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Cazador is the notorioustrue vampireofBaldur’s Gate 3. Your own companion,Astarion, builds up the threat Cazador poses from the momenthis own identity as a Vampire Spawn is revealed. Every danger Astarion warned of is true.
More than just a true vampire, Cazador is apowerful spellcasterand will assault you with elemental damage. If that wasn’t bad enough, you must battle him during a ritual that empowers him beyond his normal limits. It’s a dynamic arena that will manipulate how you can fight. With somecareful planning and shrewd strategy, you can make it to the dawn.
Updated by Mitchell Reid on June 27, 2025: This guide has been updated to include new changes introduced in post-release patches to the Cazador boss battle.
Baldur’s Gate 3
Battle Preparations
Cazador has a lot of tools to end you, but thanks to his ritual, he deals extra necrotic damage for every one of his spawn channeling power. This makesnecrotic resistance elixirsa must. If you can’t get your party completely covered, or you have someone that already resists necrotic damage, thenElixirs of Guileful Movementare the next best thing.
As the master of House Szarr, Cazador has undead ghouls that can paralyze your party with their attacks, bats to swarm you, and werewolves to deal extra damage. Preparinghigh damage AoEswill be helpful for clearing them out, but spells that canavoid damaging alliestake priority.Brew some Potions of Speed, or have a caster have aHaste spellready. Lastly,prepare the Daylight spell. Vampires hate daylight.
If your idea was to start with a surprise attack, be aware that is harder to do. In patch 4, Larian extended Cazador’s sight range, making him able to see you from further away. He can also turn into a swarm of bats and fly for greater mobility.
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How To Stop The Ritual
Theritual of the Vampire Ascendantis underway as you combat Cazador. You can see all seven of his Vampire Spawn channeling power into runes on the ground. Cazador will have a status detailing how many he is drawing power from at any given moment. If he draws power from all seven runesthree times, he will become theVampire Ascendant, and you will lose.
Larian studios wanted to ensure ascended Cazador was one of the strongest foes you face. Not only will Astarion be permanently dead if the ritual succeeds, Cazador will have permanent Legendary Resistance. This boosts all his saving throws by 10.He’s not failing anything.
You can prevent him from gaining power in a few ways. First is to remove Astarion from the ritual circle. He is the farthest away of all spawn, and you need an action to help him out. Grant your fastest remaining party memberHasteand have themrush over to pull Astarion out. Patch four made this a bit easier, as the default action when clicking on restrained Astarion is to help him.
For all the others, you have two options:
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How To Defeat Cazador
Cazador is undead. All the specialized tools you have to slay undead will work on him as well.Having a ClericuseTurn Undeadis unlikely to affect him, but it is useful against his allies. Use it to isolate him.
At the end of his turns, Cazador will usually enter hismist form to gain damage resistanceand 70 temporary hit points. Counter this withDaylight; it forces him out of mist form and deals 20 radiant damage at the start of every turn. Pickyour melee party memberthat you want to stick close to Cazador and enchant them with the spell. Daylight will move with them as they chase Cazador, and he won’t be able to escape it as he would with a static area.
Keep ranged party members on the runes to prevent Cazador from gaining more power. Using summons will let you occupy more runes at once. Without his mist form, Cazador doesn’t have that much health to endure an onslaught of attacks, but he will attempt to stay distant. Unfortunately, with the release of patch four, Cazador remembered he couldtransform into bats and fly. This change prevents him from being thrown from his ritual dias to his death.He’ll just pop back up safe and sound. No longer can this climactic fight be ended in one round because Cazador lingered too close to an edge.
Cazador is arrogant, but you can nullify his best defense from the very first turn. Don’t let him complete the ritual, and your victory is assured.
