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Baldur’s Gate 3has its share of legendary fights. Between Ansur, Orin, and Ketheric Thorm, you’d think it couldn’t get any better. But when the organ drops and down comes the claw, can you truly say that you were prepared for the fight Raphael, Master of the House of Hope, would bring?
Fighting Raphael will call on every shred of strategic planning at your disposal. Every spell cast holds weight, and one turn is all it can take to send your soul into the claws of the devil himself. And we’re here to help make sure that it doesn’t happen.
How To Prepare For Raphael’s Fight
If you’ve made it this far, you’ll want to ensure you have every available option open to your disposal when entering this fight. Raphael is no cakewalk, after all.
Allies
The first and foremost preparation you should make isinfreeing Hope.Her spell"Revoke Guest Status"is absolutely crucial for this fight.
This spell canentirely remove one person from the Raphael fight(that isn’t Raphael), and itcan be cast twice.This is a free removal of two enemies on the field.
Additionally,any bonuses you can addto yourself before entering the room where Raphael spawns toincrease your chances of Persuasion are recommended.You must beat aDC30 Persuasion check against Yurgirto recruit him.
Having someone withGuidance,Friends,Enhance Ability, or any other related spell or ability is a bonus. you’re able to also use theEnvoy’s Amuletfor this check.
Best Damage Types
Remove all Radiant damageequipment you may have. This includes passive abilities like equipment that deals Radiant damage if the opponent misses an attack on you.
Clerics or Paladinswith primarily Radiant damage spellsshould fulfill support rolesonly or have another method of damage.
Add any resistances to fireyou can get your hands on via equipment, potions, spells, or feats (like the Warlock’s Fiendish Resilience or Ranger’s Wasteland Wanderer: Fire).
Spells, Magic, And Equipment
If you have a spellcaster that knowsCounterspell, it should be preparedand ready for use. Additionally, you shouldpre-castProtection from Evil and Goodon your weakest character.
Where possible,equip weapons and spellsthatdeal Force or Bludgeoning damage. All the pillars in the room are vulnerable to it.
These pillars, it must be understood, will be able tosuck up the souls of your downed characters,making them weaker when they are revived. They also empower Raphael. To negate their effect, try tocastDeath Wardon weaker characters before the fight.
Rules Of Raphael’s Fight And Stages
Before jumping into Raphael’s fight, the key to success is to know how it operates. There arethree named charactersin the fight:
In addition, there areseveral Vengeful Cambions (six in total).They all cancast powerful Rays of Fire spells, make Disarming Attacks, and use Rush attackswith their+1 Tridents.
*You can recruit Yurgir to your side with a successful DC30 Persuasion check.
There are four pillars in the room that areVulnerable to Force and Bludgeoning damage. These pillars:
When a creature fighting Raphael is knocked to 0HP, its soul will be consumed by the pillars. Even if that creature is restored, theygain the condition: “Severed Soul.”
Severed Soul:Affected entity has Disadvantage on Attack Rolls and all Ability Checks until Restore Soul is cast on a Soul Pillar or Raphael or the entity takes a Long Rest.
Remove CurseandGreater Restorationdoes not remove this condition.
The best way to approach this fight is tocut it into stages:
How To Defeat The Cambions And Korrilla, And Maybe Yurgir
Yurgir is the chief concernin this group. It is strongly recommended to recruit him to your cause if possible.
If you must fight Yurgir,use Hope with her Revoke Guest Status spellto banish Yurgir from the fight. Otherwise, you’ll need toemploy your old tacticsagainst him.
You may not have the option to recruit Yurgir if you severed his contract inThe Gauntlet of Shar—pending investigation.
Korrilla is, thankfully, very easy. If Yurgir is recruited, you canhave him kill herwithout paying her any mind.
Otherwise,Korilla’s health is a measly 24HPwith only a resistance to Poison.Send one person to take her outwhile the others focus on the cambions.
You canknock Korrilla outto spare her if you wish. The only effect this has is on Hope’s dialogue after the fight. There are no other known bonuses to sparing her at this time.
Werecommend youCounterspellthe attacks on Turn Oneof combatagainst the cambions.As they pile on Rays of Fire, they can easily defeat most of your party on the first turn.
Attacking them withForce, Thunder, or Necrotic damage is bestsince they do not resist these types.
Keep your party spread outwhen fighting the cambions.Prevent any party members from lining upunless you have Sentinel or Polearm Master (or both). This is because the cambions can use Rush to attack in a straight line.
Additionally,castingHasteorBlessfor this part of the fight can be a big bonus. Especially since thecambions can use Disarming Strike, and re-equipping a weapon takes one full action.
On Turn Two, if there are any remaining cambions, you canuse Hope again to banish one of them.
Keeping your party members apart is also very important with Raphael in the room. With his powerful Fire attacks, keeping your party concentrated can mean several party members fainting at once.
Continue knocking them outuntil they’re gone, and beware of Raphael. On Turn Two, he’ll begin attacking with powerful Fire spells.Counterspell is not recommendedsince Raphael’s high casting normally causes Counterspell to fail.
It’s best tokeep a powerful healer dedicated to keeping your party alive.Hope helps, but another support unit is highly encouraged.
How To Destroy The Soul Pillars
TheSoul Pillars are Vulnerable to Bludgeoning and Force attacks. Therefore,divide your party among the pillarsto begin taking them down. Begin with any pillars Raphael is not currently standing beside.
Have yourhealing support in the center of the roomto be within walking reach of all party members at any time.
If you have Radiant spells(especially Spiritual Weapon), this is the time touse them.If you use Radiant damage on any of the pillars, they willgain the condition: “Thwarted Consumption.”
Thwarted Consumption:Raphael cannot consume a soul from this Pillar because it recently took Radiant damage or had its souls dispersed by other means.
After one pillar is destroyed,move characters from that pillar to another. Completelyignore Raphaelexcept to heal the damage he deals.
When all are destroyed,send yourmelee characters around Raphael. Keep your squishy characters within ranged distance but as far away as possible.
At this point, you shoulduse Hope’s Divine Interventionto give your party a Long Rest.
You could use it at the beginning of the fight to kill the cambions, but their reflection of Radiant damagewill instant-kill Hope. Using her Divine Intervention will restore your health and spell slots immediately.
666
27
9m
Medium/80kg (Fiend)
18 (+4)
28 (+9)
17 (+3)
14 (+2)
13 (+1)
19 (+4)
Feats And Conditions
Darkvision & Devil’s Sight
Raphael can see 24m in the dark - magical and nonmagical.
Raphael gains +2 to his AC.
Infernal Retribution
When Raphael succeeds a Saving Throw, the caster of a spell receives Burning for 3 turns.
Advantage on Saving Throws against spells and magical effects.
Punish Divinity
When hit with Radiant damage, Raphael can use his reaction to stun the attacker and leave the creature Soul Wrenched, draining the creature of its maximum HP (used once per Soul Pillar consumption).
Soul Pillar Proximity
For each remaining Soul Pillar, Raphae’s attacks deal an additional 1d12 Fire damage, and he has a +3 bonus to Dexterity Saving Throws and Checks.
Soul Reaper
When Raphael reduces an enemy’s points to 0, he severs the soul from their body, giving the creature the “Severed Soul” condition.
Ascended Fiend (Ascended Form Only)
Raphael gains new abilities and spell options after changing his form. He also cannot suffer from Soul Overcharge.
Multiattack: Last Result (Ascended Form Only)
If all Soul Pillars are destroyed and Raphael has no more Soul Charges, Raphael can Multiattack.
Deals 8d8 Fire damage on a failed Dexterity Saving Throw.
Igniting Spark
Deals Fire damage and causes Burning for one turn. Causes a Dexterity Saving Throw and deals half damage on a successful roll.
Deals 5 damage with his fists.
Hellfire Inferno (Ascended Form Only)
Acts as a powerful cast ofFireball. Deals 20d6 Fire damage in exchange for two soul charges. Deals half damage on a successful Dexterity save.
Diabolic Chains (Ascended Form Only)
Deals 10d8 Fire damage in exchange for 2 souls consumed. It pushes back the target 5m.
Multiattack - Claws (Ascended Form Only)
+8 to hit twice; 5ft. Deals (1d12+5)*2 Slashing damage.
When beginning this fight, the first thing you want to do is stop moving andlisten to the amazing music being played. All good? Now we can begin.
The devil himself has a perfect 666 health, an extremely high AC, and a damage capacity that would make a grown bugbear weep.
Additionally, much like some of the big bosses of Act Two and Three, Raphaelhas a second, more powerful stageonce his health is depleted far enough (around 50-70 percent of his health). This formcan cast fire spells that may one-shot most spellcasters and low-health characters.
However, scary as Raphael is, he hasa few large and notable weaknesses:
When dealing with Raphael, you shouldensure you have any Fire resistance effects active.These will halve the damage of most of his attacks.
Like the cambions,Thunder, Force, and Necrotic damage are normally effectiveagainst Raphael. We recommend prioritizing these types of damage.
Melee characters in Raphael’s facework best here. He’ll gain Disadvantage on his ranged attacks, and his only melee attack until his second phase deals a measly five damage.
We highlyadvise against using Radiant damageon him since he can stun those who hit him and even lower their maximum health.
Stay in Raphael’s faceduring the fight with him. Anyranged casters should find a method of protectionand provide support where possible without risking themselves (each time they pass out, Raphael gets stronger).
Save your bigger and limited feats and spellsfor the second phase of his fight, if possible.
A melee player with the Sentinel feat is highly recommended here, preventing Raphael from running away during combat.
When Raphael finallytransforms into his Ascended form,heusually casts Hellfire Inferno on the first turn.We highly recommendretreating with any character who cannot survive the damageand keeping at least one melee character beside him.
Raphael generally targets the area around himself with this spell.
Move out of the areawith all fighters to prevent being burned while you stand in the flames on the next turn and heal where necessary.
Like in the first phase,close in around Raphaelwhen he’s no longer surrounded by flames with your melee fighters.Keep your ranged support safe.
Go all outwith every feat and spell you have at your disposal. With his ability to one-shot your spellcasters (now more than ever), you need to close the fight out fast.
With everything you have,put the devil down for good. Once he’s out of health, he’ll be down and out for the count.Loot his corpsefor his legendary armor pieces (like the Helldusk armor), and thenspeak with Hope and Yurgirif you recruited them.
Yurgir can be recruitedto join you for the final battle, but Hope cannot.
With Raphael down and out for the count permanently, you can now put the House of Hope behind you and in its owner’s rightful hands.
Baldur’s Gate 3
WHERE TO PLAY
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.
