE: 2 m / 7 ft (Radius)

 Cloud of Daggers ()

4d4 (4~16) Slashing

Conjure a cloud of spinning daggers that attack anyone inside.

 Range: 18 m / 60 ft

 Slow ()

Alter time around up to 6 enemies to Slow them. They won't get far, they can't do much, and they're easier to hit.

WIS Save

 Range: 18 m / 60 ft

Allies

(In order of closest to furthest from the entrance):

• Reaper of Bhaal Flo-Flo
• Reaper of Bhaal Gruntman
• Reaper of Bhaal Varneela
• Devastator Lizabett
• Devastator Stropes
• Invoker of Bhaal Ellice
• Strangler Luke
• Night Blade Corniche
• Night Blade Hervyl
• Night Blade Zeironymous
• Night Blade Abraxa
• Night Blade Garithon
• Night Blade Majjo
• Night Blade Comina
• Night Blade Flange
• Night Blade Maireadh
• Manglin' Abby

Encounter details

• All enemies aside from Ghislev are hiding invisibly around the arena. They will join the fight if the party gets close enough to them.
  • 3 Reaper of Bhaal archers are hidden on a ledge across the chasm to the right of the party as they enter the area.
  • 2 Devastator mages are hidden on a ledge to the left of the party as they descend.
  • The Invoker of Bhaal is hidden directly on top of the gate to the left.
  • Strangler Luke and 3 Night Blade archers are hidden on the roof of a ruined building to the left of the bridge.
  • 3 Night Blade archers are hidden next to a Smokepowder Barrel on the upper floor of the ruined building to the left of the bridge.
  • 3 Night Blade dagger throwers are hidden on the lower floor of the ruined building to the left of the bridge.
  • Manglin' Abby is hidden by the exit on the far side of the bridge.
• The party will become  Surprised after Ghislev begins chanting his ritual.
• Despite the lack of a concentration indicator, the ritual spell does require concentration. Disrupting this concentration will cause Ghislev to begin using regular spells against the party instead of restarting the ritual.
• After a party member first gets close to Ghislev, he will use  Benign Transposition: Teleport to teleport to the exit near Manglin' Abby.
• Every Night Blade archer is equipped with at least 1 Arrow of Roaring Thunder.
• All enemies will leave the fight on their turn after Ghislev has been defeated and their corpses will also instantly disappear upon his death.
  • This can prevent the party from acquiring the Bonespike Gloves from Strangler Luke.

Tactics

• The stone bridge across the chasm is the most dangerous location in the fight since it is very easy to be knocked off of it. Both Manglin' Abby and Strangler Luke will attempt to  Shove the party off, while their ranged allies will rain down Arrows of Roaring Thunder.
• The stone bridge is not the only means of crossing the chasm. The party can also use  Misty Step,  Dimension Door,  Grant Flight, or Arrow of Transposition to cross it and attack Ghislev directly.
• Knocking Ghislev  prone automatically interrupts his concentration on the ritual chant spell, preventing him from completing the chant.
•  Invisible characters will not trigger the Farslayer or the ambush. An invisible character in turn based mode can easily dash through the whole arena and make it out the other side. There are no enemies (though there are traps) between the exit of the arena and the Temple of Bhaal Waypoint. Once the waypoint is active, the party can be reunited and continue on, skipping the encounter completely.
• The Smokepowder Barrel on the upper floor of the ruined building near the bridge can be ignited with a  Fireball to damage and kill the 3 archers on that floor.
• Ghislev has a relatively low Constitution Saving Throw, thus an effective strategy is to cast  Flesh to Stone as soon as the fight starts, and he'll turn to stone before he's able to complete the chant, cancelling the spell and rendering him immobile and vulnerable. If the caster gets surprised and isn't able to apply the spell on Round 1, there will still be enough time for Ghislev to turn to stone if casting Flesh to Stone on Round 2.

Related Quests

•  Get Orin's Netherstone