Nere

Nere, also known as True Soul Nere, is a True Soul of the Absolute, and potential boss in Baldur's Gate 3. In Act One, he can be found at Grymforge, trapped inside a room that suffered a cave-in. He is a pivotal character for the quests  Free True Soul Nere and  Deliver Nere's Head.

“

Heretics. Let Nere be your end.

„

— Nere

Involvement

Act One

Main article: Free True Soul Nere

A group of enslaved Deep Gnomes are trying to free Nere from a cave-in near the main room of the Grymforge. 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: Nere dies if fast travelling or long resting more than once after first communing with him at the cave-in.

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 defying 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 Nere and all the duergar at the same time. However, if having 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 defeated (or dying off-screen from a revolt or poisoning), it is then possible to remove Nere's head 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 the there are several options to find a working one later.

Act Two

If kept alive in Grymforge and remaining loyal to the Absolute, Nere appears briefly in Act Two as a zombie servant to Balthazar.

Speak with Dead

Nere can be spoken to with  Speak with Dead.

Party member: Who are you?

• Nere: True Soul... Nere...

Party member: How did you get trapped?

• Nere: Corridor... triggered old trap... cave-in...

Party member: What were you doing here?

• Nere: Find... path to temple... orders of General...
  • Party member: What about this temple is so important?
    • Nere: General's necromancer... Balthazar...
  • Party member: Tell me more about this General.
    • Nere: Absolute's Chosen... Moonrise Towers...

Party member: Where did you come from?

• Nere: Moonrise... Towers...
  • Party member: How can I get to Moonrise Towers?
    • Nere: Minthara in goblin camp... safe passage... Moonlantern... drider...

Party member: Did you come here with the duergar?

• Nere: Mercenaries... Absolute unites...

Combat

Attacks and abilities

 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

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 / 52 ft

Honour mode

 Psionic Visage

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

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
• Murmath*
  • Lur Fu* (conditional)
  • Lur Jox* (conditional)
  • Lur Otan* (conditional)
  • Lur Xanta* (conditional)
• Thrinn

If not completing  Blind the Absolute, then additional allies will side with Nere:

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

* = Does not join the fight until it gets close to them

Encounter details

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

Multiple enemies have spells that 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 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.

Tactics

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

It is advisable to keep away from the lava as well, as it almost certainly kills anyone who falls inside. However, this can be used to the party's advantage by knocking enemies in, using effects 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 Honor 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 trigger it.  Silencing him does not impact his ability to trigger this action;  Incapacitation 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.

Loot

• 1402 Gold
• Amethyst Ring
• Broken Moonlantern
• Dagger +1
• Disintegrating Night Walkers
• Mind Flayer Parasite Specimen
• Nere's Head
• 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 quests

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

Gallery

• 

  Nere's model

• 

  Nere in early access

External links

• Nere on the Forgotten Realms Wiki