Should you destroy or remove the brain at the start of Baldur's Gate 3? Us the Intellect Devourer is a living creature stuck in Myrnath's head, because until recently, it was a just a regular human brain. Now it's a frankenstinian Baldur's Gate 3 creature made by the Mind Flayers - so what should you even do with it? I'll explain what to do with the brain and Us the Intellect Devourer at the start BG3, and if the little monster might come back later.
Recent updates
This Baldur's Gate 3 remove or destroy the brain walkthrough was edited on 10 November. It's still fully up to date with the correct information pertinent to the game's full release on PC and PS5.
Should you choose to remove, destroy or mutilate the brain in Baldur's Gate 3?
There are several outcomes to your interactions with the Brain, aka Us the Intellect Devourer, in Baldur's Gate 3.
1. Remove the brain. You can extract the brain from Myrnath's skull with either a strength or dexterity check. If you pass an Investigation check, you can attempt to free it via a following Medicine check with advantage. If you succeed in removing it via any method, Us becomes a temporary ally and companion throughout the tutorial section on the Mind Flayer Nautiloid ship. Otherwise it remains stuck in Myrnath's skull.
2. Destroy the brain. This effectively cancels out the choice. The brain is destroyed before Us can be fully formed and you walk away. There's no real advantage to this.
3. Mutilate the brain. If you successfully free it, you can attempt a Dexterity DC 15 check to make it less dangerous. If you fail, Us attacks you, leading to combat. If you succeed… there's actually no advantage or disadvantage that we know of, at time of writing. That may come in later versions of the game.
For that reason, we suggest freeing and not mutilating this new lifeform. Us is basically a small, temporary advantage in the earliest chapter of the game - a controllable, and pretty powerful (if limited) ally who has a lot of health and some good melee attacks that match many of the standard Baldur's Gate 3 weapons.
Mutilating the Intellect Devourer may sound like a safety precaution, but the only consequence we know of is that if you fail, you'll have to fight it - and there's no positives to succeeding mutilating it at time of writing.
Does Us the Intellect Devourer come back in Baldur's Gate 3?
Yes, you will meet Us again in Act 2 of Baldur's Gate 3, once you reach Moonrise Towers and discover the Mind Flayer colony beneath it after first fighting Ketheric Thorm on the roof of the towe. You need to look for a room where a butcher is slaving away over rotting corpses, with Us kept in a cage nearby for being an anomalous aberration. If you can unlock the cage, Us joins the team and becomes a permanent summon for the rest of the game, a minion who will follow you around and help in combat!
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