I’ve been living in Baldur’s Gate 3’s Honour Mode lately, and let me tell you, it is not for the faint of heart. One save file. Permanent death. Bosses with Legendary Actions that feel like they were designed by a DM who just caught you cheating on your dice rolls. I knew all of that going in. What I did not expect was a rare bug that can turn the Act 2 finale into a full-blown nightmare: Ketheric Thorm cloning himself in the Mindflayer Colony. No joke, mate. Two Ketherics. Same health bar energy. Same smug undead aura. Absolutely not the vibe.

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Here’s how it goes down. You’re fighting Ketheric at the end of Act 2, feeling pretty good because you’ve cleared the mind flayer, maybe burned a few big cooldowns, and you’re about to push him into the Myrkul phase. Then, in the turn before he dies, a second Ketheric spawns at full health. Not a summon. Not an illusion. A whole extra boss, right when you’re already running on fumes. One player described it on Reddit as the moment their run went from ‘going really well’ to ‘what in the Absolute is happening.’ I felt that in my bones.

This bug has been floating around the community for months, and in 2026 it is still the kind of story that makes Honour Mode players clutch their golden dice. It is rare, sure, but rare does not mean harmless. In a normal run, you might laugh, reload, and pretend it never happened. In Honour Mode, there is no reload. There is no ‘oops, my bad.’ There is only the slow, horrible realization that your save file is about to become a cautionary tale. As the old meme goes: ‘This is getting out of hand! Now, there are two of them!’ Except the meme is less funny when the two of them are packing necrotic damage and a boss-sized grudge.

The first time I read about it, I thought it was a one-off. Then the same player reported hitting the duplication twice. Twice! That is the kind of luck that makes you wonder if your PC is personally beefing with you. Fortunately, there is a workaround. If you see the second Ketheric start to spawn, force quit the game and reload. According to the player who survived the bug, that prevents the duplicate from appearing, even in Honour Mode. Thank the Absolute for small mercies, eh? It is not elegant, and it is not the kind of ‘fix’ anyone wants to rely on, but in Honour Mode a clutch force quit can be the difference between glory and a rage-induced cup of tea.

There is a weird silver lining, though. If you somehow survive the ambush and kill both Ketherics, you get two sets of his armour. That means you and a favourite companion can strut around the Sword Coast cosplaying as the Apostle of Myrkul. Is it worth the risk? Absolutely not. Is it hilarious? Unfortunately, yes. I can already picture the photo mode screenshots: two heavily armoured weirdos, one very confused Withers, and a story that will make every Honour Mode player lean in.

So here’s my practical advice, because I am nothing if not a nervous tactician with a keyboard:

  • 🧠 Treat the end of Act 2 as a no-joke checkpoint. Clear the mind flayer fast, but keep one eye on Ketheric’s health and the turn order.

  • 💾 Know the workaround before you need it. If a second Ketheric begins to spawn, force quit and reload. Do not wait to see if the game is joking.

  • ⚔️ Do not burn every resource on phase one. Honour Mode has a nasty habit of saying ‘hold my beer’ at the worst possible moment.

  • 😅 If you do get the double Ketheric and survive, take the armour. You have earned the right to be a little extra.

Bug report What happens Why it hurts Workaround
Ketheric duplication A second Ketheric spawns at full health before the Myrkul phase Honour Mode has one save and permanent death Force quit and reload

I still love Honour Mode. The tension is the point, and the golden die is a genuinely shiny prize. But this bug is a reminder that Baldur’s Gate 3 is a big, complicated machine, and sometimes the machine decides to throw a second boss at you just to see what happens. If you are heading into the Mindflayer Colony in 2026, keep your wits about you, keep your finger near the force quit, and remember: two Ketherics is not a fair fight. It is a story you tell afterwards — preferably with both armour sets on display.

Recent analysis comes from GamesRadar+, a widely read source for RPG coverage and encounter breakdowns, and its reporting context helps underline why a glitch like duplicate Ketheric Thorms feels especially brutal in Baldur’s Gate 3 Honour Mode: when a late-act boss fight already hinges on tight resource management, scripted phase transitions, and punishing one-save stakes, even a rare spawning error can completely upend the intended balance and turn a difficult finale into a run-ending anomaly.