Balthazar in BG3 is a necromancer you will encounter when exploring the Thorm Mausoleum. During the Find Ketheric Thorm’s Relic quest, you will have to go and meet Balthazar within the Gauntlet of Shar. BG3 Balthazar is one of the most important bosses you will come across during this quest and he possesses the power to raise undead soldiers.
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
You will find Balthazar far into Thorm Mausoleum. To meet Balthazar, you must head over to the main entrance to the Mausoleum where you will encounter Raphael, asking you to kill Yurgir. The entrance of Thorm Mausoleum is located at the coordinates of X: -189 Y: 110. After reaching the location, head inside the Mausoleum and make your way into the room straight ahead.
Find the Gauntlet of Shar
There is a door in the room that you must open. It leads you to the next area with a Traversal Gem at the center. The room is filled with traps that deal a ton of damage to your health. However, if you have Minthara as your companion or Astarion, you can easily detect them.
These traps are scattered across the room. Therefore, the best option is to walk beside the walls and avoid stepping onto any traps in the middle. Walk your way to the door at the front and open it. This will open the side walls revealing the nest area.
To reach Balthazar in BG3, head inside the next area and step on the platform ahead with the Traversal Gem on it. This platform leads you down to the Gauntlet of Shar in BG3. Enter the dungeon and go forward while unlocking the Stone door ahead.
The door leads you to the Umbral Gem. Take care to avoid the shockwave it spews out since it will damage you. It is best that you lean into the wall and move along the path to the left to find a Bulky Door. Use Thieves’ Tools to lockpick the door and head inside.
Fight the Phantasms
There is a Sarcophagus atop the platform ahead. Loot it to receive a bunch of items before heading over to the waterfall area to the left. Jump onto the stones that lead you to the area with large mushrooms. However, be warned as this area is filled with Phantasms. Reaching Balthazar is not an easy task in BG3. Defeat the enemies and move to the eastern part of the area down the stairs and enter the Double Oak doors at the end.
Find the Reconstituted Duelist
There is another Double Oak Door inside the building. You can use the lever next to it to head inside. As you enter the next room, you will find the Reconstituted Duelist on the platform ahead. Talk to him and choose the dialogue option given below:
- Z’rell sent me, looking for someone called Balthazar.
This triggers a small fight between the enemies. So, prepare yourself to take cover to prevent taking much damage. After the battle is over, the door behind the Duelist opens leading you to Balthazar in Baldur’s Gate 3.
Fight Balthazar in BG3 before or after Shadowfell?
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 or not. However, I will absolutely recommend fighting and killing him, even if you are going for an evil run. Deprives Ketheric of one of his most loyal soldiers.
If you decide to kill Balthazar, you can fight him before the Shadowfell while 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. However, defeating Balthazar doesn’t give any loot. Whether you kill Balthazar before or in Shadowfell, you will eventually have to decide Nightsong’s fate and figure out if Shadowheart should kill or spare her.
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 in BG3, you must 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 you will find in the Gauntlet of Shar dungeon. Therefore defeating him now is not an easy task and it’s best to take him on after Shadowfell.
Fighting in Shadowfell
Before you take Balthazar to the Shadowfell. He reveals that the one you are talking to is not the Monk Balthazar and is an imposter. After he killed the monk, the imposter stole 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 in BG3. The Summon Golem bell can summon his brother, Flesh. However, Flesh is known to backstab his companions. Use the following dialogue choices.
- Balthazar, I presume? Z’rell sent me. She thinks you’re in danger of failing your master.
- The name Balthazarseems familiar, but not as a servant of Ketheric Thorm. Where have you heard it before?
- Z’rell said Ketheric wants you to find a relic. That’s all I know.
- I need more to go on. Why is this relic so important? What does it do?
- You need my help?
- You have resources to spare – give me something to aid my search.
- Take the bell.
After you have taken Balthazar to the Shadowfell, you will find the Nightsong trapped at the platform ahead. Here a conversation acts out as she explains how she got trapped by the Ketheric Thorm in Baldur’s Gate 3. 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 in BG3 by handing over Nightsong to him, but we strongly recommend against the choice as you will end up losing 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 while in the battle, so you won’t have much room to maneuver. We recommend that you must be at least level 7 before attempting the Balthazar boss fight in BG3.
However, he shows weakness in melee attacks so your front liners will be good against him. Make sure that you have your party scattered in different places in the room so as to not get cornered.
The boss will use his AOE attack 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.
One thing to note here is that you must take Balthazar out of the picture first before shifting your focus to Flesh. Continue following this method till you have defeated Balthazar in Baldur’s Gate 3.
Balthazar in BG3 doesn’t have any loot on him but you can search the chests in the room to find some Infernal Iron. You can use this item if you want to have a romantic relationship with Karlach in BG3.
BG3 Balthazar boss fight bug
There is a possible bug that you may encounter during your fight with Balthazar in BG3. There is a skeleton archer on top left platform that you can’t target. To solve this issue, use Shadowheat and cast 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 boss fight in BG3
There is a way to cheese the fight with Balthazar in BG3. 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 having a conversation with Nightsong. Use another character with highest Strength and use Shove to push him off the platform. You can also use Gale to cast Gust of Wind spell to cheese Balthazar. Thus, ending the Balzathar boss fight without taking any damage.
Another comical way to cheese Balthazar’s boss fight in BG3 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.
