The Netherbrain is the final boss battle in Baldur’s Gate 3, where players can take on the Netherbrain and end the game in doing so. However, the Netherbrain is rather tricky, so you can use a few tactics to assist you with the boss battle to make it easier. Here’s a closer look at how to beat the BG3 Netherbrain boss battle, and get to the ending choices and complete the game.
Here is a guide on how to beat the Netherbrain Fight in Baldur’s Gate 3, featuring tips and strategies.
Netherbrain Boss Fight Tips in Baldur’s Gate 3¶
When you finally get to the top of the Upper City, and are preparing to take on the Netherbrain, we recommend you have at least one of the following spells available, either via a scroll, learned spell, or any other methods.
Hold Monster
Globe of Invulnerability
Sanctuary
Bane - Bane helps make it easier to land some spells, since many enemies have solid resistances and high saving throws to some CC effects.
You can get Hold Monster on most caster classes like Wizard and Sorcerer, and you can get it from scrolls too. This is a very powerful spell for this fight, as you can use it on the Emperor if you fight against him, and the dragon, which is an option if you want to kill it. Successfully landing Hold Monster on one of these creatures allows your martial characters to critically hit at all times, meaning you can easily nuke the dragon or the Emperor down, but more so in the dragon’s case. This can help you with the Netherstones channel.
(1 of 2) Globe of invulnerability is the best spell to ensure you can channel the Netherstones and make it to the final phase of the fight.
Globe of invulnerability is the best spell to ensure you can channel the Netherstones and make it to the final phase of the fight. (left), Stunning Gaze and other forms of CC will make controlling the Dragon a lot easier to get your allies to the Crown of Krasus. (right)
Globe of invulnerability is a very good spell. Orpheus can cast that ability if you choose to ally with him, or you can cast it from scrolls, or learned via Sorcs and Wizards. This is by far the best ability for this fight.
Sanctuary is also a decent spell to use as well, as you can give it to the Emperor or whoever is the Illithid for the final fight to control the Netherstones. You want to use these spells because the dragon will target the channeler when you begin to cast the ritual at the Crown of Karsus. If they cannot be targeted, then the dragon will attempt to try to splash damage the channeler, by targeting a nearby ally of the channeler. Therefore, Globe of Invulnerability can help you and an ally become protected from any source of damage, making it impossible for the dragon to make an attack on the channeler. Sanctuary is a good second option to channel, but you need to be careful of splash damage, or having your concentration broken before the dragon’s next turn, as that can cause issues. Clerics normally have access to this ability which you can prepare before the fight.
If you have any other form of CC powers, like Mind Blast, Stunning Gaze, or anything like 
Concussive Smash, etc, then you can use these to stun the dragon too. The dragon is likely the biggest threat to the fight, so, dealing with that and stunning it so it misses turns will make it easier to get as many party members into the Netherbrain final showdown as possible. Read more: All Illithid Powers.
Note that if you can get some of the legendary weapons and armor for the fight it will greatly help with build completion. But, it’s not exactly necessary to grab. You can find out how to get all Legendary weapons and armor in BG3 here.
As for other tactics, we recommend still having some of your ally casts left. If you can use Voss’s dragon fire here, try to line it up where you can hit at least two of the Mind Flayers on the battlements near the crown. The breath typically takes about 60 HP off them, and then they always seem to try and move, and more often than not, die to the flame movement damage. So, that’s one way to kill two of the tougher adds in this fight. If not, then summon some allies near them to act as action baits so you can get your channeler and allies into the Netherbrain. You can also do this for any other summons like Animate Weapon, Creature Undead, 
Find Familiar, etc.
When the fight begins, you’ll also notice a timer before the 
Nautiloid shows up. This will bombard rough positions where your allies are standing. You need to get into the brain room before this happens; otherwise, controlling the battlefield is much harder. So, spend your first few turns trying to control the battlefield as much as possible while your channeler and its damage support can get into the brain room, and beat the boss. Otherwise, it’s going to be much harder. Also, make sure to use those allies before that, otherwise, a Nautiloid blast might actually just one-shot any spawned allies, as they only tend to have about 70HP or less.
Once you’re inside, you need to hit the brain for 300 points of damage in 5 turns to complete the fight. You can bring all your allies in here too if you want.
Once you’re in the Netherbrain, the fight is relatively straightforward. All you need to do is kill the Netherbrain’s HP bar within a few turns. That’s not too bad if you can get two of your party members in there and cast your higher spell slot damage spells, any Ki points, adrenaline surge actions, or other high-damage combos available to you. You need to do on average 60 damage a full turn before you fail to meet the five-turn timer, which should be very much doable no matter the party or composition.
This concludes the best tips and tricks for the Netherbrain boss fight in Baldur’s Gate 3. Now you have some solid ideas on what to use to beat the boss, and make your experience easier.
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