In this guide, you will learn how to beat Raphael while playing Baldur’s Gate 3. He is found in the House of Hope stronghold during Act 3.
Defeating Raphael allows you to free Prince Orpheus from the Astral Prism and recover the Orphic Hammer.
How to Prepare to Fight Raphael – BG3
Raphael is one of the most challenging boss fights in Baldur’s Gate 3 and demands you have proper equipment and allies to give yourself the best possible advantage.
Allies
Make sure to free Hope to have access to her spell, “Revoke Guest Status”, which is critical during this fight. It can remove one enemy from the fight and be cast twice. This allows two enemies to be freely removed from the field.
Increase your chances of Persuasion before entering the fight, as you must beat a DC30 Persuasion check against Yurgir to recruit him. Yurgir offers powerful melee combat abilities that can directly deal damage to Yurgir.
Bringing allies with Enhance Ability, Friends, Guidance, and any other related ability helps. You can also make use of the Envoy’s Amulet.
Spells / Magic / Equipment
Equip weapons and spells that deal Bludgeoning or Force damage. Every pillar in the room is vulnerable.
Unequip weapons and spells that deal Radiant damage, including equipment with passive abilities.
Be sure to bring a party member who knows Counterspell and pre-cast Protection from Good and Evil on your weakest character before the fight. You should also pre-cast Death Ward on weaker characters before the fight.
How to Beat Raphael – BG3
Dividing the fight against Raphael into a series of stages is the best approach. There are three named characters Raphael, Korilla, and Yurgir. In addition, there are six Vengeful Cambions that can all cast powerful Rays of Fire spells, use Disarming attacks, and Rush attacks with +1 Tridents.
Defeat the Cambions and Korilla
If you pass the DC30 persuasion check to recruit Yurgir, you will only need to fight the Cambions and Korilla. Otherwise, you will also need to deal with Yurgir, who is the main concern.
Recruit / Banish Yurgir
Fortunately, if you have Hope, have her use the Revoke Guest Status spell to banish Yurgir from the fight.
Kill Korilla
Korilla only has 24HP and poison resistance. Defeat her using a single party member while the rest focus on the cambions.
Kill Cambions
Use Counterspell on the attacks against the cambions on Turn One to prevent the Rays of Fire from easily defeating your party.
It’s recommended to use Force, Necrotic, or Thunder damage against them due to their lack of resistance against these types.
Keep the party spread out, and prevent party members from lining up unless you have a Polearm Master or Sentinel. This is due to the Cambions’ ability to attack in straight lines using Rush.
What’s more, casting Bless or Haste for this portion of the fight is a major bonus. This helps protect from Disarming Strike, where having to re-equip a weapon takes one full action.
During Turn Two, use Hope to banish a cambion. Raphael will start attacking with powerful Fire spells. Avoid using Counterspell as it will likely fail.
Have a powerful healer to keep your party alive in addition to Hope.
Destroy The Soul Pillars
The Soul Pillars can be destroyed with Bludgeoning and Force attacks. Divide your party among the pillars to start taking them down. Avoid any that Raphael is not currently standing beside.
Keep your healer(s) in the center of the room to be within reach of all party members at any time.
After destroying a pillar, move characters from one pillar to another. Ignore Raphael and continue healing from his damage.
When you finally destroy all soul pillars, send the melee characters towards Raphael, and keep ranged at a distance.
Defeat Raphael, Master of the House
Stats
| HP | 666 |
| AC | 27 |
| Speed | 9m |
| Size/Weight | Medium/80kg (Fiend) |
| Str | 18 (+4) |
| Dex | 28 (+9) |
| Con | 17 (+3) |
| Int | 14 (+2) |
| Wis | 13 (+1) |
| Cha | 19 (+4) |
| Resistances | Nonmagical weapon attacks, Lightning, Cold, Poison |
| Immunities | Fire |
Feats and Conditions
| Darkvision & Devil’s Sight | Raphael can see 24m in the dark – magical and nonmagical. |
| Fiendish Blessing | Raphael gains +2 to his AC. |
| Infernal Retribution | When Raphael succeeds a Saving Throw, the caster of a spell receives Burning for 3 turns. |
| Magic Resistance | 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. |
Attacks
| Invocation of Eternal Debt | Expend a soul charge to summon an Eternal Debtor minion. |
| Incinerate | 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. |
| Unarmed Strike | Deals 5 damage with his fists. |
| Hellfire Inferno (Ascended Form Only) | Acts as a powerful cast of Fireball. 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) | Deals 10d8 Fire damage in exchange for 2 souls consumed. It pushes back the target by 5m. |
Phase 1
Raphael has 666 HP, high AC, and major damage capacity.
Activate as many Fire resistance effects as possible. Use Force, Necrotic, and Thunder damage against him. Send melee characters directly in so Raphael gains a Disadvantage on ranged attacks.
Raphael has several weaknesses, the most notable of which include:
- Susceptible to Polymorph. You can turn Raphael into a sheep at any time to prevent him from casting Fire spells.
- Susceptible to Stun-Lock. Use abilities like Hold Monster, Otto’s Irresistible Dance, and Tasha’s Hideous Laughter.
- Susceptible to Silence. This locks Raphael out from using spells and he can be locked in Silence with Difficult Terrain effects.
- Spell Reflection. Most of Raphael’s attacks are ranged. Use Reflective Shell or Globe of Invulnerability to shelter your spellcasters.
Phase 2
Once Raphael reaches around 50% health, he will transform into his Ascended form. Almost immediately after, he will cast Hellfire Inferno on the first turn.
Retreat with any characters who cannot survive the damage, keeping at least a single melee character beside him.
Use every feat and spell you have at your disposal. Close in with melee characters and keep ranged safe.
Loot his corpse to acquire powerful legendary armor pieces then speak with Hope and Yurgir if they were recruited.
Baldur’s Gate 3 is a role-playing game developed by Larion Studios and released in 2023 for PC, macOS, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S.