Act 3 fights way too hard for explorer mode

[LadyValiant]

Does anyone else feel like the boss fights in Act 3 are ridiculously difficult? Like I know boss fights aren't supposed to be easy and I know git gud, but I'm playing on explorer mode for a reason and these boss fights are so hard I'm getting a headache even after reading up on strategies. Like I'm trying to fight Cazador & no matter what I do my bard & Shadowheart end up super dead. I've been trying to do this fight for two hours. I know several people as well who are having to take long breaks with other playthroughs in earlier parts of the game just so they don't go nuts throwing themselves at the act 3 fights.
Again, I get some people want a challenge but when I picked explorer mode for difficulty I wasn't expecting to wind up in such insane combat. It feels like they forgot to apply explorer mode to act 3 almost with how much I'm either barely scraping by in combat or not at all.

[Blackfrost]

Most fights in BG3 ( and Larian games in general tbh ) are like puzzles: you just need to find the correct combination or interaction to make the fight trivial.

For Cazador for example, you just need to cast the level 3 spell "Daylight" ( level 3 Cleric spell ).

This will stop Cazador from turning to Mist ( no more half-damage for him ), and will hurt him every turn.

You can cast it before the combat starts.

At that point, just spam Sunbeam and focus fire Cazador first, then the Skeletal Mage, then the rest of the adds.

If you still have issues with it, try using a lot of summons to help you tank most of the hits from the enemies.

The bats have 1 HP so they can be killed by a Cleric using Spirit Guardian.

Hope it helps!

[Razorblade]

Pro tip: if a fight is set on a cliff, pushing and/or throwing your enemies off said cliff is generally the solution.

[HoneyDrake]

Originally posted by Razorblade:

Pro tip: if a fight is set on a cliff, pushing and/or throwing your enemies off said cliff is generally the solution.

also tons of items and interactable environment out there. Like boulders you can drop on enemies for insane damage.

[MostlyPanda]

Originally posted by Blackfrost:

Most fights in BG3 ( and Larian games in general tbh ) are like puzzles: you just need to find the correct combination or interaction to make the fight trivial

meanwhile here's me... HALF-ORC GOES UNGA BUNGA (Berserker) in tactician, and everything dies without any tactic involved.

[Avalan]

Originally posted by MostlyPanda:

Originally posted by Blackfrost:

Most fights in BG3 ( and Larian games in general tbh ) are like puzzles: you just need to find the correct combination or interaction to make the fight trivial

meanwhile here's me... HALF-ORC GOES UNGA BUNGA (Berserker) in tactician, and everything dies without any tactic involved.

This shows you how poorly the game is balanced- Some builds are super OP, the rest are not worth investing in.

[Avalan]

For me, the biggest hurdle in Act 3 is the sheer number of enemies per encounter- give me half of this and it would make the game MUCH more enjoyable.

[Pozzy Vibes GGHF :)]

You have to stop him from absorbing people 3 times, you can free them or stand in the power circle with a party member. You can also knock cazador off the platform and you will still get loot. You can have your party members stand in a 'safe' location and lay down a hunger of hadur or something similar, and deal with the monsters that funnel themselves into your trap. Have a cleric for turn undead etc.

I would go for the knock off, as you can push him off even when he is in smoke form.

[Juub]

Originally posted by Blackfrost:

Most fights in BG3 ( and Larian games in general tbh ) are like puzzles: you just need to find the correct combination or interaction to make the fight trivial.

For Cazador for example, you just need to cast the level 3 spell "Daylight" ( level 3 Cleric spell ).

This will stop Cazador from turning to Mist ( no more half-damage for him ), and will hurt him every turn.

You can cast it before the combat starts.

At that point, just spam Sunbeam and focus fire Cazador first, then the Skeletal Mage, then the rest of the adds.

If you still have issues with it, try using a lot of summons to help you tank most of the hits from the enemies.

The bats have 1 HP so they can be killed by a Cleric using Spirit Guardian.

Hope it helps!

I used telekinesis to push him 18m to the side and then used my barbarian to shove him down the chasm lol.

People simply think too small. There are hundreds of things you can do to trivialise fights.

[Vile-Mallow]

Originally posted by Blackfrost:

Most fights in BG3 ( and Larian games in general tbh ) are like puzzles: you just need to find the correct combination or interaction to make the fight trivial.

For Cazador for example, you just need to cast the level 3 spell "Daylight" ( level 3 Cleric spell ).

This will stop Cazador from turning to Mist ( no more half-damage for him ), and will hurt him every turn.

You can cast it before the combat starts.

At that point, just spam Sunbeam and focus fire Cazador first, then the Skeletal Mage, then the rest of the adds.

If you still have issues with it, try using a lot of summons to help you tank most of the hits from the enemies.

The bats have 1 HP so they can be killed by a Cleric using Spirit Guardian.

Hope it helps!

That fight was sooooo easy, I just used low level wizard spell, that creates a gust of air, and blew him right off the edge in round one. Took me longer the clean up the bats that kept spwaning haha.

[Econ]

Those arrows you can get that throw targets back can get rid of some bosses that run precariously close to chasm edges like Cazador (and Balthazar in Act 2).

If there are no convenient chasms, that level 6 irresistible dance spell is OP: I used it to lock up very powerful bosses of the infernal and draconic kinds for 10 turns.

If you are having trouble with masses of smaller enemies - Cazador has quite a few adds - the cleric spell guardian angels is great - especially against undead. It inflicts damage in a radius around the cleric - often the trash just runs in to die in it or you can just run around burning them with it. Turn undead is also good.

The level 3 warding glyph spell that clerics and mages get can also be very powerful dealing with groups of enemies - unlike the sleep spell, the sleep warding glyph has no HP restrictions (and like the spell permits no saves). I used it in the Act 3 SH-related fight, alternating putting the left and right sides of the room to sleep. It was funny watching the AI run around pushing everyone to wake them up.

[IRMcG]

Scroll of Otto's Irresistible Dance. Gives you a free 10 turns to smack almost anything around without them being able to act.

[bunkerking]

Try buying gun powder arrows. Those did the trick for me. You can buy them from the merchant in the bridge area of the castle. Those things surprised me. They do massive dmg and my ranger astarion can do 5 attacks in a single turn. Im on tactician and Im only mid level 9 midway through Act 3. Its very doable. Just gotta use your tools; elixirs, oils, use initiative, etc

[BeautifulFlowerField]

Scrolls, look for high damage AoE spells and drink a relevant elixir to each character every day (they last for the whole day). You can make an elixir of universal resistance that makes everything deal 50% damage to you across the board. See if you have a lot of things in camp you can sell and re-itemize. You can get a legendary greatsword from just going to sharess' caress, a legendary rapier from the hag quest, and a TON of incredibly powerful items for spellcasters from going to sorcerous sundries and doing the nightsong quest there. The sorcerous sundries multiple legendaries are in a puzzle sequence, you have to jump down from the floor you do the fight in to interact with some buttons down there.

Some other tips - check if you have weapons that have superior attack rolls, your attack bonus is more important than your damage. Conjure spells last all day, you might be able to bring multiple summons with scrolls you already have. Look for buff scrolls even if they last ten turns you can generally initiate fights with those effects - blur and mirror image could be good for you if you're dying a lot.'

You should be about level 11, if you're not then you might want to just do easier sidequests for the time being and explore the lower city some more.

[sleeper]

there so many enemies in book 3 it takes forever

[suini]

I've been finding it to be quite the opposite. I'm playing on Tactician, and my Laezel railed Cazador by herself in a single turn using Nyrulna Trident, cloud giant elixir, and speed potion.