Escape the Nautiloid: Difference between revisions

The first major [[quest]] of Baldur's Gate 3, '''Escape the Nautiloid''', takes place immediately after the opening cinematic. The main character, now infected with a [[Mind Flayer]] tadpole, is aboard the [[Nautiloid]] ship when it is attacked by [[Githyanki]] warriors. While trying to escape, the mind flayer controlling the ship warps the Nautiloid through different planes of existence, ending up in [[Avernus]], the first of the [[Nine Hells]]. The objective of the Prologue is to find a way out of the Nautiloid, ideally not by dropping down into Hell.

This is the room in which the game begins. The main character breaks free from a [[Mind Flayer Pod]] and is standing alone in the room. There are various empty mind flayer pods around the room indicating that there might be other survivors.

=== Helm of the Nautiloid ===

As you enter the helm, you will see a mind flayer fighting [[Commander Zhalk]], a powerful [[Cambion]] wielding the flaming greatsword, the [[Everburn Blade]]. A cutscene will play in which the mind flayer orders you to connect the nerves of the transponder, referring to the control apparatus of the ship that allows it to travel between dimensions.  The mind flayer thinks that you're a thrall, thus considers you an ally.

A pair of lesser imps and a [[Lesser Hellsboar]] will block your path, but they should be easy to defeat if you have both Lae'zel and Shadowheart as companions. One of the imps carries a Light Crossbow, the other a Scimitar.

There are also lots of dead bodies on the floor, though none contain any notable loot. A dead thrall can be looted for a [[Leather Armour]] and [[Shortsword]], imps for a [[Light Crossbow]], [[Handaxe]], [[Dagger]] and two more thralls for Shortswords. Two mindflayer corpses yield random gems.

Dotted around the room are 3 [[Caustic Bulb|caustic]] and 4 [[Void Bulb|void]] bulbs, lying on tables (some in an upper area of the room), but it's probably not worth chasing after them. There are some [[Mucoid Shell]]s and a [[Sodalite Shell]] as well.

While all the cutscenes and dialogue in this scene of the game tell you to ignore Commander Zhalk and reach the console, it's actually possible to help the mind flayer kill him. This gives you a large XP boost, and he will drop the [[Everburn Blade]].

Don't take too long though, as a pair of Cambion soldiers will enter the room to join the fight at some point. They are almost as powerful as Commander Zhalk himself, so if they defeat the mind flayer and start attacking you, the battle will become nigh impossible. Although killing them might give you another big XP boost, this is almost certainly not worth the effort.

There is one plausible strategy for milking out even more XP from this room though, and that's killing Zhalk (along with all the minor minions in the room) just before the other two cambions appear.  This makes the mind flayer go hostile against you, saying "you are no longer needed," and you have to be careful not to be immediately killed by it.  If you get the timing just right, the two cambions should arrive right after that, after which the flayer will focus on them instead. The cambions will easily kill it, providing your party XP as the killed flayer was a hostile. (If the cambions arrive before Zhalk dies, the flayer doesn't turn hostile, thus its death doesn't provide you with XP.)

Note that nearing the console also makes another two lesser imps and another lesser hellsboar appear, though these should be easy to kill or even just run past.  (If you've already milked Zhalk and the flayer for XP, you really don't need these minor guys on top of all that.)  Once you've reached the console, interact with it to start a cutscene and end the prologue.

As the ship appears in the sky of the Material Plane, a [[Tiefling]] behind a telescope ([[Nadira]]) is seen looking at it with worry, and in another place, a [[Hobgoblin]] ([[Dror Ragzlin]]) and a rather smug-looking [[Drow]] ([[Minthara]]) observe the ship's descent. They order a group of goblins to march out of some sort of fort they seem to be occupying.

Back in the crashing Nautiloid, our main character is trying to hold on, but is hit in the face by a piece of debris and sent flying out of the Nautiloid. As the character falls to the ground, moments before impact they are held mid-air by magical force and end up having a soft landing.  There is nobody nearby, indicating that this might be the doing of the mind flayer larva lodged behind the character's eye.