While in the Temple of Shar in Baldur’s Gate 3, you’ll encounter Balthazar, a necromancer who needs your help to find a relic outside of the Gauntlet of Shar. But there’s a problem—you must decide whether to kill or help him.
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Balthazar’s location in the Gauntlet of Shar in BG3
Balthazar can be found in the Gauntlet of Shar in BG3, roughly at the coordinates X: -842 and Y: -786.
Once you’ve found him, you will be given the quest, “Find Ketheric Thorm’s relic.” And this is where you must decide whether to kill or help him.
Should you kill Balthazar in BG3, explained
Initially, you should not kill Balthazar in BG3 because he is the Commander of the Reborn Dead and a level eight boss.
So, he is challenging to defeat with 91 health, multiple resistances, powerful spells, and a room full of undead he can use against you. He is also a key evil for Ketheric Thorm at Moonrise Towers. Regardless of whether you’ve sided with Ketheric Thorm, you should help Balthazar, at least for now.
Once you’ve found the Relic, Balthazar will give you a Moon Lantern, which you need to get to Moonrise Towers and is essential for navigating through the Shadow Cursed Lands.
But once you’ve received your reward, you will learn interesting tidbits about the campaign, and this is where you choose to help Nightsong and kill Balthazar or not.
How to kill Balthazar in BG3
To kill Balthazar in BG3, you must deal at least 91 damage to him and destroy his summoned minions. However, this is easier than it sounds unless you know his stats and abilities.
Balthazar’s stats and abilities in BG3
Balthazar is an undead with a 91 health bar, resistance to Slashing, Piercing, and Bludgeoning damage, and he’s immune to Poison damage. This means that your slashing, piercing, and bludgeoning attack damage will be halved, and your poison damage attacks will do nothing.
He also has the following abilities you must be wary of:
- Bone Chill—This deals between two and 16 Necrotic Damage
- Ray of Sickness—This deals between five and 40 Poison Damage
- Misty Step
- Cloudkill—This deals between five and 40 Poison damage.
Recommended Potions, Scrolls, and Elixirs
In addition to Potions of Healing and Potions of Greater Healing, you will also want the following potions, scrolls, and elixirs to help enhance your team and mitigate your incoming damage:
- Potion of Poison Resistance—This means you gain a 50 percent resistance to poison damage until your next long rest.
- Antitoxin—Cures those who are poisoned.
- Elixir of Barkskin—This will increase your Armor Class to 16 and can be great for tanks or squishy characters.
- Elixir of Poison Resistance—This means you gain resistance to poison damage until your next long rest.
- Scroll of Protection from Evil and Good—This means that when an undead attacks you, you can’t be charmed, controlled, or possessed. If they attack, they gain a Disadvantage.
- Scroll of Protection from Poison—This means that the target gains an advantage on saving throws against being Poisoned. And they become resistant to poison damage.
Even if you don’t have all of these, having some form of Poison or Necrotic damage resistance and heals will help you immensely in the fight.
Best companions to kill Balthazar in BG3
Given Balthazar’s abilities and resistance, the best companions to have on your team include Shadowheart, Lae’zel, and Gale.
Lae’zel has high health levels, meaning she’s harder to kill, and she can also cheese the fight by pushing them off the edge and into the void. Gale is perfect for spamming long-ranged attacks, which is useful when multiple undeads are summoned.
Shadowheart is perfect in this situation because, as a Cleric, she can heal, cure wounds, and offer essential buffs. Once you’re ready, you can start the fight with Balthazar.
Tips for killing Balthazar in BG3
There are two ways to kill Balthazar. However, the easiest way is to push him off the edge and into the void with a knockback ability like Repelling Blast, Eldritch Blast, or an Arrow of Roaring Thunder before initiating combat. Or you can attack him and his minions until they’re all dead.
If you knock him into the void, you miss out on his loot, including Speak the Dead Scrolls, a dagger, Circle of Bones (rare helm), and Soul Cage Research (book). So, if you’re not interested in any of those items, push him into the void.
But if you do want them, you can fight Balthazar and use these tips:
- Ensure you use your poison and necrotic-resistant elixirs and potions
- Use your healing potions, spells, and scrolls when necessary
- Have Gale use AoE abilities to remove as many undead minions as possible so they don’t gang up on you at once. He can also use Repelling Blast or Eldritch Blast to knock them off the edge if things get too hairy.
- Have Shadowheart and Gale use Protection from evil and good to protect everyone and gain an advantage. If you don’t have those spells, use scrolls instead.
- Use Fire, Radiant, Cold, Force, Lightning, or Thunder attacks, as Balthazar doesn’t have a resistance to these.
With skillful maneuvering, you’ll defeat the minions and Balthazar in no time. I chose the cheese method and pushed him off the ledge and into the void because I had no use for his loot, especially the Circle of Bones, because none of my companions used Necromancy skills, and they couldn’t benefit from the helm’s abilities.
In the end, how you kill him is up to you. But as long as you’ve received your Moon Lantern, you can do what you please.
