Balthazar is a necromancer who is a loyal servant of Ketheric Thorm in Baldur’s Gate 3. He has been trying to snatch Shadowheart from the Gauntlet of Shar but is denied permission to enter by the goddess Shar herself. You will meet this interesting character in the early sections of the Gauntlet, and he will request your assistance to enter Shadowfell.
Deciding to fight Balthazar is important for the decision to save Nightsong or kill her in the game. That decision can impact your romance with Shadowheart should you pursue it.
Balthazar Location in BG3
Balthazar can be found in the Gauntlet of Shar during Act 2 of Baldur’s Gate 3, past the Thorm Mausoleum. Once you reach the Gauntlet of Shar waypoint (X: -758, Y: -792), go North up the stairs until you reach a room full of enemies. After defeating these Dark Justiciars, you can find Balthazar standing near a table alongside his brother, Flesh, in the next closed room.
Should you kill Balthazar or not?
After finding Balthazar, you have two choices. Depending on your playthrough of BG3, it is up to you to decide if you should fight Balthazar and kill him or not. However, we absolutely recommend fighting and killing him, even if you are going for an evil run. This deprives Ketheric of one of his most loyal servants.
If you decide to kill Balthazar, you can fight him before the Shadowfell at the Gauntlet of Shar. The other option is to open a path for him to reach the Shadowfell and side with Nightsong to defeat him later.
Fighting Balthazar before Shadowfell
If you choose the first option by fighting him before entering the Shadowfell, you will be bombarded by a wave of minions. This method of fighting Balthazar doesn’t require any dialogue options. After talking to the Duelist and completing the battle, simply enter the unlocked door behind him. Instead of choosing to talk to Balthazar, simply attack him.
This will trigger the boss fight right away, and you will face Balthazar, his minions, and his brother Flesh. He is arguably one of the most powerful enemies in the Gauntlet of Shar dungeon. Therefore, defeating him now is not an easy task, and it’s best to take him on inside Shadowfell.
Fighting in Shadowfell
Before you take Balthazar to the Shadowfell, he will reveal that the one you are talking to is not the Monk Balthazar and is an imposter. After he kills the monk, he steals his name. Furthermore, he will explain the importance of the relic and assign you a task to find the relic for him.
To aid you in the battle against the enemies possessing the relic, Balthazar offers you the Summon Golem Bell. This item can summon his brother, Flesh. However, Flesh is known to backstab his companions. Use the following dialogue choices.
After you have taken Balthazar to the Shadowfell, you will find the Nightsong trapped at the platform ahead. Here, a conversation plays out as she explains how she got trapped by the Ketheric Thorm. To fight Balthazar, you must take Nightsong’s side by using the dialogue options below:
- Wait – the Nightsong is a person?
- If she’s the reason why Ketheric Thorm is invulnerable, you’re not taking her. Leave, or you’re a dead man.
You can always side with Balthazar by handing over Nightsong to him, but we strongly recommend against the choice as you will lose Shadowheart after Nightsong’s death.
How to Defeat Balthazar in Baldur’s Gate 3
We have provided some tips to defeat Balthazar in Baldur’s Gate 3, as this fight will be quite challenging. If you decide to fight him before entering the Shadowfell, you will start a fight against multiple opponents, including his brother Flesh. Flesh won’t be a problem if you try to kill Balthazar within Shadowfell, as you have the golem bell.
Balthazar also uses teleport to close the gap between your party in the battle, so you won’t have much room to maneuver. We recommend that you be at least level 7 before attempting the Balthazar boss fight, as he is a level 8 necromancer.
However, he is weak against melee attacks, so your front liners like Karlach and Lae’zel will be good against him. His summoned undead skeletons use a lot of AoE attacks, so make sure to scatter your party.
Balthazar also uses AOE attacks often during this battle, which will drain your party’s health easily if you are close together. Use a ranged attacker in your party to perform standard ranged damage to the boss.
Once you defeat Balthazar, you can loot Circle of the Bones helmet, Warped Headband of Intellect, and Animate Dead scroll from his body. However, if you cheese Balthazar by throwing him down the chasm, you won’t get any loot.
Balthazar boss fight bug
There is a possible bug that you may encounter during your fight with Balthazar. There is a skeleton archer on the top left platform that you can’t target. To solve this issue, use Shadowheat and cast the Turn Undead spell on the skeleton. This will instantly kill the bugged skeleton. AoE attacks are also useful in this regard.
How to cheese Balthazar’s boss fight in BG3
There is a way to cheese the fight with Balthazar. Take Balthazar to the Shadowfell due to the sole purpose of him being alone in this fight. The best and easiest way to kill Balthazar is by shoving him off the platform between his dialogues. Simply position yourself in front of him while he is conversing with Nightsong. Use another character with the highest Strength and Shove to push him off the platform. You can also use Gale to cast the Gust of Wind spell to cheese Balthazar. Thus ending the Balthazar boss fight without taking any damage.
Another comical way to cheese Balthazar’s boss fight is to turn him into a harmless sheep. For this purpose, you need the Polymorph spell. Both Gale and Shadowheart can use this spell effectively. Cast Sheep and then Yeet (shove/gust of wind) poor Balthazar into the abyss.
