Baldur’s Gate 3 – How to Defeat Balthazar at Nightsong’s Prison

Once you reach Nightsong’s Prison after completing the Gauntlet of Shar in Baldur’s Gate 3, you’ll be faced with a potential fight against Balthazar. If you’re planning to take him down and fight back against Ketheric, this battle can be a struggle to overcome, especially if you’re slightly under-leveled. Thankfully, there are several different methods you can use to make this encounter significantly easier, allowing you to survive with the best outcome and reap all of the benefits.

How to Defeat Balthazar at Nightsong’s Prison in BG3, Explained

Perhaps you’ve chosen to side with Jaheira and the Harpers? Maybe Balthazar is getting in your way and you wish to slaughter the Nightsong yourself? Or you may just want to infiltrate Moonrise Towers and fight back against the Cultists of the Absolute.

No matter your reasons for betraying Balthazar, doing so will trigger a boss fight that many players have found troubling. Don’t worry though; we’ve rounded up several different methods you can use to defeat the creepy fellow and get him out of the way once and for all.

How to Use the Polymorph Method

One of the easiest ways to ‘cheese’ your way through the Balthazar fight in Baldur’s Gate 3 is by utilizing the Level 4 Spell, Polymorph. When casting this Spell on a target, as long as they fail a WIS Saving Throw, they will be transformed into a harmless, 3HP Sheep. However, upon killing the ‘Sheep’ the target will transform back to their normal form.

If you have a Spellcaster such as Gale on your team, you can use this Spell to your advantage. First, jump onto the edge of the rock platform on which Balthazar is standing and save your game. This will enable you to reload until you pull off the Spell with success. Once you’re standing on the edge of this platform and you’ve got your save checkpoint all set, cast Polymorph on Balthazar instead of approaching him to talk.

As long as Balthazar fails the WIS save, he will turn into a Sheep. You can then use a Spell with significant knockback effects, such as Eldritch Blast or Thunderwave, to push the Sheep Balthazar off the platform and into the abyss of Nightsong’s Prison. This will kill him, enabling you to progress. However, you will lose a couple of loot items from him as a result of this method, as you’ll be unable to retrieve Balthazar’s body to collect them.

How to Do the Alternate Environmental Kill Method in BG3 Balthazar Boss Fight

If you don’t have the Spell Polymorph, you can still use a similar method but without the first step.

First, ungroup your party. Then, Hide and reposition each member as you’d like. You can position your Caster near the cliffs on the left side to give them a line of sight to Balthazar without being seen. Once your party is in position and ready to go, you can use your Caster to initiate combat with a knockback attack such as Thunderwave or Eldritch Blast.

A good idea in this scenario is to pre-buff your Caster with the Haste Spell, which will give them an extra Action for this important moment. Aim to send Balthazar flying off the edge if possible. If you’re unable to send him flying off the cliff, aim to push him as close as possible to the edge of the platform and then follow up with the second knockback attack.

If Balthazar survives, he will cast Animate Dead and raise a small army to assist him in combat. Your main priority is getting rid of Balthazar, as if you fail to do so within the first couple of turns, he will cast Cloudkill. This Spell can destroy your party in only a few turns and make the fight significantly more difficult.

Once you’ve gotten rid of Balthazar, you can utilize Strength-based Melee characters such as Lae’zel, Minthara, or Karlach to push the remaining undead off the edges using the Shove Action. You can then follow up and clean up the rest of the enemies with your entire party, as these skeletons are much less of a threat once Balthazar is gone.

How to Use the Fight From Range Method

If you’re struggling to kill Balthazar and his army of the undead from close, then you can take a ranged approach. Many Spells have a solid range on them, allowing your Casters to still do their job. DEX fighters or Bow wielders such as Rogues, Rangers, Monks, and Bards will thrive in this scenario as well.

To begin, set your party up on the rock before the platform that Balthazar is standing on. You can use Ranged Attacks from the safety of this location without needing to worry about being shoved off the platform or being caught in a horde of enemies. If you have a Rogue or Gloomstalker on your team, you can deal some extra damage by dipping your arrows in Poisons and then Initiating combat with Advantage by using the Hide Action, followed by hitting Balthazar with a Bow Attack.

Keep your party members on this rock, and Balthazar and his enemies will spend their turns running to the edge of their platform to try and get in range to attack you. As they move forward, you can simply pick them off one by one with focus fire, or even deal solid damage to multiple targets through powerful AOE Spells. This method may require a little bit of patience, but it can be pulled off with great success if you stick to it.

How to Use the Counterspell Method in BG3 Balthazar Boss Fight

One of the best ways you can make the Balthazar fight significantly easier for your party to get through is by coming prepared with the spell Counterspell. This is a Level 3 Spell that allows you to expend your Reaction once per turn to nullify an enemy’s attempt to cast any Spell. As Balthazar uses the Animate Dead Spell to provide himself with an army of allies for the fight, Counterspell is extremely efficient in shutting this down.

If you’ve got a Spellcaster, then make sure they’re equipped with this Spell before the fight — and if you have two Spellcasters, that’s even better! He does start the fight Hastened, so a second Reaction to cancel Animate Dead could come in handy. Before this fight, I’d recommend buffing a character with Haste. Lae’zel or Karlach would be perfect choices here due to their ability to use multiple Melee Attacks per Action.

To begin, have your party jump down onto the platform Balthazar is standing on and Attack him to deal a bit of damage and begin combat. If you have a Rogue, then a combo of dip in Poison and Sneak Attack can come in handy here. As soon as you trigger the Balthazar fight, he will attempt to Animate Dead. You’ll then get a prompt to React using Counterspell as long as you’re in range, so go ahead and use this opportunity.

Now Balthazar will be lacking his minions, meaning your party can rush him and take him down in a flurry of attacks; especially if someone is Hastened. Balthazar doesn’t have an excessive amount of HP for a boss fight, so if you play aggressively and keep some backup heals available for an emergency scenario, you should be able to make quick work of the fight.

Plus, if you defeat him on top of the platform rather than pushing him off, you’ll be able to gain a few pieces of loot from his corpse.

How to Use the Shadowheart Carry Method

Shadowheart has a lot of involvement in this story arc thanks to her ties to the Gauntlet of Shar and the Nightsong due to Shar’s influence. However, she’s also one of the best party members you can have around for this fight due to the sheer utility she brings to the team.

Here are two different methods that I found made the Balthazar fight feel like a breeze in comparison to just rushing in and attempting to hack and slash through everything:

Method 1

You’ll want to utilize pre-casting or Spell Scrolls before you enter combat and are restricted to turn-based actions. Notable Spells that can give your party the upper hand in this fight are Haste, which should be cast on your most powerful Melee Weapon user; Mirror Image, which can be helpful to give some extra layers of defense to squishy allies such as Rogues or Bards; and Bless, which can be useful for your entire party by providing bonuses to their Attack Rolls and Saving Throws.

Shadowheart is also capable of using the spell Sanctuary. In doing so for the Balthazar fight, you can turn Shadowheart into a defensive healing and buff machine for your team for the entirety of combat, as Sanctuary means the enemy is unable to target the user until they make an Attack to break the Concentration of the Spell.

While Shadowheart won’t be able to use her Spells to help take down Balthazar’s army without breaking Concentration, she can freely cast any buffs or healing to her allies while Sanctuary is up. As Shadowheart is capable of some very useful healing spells such as Mass Cure Wounds, this can enable the rest of your party to play very aggressively and offensively.

Method 2

Alternatively, if you want to take more of an offensive approach with Shadowheart, the Spell Spirit Guardians brings immense value to this fight. Upon casting it, you can summon an AOE of Radiant Spirit Guardians around you that cause enemies to take damage when they move into range.

This means that not only will any enemies who run up to you take damage upon entering the AOE, but you can also run through the horde of undead to trigger the same effect. Strategize with your Melee Weapon users to have them deal huge chunks of damage to enemies, and then have Shadowheart run past them to finish them off; all without expending an Action!

That’s everything you need to know about how to defeat Balthazar at Nightsong’s Prison in Baldur’s Gate 3. Now that you’ve taken care of the creepy guy and his army of the undead, you’ll need to decide what to do with the Nightsong. We’ve covered all the potential outcomes and choices for this matter in our guide investigating if you should kill or save the Nightsong, so feel free to take a peek for some extra guidance.