Malus Thorm in Baldur’s Gate 3: How to Defeat and Outsmart Him

Baldur’s Gate 3: How to Defeat Malus Thorm

In Baldur’s Gate 3, Malus Thorm is the chief doctor of the “House of Healing” hospital in the lands corrupted by shadow, and he is also part of the quest “Lift the Shadow Curse,” where you will need to “Awaken Art Cullagh.” However, he is now undead, and instead of helping in recovery, he tortures people.

How to Kill Malus Thorm

Malus Thorm is a pretty strong opponent, and the nurses will add additional problems for you as they can heal the doctor during the fight.

• Malus Thorm’s abilities:
  Before engaging in battle, it is essential to know the boss’s strengths:
  • During the fight, he can ask a nurse for a tool, with an ability called “Demand Surgical Tool.” After 1 turn, the nurse with the “Chosen of the Surgeon” status will give him the tool, and then the doctor’s attack power will significantly increase. It is recommended to kill the “Chosen of the Surgeon” first before she hands over the tool.
  • If you kill a nurse, Malus can resurrect her with 40% HP using his unique ability “Dear Assistant.”
  • At 40% health, he starts performing multi-attacks.
  • Has advantages against magical attacks.
  • (On “Valour” difficulty) The doctor gains the legendary action “Wail of Loss.” Once per round, when you attack Malus, he can make all nurses simultaneously confuse your party with their cry.
  • Consider that the doctor has many resistances:
    • To slashing, bludgeoning, and piercing damage.
    • To fire.
    • To banishment.
• Getting rid of the nurses:
  It’s better to attack and destroy all the nurses first and then move on to Malus Thorm himself. As mentioned earlier, they actively assist the doctor in the fight, including healing him.
  • Nurses have resistance to:
    • Necrotic damage.
    • Fire damage.
• Radiant damage is the ideal choice:
  A cleric or paladin like Shadowheart will be very helpful in the fight against the doctor as Malus and the nurses are undead. Thus, spells with radiant damage will deal the most damage to Malus:
  • Sacred Flame
  • Guiding Bolt
  • Divine Favor
  • Blinding Smite
  • Spirit Guardians
  • Cloak of the Crusader
  • Branding Smite

  The legendary weapon “Mace of Lathander” (if obtained in Rosymorn Monastery) and its ability “Light of Lathander” will show excellent results.

Also, attack the boss with cold and lightning spells as he has no resistance to these elements.

• Protecting spellcasters:
  It is crucial to know that when Malus’s health drops to 40%, he will start performing multi-attacks. Therefore, keep Shadowheart and Gale away from him to cast their spells from a distance, and place “tanks” like Karlach, Lae’zel, or your warrior at the front.

How to Win Without a Fight

In Baldur’s Gate 3, you can defeat Malus Thorm through successful charisma and intelligence checks.

Save frequently during the conversation with him to successfully navigate this challenging dialogue.

When the conversation with Malus Thorm begins, choose the following dialogue options: “Yes, I want to learn. Enlighten me.”

Choose one of the lines:

• [Investigation] Examine the nurses and their tools. (Difficulty — 14)
• [Religion] Recall everything you know about Shar’s teachings. (Difficulty — 14)
• [Persuasion] The nurses aren’t ready. They won’t heal me, they’ll only make it worse. (Difficulty — 16)

After passing the check, new lines will appear that will allow you to win without a fight:

• Your ward is touched by corruption. Shar’s grace can only be bestowed upon those who seek it.
• Their tools leave much to be desired, so they’ll have to practice for a long time.

Malus will ponder how the nurses can train. Choose any option with a charisma check of difficulty 21:

• [Intimidation] I’ve read your treatise. Start the final lesson or die by my hand. (For classes Fighter, Barbarian)
• [Bard][Persuasion] I love performing in a duo with another master. I think your nurses will enjoy it too. Why not help them? (For the Bard class)
• [Persuasion] The nurses need a volunteer; a true master of our art.
• [Persuasion] Why not have them practice on each other?

If you choose the option where the nurses kill each other and Malus is still alive, you will need to pass another charisma check of difficulty 21. The lines may differ depending on the character class, but they all lead the doctor to end his own life (for example):

• [Sorcerer][Deception] My magic has blinded me. Now I see that Shar is the only way. Please, show me. I beg you.
• [Persuasion] I’d rather do it myself, if you tell me how.

If you choose the option “The nurses need a volunteer,” Malus Thorm will finish off the patient lying on the operating table and lay himself down under the nurses’ knives.

The deed is done, the doctor is dead, the nurses will disperse and become friendly characters, some of whom you can even have brief conversations with.

Rewards

After Malus Thorm is dead, you can take several valuable rewards from his body:

• Worn Lute of Art Cullagh — a quest item.
• Key — the key to the doctor’s office.
• Rare “Amulet of Surgical Conquest” — grants the “Critical Paralysis” effect. When the amulet bearer scores a critical hit on a humanoid, he can paralyze the target for 2 turns once per long rest.

Achievement

If you defeat the sisters in dialogue with Malus Thorm and then engage him in combat and win, you will receive the “Non-Invasive Procedure” achievement.

Of course, the achievement is only available to players who are playing Baldur’s Gate 3 on platforms that support achievements.

Video guide on how to get the achievement: