I’ve done my fair share of complaining about Baldur’s Gate 3’s final act. It’s confusing, it takes forever, and it doesn’t give every character the attention they deserve. As a whole, the game is still excellent, but I’m struggling to finish it in the face of all its flaws. One thing is helping, though: the battles are really good.

Spoilers for Baldur’s Gate 3 Act 3

Everybody talks about the Iron Throne level as the game’s best, but there are many other severely underrated stages. Shadowheart’s battle with the Sharrans is a standout for me because of the roleplaying opportunities her Divine Intervention spell allows for. I loved the mechanics of the Steel Watch, especially the final Titan boss and its Defense Protocol. But the House of Hope might be the most underrated.

To get to Raphael’s lair, you have to perform a profane ritual, aided by the Diabolist Helsik. Once you enter, you encounter an apparition of Hope herself, a sweet Dwarven Cleric driven mad by years of torture inflicted upon her by Raphael and his minions. Hope is, as her name says, hopeful and optimistic despite her suffering. She begs you to free her.

You don’t have to. You can trick her instead, getting her to point you in the right direction of the Orphic Hammer, then abandon her. I refused to take the easy way out – I’m a Paladin, after all. But setting her free is a bit of a pain. You can wander the House of Hope at will, picking up Potions of Angelic Slumber and antagonising Raphael’s staff, but as long as you don’t try and take the Orphic Hammer they’ll mostly leave you alone. However, the moment you do, everything catches fire, and everyone turns on you. Previously harmless people trapped in the House attack you, and killing them makes them explode, setting the space around them on fire. These victims turn into fearsome monsters that you have to take down once more before death finally takes hold.

Related

Larian Shouldn't Stray Too Far From 5e With Its New Combat

Larian has cited the complications of D&D's 5e rules as a reason to move on from development, but to move too far would be a mistake

Posts

Then there are the Hell Spheres, gigantic burning boulders that ram into you and your party, setting everything in their trail ablaze. These spheres have a ton of HP and follow you through the House’s halls if you try to avoid them. You can cut through the House’s middle corridor if you pick the lock on the door, getting you to Hope’s prison just a little faster.

But once you get to Hope’s prison, there are even more enemies to defeat. Imps, yes, but also huge, terrifying Spectators that zap you with rays and stare you down with their massive eyes. It’s exhausting – by the time you get to this point, you’re low on health and praying for a reprieve. Once you kill them and free Hope with the Orphic Hammer, you have to run to the portal you came through. You pray that you’ll be able to get out without another battle, because it’s not looking good for you. Then Raphael shows up.

Players have been finding ways to cheese this fight for as long as they've been playing. Can't blame them, really.

This is where everything gets good, because it ties in stuff you may or may not have done earlier in the game. With some luck (or save scumming), you can get the gigantic Yurgir to your side if you’d managed to banish him to Avernus in the game’s second act. He’s not much help in battle – he misses a lot – but he occupies Raphael’s attention for a while, at least.

Giving Raphael a whack will show you that he’s drawing from his Soul Pillars for health and powerful spells, kind of like Cazador does in his boss fight, and you have to destroy them in order to win. But destroying them also gives Raphael the ability to enter his Ascended Fiend form, slashing you with multi-attacks. It’s absolutely brutal. But you have Hope, and she’s a great healer. Hope will keep you alive long enough for your party to down the Potions of Angelic Slumber you picked up around the house. Hope will see you through to the end.

The whole time you’re struggling against Raphael and his minions, one of Baldur’s Gate 3’s best theme songs is playing. It’s called Raphael’s Final Act, and it rules. But more importantly, Raphael is singing it. Raphael sings his own boss fight song. And he really goes in.

The music alone makes this fight one of the most memorable the game has to offer – I didn’t even care how badly my butt was getting kicked, that my party was falling dangerously close to death, or that Raphael kept conjuring new minions to ruin my day. Fighting to that song feels like nothing else the game has offered up to that point.

Yes, it’s another boss fight in a series of exhausting boss fights. Yes, the level drives you to frustration because of how relentless it is. But all of that culminates in something that feels straight out of a movie – murdering a devil while he sings his own theme song, and freeing Hope itself from his clutches. Baldur’s Gate 3 is special precisely because it crafts satisfying moments like these. If only all of Act 3 felt so good.

Your Rating

close 10 stars 9 stars 8 stars 7 stars 6 stars 5 stars 4 stars 3 stars 2 stars 1 star Rate Now 0/10

Your comment has not been saved

Like Follow Followed

Baldur's Gate 3

RPG 5.0/5 24 9.4/10 Released August 3, 2023 ESRB M for Mature: Blood and Gore, Partial Nudity, Sexual Content, Strong Language, Violence Developer(s) Larian Studios Publisher(s) Larian Studios Engine Divinity 4.0 Multiplayer Online Co-Op, Local Co-Op Cross-Platform Play Full cross-platform play.
Where to play Close

WHERE TO PLAY

DIGITAL

Baldur's Gate 3 is the long-awaited next chapter in the Dungeons & Dragons-based series of RPGs. Developed by Divinity creator Larian Studios, it puts you in the middle of a mind flayer invasion of Faerûn, over a century after the events of its predecessor.

Powered by Expand Collapse