Start your campaign off right.
Starting a new Baldur’s Gate 3 run can be hard. Whether it’s your first time playing or one of your hundreds of reruns, being thrown head-first into the chaos of Faerûn as a first-level character can make the world seem big and scary. That’s why you may as well give yourself every advantage you can!
One of the best ways to start your run with a bit of an extra buff is to pick up the Everburn Blade during the introduction on the nautiloid. This uncommon magic greatsword not only deals an extra 1d4 fire damage every time it hits, but it is also free! Well, if you consider stealing or looting corpses “free.”
Where To Find The Everburn Blade
The Everburn Blade is a magic weapon being wielded by the cambion Commander Zhalk. You will encounter this boss in the room containing the helm(around X: -53, Y: -390).
Upon opening the sphincter to get into the room, a cutscene begins where Zhalk is fighting a mind flayer. Despite a mind blast knocking the Everburn Blade out of Zhalk’s hands during the cutscene, Zhalk is wielding the fiery sword when combat begins. All players have to do is pry it out of his hands.
After taking care of the imps and the hellsboar, players will be prompted by the mind flayer to connect the transponder. However, in order to obtain the Everburn Blade, it is crucial that you ignore the mind flayer’s commands and instead issue a Command of your own.
Strategy One: The Command Spell
Using the Command spell is arguably the easiest and most convenient way to obtain the Everburn Blade, as it only expends one spell slot and does not require players to take the time to slay Commander Zhalk. The best way to get Command is to make sure Shadowheart is in your party and swap out her spells in her spell menu outside of combat.
Any player character Cleric or Warlock (Fiend Patron) can cast Command as well.
After casting the Command spell, select the “Drop” option, forcing Commander Zhalk to drop the weapon he is wielding. When Shadowheart uses the spell, she has a 55 percent chance of success, so more times than not, Zhalk will simply have to obey.
You can use a Pommel Strike or a Concussive Smash as a weapon attack to Daze Commander Zhalk and impose Disadvantage on his Wisdom Save.
Once the sword is dropped, it stays dropped! Zhalk will not use his action to pick it up and instead resorts to punching his mind flayer foe. This makes the Command strategy twice as good; not only does it make the sword much easier to pick up, but it also makes it easier to defeat Zhalk.
Strategy Two: Kill Commander Zhalk
The other reliable option is to outright defeat Commander Zhalk; it's a difficult task but by no means an impossible one. With Lae’zel, Shadowheart, and Us in your party, you have a good chance of taking the commander out.
You’ll want to help the mind flayer stay alive by throwing healing spells and healing potions their way. But don’t keep them too healthy; after Zhalk is defeated, the mind flayer becomes hostile towards your party, so be ready to run away or finish them off, too.
While killing Zhalk takes quite a bit of extra time, it is another perfectly viable way to obtain the Everburn Blade. Plus, you get a bit of bonus experience and a sweet set of plain scale mail armor!
Whether you choose magic or muscle to obtain the Everburn Blade, you will find your new weapon to be a steadfast companion in the opening stages of your journey, pairing especially well with brawny fighters like Lae’zel or Karlach. With the demon’s weapon in hand, surely defeating The Absolute will be no problem at all, right?
