There are many challenging battles over the course of Baldur’s Gate 3’s expansive campaign, but a low-level spell can trivialize one of the final encounters. Developer Larian placed a level cap of 12 in part to avoid addressing Dungeons & Dragons spells from levels seven through nine. Players who have experimented with the spell list have likely found many favorites, but some of the best spells are those that do not sync up with their canon 5e DnD counterparts. The overpowered Haste spell is a prime example, but an even lower-level spell allows players to essentially circumvent the penultimate battle altogether.
[Warning: The following article contains spoilers for Baldur’s Gate 3.]
The third act of Baldur’s Gate 3 has players explore the titular city, as they are tasked to obtain the Netherstones before confronting the Illithid Elder Brain itself. Once players enter the point of no return, they face some important choices, like allying with The Emperor or freeing the Githyanki Prince, Orpheus. Some routes have them decide whether to sacrifice their identity to become a Mind Flayer themselves. Regardless of the player’s choices, the final gauntlet first has the party battle their way through the city towards the Elder Brain. The next battle is generally considered one of the game’s hardest, but it can be simple with preparation.
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Getting To BG3’s Final Boss Is Simple With The Sanctuary Spell
Players have one chance to recover resources using the Restoration Device or a short rest before climbing the brain stem. The goal of the battle that follows is to have the character who is capable of using the Netherstones (either the player’s custom character, The Emperor, or Orpheus, depending on player choices) reach the Karsus Crown and cast a spell to take control over the Elder Brain. Whichever Baldur’s Gate 3 ending the player sees, they must first get past the Elder Brain’s guardians to enact the control spell, before deciding whether to command the monstrosity to destroy itself or attempt to take it over to become a new tyrant.
While the approach to the brain stem does require players to eliminate all foes to proceed, there is no reason for players to defeat the enemies guarding the Karsus Crown atop the Elder Brain. These include several powerful illithid, along with a mind-controlled Red Dragon. Slaying these foes is challenging, and entirely unnecessary. Players will not have any option to level up before the credits roll, so any experience gained essentially goes to waste. Using the first-level cleric spell sanctuary makes this segment extremely simple. In official 5e DnD, it forces an enemy to succeed at a Wisdom saving throw to attack a target under the effect of Sanctuary.
In Baldur’s Gate 3, there is no saving throw option for Sanctuary, meaning that if the recipient of the sanctuary spell does not attack, no enemies can target them with attacks. Players can simply cast this low-level spell on the entire party before interacting with the brain stem, and have the group Dash up the ramp leading to the Karsus Crown mostly unimpeded. There are a few workarounds to sanctuary, as non-damaging spells like dominate person can still control a party member. Area of effect spells and abilities that do not target a specific individual may also work despite the spell’s protection.
Sanctuary Lets Baldur’s Gate 3 Players Ignore Dangerous Foes
While some glitches let BG3 bosses die earlier in the story than they were intended, using sanctuary to avoid a pointless conflict is simply the spell functioning as the developers intended. The fact that the battle includes some creatures with breath weapons and mind-effecting spells like dominate person suggests that a sanctuary strategy was considered. These enemies mean that players might be somewhat inconvenienced and could enter the final clash with the Elder Brain at less than full health if they were caught in a breath weapon. Still, the battle is ludicrously easy with sanctuary, since characters can use all actions for movement to reach the Karsus Crown quickly.
Some players may prefer to fight this battle simply for the challenge, and the game does cater to a wide variety of playstyles, so this is perfectly legitimate also. If a BG3 player sides with Orpheus over The Emperor, they will face their former Mind Flayer ally in the battle, and a chance to go toe-to-toe with an iconic DnD adversary like a Red Dragon could be enticing. From a purely pragmatic standpoint, there is nothing to be gained by killing these enemies, however, so Baldur’s Gate 3 players may prefer using Sanctuary to ensure they face the Elder Brain with the most resources still available to them.
Baldur’s Gate 3
- Franchise
- Baldur’s Gate
- Platform(s)
- macOS , Microsoft Windows , PlayStation 5
- Released
- August 31, 2023
- Developer(s)
- Larian Studios
- Publisher(s)
- Larian Studios
- Genre(s)
- RPG
- ESRB
- M
- How Long To Beat
- 50 – 100 hours
- Prequel
- Baldur’s Gate 2
