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 enter the area past the Undercity Ruins Waypoint a combat encounter is triggered, where Ghislev takes a very early spot in the initiative order, and applies one round of  surprised to all party members. This 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 casts  Bhaal's Power Word Kill Ritual. Ghislev gains the condition  Ritual Chant: Bhaal's Power Word Kill, and applies 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 seven rounds on Explorer difficulty, six rounds on Balanced difficulty and five rounds on Tactician difficulty.

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

Combat

Attacks and abilities

 Benign Transposition: Teleport ()

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

 Range: 9 m / 30 ft

 Recharge: Long rest

 Bhaal's Power Word Kill Ritual ()

Begin a ritual that will end in you casting  Power Word Kill upon the next eligible target you see.

 Cloud of Daggers ( + )

Damage: 4~16

4d4⁠Slashing

Conjure a cloud of spinning daggers that attack anyone inside.

 Range: 18 m / 60 ft

 Ice Knife ( + )

Damage: 3~22

1d10⁠Piercing

+ 2d6⁠Cold

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

 Main Hand Attack ()   –   Spear

Damage: 4~9

1d6 + 3⁠Piercing

Make a melee attack with your equipped weapon.

 Melee: 1.5 m / 5 ft

 Ray of Frost ()

Damage: 1~8

1d8⁠Cold

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

 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

 Topple ()   –   Spear

Damage: 1~4

1d4⁠Bludgeoning

Swipe at a creature to knock it Prone.

 DEX Save

 Range: Normal weapon range

 Recharge: Short rest

Allies

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

Encounter details

All enemies aside from Ghislev are hiding invisibly around the arena. They join the fight if the party get close enough to them.

• 3x Reaper of Bhaal archers are hidden on a ledge across the chasm to the right of the party as they enter the area.
• 2x 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 3x Night Blade archers are hidden on the roof of a ruined building to the left of the bridge.
• 3x Night Blade archers are hidden next to a  Smokepowder Barrel on the upper floor of the ruined building to the left of the bridge.
• 3x 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 at (X: -100 Y: 1019).

The party members become  surprised after Ghislev begins chanting his ritual. Despite the lack of a concentration indicator, the ritual spell does require concentration. Disrupting this concentration causes Ghislev to begin using regular spells against the party instead of restarting the ritual.

If a party member gets close to Ghislev, he uses  Benign Transposition: Teleport to teleport to the exit near Manglin' Abby.

Every Night Blade archer is equipped with at least one  Arrow of Roaring Thunder. All enemies leave the fight on their turn after Ghislev has been defeated and their corpses 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 attempt to  Shove the party members off, while their ranged allies rain down  Arrows of Roaring Thunder on the party. However, the 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 or using the  Silence spell automatically interrupts his concentration on the ritual chant spell, preventing him from completing the chant.

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 turns to stone before he can complete the chant, cancelling the spell and rendering him immobile and vulnerable. If the caster gets surprised and cannot apply the spell on the first combat round, there still is enough time to turn Ghislev to stone by successfully casting the spell on round two.

A Myrmidon who is  hastened can reach Ghislev in a single turn by first using  Dash, then  Fly to reach the Reapers' cliff, then  Elemental Warp over to Ghislev's platform. If the rest of the party stays in the starting area, this prevents any further enemies joining. An Air Myrmidon in particular can then stun Ghislev with  Electrified Flail, preventing him from teleporting around.

 invisible characters do 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.

Related Quests

• ⁠Get Orin's Netherstone