Baldur's Gate 3 - Part 100 - Once Bitten, Twice Shy

Summary

John explores the lower part of Cazador’s dungeon before confronting him. He finds a difficult-to-pick back door leading to the sewers, a hidden dirt mound, and a trapped casket containing a finesse sword with an advantage against undead. The party keeps its existing weapon setup, reasoning that its damage and spell synergies may be more useful.

Cazador’s Ritual and the Fight

Cazador is resistant to many ordinary damage types and has legendary resistance, making spells such as Hold Person unreliable. He is not considered humanoid. Sunlight is his key weakness: it stops his regeneration, while radiant damage can also prevent healing. Shadowheart casts Daylight on Wyll’s weapon to keep Cazador exposed.

Astarion is caught in the ritual, leaving the party down a fighter until someone reaches him and uses the Help action. Since Cazador gains power from ritual sources, the party works to disrupt the ritual by defeating the spawn connected to it.

The arena also contains werewolves and bats. The party uses Counterspell to interrupt Cazador’s lightning, Spirit Guardians and radiant attacks against the bats and other enemies, and ice effects to slow and knock opponents down.

One useful combination is to pull enemies together with the black-hole ability, then hit the grouped targets with a lightning bolt. Create Water also makes Cazador vulnerable to cold and lightning.

The battle turns in the party’s favor once the ritual-linked enemies are eliminated, Astarion is freed, and Cazador is kept in sunlight. Astarion lands the decisive blows and kills Cazador.

Astarion’s Choice and the Aftermath

Astarion does not complete the ascension ritual or sacrifice the thousands of captives. Instead, he chooses to free them all, including the stolen children. The decision releases all 7,000 vampire spawn at once, and they leave for the Underdark.

The hunters whose children were taken are concerned, but thank the party for killing Cazador and accept that the consequences remain to be seen. Astarion is conflicted and asks for time to process what has happened.

The party also finds more of the dungeon, including an old library and a staff that improves spell attack rolls and spell save DC. The staff also provides a healing benefit when enemies fail saves against its wielder’s spells. Cazador’s dagger can build bonuses as its wielder kills foes.

John closes by saying that the next episode will turn to more companion storylines, including Shadowheart’s search for the House of Grief.

Featured gamer/source: John of Many A True Nerd.