Baldur's Gate 3: Boss Fights That Were Too Easy

Highlights

Baldur's Gate 3 features impressive boss fights that utilize its D&D source material and require strategic thinking.
Some bosses in the game don't live up to the hype, with certain battles being disappointingly easy.
The narratives of certain boss fights align with the characters' motivations and actions, but the actual fights themselves may be underwhelming.

Baldur's Gate 3 boasts some of the most impressive boss fights in recent memory. The game makes full use of its Dungeons & Dragons source material, from the near-limitless supply of creative monster designs to its strategic, turn-based combat system that forces players to fight smarter, not harder. Each Baldur's Gate 3 boss is unique, with their own set of powers, allies, environmental hazards, and even multiple ways of defeating them (if not avoiding a fight altogether).

Baldur's Gate 3, Gerringothe Thorm, Cazador, Thisobald Thorm

Baldur's Gate 3: Hardest Bosses In The Game

Baldur's Gate 3 has some scarily challenging boss fights. For these threats, players should be prepared and have their tactics honed.

However, for every undead general or mighty beast that gamers defeat, there are a few bosses in Baldur's Gate 3 that pale in comparison. They can't all be winners, but some of them didn't exactly live up to the hype given to them by the game's story.

5 Cazador Szarr

The Vampire Descendant's Greatest Enemy Was Gravity

When playing the most recent version of the game, Cazador delivers exactly what "The Pale Elf" quest promised: a powerful vampire lord in his crypt, summoning dark power to become nigh-unstoppable. Players only have three turns to defeat the Vampire Lord before he completes the Black Mass, putting a time limit on an already stressful encounter.

How Baldur's Gate 3 Has Improved Cazador's Boss Fight Tenfold

The boss fight against Cazador Szarr in Baldur's Gate 3, once considered somewhat disappointing, has been significantly improved in later patches.

However, in earlier versions of the game, this much-anticipated battle was almost laughably easy, since players could easily shove his Misty Form over the edge of the crypt's bottomless chasm, killing him instantly. It took until Patch 4 to fix this issue for Cazador to become the terror he was made out to be.

4 True Soul Gut

Killing Her Quietly & Unsuspectingly

The main goal of Act 1 is defeating the three leaders of the goblin camp that threaten the Emerald Grove. Ironically, it's Priestess Gut, the only actual goblin of the trio, that's the easiest to defeat. The trick is to avoid triggering the fight in the camp's central chambers, and instead lead her into her private quarters on the pretense of a private discussion. From there, simply close the door and kill her quickly before she can call for help.

It's a brutal strategy, to be sure, but far easier to kill one goblin than to gain the aggression of the entire camp. Players can also have their companions hiding to get in a few extra pot-shots at the priestess, hopefully finishing her off before she can seek reinforcements.

3 Kagha

A Cruel Druid Who Gets Off Too Easy

The Baldur's Gate 3 fandom can be a divisive place. A game with such a rich, complex story and multiple branching story options is bound to spark a few heated disagreements. But there are times when gamers can put aside their differences and come together in their mutual hatred of First Druid Kagha. This optional boss is the driving force of conflict between the Emerald Grove druids and the Tiefling refugees, and her merciless torment of Arabella quickly had players calling for her head.

There are ways of resolving the dispute without it coming to blows, but many players opted for the more cathartic option of ending Kahga's heartless crusade once and for all. As far as fights go, she's neither weak nor incompetent. But after everything she's done, it feels like Kagha gets off far too easily, whether she survives Act 1 or not.

2 Lord Enver Gortash

Without Steel Watchers, Gortash Is Just A Man

One of the game's central antagonists alongside Ketheric Thorm and Orin the Red, Gortash had plenty going for him going into Act 3. He was the Chosen of Bane, the god of tyranny, the source of political corruption in Baldur's Gate, and Karlach's mortal enemy. His brilliant scheming and manipulation allowed him to completely take over the city almost overnight, with only a few able to see through his public reputation for the monster he truly is. But for all his power and influence, when it comes time to actually defeat Gortash, the fight itself feels pretty underwhelming. This is especially true when compared to his fellow Chosen, Ketheric, whose boss fight was an astounding closer to Act 2. The battle is even easier if the player completes the side quests at the Steel Watch Foundry. Without his precious Steel Watchers, it's almost painfully easy to grind Bane's Chosen into the dirt.

From a narrative perspective, the ease of this boss fight does make sense. Unlike Orin or Ketheric, Gortash didn't rely on magical abilities or monstrous transformations. In true tyrant fashion, he gained power by subjugating other people to exploit their abilities. He was a schemer first and a fighter second, using his mind and machines to gain the upper hand. Strip that away, and there's not much left to be threatened by. Gortash is a terrifying foe simply because he's a normal person who still managed to accomplish great and terrible deeds, and watching his empire of lies crumble around him is definitely satisfying. But as for actually fighting him? Not so much.

1 The Emperor

From A Complex Savior To An Underwhelming Minion

Strange as it is to say, this mind-flayer deserved better than what he got. The Emperor was there with the player from the very beginning, though they didn't always realize it. He offered much in the way of illithid protection, but very little in terms of information, making him untrustworthy but undeniably useful. His demands to be trusted in the face of his manipulations come to a head in Act 3, when players must choose between giving him the Netherstones or freeing Orpheus. If the alliance between him and the player ultimately fails, he'll immediately side with the Netherbrain for his own survival and will show up later as part of the final assault.

Unfortunately, the showdown against The Emperor isn't all it's cracked up to be. Instead of having a boss battle all to himself, he becomes the sidekick to a different boss, this one a corrupted Red Dragon. He isn't even the only mind flayer present, meaning he's ultimately just another minion for players to eliminate in order to focus on the much larger threat in the room. For the boss that players have easily spent the most time with, The Emperor really ought to have gone out with a much bigger bang.