Balthazar in Baldur's Gate 3 Walkthrough
Solving the Balthazar's Bookcase Puzzle:
Reaching Moonrise Towers:
- Progress through the game until you reach the Shadow-Cursed Lands and your objective is to infiltrate Moonrise Towers.
Entering Balthazar's Room:
- Upon arriving at Moonrise Towers, avoid causing any disturbances to avoid alerting cultists.
- Head up the steps and to your left, you'll find Commander Z'rell.
- Successfully pass DC14-16 Persuasion checks with Commander Z'rell to convince her of your belief in the Absolute.
- She will give you the key to Balthazar's bedroom.
Balthazar's Room:
- Proceed to the right side area and unlock the door using the key.
- Inside the room, you'll find a disturbing scene with scattered corpses and blood. The Moonlantern is in the middle of the room, and it's essential for protection against the Shadow Curse.
- Take note of the bookshelf with protruding books, but do not interact with them just yet.
Solving the Bookcase Puzzle:
- Near the doorway, you'll find a note addressed to acolytes warning against touching Balthazar's books, as they could trigger harmful effects (poison gas or reanimation of corpses).
- Interact with the protruding book on the upper-right side of the bookshelf. This action will allow you to interact with a stone plinth beside the shelf.
- Search the room for discarded hearts. Hold the Alt key to identify important objects.
- When you find a heart, bring it over to the stone plinth and insert it. This action will cause the shelf to move, revealing a hidden room.
- You'll gain two Inspiration Points: "Secrets of the Necromancer" and "A Little Too Familiar with the Grotesque." The latter is obtained if you solve the puzzle without making a mistake.
Dealing with the Ritual Circle:
Exploring the Secret Room:
- In the hidden room, you'll find a locked chest. Use lockpicking to open it and obtain an "Elixir of Necrotic Resistance" and a "Coldbrim Hat" with a frost debuff effect.
Interacting with the Ritual Circle:
- Inside the secret room, you'll also find the Baldur's Gate 3 Ritual Circle.
- You'll notice Broken Moonlanterns and a dead Pixie nearby.
Approach the Ritual Circle and make a decision:
- Choose the dialogue option, "It's your choice, Gale, do whatever you want to do." Gale will destroy the Ritual Circle and gain the "Mystra's Benevolence" buff, providing a permanent advantage to concentration checks.
- Alternatively, choose the dialogue option, "Mystra's not here. Go for it, craft the lantern." Combine a "Broken Lantern" and a "Pixie Corpse" to create a "Shadow Lantern," a torch/weapon that can summon a Shadow Wraith.
Conclusion:
- Completing these steps allows you to solve the Balthazar's Bookcase puzzle, revealing the hidden room and Ritual Circle in Baldur's Gate 3.
- You'll have the choice between gaining "Mystra's Benevolence" or crafting the "Shadow Lantern." With these tasks completed, you can continue your adventure, including heading to the Gauntlet of Shar or exploring other areas of the game world.
How to Defeat Balthazars in Baldurs Gate 3?
Navigating the challenging boss battles of Baldur's Gate 3, including the encounter with Balthazar, introduces an innovative and distinct approach. Rather than intricate strategies, a straightforward yet brilliantly effective tactic emerges, employing the environment and the strength of your companions.
Leveraging Companions' Strength:
- Engage the aid of companions like Karlach, renowned for their substantial physical prowess.
- Execute a forceful "Shove" action, using Karlach's strength, to propel Balthazar from his elevated platform.
- This maneuver sends Balthazar hurtling into the abyss below, resulting in a swift and almost instantaneous victory.
Streamlined Triumph:
- The beauty of this tactic lies in its simplicity and efficiency. By skillfully utilizing the environment and your companions' strengths, you bypass prolonged struggles.
- The battle with Balthazar concludes rapidly, providing you with a streamlined pathway to overcome this formidable adversary.
In mastering these approaches, you unravel the secrets to defeating Balthazar in Baldur's Gate 3. Your strategic acumen, combined with the strength of your companions, becomes your greatest asset in emerging victorious from this challenging encounter.
TRENDING
Balthazars in Baldurs Gate 3
In the original Throne of Bhaal expansion for Baldur's Gate II, Balthazar possesses unarmed attacks with an enchantment of +3, although in the Baldur's Gate II: Enhanced Edition, this issue has been rectified. Balthazar exhibits three distinct stances: a fiery Solar Stance, an imperceptible Shadow Stance, and a defensive Lunar Stance.
During the Lunar Stance, he gains immunity to Time Stop, and this stance also provides safeguard against Level drain, petrification, disintegration, imprisonment, and slay effects. Interestingly, these immunities are somewhat redundant, given that he innately possesses all of these resistances.
Notably, Balthazar boasts a range of immunities, which include:
- Immunity to normal weapons and magical weapons with an enchantment level up to +2.
- Resilience against backstabs and critical hits.
- Imperviousness to mind-affecting effects such as Sleep, Charm, Panic, berserk, and stun.
- Unaffected by hold and web effects.
- Immunity to death effects, including spells like Power Word, Kill, slay effects, vorpal effects, poison, Level drain, petrification, polymorph, imprisonment, paralyze, and haste/slow spells.
- Immunity to all spells and abilities of 1st and 2nd level.
- Resistance to Sarevok's Deathbringer Assault melee hit effect.
Additionally, Balthazar maintains a constant regeneration rate of 5 hit points per second, ensuring his sustained health recovery. In the Enhanced Edition of Baldur's Gate II, his protections are further extended to encompass defenses against Sphere of Chaos, Silence, 15' Radius, Web, Entangle, Stinking Cloud, Polymorph Other, as well as various haste and slow spells and abilities. This intricate array of attributes and immunities contributes to Balthazar's formidable nature and role within the game.
Balthazar's Ritual Circle Decisions and Rewards
Unlocking Rewards:
- Utilize your lockpicking skills to unlock a chest in the secret room. Inside, discover an "Elixir of Necrotic Resistance," which bestows protection against necrotic damage, and a distinctive "Coldbrim Hat."
- This hat not only shields against inflicted conditions but also inflicts a frost debuff upon targeted foes.
Unveiling the Ritual Circle:
- Venture further within this concealed chamber, encountering an array of intriguing elements, including a collection of "Broken Moonlanterns" and the lifeless form of a "Pixie."
- Approach the enigmatic "Baldur's Gate 3 Ritual Circle," an arcane contraption that holds pivotal choices within its mechanisms.
Crucial Decisions:
- Confronted with the Ritual Circle, you're presented with two significant options:
- Opt for autonomy with Gale by choosing, "It's your choice, Gale, do whatever you want to do." This selection leads to the obliteration of the Ritual Circle, rewarding Gale with the enduring "Mystra's Benevolence" buff.
- This permanent advantage elevates his concentration checks to new heights.
- Alternatively, select, "Mystra's not here. Go for it, craft the lantern." This choice activates a discreet panel, prompting you to merge a "Broken Lantern" and the remains of a "Pixie."
- The culmination of this endeavor results in the coveted "Shadow Lantern," a versatile torch/weapon with the unique ability to summon a potent "Shadow Wraith."
The Enigmatic Shadow Wraith:
- The summoned "Shadow Wraith" emerges from the abyss, accessible once per long rest.
- It wields the power of necrotic damage in its attacks and possesses the capability to sap a target's strength attribute.
- Yet, while formidable, the "Shadow Wraith" pales in comparison to the steadfast benefits of "Mystra's Benevolence."
- This enduring enhancement particularly benefits spellcasting "Wizards," bolstering concentration for those who wield intricate spells demanding focus.
Concluding the Puzzles:
- With these choices made, the enigmas of "Balthazar's Bookcase" and the "Ritual Circle" unravel in Baldur's Gate 3, enriching your journey with their discoveries.
- As you progress, the next destination beckons: the "Gauntlet of Shar," your principal objective. However, exploration and leisure still remain enticing prospects, with the potential to recruit the enigmatic "Halsin the Druid" into your ranks.
Baldurs Gate 3
"Baldur's Gate 3" stands as a captivating creation by Larian Studios, constituting the third core installment in the esteemed Baldur's Gate series, intricately woven around the essence of the Dungeons & Dragons tabletop role-playing marvel. The game embarked upon its journey by gracing the realms of early access on macOS, Windows, and Stadia on October 6, 2020. Progressing through this preliminary stage, it evolved and matured until reaching its complete manifestation on Windows on the eventful day of August 3, 2023.
With anticipation riding high, the horizon extends further as "Baldur's Gate 3" is set to unfurl its tapestry on additional platforms. The wait for macOS and PlayStation 5 enthusiasts will conclude on September 6, 2023, welcoming them to partake in its immersive narrative.
An orchestration is also underway for an Xbox Series X/S rendition, yet its unveiling remains shrouded in the enigma of an undisclosed chronicle. Regrettably, the Stadia rendition met an untimely demise owing to the closure of the Stadia platform.
This opus of interactive artistry has garnered resounding acclaim since its inception, as critics far and wide have extolled its virtues. "Baldur's Gate 3" has artfully captured the hearts of both seasoned adventurers and neophytes alike, becoming a beacon of laudation in the realm of gaming.
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