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No boss battle inBaldur’s Gate 3can hold a candle to the epic encounter that is your fight against Ansur, Heart of the Gate, and The One Who Roars. And no boss can quite humble you as quickly, either. In a charged, electrifying combat that’ll leave you wishing you brought rubber boots, only the most prepared will prevail.
And that’s where we come in. We’re here with your rubber boots and lightning rod - full of the best strategies to beat Ansur. If you’ve made it this far and overcome the challenges to find him, we have complete faith that you’ll tear the wings off this dragon for good.
Updated June 18, 2025, by Alexis Campbell:Updated to reflect required changes in strategy in high-level Tactician or higher difficulty play. Ansur’s Legendary Actions require caution and additional zone planning as well as his ability to knock individuals out of Globe of Invulnerability with various actions and movements. Also added previously unnoticed Frightful Presence action.
What To Prepare To Defeat Ansur
Ansur is a relatively straightforward boss withonly two Water Myrmidonsto aid him. Hetypically only deals Lightning damage andhasone major full battlefield attackthat can 1HKO most enemies.
You might also want to tryconjuring creatures to increase your overall damage output. Conjuring elementals or using theNecromancy of Thay’s Danse Macabre skill can be a big bonus for this fight.
Before you go and speak with Ansur,cast any of the bonusesyou might wantbeforehand while in Turn-Based Mode.
Then,split your partyto keep your squishier party members away from Ansur. If not, the fight will begin with your whole party awkwardly standing on the cliff edge in front of Ansur or in a group where the myrmidons can hit multiple party members at once.
19
12m Walk / 30m Fly
25 (+7)
10 (0)
23 (+6)
16 (+3)
15 (+2)
19 (+4)
Feats And Conditions
Immutable Form
Spells that alter his form have no effect, and Ansur has a +5 bonus on Saving Throws that would remove him from this plane.
Advantage on Saving Throws against spells and magical effects.
Legendary Resistance: Incapacitation (Tactician and Honour Mode Only)
Ansur has a +10 on Saving Throws against being Incapacitated (such as Hold Monster, Command, etc.).
Legendary Action: Draconic Fury (Tactician and Honour Mode Only)
After being attacked, Ansur can (once per round) use his Legendary Action to use Lightning Breath.
Attacks and Actions
Slam
Deals 6d8 + 7 Bludgeoning damage to all enemies within 4m of Ansur.
Lightning Breath
Deals 12d6 Lightning damage on a failed Dexterity save or half as much on a success. On a failed Dexterity save, targets are also Shocked.
Multiattack (Claws and Fangs)
Deals 4d8 + 7 Bludgeoning damage, 3d8 + 7 Piercing damage, and 4d6 Lightning damage.
Frightful Presence
Ansur can let out a roar that inflicts the Fearful status for up to 2 rounds on all nearby enemies who can hear on a failed Wisdom Saving Throw.
Gather Power
Ansur begins hoarding energy, preparing to unleash a massive attack on the next turn. Ansur becomes Resistant to all damage types.
Deals 18d10 Lightning damage on the entire battlefield.
Bout of Storms
Ansur summons five lightning strikes to the turn order. If a creature is standing in one of the blue sigils during the Bout of Storms' turns, they will take 6d10 Lightning damage.
During the first part of this fight,whittle down Ansur’s health as fast as possible.Yes, you must do the same in Phase Two to an extent, but your goal here is to attempt totrigger his Stormheart Nova quickly.
Youdo not need to strike his allied myrmidonsbecause his Stormheart Nova does not discriminate. By triggering his ultimate attack, you’ll also take out the Myrmidons (mostly) in the same fell swoop.
Ansur’s Stormheart Nova typicallytriggers between 50 and 66 percent of his health barunless three turns have passed.On Turn Four, he usually beginscharging his attack regardless of his remaining health.
Deal as much damage as possible.If you’re lucky or came in with a solid strategy, you may be able to kill him before or during his charging attack (the latter of which gives you an achievement).
However, if you don’t think you can kill him before then, youmust survive his Stormheart Nova attack.As it reaches the entire length of the battlefield, there areonly three ways to avoid it:
Thethird option is much easier (and now provides a helpful Resistance bonus),but Globe of Invulnerability is still recommended to ensure you take no damage from either the initial attack or the Phase Two attacks.
There isan icon indicatoron each character profile’s active statuses that demonstrates when you are within range of Ansur’s attack.When this indicator is present, you will receive damagefrom Stormheart Nova. Stepping behind a pillar will cause this icon to disappear, indicating that you are in a safe space.
Additionally,standing behind the pillars now provides a small bonus called “Crystal Skin,“which lasts two turns. This provides all affected entities withResistance to all elemental damage(this especially includes Ansur’s lightning trap barrage in Phase Two).
When Ansur begins charging his attack,strike him with your party.As they end their turns,take shelter behind any of the icy pillarson the field, ensuring they’re completely between you and Ansur.
Alternatively, you canhave your wizard travel to your party’s location (centering them around one area before the attack) and castGlobe of Invulnerabilityaround everyone. No damage will be taken to any party member standing inside this globe.
If the myrmidons try to enter your globe, you canpush them out withThunderwaveorEldritch Blast(Repelling Invocation).
Fighting The Myrmidons
The myrmidons have theactive ability to heal Ansur. While this initially seems like it may have an effect on the fight, it does not.
Do not panic. So long as you follow these tips, you will be okay:
If you struggle with defeating them, remember that these myrmidons can be pushed into chasms with spells likeThunderwavefor instant-deaths or destroyed by Ansur’s Stormheart Nova. There is no need to attack them. They are mild distractions at best.
Fighting Ansur In Tactician Or Honour Mode
It is important to note that the strategies within this guide are written on a foundation of Balance mode.If you are playing Tactician or higher, Ansur will gain a few notable abilities:
The most important is the Legendary Action. Unlike other bosses in the game,all dragons in Tactician mode will have Legendary Actionsas opposed to having them locked in Honour Mode.
When fighting Ansur at a higher-level difficulty,his Legendary Action will punish anyone who makes the first damaging strikein a round against him. Missed attacks do not seem to trigger his Legendary Action.
His Legendary Action is a quick cast of his Lightning Breath attack,a cone Lightning attack. This means that even if your other character haven’t attempted to do anything yet, if they are standing in the vicinity of the first attacker, they will take damage as well.
To bypass this problem,you’ll want to:
The next problem is theFrightful Presence.This can cost you valuable turns in the second phase of the fight (when he is most likely to use this action).
To bypass this, thebest strategy is to have:
Finally,Ansur has the ability to knock individuals from the Globe of Invulnerabilitywith his Slam attack, his Opportunity Attack, and his Fly action (when he lands).
The best plan is toleave your healer and one other weaker health character- like a spellcaster -inside the globewhile your larger characters leave (but are within range of) the globe to draw Ansur’s attention.
During the second phase of combat,keep in mind that you’ll want to:
Phase Two: How To Survive The Lightning Strikes And Defeat Ansur
Once Ansur has used his Stormheart Nova attack, theground will now be randomly marked with blue sigilsthat join the end of the turn order. On their turn, they’llstrike the ground with lightning.
In each round of combat, thesesigils will change locationand can deal massive damage to those within. You’ll have tomove around each roundandavoid Ansurwhen he jumps to an area near a party member (and, as a result, pushes them out of the way)and the lightning strikes.
However, thesigils do not affectGlobe of Invulnerability.If you cast it, and as long as you stay within it, you will take no damage from Ansur or the lightning strikes.
If you cast the globe, take advantage of its effects andfire outside the globe to kill Ansur.Use powerful ranged spells (non-Concentration spells for the one who cast the Globe) and attacks.
If needed,only send out your strongest, tankier charactersfrom the globe since Ansur likes to hop around the battlefield.
Eventually, you’ll be able to whittle down Ansur’s remaining health. You’ll most likelykill him before theGlobe of Invulnerabilityruns out.
Continue striking Ansurand, if you don’t have the globe, moving around until he’s finally defeated.
If there are anyremaining myrmidons, you candefeat them by killing them or pushing them over the edgeof the battlefield with repelling spells.
With all enemies defeated, you canloot Ansur’s bodyfor hislegendary sword. Alegendary helmis alsosittingon the altar in the stone buildingbelow the battlefield.Take it, and it will reveal your way out.
How To Get The Achievement Crash Landing
For the Ansur fight, there is anoptional and rare achievementknown as: “Crash Landing.” You mustdefeat Ansur while he is charging his attack in the air.This changes the strategy for Ansur considerably, and it takes no small amount of set-up to achieve.
The achievement can be thwarted iftoo many people are standing around Ansurin the center of the arena when his charge-up is triggered.
Instead of charging his attack in the air, Ansur willcharge it on the ground,forcing you to give up on the achievement or reload the save.
Start bycastingHasteon a fighter(Lae’zel)with Polearm Master.
On Turn One, westruck Ansur just enoughto prevent him from triggering his hoarding energy move while setting up:
On Turn Two, thefighter attacked the full amount of times, action surged, and attacked an additional three times, followed by the Polearm Strike for a total of ten attacks in Turn Two for Lae’zel alone. This dealt 168 damage on her turn.
Our spellcaster, wizard Gale,usedCone of Coldto strike both the myrmidons and Ansur while also turning the ground to ice (preventing Ansur from electrifying the ground) beforeMisty SteppingAway.
This strategydepends on the spellcaster who castHastenever being struck or losing Concentration.Keep them in the back and move them around to avoid the myrmidons.
The cleric used ahigh-level cast ofGuiding Boltfor extra Advantage, while Wyll cast strong spells likeHunger of Hadar(to inflict Blindness) andEldritch Blast.
At the end of the turn,Ansur began charging up his energy and had a remaining health of 26HP.
On the beginning of the next turn, Ansur was defeatedwith the spellcaster’sLevel 5 Artistry of War to ensure all strikes hitand closed out Ansur’s remaining health pool, despite his resistances.
Thekey takeawaysfrom this strategy are:
Once Ansur is gone, the myrmidons could be dealt with accordingly and at a lackadaisical pace with a shiny, new achievement.
