Baldur's Gate 3 - Part 76 - Speak Of The Devil

Storyline (what happens)

• The party returns from infiltrating Wyrm’s Rock Fortress and learns that Gortash knows they were there.
  • He can communicate through Steel Watchers and invites them to the audience chamber.
• Before confronting Gortash, the group debates party setup and weapons, then enters with a cautious plan:
  • Try to pit Orin and Gortash against each other to reduce immediate danger.
• In the chamber, they meet Gortash, who frames a larger political-religious threat centered on the “Nether Brain”:
  • The Crown’s control is failing because the Nether Stones must be united to command the Brain.
  • Once freed, the Nether Brain will follow its own will—catastrophic for everyone.
• Gortash proposes an alliance pact with the party:
  • He claims a “divine oath” and says he can prevent his Steel Watchers from harming them.
  • He demands that the party bring the Nether Stone(s) to reunite them and “rule.”
• The party suspects Gortash is untrustworthy. While they hesitate, he also warns them of a doppelganger impostor in their camp.
• Through inspection and confrontation, they learn that Will’s father (Raven Guard) is no longer under normal control:
  • A deeper mind/infection influence is at play, and the party witnesses how the tadpole/mind influence can take over Raven Guard (with the Brain’s presence interfering).
  • A rescue target emerges: Florac/Florik is being held in the Worms Rock prison.
• Rather than a direct war, the party executes a stealth prison break to free Florac:
  • They use Invisibility / Greater Invisibility, dash chains, lockpicking, and Eldritch Blast/force-style takedowns to create an escape route.
  • They locate Florac, coordinate her escape, and successfully extract her.
• Back at camp, tensions escalate:
  • Mizora arrives and forces a new complication: contract renegotiation involving Will and Will’s father.
  • Mizora offers a devil’s bargain to “save” Will’s father, but it’s framed as a soul trade.
  • The player pushes Will to break the pact instead of signing a new one.
  • Will agrees to break it, but refuses to be a puppet again—yet the outcome is ominous, strongly implying the father may already be doomed (or fate is locked).
• The episode ends with multiple looming threats:
  • A camp impostor (doppelganger) seems poised to act overnight.
  • Mizora is effectively back in the mix.
  • Gortash’s political trap network remains active.

Gameplay highlights / key mechanics used

• Loadout and weapon planning
  • The party compares weapon options for Will’s role, balancing summons, base damage, enchantments, and lightning/psychic damage tradeoffs.
• Combat avoidance through negotiation
  • Even with Gortash as a threat, they attempt diplomacy/alliance tactics to avoid triggering a full fight right away.
• Advanced stealth prison break
  • Uses Greater Invisibility to reposition past guards while maintaining stealth.
  • Uses Gale (a wizard) for utility:
    • Invisibility / Greater Invisibility
    • Strategic movement (planning dashes and timing)
  • Uses lockpicking with the rule that interacting/lockpicking can break invisibility unless timed correctly.
  • Uses turn-based control to freeze time during risky movement and unlocking/lockpicking.
  • Uses dash stacking and repositioning for efficient approach and exfiltration.
  • Uses Eldritch Blast (force-damage approach) to break open a wall and establish an escape route.
• Mind/combat prophecy moments
  • Nether Brain/mental influence shows up through vision/memory-like scenes, especially involving Raven Guard.
  • The party uses abilities again (including prism-related power) to probe/influence the situation.
• Camp management and threat detection
  • The party suspects a doppelganger and plans to identify the impostor by:
    • Lack of obvious dialogue/“tell” during conversations
    • Expecting the impostor to reveal itself at night

Strategies / key tips emphasized

• Don’t rush violence—use enemy rivalries
  • The intended approach is to turn Gortash against Orin rather than fight both systems at once.
• Reduce “robot clutter” before going loud
  • The party considers dealing with Steel Watchers/production threats first to avoid being overwhelmed by mass health pools and abilities.
• Prison breaks succeed with planning
  • Step-by-step mindset:
    • Check logs/entries for who is jailed where
    • Build a stealth route
    • Time invisibility so door opening/lockpicking doesn’t fail
    • Maintain turn-based execution during the riskiest segments
    • Have a backup extraction method (wall break / alternative route)
• Be suspicious of devil contracts
  • The narrative repeatedly warns that devil deals are dangerous—“no harm” claims can hide the real cost.
• Assume camp threats will emerge when you rest
  • With a suspected doppelganger, the party uses long-rest logic strategically, expecting overnight reveal behavior.

Gamers / sources featured

• Many A True Nerd (channel/person referenced)
• John (the narrator/host: “I’ve been John”)