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Whether you’re a foe or a poet, Bernard’s encounter is a memorable one inBaldur’s Gate 3. Staring out the window atop theArcane Toweris Bernard, the Guardian of the Tower, and four enchanted sets of armor. As a lonely construct atop the abandoned archive, Bernard yearns for companionship after his years of solemn service.
But who needs friends when you’ve got rage and a desperate need for experience points? Bernard can be a tough fight if you choose to challenge him (or if you’re bad at poetry and make him angry), so knowing how to handle this electrifying robot is key to emerging victorious.
Where To Find Bernard
Bernard can be found on thetop floor of the Arcane TowerinThe Underdarkat(X: -38, Y: -284).In order to use the elevator to get to the top floor, youmust solve the puzzlesin the basement.
The fullguide for exploring the tower and foralternate options for interacting with Bernardcan be found here.
Bernard will be roaming around the office area on the top floor, so combat with him couldstart in a variety of places. The exception to this isif you befriend Bernard, he stands near the windowby default.
How To Prepare For The Fight
Bernard’s fight becomessignificantly easier if you preparecertain items and strategies ahead of time. In total, there will befive enemies to deal with; four Animated Armors and Bernard himself.
How To Befriend Bernard
Bernard can bepacified before combatby knowing how torespond during his first dialogue cutscene. Reading the bookThe Roads to Darknesson the floor below can unlock a unique dialogue option.
If you do not read the book, no matter what dialogue option you pick,Bernard will become hostile.
Byresponding to Bernard with poetryin turn, he willnot automatically attack you, and instead be marked as neutral. This gives you the chance to strategize before the fight.
To pacify Bernard, you only need toanswer his first dialogue correctly. The next phases of dialogue do not make him more or less hostile.
Get Some Sussur Flowers
Bernard isn’t the only foe at the top of the Arcane Tower. You’ll also have to deal withAnimated Armor. It’s not too much of a hassle, but their ranged attacks make them tricky.
To help with this, gather some Sussur Flowers beforehand tohelp navigate the tower, and they also havenegative effects on the magical constructs.
Sussur Flowers can be found inthe Dread Hollow, and a few can be found on thebasement-level garden of the Arcane Tower.
We recommend you haveat least four Sussur Flowers, and that youkeep them on a fast, non-casting characterbefore combat begins.
Stock Up On Items And Potions
The most dangerous thing Bernard can do isthrow Lightning damage around, so you candrink anElixir of Lightning Resistancebefore combat begins if you have one lying around.
Consider equippingThe Sparkle Handsif you have them; all creatures in this fight are metal constructs, soyou will have advantage on all your attacks.
Lastly, for the Sussur Flower strategy, you may want to keepPotions of Speedaround, so you canDash to all of the Animated Armorduring or before combat.
How To Defeat Bernard
Now that your preparations are done, there aretwo strategiesyou can use to swiftly defeat Bernard. The first requiresspeaking to Bernard successfullybefore you fight him, while the othercan be utilized no matter your interactions with Bernard.
These strategies are listed in order of difficulty, with each strategy listed being harder than the one before it.
If You Befriended Bernard
With Bernard now pacified, he willreturn to his default position by the window. You can use this to your advantage byknocking Bernard out the window, either with a good Shove attack or aThunderwave.
You willwant to make sure you’re in Turn-Based Modebefore executing this strategy, since thefall damage alone won’t kill Bernard.
Make sure tosplit your partyand have your fighterswaiting in front of the tower entrance. Once Bernard falls, you will get to attack himwithout even initiating combat.
Bernard will leak oil once he is broken, so fire attacks will ignite the area.
Your fighters can then swiftly deal with Bernard on their turns.Bernard must be killed here, otherwise he willstand up and walk back up to the top floor of the tower, acting as if nothing happened. Killing Bernard in this mannerwill not aggravate the Animated Armor, so you don’t have to worry about them.
How To Incapacitate The Animated Armor
While there isn’t a quick way to defeat the Animated Armor, there is a surprisinglyeasy way to incapacitate them. Because Animated Armor is brought to life by magic, using theSussur Flower shuts them offso they can’t attack.
The best way to use the Sussur Flowers is toput them on your fastest party member. In this case,Rogues or Monks are especially goodbecause of their Dash abilities and the fact that theyaren’t affected by the anti-magic fieldthe Sussur Flowers have.
Run around to thefour corners of the roomwhere the Animated Armors are standing. You can eitherdrop the Sussur Flowers near the armors,which is a ‘free Action’, orthrow them at the armors. If you have four flowers, you’ll have enough to leave one next to each armor.
The anti-magic field of Sussur Flowersalso affects your characters that cast magic.
ensure your flowers are with a non-casting character, and that you keep your casters away from the flowers one they’re dropped.
Putting a flower near the armor shuts the armor off. This inflicts theIncapacitated condition, meaning the armor can’t attack or move. However, they will still be alive for all intents and purposes. To dispose of them, eitheruse ranged attacks, magical or otherwise, or send in non-casting charactersto dispatch the helpless armor.
How To Beat Bernard
Unfortunately, unlike the armor, Bernard is not magical, so hemust be defeated in regular combat. Fortunately, there are afew tricks to making his fight significantly easier, most of which involve, once again, speed.
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In addition,Bernard is resistant to:
In Honor Mode, Bernard can also use Leaping Static, which isan ability similar to Chain Lightning,althoughBernard uses it as a reaction.
Stay spaced out to best avoid the lightning hopping around.
Defeating Bernard in the first round of combatis key to making this encounter as easy as possible. For the first round, Bernard will only make one halberd attack.
It isn’t until the secondround that Bernard uses his Static Discharge Aura, so if you can take him out in one round, you don’t have to worry about taking all that extra Lightning damage.
If Bernard does manage to use his Static Discharge Aura, the best thing you can do isstay far out of melee range and shoot from a distance. As long as you aren’t marked by the Supercharge Aura, youdon’t take the extra Lightning damage. You can also wait out thetwo turns until Bernard stuns himself, then go in to finish him off.
If you’re in a tricky situation, using the elevator to Descend doesn’t trigger opportunity attacks, so you can get away from Bernard if he is in melee.
If you’re relying on casters, find spells that dealIce, Radiant, Acid or Poison damage, andstay away from the Sussur Flowersif you used them.
Rewards For Defeating Bernard
The biggest reward you’ll get for defeating Bernard is theLight of Creation, a halberd that also deals Lightning damage. Along with this, Bernard hasGuiding Light,a ring that lets you cast the Light cantrip, which will be especially useful while exploringthe Shadow-Cursed Lands. Bernard also has aGreater Healing Potionand aKey.
The Animated Armor all have simple weapons on them that can be looted.
Finally, on the top floor you will findplenty of Broken Machinerylying around. These arealchemical componentsused tocraft Elixirs of Lightning Resistance, so be sure to pick those up for your later brewings!
