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Baldur’s Gate 3is a game about balance, inner peace, and not throwing your mouse and keyboard across the room when you roll poorly in initiative against True Soul Nere. No fight holds more difficulty and sheer infamy than this Grymforge quest and encounter.
Should you find yourway through the Underdark, across the Dark Waters, and into theheart of Grymforge, you’ll find three souls in need of your desperate help and attention. Will you assist in freeing this poor True Soul and the gnomes beneath his control, or will you turn your back on one guilty party and two innocents?
Finding True Soul Nere
True Soul Nere is found at a cave-inat the heart and end of the Grymforge.You’ll need to havefound your way into itone way or another.
Speak with the Commander of the Duergar (Sergeant Thrinn)here to learn that Nere and a few gnomes were caught in a blast.
Time is of the essence, and due to the poison fog on the other side, youwon’t be able to leave the Underdark or take a Long Restfrom the start of this quest - doing so will end in automatic failure and Nere’s death.
When you’re done with Sergeant Thrinn, you can interact with the rubble to speak with Nere. However, he doesn’t provide the information you seek to free him. Instead, there aretwo people you can talk toto advance the quest:
Regardless of how you find the information, your sources will point you to aDeep Gnome named Philomeen.
Where To Find Philomeen
Philomeen has entirely skipped town and headed for a distant corner of the Grymforge area. To reach her,return to the docks areaof Grymforge, where you might have sailed in from the Decrepit Village.Follow the waterfront to the left and around a corneruntil you reach anarea filled with dead Gnome bodies(Coordinates: X: -611, Y: 407).
There are two Duergar here pushing the bodies into the water. Persuade them to leave in one manner or another andunlock the big doorsbeside the bodies.
Inside the next room, head towards thelarge statue in the room in the backandlook leftto what appears to be a stone formation that looks like a walled-up door or fireplace. With a successful Passive Perception check, you canfind a button on the right sidealong the vertical, purple border.
Press the buttonto open a secret passage forward.
There will be aroom here up the stairs with a few enemy Oozes.They can be very tricky to deal with, and you shouldtry conserving as many spell slots as possibleif you plan on fighting and killing True Soul Nere. You won’t get the chance to Long Rest, so every spell slot will matter.
When the oozes are defeated,go to the top of the roomup the second flight of stairs to the left, where there’s a large gap.Jump across the gapon the other side.
You should be able to make the jump, but if you’re having trouble, try using theGithyanki Psionicswith Lae’zel or theJump spell.
Go through theset of double doorsbetween the braziers here to find Philomeen inside.
She’ll hold her bucket of Runepowder (highly explosive) hostage, and you’ll need toconvince her to take several deep breathsrather than blow everyone surface-high.
Youonly need a vial of the Runepowderto complete this quest, so whether you accept her offer to give it to you or you try to keep her from taking the whole Runepowder set is up to you.
With that vial, you canreturn to the Grymforge main areawith True Soul Nere.
How To Free True Soul Nere
The Runepowder Vial should beinside your inventory. Take it to where Nere and the gnomes have been trapped.
You do not need to speak with Sergeant Thrinn first, but it is recommended thatif you wish to fight Nere,youspeak with the guard, Elder Brithvar, if you have not already. If you do not, you will have to fight Nere, Sergeant Thrinn’s men, and Brithvar’s forces.
Throw theRunepowder Vialat the rubble.It will stick to the rocks there.
Once in place, the gnomes will scatter. Ensure that they’re a safe distance away, and thenuse a small ranged Fire attack(likeFire Bolt) to light the fuse.
The rubble will finally be cleared with that explosion, and Nere and two Deep Gnomes will emerge. However, he will immediately kill one of them upon exiting the debris.
Baldur’s Gate 3
WHERE TO PLAY
Baldur’s Gate 3 is the long-awaited next chapter in the Dungeons & Dragons-based series of RPGs. Developed by Divinity creator Larian Studios, it puts you in the middle of a mind flayer invasion of Faerûn, over a century after the events of its predecessor.
