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In the final act ofBaldur’s Gate 3, a myriad of personal stories reach their crescendo, including that of Astarion—a vampire spawn of Cazador, the Vampire Lord, Once you reach the city, you’ll have the opportunity to help him confront his past and put a stop to Cazador’s ambition of harnessing near-divine power from sacrificing seven thousand people.
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However, reaching Cazador’s ritual grounds means navigating the nightmarish confines of his lair—filled with scary monsters and even scarier moral choices. This comprehensive guide provides a detailed roadmap to traverse the treacherous depths of Cazador’s domain.
How To Find Cazador’s Palace
We explore the details and options of starting this quest more deeply inour guide on how to find Cazador’s Palace.
How To Start The Investigate Cazador’s Palace Quest
Upon entering the outer city, you can find theGur camp (X:95, Y:-17)near theRivington waypoint. The Gur let you know about Cazador’skidnapping of their children.HavingAstarion in your partywill result in the Gur recognizing him as the perpetrator of the crime and further his questline.
This interaction unlocks the “Investigate Cazador’s Palace” quest and updates “The Pale Elf”, Astarion’s personal story.
How To Locate The Szarr Palace
To pinpoint the ritual site, head toFraygo’s Flophouse (X:-4, Y:81)in the Outer City. Either you or Astarion can confront two of Cazador’s spawns,Dalyria and Pale Petras,on the second floor, in the room to the left of the stairs.
This confrontation can provide the location of Cazador’s ritual:the Szarr Palace (X:-70, Y:-55), justwest of the Lower City Central Wall waypoint.
How To Get Through The Sinister Door
We explore theloot and challengesof this quest more deeply inour guide on how to open the palace door.
Location and Entry
Cazador’s ritual is hidden behind a magically-sealed door that requires two specific items to unlock:the Szarr Signet Ringand theKozakuran Dictionary.
With both items, you canunlock the Sinister Door.
How To Complete The Ballroom Fight
Immediately after opening the Sinister Door, the inhabitants of the ballroom willinstigate a fight with youas you enter.
Attacking anything in this fight will also likely causeVilhelm and Varderola, the servants in the main hall, to join the fight, though he is a Level 1 human and poses very little threat.
If you haveShadowheartwith you, be warned that she will need tomake checks against being Frightened by the wolvesand werewolvesin the dungeon due to her backstory.
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Werewolves' Notable Features
Multi-Attack: Wounded
If the target is Prone or if its hit points are at 60% or below, the attacking party can Multi-Attack.
Thethreewerewolves will immediately attempt to go intomelee rangein order to attack your party, targeting themost vulnerable targetwithin their reach.
They deal a lot of damage with each hit, but you’ll be able to whittle them quickly as they havelow AC, as well as low DEX and WIS saves. Be careful, as they areimmune to non-magical weaponry.
Be careful of going prone or dropping below 60 percent hitpoints near them, as theirMultiattackcan easily devastate squishier party members.
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Wolves' Notable Features
Pack Tactics
Creature hasAdvantage on Attack Rollsagainst a target ifone of its alliesiswithin 10ftof the target and isn’tIncapacitated.
Alert
You gain a+5 bonustoInitiativeand can’t beSurprised.
Surprisingly, the wolves of this fight can pose abigger threatthan the Werewolves—Alertallows them to position themselves in the fight toset up for Pack Tactics, which can be devastating to any party member who lets themselves get surrounded.
They’ll also use theSavage Howl actionto bolster every single one of their allies withtemporary hit points.
Take note of the wolves' lowIntelligence and Charisma saves, using spells that target these stats if you can.
Rats And Bats
Besides the wolves and werewolves, there will also befive Giant Ratsandfour Batsthat join the fray.
These creatures havevery few hitpointsand will generally die to any hit at this level—trynot to target them individuallybut witharea-of-effect attackswhile attacking the larger threats of the room.
How To Find The Dungeon
After defeating everything, head left from the entrance of the Ballroom to find theOffice Hall doorto thesouthwest of the Ballroom.
Immediately to your right, you’ll see aDaisthat willlead you downstairsto Cazador’s Dungeon and ritual site.
All the Crypt Gates in the area can be opened with theSzarr Family Ring—ensure that you have it in your inventory before going down there.
Immediately after descending, you’ll discover anAncient Rune Sigil(waypoint).
While Cazador is alive, however, the area will beconsidered hostile,and you won’t be able tofast travel,so make any changes you need to your partybefore descending.
Cazador’s Room/Hidden Casket
The Crypt Gate to thenorthwill lead to Cazador, but for moreinformation about the ritual, as well as more loot—including aweapon that will be excellent in the Cazador boss fight, take the doorwestfirst and open theCrypt Gatewith the Szarr signet ring.
Continue forward to findCazador’s secret room. Grab the loot fromhis Gilded Chest, including the Very RarePurple Worm Poison.
Next, use a movement feature such asMisty SteporFlyto jump down into the room below from the bridge to Cazador’s room.
Many of themetal cratesin this room containpotions and alchemical reagents.The door to thesouthwestleads into theLower City Sewers.
Head east to find aRosewood Casket.
Disarm the trap on it with aDC 15 Sleight of Hand check, and open it to find aPelor Sunblade—a +1 magic rapierthat dealsRadiant damageand hasadvantage against Undead, making it an excellent weapon in the boss fight to come.
If you are having trouble finding it, the video below details exactly how to get to theRosewood Casket:
Trapped Vampire Spawn
Return to theDais, andhead norththis time.
As you venture further into Cazador’s Dungeon, you’ll come across a few cells full oftrapped vampire spawn.
Having Astarion in your party will reveal that these spawn are the victims that Cazador had his spawn lure to him for centuries; and that they are allmarked for sacrifice for the Ascendant Ritual.
You won’t be able torescue or kill any of the spawnat this point, but having Astarion with you willtrigger a cutscenethat progresses his story greatly.
Also trapped in the cells are thechildren of the Gur tribe in Rivington, from the “Investigate Cazador’s Palace” questline—though you won’t be able to rescue or kill them either.
How To Defeat Cazador
We exploreCazador’s abilities, as well as theadditional monstershe has with him, more deeply inour guide about Cazador’s boss battle.
That said, here are some key points:
Cazador’s Defeat
After nearly dying, Cazador willreturn to his sarcophagusat the ritual site.
Cazador Fight Aftermath
Astarion Vampire Ascendant
After Cazador’s defeat, you’ll face a crucial choice if you have Astarion in your party.
You can aid him in becoming a powerfulVampire Ascendant, persuade him torenounce the power, outrightrefuse his requestleading him to depart from the party, orintervene during the ritual, which results in Astarion turning hostile.
Each choice impacts Astarion’sabilities,narrative direction, andrelationship dynamicswithin the party.We have a full guide here that provides a detailed breakdown of each option.
Vampire Spawn Decision
If you convince Astarion to spare the spawn and renounce the dark power of the ritual, you’ll have the following choices:
Astarion’sand theGur Tribe’sreactions vary with each choice.Our guide on whether you should kill Cazador’s Vampire spawn provides a more detailed explorationof each option’s implications.
Gur Tribe Encounter
Before you’re able to leave the dungeon, you’ll encounter the Gur Tribe that was mounting an attack on Cazador, from the beginning of the questline.
IfAstarion is Vampire Ascendant, you’ll need tofight your way out (or turn on Astarion and side with the Gur), as there will beno talking the Gur downfrom trying to kill Astarion.
If Astarionturned down the ritual, however, the Gur will be relieved. Regardless of what you chose to do with the seven thousand spawn, the Gur will thank you for your help in taking down Cazador andjoin you in your fight against the Absolute,updating the “Gather Your Allies” quest.
