The climactic confrontation with the Vampire Lord Cazador in Act 3 of Baldur’s Gate 3 will test players’ skills and strategy. This powerful foe poses a catastrophic threat to your party and the entire city. However, even this daunting fight can be won with careful preparation and proper battle tactics. In this guide, we’ll provide an overview of how to defeat Cazador in Baldur’s Gate 3 (BG3).
Where is the Cazador Location (Szarr Palace) in BG3?
The Szarr Palace is located in the northwest area of the Lower City. The easiest way to enter there is through the Old Watchtower near the Lower City Central Wall. An alternative route is through the Lower City Sewers, which requires picking a difficult lock with a DC 30.
Here’s how to reach Cazador through the Old Watchtower road:
- Enter the sigil-marked tower and go up the stairs to reach the city wall.
- Travel north along the wall until you get to the South Tower of Szarr Palace.
- Climb the ladder inside the South Tower. Use Persuasion to get the Rampart Key from Merony.
- Ascend to the Upper Tower door and take the stairs up into the Szarr Palace area.
- Go across the Ramparts north, then west to find the palace entrance. Go inside to enter Szarr Palace.
Either way, once inside, go through the towers and ramparts to reach the main palace door and enter the interior.
How to Beat Cazador in BG3
When entering Cazador’s dungeon, explore thoroughly and locate any items or secrets that may aid you in the fight ahead. Bringing Astarion is advised, as this concludes his questline.
There are two main approaches to defeating Cazador:
Sunlight Strategy
- Casting the Daylight spell on Cazador at the start of the fight will inflict ongoing radiant damage. This prevents him from turning invisible or absorbing other vampires to gain power.
- Keep your party on the stairs to limit mobility. Use area control spells like Spike Growth on the stairs to slow enemies.
- With Cazador unable to empower himself, focus fire on him while dealing with adds using control spells.
Disrupt the Ritual Strategy
Cazador is performing a ritual to absorb the blood of captive vampires and gain strength.
- Before Cazador can complete the ritual, send your entire party to defeat the captive vampires. Cazador will lock Astarion away, leaving you with just three members to battle with.
- Defeating the captives will trigger additional dialogue.
- Bring a Paladin or Cleric to battle the vampire opponents to increase radiant damage. It is especially effective against undead-like vampires.
- The Cazador will retreat to his coffin rather than die when his health is zero. Therefore, focus on killing the other enemies before killing the Cazador. Otherwise it will regenerate.
Should You Allow Astarion’s Ritual?
Astarion gains immense power through the Vampire Ascendant feat if he finishes the ritual. This provides abilities like healing bites, gaseous form, and necrotic damage bonuses. However, battling the Monster Hunters becomes inevitable down the line.
Interrupting Astarion mid-ritual requires succeeding at Persuasion checks. You can convince him to stop the ritual if you make a compelling case. Then you decide whether to free, kill, or abandon the vampire prisoners. Setting them free sends the vampires to the Underdark. Taking this path lets you ally with the Monster Hunters.
Letting the ritual complete makes Astarion extremely mighty but loses you potential allies. Aborting it avoids conflict but earns Astarion’s resentment, and the prisoners’ fate remains unsure. When making this critical choice, weigh your priorities and what matters most.
That’s all you need to defeat Cazador in Baldur’s Gate 3 (BG3). We have covered guides for wooing them in our Baldur’s Gate 3 section. So make sure to take a look at them.
