Bosses, Baldur's Gate 1 Original

Bosses, Baldur's Gate 1

By "boss", I mean a particularly tough Baldur's Gate enemy, or rival adventuring party, that usually must be defeated if we are to progress in the plot, or lay claim to having played Baldur's Gate 1 Original with courage.

The difficulty of a given boss encounter varies greatly depending on party composition, level and items. For example:

• Bee-line the plot-critical path? Expect to reload in the face of the challenges they pose
• Conquer Durlag's Tower beforehand and flaunting artifacts of Realmslore? Expect a faceroll

Which is why I've hinted at exploring in and around each hub as the plot progresses; it keeps things on a more even keel.

Artifacts of Realmslore: the fabled Helm of Balduran & Cloak of Balduran:

Ok, so our first boss is..!

Mulahey: Baldur's Gate Boss

What?! How'd you get in here?

The first boss encounter of the campaign is the cowardly Half-orc cleric, Mulahey, caught red-handed by the party running the ore-tainting operation in the bowels of the Nashkel mines at Chapter Two's conclusion.

Mulahey is basically a beefed-up Bassilus who, from the outset, calls upon his horde of kobold & skelly minions to flank the party; then proceeds to spam Hold Person (a deadly, small-radius AoE) followed up by the ranged blows of Spiritual Hammer (1d4 +1, +1 magical).

Once worn down to near-death, the odious priest of Cyric belches mightily - wtf? It's voiced! That's gross... - then feigns to yield in an attempt to throw the heroes off-guard; after which, he generally fights to the death (if not morale-failed). Bee-liners will probably find Mulahey extremely difficult, but tacticians can succeed with a first level party.

Tazok: Baldur's Gate Boss

*farts* Whoah, now that was a stinker! (*sigh* toilet humor..)

The Bandit Camp offers a few opportunities to lock horns with a variety of brutes from the Chill and Black Talon clans (headed up by Ardenor Crush & Taugosz Khosann, respectively) who, for the most part, have put aside their differences to work under Tazok, an ogre enforcer for the Iron Throne (the organization responsible for the iron crisis plaguing the region).

Tazok can actually be encountered, insulted and dueled at this point if the bandit camp has been accessed by diplomatic means through chance encounters with contacts Teven (of Larswood) or Raiken (of Peldvale); in fact, Tazok can even be prematurely killed by taking severe burst damage before his post-duel dialogue can trigger (from memory of my solo thief run, he was chunked by backstab). BioWare probably didn't anticipate Tazok's Chapter Three demise, the enforcer shamelessly reappearing alongside Sarevok for the final showdown in the Temple of Bhaal (perhaps, like Firebead Elvenhair, he was also resurrected!)

• Below left: The ninth level Tazok wields a two-handed sword in one hand (trying to copy Sarevok) and is equipped with a pair of (droppable) Gauntlets of Weapon Expertise (two total in the campaign) and suit of Plate Mail.
• Below right: But what hope does he have against a party of mirrored mages firing Magic Missile in unison? (Well, except Xan, who prefers to distractingly wave his shimmering Moonblade under Tazok's nose).

I WILL HAVE YOUR HEAD!!! - Tazok

Staged in the main pavilion, the final bandit battle pits the player against an ugly group of thugs: Raemon & Venkt (both human, the latter a mage), Britik the gnoll and Hakt the hobgoblin. 

Firing Arrows of Biting from his Longbow of Marksmanship, Hakt is probably the most cause for concern. Otherwise, I find this battle unremarkable and much easier than squaring up with Taugosz Khosann, a hard-hitter standing guard just outside the tent in awfully shiny armor, warhammer at the ready!

Dimension Door Davaeorn: Baldur's Gate Boss

So... the stoic adventurers have found their way down to my lair...

Davaeorn is the high level Mage BG1 overseeing the Cloakwood mines from its bowels, four levels of dungeon down. The hall leading into his sanctum is laced with proximity traps, two of which despawn a Battle Horror when deftly disabled by your thief creeping down the hall, just outside Davaeorn's vision radius.

Davaeorn wears two undroppable rings, one of which grants him Free Action status so that he can't be held, stunned, slowed, webbed, entangled or greased; the other of which grants him instant Mirror Image when equipped! In addition, his undroppable bracers grant him Protection from normal missiles; he also seems to have innate resistance to fire and electricity. I would assume the undroppables are to simulate pre-buffing and his preparations for battle, as no doubt he'd be aware of the party's intrusion.

Protected by his row of mirrors, Davaeorn's cunning tactic is to teleport (Dimension Door) around his sanctum, unleashing bolts of lightning, spamming Dire Charm and then summoning a pack of dire wolves, ghasts, or ogrillons for good measure (Monster Summoning III). The backstab opener is out of the question thanks to his Mirror Image pre-buff (a protection many Infinity Engine mages foolishly neglect).

Perhaps the most elegant approach is to scout out his exact location and cast Silence 15' radius so that he can't cast spells (other than the scripted Dimension Door), followed up by Dispel Magic to disperse his mirrors; otherwise, you'll have to frantically chase him around in an attempt to mundanely disperse them, and that's annoying! 

• Below left: The four proximity traps warding off would-be intruders.
• Below right: Davaeorn unleashes Lightning Bolt at the two tanks tangling with the constructs, then skilfully casts Dimension Door before it ricochets back towards him!
• Right: Mirror Image; Inset: Dimension Door, Monster Summoning III.

Sadly, the Dimension Door spell was subsequently omitted in the sequel due to its sequence-breaking potential that allows for exploitative area transitions.

Baldur's Gate Boss: Iron Throne

Fear my wrath for it is great indeed! - Zhalimar Cloudwulfe.

This boss encounter is staged in the penthouse of the opulent Iron Throne tower itself, pitting the party against a tough crew protecting one of the organization's head honchos, Thaldorn (who is cowering in his office).

The crew consists of Zhalimar Cloudwulfe & Gardush (both Fighters), Naaman & Alai (Mage/Thief & Fighter/Mage), Diyab & Aasim (Cleric/Thief) & Fighter/Cleric) and a wretched Doppelganger disguised as the fat lady-emissary, Tar.

Unaided, a Fighter/Thief dual-class can execute the lackeys one after the other with a series of well-executed backstabs, but many players may just prefer them to be webbed and then immolated with fireballs from wands and Detonation Arrows.

You could also fire Wands of Lightning and see what happens; I love the below-right screenshot because it looks like Xan is shooting out lightning bolts from his eyes and Moonblade!

Immolation & electrocution - just what these bastards deserved!

Next up: Baldur's Gate Melee Combat.

Baldur's Gate 1 Original (Index) | Baldur's Gate 1 Review (Index).