Zhalk

Commander Zhalk is a Cambion in the service of Zariel and an optional boss during the Prologue.

“

Take this ship or Zariel will have your head!

„

— Commander Zhalk

Involvement

Zhalk is encountered at the helm of the Nautiloid, where he and his minions are fighting several Mind Flayers. When the party enters the helm, the combat immediately begins. Though it's not required to kill Zhalk to end the fight, he can be killed and/or disarmed for his unique flaming sword and extra experience.

Combat

Attacks and abilities

 Main Hand Attack ()   –  Everburn Blade

Normal weapon damage

Make a melee attack with your equipped weapon.

 Melee: 1.5 m / 5  ft

 Fly ()

Fly to a target position

 Range: 18 m / 60 ft

Allies

Wave 1

• Lesser Hellsboar
• 2x Lesser Imp

Wave 2

• Lesser Hellsboar
• 2x Lesser Imp

Wave 3

• 2x Cambion (When the countdown reaches 11 (Balanced/Tactician) or 8 (Explorer))

Encounter Details

Zhalk is encountered at the helm of the Nautiloid, where he and his minions are fighting Mind Flayers. Despite his impressive stats and powerful weapon, he is not aggressive to the party so long as the mind flayer he is fighting is alive (he has an 80% chance of hitting it). However, considering the 15 turn time limit along with the fact that cambion reinforcements will eventually arrive, he must either be bypassed hastily or defeated in combat.

Tactics

It is possible to obtain his Everburn Blade without killing him. Before starting the fight, have Shadowheart, a Cleric player character, or a Fiend Warlock player character prepare  Command and use  Drop to disarm the cambion. Zhalk won't even bother to pick up his sword, giving the party plenty of time to do so. If possible, Command should be used on the first turn to significantly decrease the speed at which Zhalk damages the Mind Flayer.

Killing him is far harder considering his large amount of Hit Points, high AC, and resistances to many Damage Types. Equipping his Everburn Blade on Lae'zel will help, as its magical slashing damage bypasses his slashing resistance and Lae'zel's Great Weapon Fighting style applies and boosts its average damage. However, there are three (or four if you picked it up in the last room), Nautiloid Tanks that are powerful explosives. While he is resistant to fire damage, all 3 to 4 tanks can take down half his health if the rolls are in favour of the party on both his Saving Throw and the damage rolled. It is recommended to only blow up the tanks once the Mind Flayer he is fighting against has softened him up first. Also, disarming him as stated above will greatly lower his lethality. If he is still alive, using Caustic Bulbs, Spiked Bulbs,  Magic Missiles (If running as a Wizard or Sorcerer) and normal attacks will finish him off. When he dies, the Mind Flayer will become hostile to the party.

On Explorer and Balanced difficulty levels, Zhalk cannot make opportunity attacks (lacking the  Opportunity Attack passive feature). As such, party members can run in, attack him, and run back out of his reach safely.

Notable loot

• Everburn Blade
• Scale Mail

Related Quests

•  Escape the Nautiloid

External links

• Zhalk on the Forgotten Realms Wiki
• Interactive map location on mapgenie.io