Nere

Overview

Zombie

Nere, also known as True Soul Nere, is a True Soul of the Absolute, and potential boss in Baldur's Gate 3. He is a pivotal character for the quests ⁠Free True Soul Nere, ⁠Save the Grymforge Gnomes and ⁠Deliver Nere's Head.

“

Heretics. Let Nere be your end.

„

— Nere

Involvement

Act One

Nere is trapped behind a cave-in near the main room in Grymforge. Several enslaved deep gnomes are forced to work on freeing him by a group of duergar slavers who are members of the Cult of the Absolute. To save him, the gnomes tell the party to find  Philomeen, a runaway gnome in possession of an explosive capable of destroying the rubble.

Caution: After a party member speaks with Nere by interacting with the rubble, Nere will die if the party long rests twice, leaves the Grymforge region (either via boat or fast travel) twice, or both long rests and leaves the Grymforge region.

After freeing him, the party can fight Nere and his mercenaries to save the gnome slaves. The party can also complete the quest ⁠Blind the Absolute - convincing  Elder Brithvar to side against Nere.

Alternatively, it is possible to betray Brithvar and convince Nere and the Absolute Cultists to turn on the mercenaries.

It is also possible to lock the party out of either of these options through dialogue choices prior to rescuing Nere, leading him to kill both the gnome slaves and  Sergeant Thrinn immediately after he is freed from the rubble. He then demands that the party help him to kill the rest of the cultists and duergar mercenaries; this turns all characters except Nere hostile and starts combat.

If the party defies Nere when he kills the gnome slaves (or when he demands to kill the other cultists, and not having a deal with Elder Brithvar), a fight starts against him and all the duergar at the same time. However, if the party has a deal with Elder Brithvar, it is possible to interrupt Nere from killing the gnome slaves and still side with him once Elder Brithvar attacks Nere, leading to an option of saving the gnomes while Nere is still alive.

Deciding to fight Nere's mercenaries before freeing him unlocks a dialogue option to convince him that the Absolute is little more than a group of cultists. This results in Nere abandoning the Cult of the Absolute and leaving Grymforge for good.

If Nere is defeated (or dies off-screen from a revolt or poisoning), it is then possible to remove his head (earning the ⁠Head of the Snake inspiration for party members with the Haunted One background) and deliver it to  Spaw or  Glut, completing the quest ⁠Deliver Nere's Head.

Regardless of his status, the party receives a  Broken Moonlantern, a precursor to a crucial item needed to travel through the Shadow-Cursed Lands to reach Moonrise Towers. There is no way to fix this lantern, but there are several options to find a working one later.

Act Two

Main article: Nere/Zombie

If Nere survives in Grymforge and remains loyal to the Absolute, he appears briefly in Act Two in the Gauntlet of Shar as a zombie servant to  Balthazar.

Combat

Attacks and actions

 Dissonant Whispers ( + )

Damage: 3~18

3d6⁠Psychic

 Frighten a creature: they'll have  Disadvantage on  Ability Checks and  Attack Rolls and they cannot move.

 WIS Save

 Range: 18 m (60 ft)

 Main Hand Attack ()   –  Sword of Screams

Damage: 5~15

1d8 + 3⁠Piercing

+ 1d4⁠Psychic

Make a melee attack with your equipped weapon.

 Melee: 1.5 m (5 ft)

 Shield of Screams ( + )

Damage: 2~12

2d6⁠Psychic (Conditional)

Recall the voices of all who scorned you - and how they screamed in the end. They form a shield around you.

Your Armour Class increases by 3, and anyone who hits you with a melee attack takes 2d6⁠⁠Psychic damage.

 Range: 18 m (60 ft)

 Wicked Coercion ( + )

Damage: 2~8

2d4⁠Psychic

Invade an enemy's mind and force them to join your side. They also take 2d4⁠⁠Psychic immediately, and 1d6⁠⁠Psychic per turn.

 WIS Save

 Range: 16 m (53 ft)

Honour mode

 Psionic Visage

Damage: 2~12

2d6⁠Psychic (Per visage detonation)

Summon 3 psychic copies of yourself to protect you. As long as one of those copies remain, you are Immune to ⁠Bludgeoning, ⁠Piercing, and ⁠Slashing damage.

When the caster is struck, a Psionic Visage will  Detonate.

 Range: Self

 AoE: 6 m (20 ft) Radius

 Recharge: Per turn

 Shatter Visage

Damage: 2~12

2d6⁠Psychic

Detonate a psionic visage, striking the attacker with a psychic wave that pushes it back 3 m (10 ft).

 AoE: 6 m (20 ft) Radius

Allies

•  Dalthar
•  Drar
•  Dunnol
•  Fonmara
•  Greymon
•  Lur Fu* (conditional)
•  Lur Jox* (conditional)
•  Lur Otan* (conditional)
•  Lur Xanta* (conditional)
•  Murmath*
•  Thrinn

If the party does not complete ⁠Blind the Absolute, then additional creatures (most of whom are potential allies of the party) side with Nere:

•  Brithvar
•  Danna*
•  Gergerann*
•  Grundril*
•  Kith*
•  Kur*
•  Magmar*
•  Mirthis*
•  Morghal*
•  Morgya*
•  Pistle*
•  Orgarth*
•  Thudd
•  Scrying Eye
•  Skarjall*

* = These creatures do not join the fight until it gets close to them. If this does not happen before the fight ends (either by winning or escaping), then these characters disappear.  Philomeen also disappears, but  Skickpit and the Deep Rothé stay.

Encounter details

If the party completes ⁠Blind the Absolute then many duergar will choose to ally with them against Nere, significantly reducing the difficulty of the fight.

Several enemies have spells which can control the minds of party members. Nere uses  Wicked Coercion, and both  Mind Master Dunnol and  Mind Master Fonmara use  Mind Mastery, forcing the party to waste actions fighting each other.

This battle also occurs next to  Lava which will quickly  melt anyone who falls into it. Many enemies have ways of pushing party members backwards into the lava, such as  Shove, Thrinn's  Thunderwave, or Nere's  Shatter Visage on Honour mode. Nere has an abnormally high  Athletics bonus of +9 and the  Muscular passive, making it very difficult to shove him (DC 24), though he does not actually possess the Shove ability himself.

Caution: the gnomes may move into area of effect spells like  Hunger of Hadar and, as they are not in combat, take damage in real time, potentially preventing the caster from ending  Concentration before they die.

Tactics

It is most important to take out enemies who can mind control party members first.

It is advisable to keep away from the lava as well, as it will almost certainly kill anyone who falls inside. However, this can be used to the party's advantage by knocking enemies in, using actions such as  Shove,  Pushing Attack (Melee),  Flurry of Blows: Push,  Thunderwave, or  Arrow of Roaring Thunder.

Proximity to a  Sussur Bloom greatly reduces the amount of magic used, thanks to its Sussur Flower Antimagic Field. This is particularly effective against Nere since his spells are far more dangerous than his physical attacks. Failing that, he can be attacked with a Sussur  Greatsword,  Sickle, or  Dagger to  Silence him.

In Honour mode, Nere's legendary action, whilst stating it triggers when attacked, instead triggers on many offensive actions which do not require an attack roll. Even spells which do no damage and require no save, such as  Create Water, will trigger it.  Silencing him does not impact his ability to trigger this action;  Incapacitating him prevents him from using it.

Also, while  Psionic Visages are active, the  Detonations triggered by attacking Nere are centered on the character who triggered the  Detonation, rather than Nere.

However, Nere's  Psionic Visages need not unduly hamper the party, as they can be quickly (albeit somewhat painfully) dispensed with using  Magic Missiles from a wizard classed character or a  scroll. It may be advisable to keep potent healing potions handy.

Loot

• 1000 Gold
• Amethyst Ring
• Broken Moonlantern
• Dagger +1
• Disintegrating Night Walkers
• Mind Flayer Parasite Specimen
• Nere's Head (conditional, see item page)
• Potion of Healing
• Silver necklace
• Simple Robe
• Spider's Lyre
• Sword of Screams

It is possible to get both  Gift from the Absolute and  Mind Flayer Parasite Specimen by first completing ⁠Free True Soul Nere then killing Nere later.

Related literature

• Elder's Journal

Related quests

• ⁠Deliver Nere's Head
• ⁠Find the Explosives
• ⁠Free True Soul Nere
• ⁠Save the Grymforge Gnomes

Speak with Dead

Nere's corpse can be communed with using  Speak with Dead.

• Who are you?

  • Nere

    True Soul... Nere...

• How did you get trapped?

  • Nere

    Corridor... triggered old trap... cave-in...

• What were you doing here?

  • Nere

    Find... path to temple... orders of General...

    • What about this temple is so important?

      • Nere

        General's necromancer... Balthazar...

    • Tell me more about this General.

      • Nere

        Absolute's Chosen... Moonrise Towers...

• Where did you come from?

  • Nere

    Moonrise... Towers...

    • How can I get to Moonrise Towers?

      • Nere

        Minthara in goblin camp... safe passage... Moonlantern... drider...

• Did you come here with the duergar?

  • Nere

    Mercenaries... Absolute unites...

Bugs

• Due to an incorrect method of applying additional spell slots to Nere's character stats, he only enters combat with one  Level 1 Spell Slot and one  Level 2 Spell Slot.
• Nere is equipped with  Sword of Screams, which is actually a rapier – a weapon type he is not proficient with. This means his melee attacks do not benefit from a proficiency bonus.

Gallery

• 
  Nere in early access