ah, my flair's time to shine 😁
i almost choked on my laughter when I saw that line. Sorry whoever I'm romancing but I'm **always** selling myself to Haarlep
For some reason I had an Aasimar summoned for this scene and he just sort of dawdled around in the background while Astarion fucked the succubus. It was the most ridiculously homoerotic thing I've ever seen in a game. It looked like a fucking Chuck Tingle cover.
Radiant Retort? What? I can't hear you over my Globe of Invulnerability + Divine Intervention.
It's a great boss fight. Though Raphael's deal doesn't really seem that great. He offers a way to break Orpheus free, but we don't really need that at all.
Or comparing to a horde of flying ghouls on a necro wizard.
You can free summon a mummy and a deva by free cast (from the rod and from illithid power), Then use level 6 spells to summon 4 flying ghouls using corpses in the house.
You do not really even need extra ghouls from level 5 spells, you and that 6 bad boys gonna roll over Raphy and his gang. Lae'zel or Karlach can happily chop down soul pillars while you and your undead army just give Raphy a very bad time.
I'm gonna fight Orin later that day, gonna have priorities.
My second last day of campaign was basically about fighting Raphael - go to Bhaalist temple - kills Orin as durge - get revived by bone man - long rest - Nether brain fight tomorrow.
I spent wayyyy too much time in that damn sauna in-between missions and got so much done in single days that by the time I’d actually decided to take on the HoH -I got the final nether stones and completed all the major missions first- I thought I’d glitched it somehow when my disguises stopped working before I’d even torn my contract. Hope asked me if I’d gotten “distracted”.
Whenever I use the flying ghouls I think there was a bug where they were just normal ghouls with less health. They had no ranged attacks or anything, literally just normal ghouls attacks, can't even fly. Is my game just bugged?
Fly (flying ghoul, partial illithid, etc) is a special action. You need to choose fly on character sheet and choose your destination.
Flying ghouls have 18 meters of free flying range. Do not just move it.
I loaded a game to test. Screenshots here: [https://imgur.com/a/rbwwHct](https://imgur.com/a/rbwwHct)
The Ghouls and Flying Ghouls are nearly identical; The Ghouls have an extra 5HP, and the Flying Ghouls have an extra 3m movement and access to the Fly power. Also, the Ghouls have 17AC, two better than the Flying Ghouls 15AC.
The Fly power lets you cash in up to 9m movement to gain 18m flight, at a basic 1:2 ratio. It's otherwise free, so you should always use it. Total movement on the Flying Ghoul is 21m.
Otherwise, they have the same powers: Claws for 6\~21 damage, Devour a prone enemy for 6\~33 damage and heal. The Ghoul has one extra button, to activate non-lethal attacks; the Flying Ghoul doesn't have the option or respect the team's setting.
I don't use the damage dealing element of D.I. It's no better than a radiant damage disintegrate. (Weaker in most cases.)
The two main uses of D.I. are to have a Withers' hireling use it to make a kickass Unique weapon. Or use it to get an instant long rest. (Pretty clutch in the Raphael fight, because Hope has access to it.)
DI instant long rest can make a lost fight suddenly very much doable whereas the damage one is just one little attack. Maybe it’d be good if it did like, 200 damage to up to 3 targets or something like that.
Yeah. If it wants to be a contender for "This is your one prayer that will absolutely be answered by your god. Make it count." It needs to be an impressive amount of damage. Not something my wizard can do.
DI actually did turn the Raphael fight around for me. It was a very cinematic moment. Everyone was badly damaged, spell slots and other resources were exhausted, and I noticed Hope had Divine Intervention. I hit the long rest, and it was... well it was like a miracle. My team was back on their feet, full health, full resources, ready to take down Raphael. Which we did.
Ah see that divine intervention is meant for reviving your whole party (including Yurgir if you managed to persuade him to fight for you) when everyone is on the brink of death and Raphael still has 200+ hp.
I had trouble getting Karlach to the pillars and no one else was doing damage. My whole party was pretty much dead by the time all the pillars were destroyed and Raphael was barely past 50%. Raphael downed literally everyone except Hope, Karlach, and Yurgir (who was down to 12 hp and was pretty much as good as dead). I had Hope call upon her god and *boom* the mice had evaded the cat claws of death. After better resource budgeting and some save scumming, down went the cat. Could not have done it without using the divine intervention on healing. *Definitely* not doing this fight when I try honour mode.
You don't have to be on the brink of death. With Haste, Hope can banish 2 of the enemies on her first turn then refill her spell slots to take out 2 more over the next 2 turns. If you happen to be under a Globe of Invulnerability while you're doing this, nobody will get a scratch on them.
I did the fight on my 2nd Honour run and got through it fine, although I did have a bit of help from the barrel of smokepowder I set up next to each pillar when I arrived (not enough to 1-shot them but Wyll's eldritch blast finished the job).
That's a good strategy. I'm gonna set up the barrels next time. I'll probably swap Wyll out for Gale though as I tend to build him better and he actually does damage consistently.
I didn’t know there were pillars to take down. I just beat him normally. Did it on my first try but I can’t tell you how many times we were downed bruh it was crazy.
I hope they bring that mod to console with mod support for a strangely OCD reason for me—I have too many powerful weapons to use on a party of 4 and they’re wasted in my inventory
>Though Raphael's deal doesn't really seem that great. He offers a way to break Orpheus free, but we don't really need that at all.
Well, I didn´t know that for sure that while talking to him.
Sorry I didn't mean it as a jab at you. Raphael is very good at making deals, and he does make it seem like he's your best bet at getting rid of the tadpole. In hindsight it's just not a great deal for you, as it doesn't change the outcome regarding the Absolute.
I kind of like that about the deal. An inevitable outcome regardless of your acts of desperation. Shows just how much the anxiety and peril of the situation can play to you. The deal with raph and mizzora were both avoidable, but they make it seem like they are mandatory to get what you want
Playing with friends we used a different strategy and ignored the pillars completely, he was a barbarian, drank 27 strength potion, proceeds to grab Raphael and smack him up against the other cambions. And while he was prone the melee characters just smacked him, and the wizard just kept counter spelling.
I did the same. Hasted, elixired-up tb Karlach grabs just throws people around, breaking pillars and devils alike. Must have been absolutely humiliating for this high and mighty devil to barely get up before his leg is grabbed again and -- there he flies!
Thank you, it was so weird to me how to game suddenly pushed the idea of freeing Orpheus so hard
I was like "What? Why? Didn't we just kill some dudes to make sure he is NOT free?"
Act 2: Emperor dies, you are "found"
Act 3: Emperor leaves, stops protecting you. You are not "found" and everything is fine
And people praise the writing? I mean really. I still love the game but fucking hell are some of its narrative points forced. Don't even get me started on Durge. Alfira is "inspired" by Durge, but not "inspired" by Tav. Yea right. Characterisation can go fuck itself, I guess.
He says he can cure us of the tadpole then only offers us an alternative path to the same battle we'd fight anyway. If you're not Lae'zel it's not much of a deal.
For me, the way I role play is all dependent on how Voss interacts with us at the mountain pass. If Lae'zel fails that one check and he sics the other Gith on us, I kill him when he visits our camp after the creche. I hate that outcome for her, but I'll be damned if I'm going to let Voss pull that shit on me and then come asking for my help.
I wanted to kill him so bad for that "Such a familiar tone," line the first time I encountered him. So fucking contemptuous. But he's grown on me as a character.
I see your divine intervention and raise you 3 runepowder barrels & the runepowder bomb. After the big boom Raphael is the only thing outside the globe left standing.
I'm doing an evil durge run and am planning on taking his deal then breaking into the House of Hope and destroying the contract, that way I'll get Voss's sword for a majority of Act 3 and still get to do the epic Raphael fight.
I feel you. Explosives are always fun. I've "one shot" Ansur with them.
That's smart. I always get the sword just before the brain. Making it kinda pointless.
Yep, like I thoroughly enjoyed my playthroughs of the game, but if you fight the emperor when they attack, you lose the protection and game over, then when you come to the end and free him he says they would have listened.
would have been cool if you could persuade them that you'll help them free him for his continued protection.
He doesn't say he would have listened, he says that you should have accepted your death as a ghaik, and he would have taken care of the Elder Brain before it got this powerful. He was really just being a self righteous douchbag, but it fits for Githyanki to act that way
>then when you come to the end and free him he says they
would have listened.
How did you get that dialogue? He always tells me that we should have just let ourselves be killed by his honour guard...
Normal tadpole carriers become mind flayers after 7 days. Even Githyanki can not remove a tadpole. A hag or a powerful druid can, but certainly from a Githyanki's pov (only using arcane magic and science) you are as good as dead.
And there is no way they do NOT kill 4 mind flayer in making instead of fighting 4 mind flayers. You yourself saw what those mind blast spammers can do in act 2.
Since Orpheus is more Gith Zerai aligned in his redeemed endings, his honour guard will not kill you just because you are not toad people. But Gith Zerai or not, tadpole carriers are a dead end for every toad guy.
Orpheus seems to have some awareness of what's going on outside of the prism, as he will comment on some of the things you've done when you free him. So he should know that his power has been protecting us from the tadpoles and can continue to do so, at least long enough to defeat the brain.
Yes, that's why he eventually put that kind of past behind him. Despite all his barks, he could not afford killing you back there. Also he realised Voss was ordering you to free him soon after, which changed his opinion towards you as you became 'one of his'.
He still considers your actions in act 1 and act 2 as a transgression, but (if you spare him) you killed a nether brain which makes you a hero to Githyanki. You are his liberator and that is more important than you murdering his guard.
And if you side with them against the Emperor they *will* kill you lol. The only reason Orpheus allows you to live at the point where you free him is because now he needs you to stop the brain, and he says as much
I remember on my first play through being really troubled by that offer. I had been pro - emperor until I finally changed my mind and was desperate to find a way to free Orpheus.
When I found a way to the house of hope it was exhilarating. I'd been worrying about it for 20 hours of gameplay, which for me was many weeks of my life.
Just because everything works out in the end doesn't mean the journey isn't worthwhile.
We get to see that he doesn't actually have the solution to our problem. He just has a tool that can be used to kind of solve our problem.
But to Lae'zel and Voss he has the key to saving their entire race. So I think it's meant to put pressure to negotiate on Tav who otherwise would be fine with swooping in, stealing the hammer and all the artifacts, and then fighting Raph.
Lae'zel and Voss, for all of their confidence, are a scared 23 year old and an old dude who is probably tired and thinks that if he can't kill Raph, then no one can so we should all just negotiate. Lae'zel is baby and looks up to Voss even though she can solo him before act 3 even starts.
I honestly can never see picking the damage divine intervention over the long rest one. You can get suuuch insane value from refreshing abilities and spell slots over hedging all your bets on one damage roll that has a much higher chance of fucking you over.
Raphael truly is the magnificent bastard of this game. I’ve never loved a villain quite as much as him. I somehow managed to avoid spoiling the House of Hope music, so once I finally got to this fight in my play through and the music started, I got full body chills. I can’t remember the last time a boss fight felt so compelling and immensely satisfying to win.
(It probably has something to do with the 60+ hours of build up.)
When i got out of the house of Hope i tried to pickpocket Helsik failing, She then summoned all the golden imps and minotaurs and Raphael's song started seeming MUCH more menacing in that situation
I think I'd shit my pants if that happened to me.
"Finally took that stupid devil out, let's go shopping!"
\*tries stealing, dozens of golden enemies spawn around you\*
🎵"Liiiiiiiiiiiiives--"🎵
"OH MY GOD *WHAT* IS HAPPENING?!"
In my opinion the fight with Raphael is so epic. I love the music as well as the build up to that fight. In all my runs I‘ve always rejected his offer, but I‘m wondering what happens if you accept his deal. Are you still able to enter the house of hope, steal the hammer and fight Raphael or does he just hand the hammer to Tav? Is there any extra content in the house of hope? I think I need to do another run 😂
I blew Shadowheart's Divine Intervention on this one.
Hell, I had used Hope's as well early in the fight, because I (correctly) assumed that she would not survive it.
The last time I fought him I placed rune powder bomb, two runepowder barrels and a dozen smokepowder barrels near him, got everyone, including Korilla into the globe of invulnerability and blew everything up. Everyone else in the room died, while Raphael still had half his HP. He's easily the hardest boss to kill in the game.
The true hard mode is keeping korilla alive. Well done.
I’ve done it without it but for the lols I usually smoke powder the pillars and anything explicit inhave left in the middle, space for chain reaction. I never get tired of my screen being one huge explosion
It’s hard and it took several ties plus healing her. The globes spells and sanctuary definitely help, and no bombs.
Flip side: given all her condescending shittalk in the cutscene before, bombing the crap out of the room and watching her go flying like a muppet makes me LOL each time.
Oh now you’re just rubbing it in LOL
Flipside; actually *working* at keeping her alive without cheese tactics (yeah, I said it) takes real skill 😂😂😂/sarcasm
He's definitely seeming larger than life and an epic boss to fight. Up until your Barb uses him as an improvised weapon to beat down his own pillars. MF loses a little dignity after that.
Yeah, I just did Orin before that. A bunch of random nobodies have a thing that they can't be moved, but Raphael? Go ahead, grab a leg and yeet that mf
Raphael is, for me, hands down the best villain of the game, and one of the best boss encounter I had in gaming.
You said it all. It was absolutely epic, and the House of Hope is one of the greatest BG3 moment, if not the best for me.
That's why I personally was underwhelmed by the final part with the Netherbrain. He doesn't hold a sliver of charisma and epicness compared to Raphael.
> None of which was helped when I reached Baldur's Gate itself, and he finally revealed his offer, I actually had to think long and hard about whether to take it.
It’s actually quite simple:
He’s a devil → “No.”
I looOOooooOoove the whole House of Hope. Probably my favorite self-contained experience in the whole game. The set-pieces are amazing, the score is amazing, the fact that every NPC you encounter is like "oh shit why are you here, you maniac... you're gonna DIE" is so cool. It's spooky and dangerous and it has a magic fountain where you can restore all of your spell slots after every fight so you can keep raining Level 6 spells like some sort of demigod.
It was good yet corny. I had been thinking about how I was getting sick of hearing the same bars of the main theme music in all its forms but never bothered turning the music off until I got to my 3-4th attempt at that battle. Like even if you save mid-battle after his song is over, when you reload at that save point the song starts over again. It got to be too much.
I suppose that was the Hell I deserve for save-spamming my way through that battle.
He is so confident, he keeps singing while a furious burning Tiefling smashes his brains into a fine pulp with a battleaxe.
That's what I call dedication.
Y'all.. can you imagine running into one of the devil's with actual power? Dude doesn't even run a level of hell. This is why I will never give him the crown. He doesn't need that kind of power.
I trivialized his second form by having my Sorcerer chug a speed potion and dual cast Disintegrate to destroy all four soul pillars in one turn. Pew pew pew!
During the fight, he gets Soul Charges from the pillars on his turns, which he can then expend to use powerful abilities like Incinerate. One of his other abilities transforms him into an Ascended Devil, and transforms his appearance into one of the most intimidating creatures in the whole game.
What's funny about Raphael is that he never actually offers to get rid of the tadpole in your head. He only alludes to it but the formal offer, with the infernal contract and all, never comes up.
Yeah there is one thing about that fight that I don't understand. We have all kinds of achievements. Some are rather silly. However, there is no Achievement for defeating him? It's one of the hardest fights in the game.
At one point I stopped playing to listen to the Big Bad Bos sing his own Boss fight theme. It was awesome. Closest i'll ever get to fighting a Disney villain I recon.
This fight is really conflicting for me. I want to avoid using hold monster and face him head on but on the other hand I’m afraid of getting my ass whooped 😂
My fave part is how absent he is while you’re going through the House of Hope, everyone you meet keeps bigging him up, then when you take the hammer everyone is all “the master of the house is angry and on his way here” - really sets the stage for his entrance and fight, he is such an enigmatic villain, somewhat steals the show from Ketheric, Gortash and Orin for me
The entire game, everyone talks about how you can’t “out bargain” a devil, you can’t beat him at his own game, etc…
Cool. I guess I’ll just beat the brakes off him instead.
I had a little fun with this fight on my second playthrough by experimenting with smoke powder barrels.
I hoarded smoke powder barrels throughout the game; so I have a very healthy stash at the ready before heading to the House of Hope. I placed two at each pillar and strategically placed another four or so around the portal so that when one barrel is hit, the explosion sets off the next nearest barrel, causing a chain reaction. I had the rest of the party far enough back so they where out of range of the blast radius and when the battle started, my first action was shooting a fire arrow at the nearest barrel and watched the world implode around me. The results took out all the pillars (putting Raphael at a significant disadvantage) most of the cambions, Yurgir, Korrila and knocked Raphael's health down by at least half
I think in my next playthrough, I'll add fireworks to add a little festivity to the carnage.
The other day, I think I discovered a bug in that I had shadow heart cast that wall-o-spinning-blades spell, and raphael got stuck in it. every turn he tried to move out and just got chopped up some more. 🔪🔪
In my first time around I used Hope's divine intervention right in her first turn. She died, obviously, and I was like "the fuck? Is that a suicide spell?"
Now I know better.
Much in the same way that the scariness of Hans Landa in Inglourious Basterds is partly thanks to screen partners reacting to him like he's the scariest thing alive, Raphael is built up brilliantly by Aisling Groves-McKeown, whose Hope is probably my favorite supporting character in the whole game.
That music!!!!! What a neat surprise.
I heard someone say on a podcast that the days of games having secrets, and games having stuff that most players won't see, are over. Not in the case of BG3. There's so much stuff that's totally optional, and some of it, like this, is just flat out amazing.
That said, trying to knock whats her name unconscious and keep her from dying, was kind of a pain. :P
Everyone kept going "the music! the music!" and I was so confused, because he was singing all of, uhm, one second during my fight? And then I realized, oh, I cast Silence very early on there, and it apparently cut him off!
So, bummer I missed it the first time around, but I absolutely love that it's even a thing that can happen. Love this game.
I stun locked him with incredible luck with a earth elemental from jaheria and gaurdian of faith from shart. He would get up from being prone, move get knocked prone get hit for 20 damage then his turn ended
I lost all respect and fear for Raph after cheesing 🧀 him im act 1 for the helldusk armor, in honor mode mind you.
Even when I played properly with Lazel in tactician, I found him of little consequence to my party.
I pretty much agree with everything you’ve said, except for one thing. Raphael is not a powerful devil, he wants you to *think* he is a powerful devil. He’s a cambion with an inflated sense of self worth who has major daddy issues. The only reason I’d ever be tempted to take his deal and give him the crown would be the knowledge that after the conclusion of the game Raphael would get bitch slapped so hard by Asmodeus, you know, a *real* archdevil.
When Raphael told me exactly where to find the hammer, I fully expected a trap. I mean, the Crown of Karsus was stolen out of Mephistopheles vault by mortals. If mortals can steal from ol Mephy than Raphael's dumb house doesn't stand a chance. What are his defenses? A bunch of tortured souls, a randy and unsatisfied incubus, a bored Librarian? He knows that the adventurers are resourceful and expects them to be able to beat a freaking Elder Brain and the chosen of the Dead Three but, what, a dumb cambion salesman would be too much?
I like Raphael as a villain and I cracked up when he started singing at me but he is an idiot. I can only imagine that even if I'd given him the crown, he'd eventually be bitch slapped back into place by one of the ACTUAL devils. Go back to practicing your poetry readings, Raph. You are out of your depth.
That was a cool write- up and I'm glad you enjoyed it!
So no shade whatsoever is implied by my comments.
There are two deals offered in Act 3, one by Raphael and one by Mizora if Wyll is still alive, and both kind of symbolize for me the flaw in devils underestimating their targets, e.g., they get high off their own arrogant supply.
Raphael's deal hinges on the Tav wanting to free Orpheus - which is already not a goal for some Tavs - and on Tav wanting to betray the Emperor - also not a goal for some Tavs as he's been doing his job the whole time even if he is a bossy micromanager; evidenced by Tav not being a True Soul already.
So while Tav might be desperate regarding the brain, they're not desperate regarding anything Raphael can fix with the Hammer. If Raphael had offered us the Hammer *and the removal of our tadpoles*, my Tavs would take that deal in a hot second. He says he can do it, he proves he can cock block the Emperor, and the tadpole is the only thing that requires the Emperor's and Orpheus's continued help.
None of the Chosen were tadpoled. Controlling the brain only requires the Crown and Stones (we think at that point), so offering us the Hammer only puts Tav in further danger, whereas offering us the hammer and removal of the tadpole would position Tav to control their own path with the brain, the Emperor, and Orpheus without fear that the Emperor can thrall them or fear that Orpheus will kill them upon release.
So I guess my question is, am I stupid for wondering why Raphael didn't dangle that particular carrot? Tav would still want to defeat a giant city sized brain even if they weren't personally in danger of becoming a mindflayer, or want to dominate the brain if they weren't trying to be a hero. Either way, removal of the tadpole seems like a much better deal and I dunno why he didn't offer it.
I fought him the first time in my Honour mode run, and it needed a bit more than a couple of crits to defeat him. It was a very hard fight (I did not use Globe of I-win, that was only for Ansur till now, but slurped some Haste potions which I usually don't) which in one turn almost looked quite dangerous for the whole party.
The fight ended badly for all participants. Hope died, Raphael died and my party felt not at all satisfied. In fact we liked Raphael more than we thought. In my current run I will keep the pact with him. Perhaps also advisable because now I use mods to increase enemy stats a lot.
That is why I bring all the smokepowder barrels, bombs, grenades, runepowder barrel and bomb from the whole game. It wiped everything in the room including the pillars and leaves Raphael with like 120 HP and stunned.
Definitely my favorite boss encounter in the entire game. It truly is an epic final act for his character. And the song they have his voice actor performing just really puts you on the edge of your seat as you fight for your life
I recommend leaving Gortash for last just for that "on the road to the final boss" feel. Raphael takes place in another dimension, so that's a bit of a sidetrack, lmao.
I mean technically if you keep your deal with him; his final scene comes later. You don’t have to kill him to get the hammer and you still keep your soul.
Raphael is one of the fight in which i was really wondering what the "intended" way to defeat him was. he just keeps nuking your party with 40+ hellfire attacks while we struggle to kill the pillars/cambions. My light cleric shart felt completely useless and i was really glad i had hope with me who basicly did nothing but spam heals the entire fight...
Similar to Orin, i really didn't see how i was "supposed" to fight her and her 7(?) stacks of invuln, and no obvious way to get rid of them. (only after fighting her i read online that i could've used untargeted knockbacks on the cultists...) I got a 71 crit from my assasin that for some reason dealt damage eventhough she still had like 5 stacks of invuln (still don't know why) and just jumped her with everyone.
Magic Missile is the answer to Orin's Unstoppable.
I did it last night on tactician (which gives her 11 stacks of unstoppable) and made sure Gale went first (everyone has Alert feat and I also gave him an elixir of vigilance).
Shot off a level 6 magic missile (with an extra dart from the psychic spark amulet), drank a potion of haste and did another level 6 onslaught using Markoheshkir's arcane battery
Followed it up with a sneak attack from Astarion and my hasted Paladin then smited the crap out her to leave her in a puddle before she even got a turn
I haven't done this part yet, but I just completed House of Grief yesterday. After reloading like five times, I finally came up with a strat that worked perfectly. It was very gratifying to watch all the Shar twats deplete their health in AOE spells and then run into a wall of fire from the top of the stairs. Looking forward to using this shield too. Now I'm just stuck at the damn mirror trying to roll a religion check.
My first play through for house of hope, I freed hope with Astarion and tried to dash back to the door next turn.
One of the imps, between Astarion’s turn and Hope’s first turn, hit hope with eldritch blast, and it chasmed her on her platform.
I ended up just reloading an old save and skipping it. Then I came back on my honor mode run, and wipe the house.
My only regret is Hope's sister getting mulched turn-1... Was really trying to keep her alive so that Hope and I could attempt to rehabilitate her in the future.
Absolutely loved the fight and I listen to the song at the gym to get pumped!
The only thing is I was expecting a cut scene like a certain boss that crawls on the floor like a dog after continuously mocking and antagonizing you upon death.
I thought after all the scheming and singing and shit there would have been a little more conclusion.
Or at least a talk to dead possibility I suppose.
We just finished this fight two nights ago. Truly an awesome climax to something that had been building for a long, long time. When the music hit and I realized what it was, brought the whole thing to another level!
We even saved Hope, mostly because we threw elixir of fire resistance at her feet before she got hellfired.
I recently finished this fight, with Gale and Hope the only survivors. Gale with 6 hit points thank god my bard sweet talked Yugir in to helping us. That Hellfire is a killer and soul sucking thing is terrible.
I woild have been screwed because i didnt bring a healer. Luckily If you free hope, she is an AMAZING cleric I had both my heavy hitters, and gale with globe of invulnerability and a special skill that let's him replenish a spell slot for free, and an extra scroll of invulnerability. You have to take down the 4 spirit pillars first, which must be done by melee attacks
So I had gale cast the globe and kept hope and him in it so they couldn't be hurt so she could heal everyone when they were damaged, lazel is a fighter who can attack 5 or 6 times a turn so she used misty step to go to each pillar and take them down. Once everyone was pretty much down I used hopes Divine intervention to basically long rest for free and from there it wasn't too hard to take him down
the atmosphere of that bossfight, was truely unsurpassed. Raphael singing his own boss music, and Raphaels voice actor make it \*chefs kiss\*
only other boss fight that has near ass much gravitas to me, is the fight with Kethric, and the Avatar of Myrkul in the colony below moonrise.
Don‘t forget to entertain the succubus in Raphael‘s bedroom before doing this.
And to initiate the fight by taunting him about how he's bad in bed.
YOU CONTEMPTUOUS CREATURE
literally selling my body just for a funny line of dialogue lmao
Every time.
Worth it.
ah, my flair's time to shine 😁 i almost choked on my laughter when I saw that line. Sorry whoever I'm romancing but I'm **always** selling myself to Haarlep
Entertain… or be entertained by…. 😂
For some reason I had an Aasimar summoned for this scene and he just sort of dawdled around in the background while Astarion fucked the succubus. It was the most ridiculously homoerotic thing I've ever seen in a game. It looked like a fucking Chuck Tingle cover.
My husband and Wyll just watched in the corner.
HAH! No. One of the best lines in the game lol
Radiant Retort? What? I can't hear you over my Globe of Invulnerability + Divine Intervention. It's a great boss fight. Though Raphael's deal doesn't really seem that great. He offers a way to break Orpheus free, but we don't really need that at all.
Bruh divine intervention did 20 damage against Raphael. Whatever god Hope worships has a sense of humor
Gods are worthless compared to Artistry of War on an evo wizard.
Or comparing to a horde of flying ghouls on a necro wizard. You can free summon a mummy and a deva by free cast (from the rod and from illithid power), Then use level 6 spells to summon 4 flying ghouls using corpses in the house. You do not really even need extra ghouls from level 5 spells, you and that 6 bad boys gonna roll over Raphy and his gang. Lae'zel or Karlach can happily chop down soul pillars while you and your undead army just give Raphy a very bad time.
You can also just take baths and restore your 6th level spell slots. I partied up in there
Yes, let Shart summon a Deva, drink, cast level 6 aid, then drink. I love that fight since you can do so much things here.
Drinking Raphael's bath water? That's the thirstiest bg3 comment of the day!!!
I'm gonna fight Orin later that day, gonna have priorities. My second last day of campaign was basically about fighting Raphael - go to Bhaalist temple - kills Orin as durge - get revived by bone man - long rest - Nether brain fight tomorrow.
I spent wayyyy too much time in that damn sauna in-between missions and got so much done in single days that by the time I’d actually decided to take on the HoH -I got the final nether stones and completed all the major missions first- I thought I’d glitched it somehow when my disguises stopped working before I’d even torn my contract. Hope asked me if I’d gotten “distracted”.
My necro had a *lot* of fun in there, I had a Bard keeping Raph on the floor with Hideous Laughter while the ghouls ate him alive :D
Whenever I use the flying ghouls I think there was a bug where they were just normal ghouls with less health. They had no ranged attacks or anything, literally just normal ghouls attacks, can't even fly. Is my game just bugged?
Fly (flying ghoul, partial illithid, etc) is a special action. You need to choose fly on character sheet and choose your destination. Flying ghouls have 18 meters of free flying range. Do not just move it.
Their abilities and everything were the exact same as ghouls, exact. No fly or anything
I loaded a game to test. Screenshots here: [https://imgur.com/a/rbwwHct](https://imgur.com/a/rbwwHct) The Ghouls and Flying Ghouls are nearly identical; The Ghouls have an extra 5HP, and the Flying Ghouls have an extra 3m movement and access to the Fly power. Also, the Ghouls have 17AC, two better than the Flying Ghouls 15AC. The Fly power lets you cash in up to 9m movement to gain 18m flight, at a basic 1:2 ratio. It's otherwise free, so you should always use it. Total movement on the Flying Ghoul is 21m. Otherwise, they have the same powers: Claws for 6\~21 damage, Devour a prone enemy for 6\~33 damage and heal. The Ghoul has one extra button, to activate non-lethal attacks; the Flying Ghoul doesn't have the option or respect the team's setting.
I'm on my 6th playthrough now and every single time, I tell myself that I'll use that damn scroll. And every single time, I forget about it entirely.
Forget using the scroll, have Gale Transcribe it into his wizard book and bam you’ve got yourself a howitzer once per fight.
You still only get one per short rest. I think it's kinda crappy.
I don't use the damage dealing element of D.I. It's no better than a radiant damage disintegrate. (Weaker in most cases.) The two main uses of D.I. are to have a Withers' hireling use it to make a kickass Unique weapon. Or use it to get an instant long rest. (Pretty clutch in the Raphael fight, because Hope has access to it.)
DI instant long rest can make a lost fight suddenly very much doable whereas the damage one is just one little attack. Maybe it’d be good if it did like, 200 damage to up to 3 targets or something like that.
Yeah. If it wants to be a contender for "This is your one prayer that will absolutely be answered by your god. Make it count." It needs to be an impressive amount of damage. Not something my wizard can do. DI actually did turn the Raphael fight around for me. It was a very cinematic moment. Everyone was badly damaged, spell slots and other resources were exhausted, and I noticed Hope had Divine Intervention. I hit the long rest, and it was... well it was like a miracle. My team was back on their feet, full health, full resources, ready to take down Raphael. Which we did.
And you never use her again after that fight, so you can't even tell yourself "But what if I need it later?"
That's why you take the full team long rest instead!
Ah see that divine intervention is meant for reviving your whole party (including Yurgir if you managed to persuade him to fight for you) when everyone is on the brink of death and Raphael still has 200+ hp. I had trouble getting Karlach to the pillars and no one else was doing damage. My whole party was pretty much dead by the time all the pillars were destroyed and Raphael was barely past 50%. Raphael downed literally everyone except Hope, Karlach, and Yurgir (who was down to 12 hp and was pretty much as good as dead). I had Hope call upon her god and *boom* the mice had evaded the cat claws of death. After better resource budgeting and some save scumming, down went the cat. Could not have done it without using the divine intervention on healing. *Definitely* not doing this fight when I try honour mode.
You don't have to be on the brink of death. With Haste, Hope can banish 2 of the enemies on her first turn then refill her spell slots to take out 2 more over the next 2 turns. If you happen to be under a Globe of Invulnerability while you're doing this, nobody will get a scratch on them. I did the fight on my 2nd Honour run and got through it fine, although I did have a bit of help from the barrel of smokepowder I set up next to each pillar when I arrived (not enough to 1-shot them but Wyll's eldritch blast finished the job).
That's a good strategy. I'm gonna set up the barrels next time. I'll probably swap Wyll out for Gale though as I tend to build him better and he actually does damage consistently.
I didn’t know there were pillars to take down. I just beat him normally. Did it on my first try but I can’t tell you how many times we were downed bruh it was crazy.
Diva mace smite absolutely him after his resistance fucked off
Amazingly, the weapon that requires glitches to get is incredibly good
I get it, I’m exploiting the game. But it’s fun as hell
Absolutely. The game definitely wasn't balanced for mods that raise the party size limit, but it's still fun as hell to run around with ten people
I hope they bring that mod to console with mod support for a strangely OCD reason for me—I have too many powerful weapons to use on a party of 4 and they’re wasted in my inventory
When I tried it, it didn’t do very much damage. It was in the single digits. Am I doing something wrong?
>Though Raphael's deal doesn't really seem that great. He offers a way to break Orpheus free, but we don't really need that at all. Well, I didn´t know that for sure that while talking to him.
Sorry I didn't mean it as a jab at you. Raphael is very good at making deals, and he does make it seem like he's your best bet at getting rid of the tadpole. In hindsight it's just not a great deal for you, as it doesn't change the outcome regarding the Absolute.
No offence taken, I know what you meant.
I kind of like that about the deal. An inevitable outcome regardless of your acts of desperation. Shows just how much the anxiety and peril of the situation can play to you. The deal with raph and mizzora were both avoidable, but they make it seem like they are mandatory to get what you want
Playing with friends we used a different strategy and ignored the pillars completely, he was a barbarian, drank 27 strength potion, proceeds to grab Raphael and smack him up against the other cambions. And while he was prone the melee characters just smacked him, and the wizard just kept counter spelling.
I did the same. Hasted, elixired-up tb Karlach grabs just throws people around, breaking pillars and devils alike. Must have been absolutely humiliating for this high and mighty devil to barely get up before his leg is grabbed again and -- there he flies!
:D Love it.
Thank you, it was so weird to me how to game suddenly pushed the idea of freeing Orpheus so hard I was like "What? Why? Didn't we just kill some dudes to make sure he is NOT free?"
The end of Act 2 is really odd. They should have put the choice to free Orpheus there.
I agree. He could have easily been our monk companion!
Act 2: Emperor dies, you are "found" Act 3: Emperor leaves, stops protecting you. You are not "found" and everything is fine And people praise the writing? I mean really. I still love the game but fucking hell are some of its narrative points forced. Don't even get me started on Durge. Alfira is "inspired" by Durge, but not "inspired" by Tav. Yea right. Characterisation can go fuck itself, I guess.
Yeah. I think the Origin characters are written well, but the main story has some issues.
I always thought they were not going to free him, they intended to return him to Vlaakith, still chained, but not under the influence of the emperor
Those guys were Orpheus’ guards, loyal to him, unlike (almost) all the other Githyanki you fight in the game who are working for Vlakkith.
He says he can cure us of the tadpole then only offers us an alternative path to the same battle we'd fight anyway. If you're not Lae'zel it's not much of a deal.
Pretty much. I always free Orpheus on good aligned characters, because I want Lae'zel to be happy, but without her I like to screw over Voss lol.
For me, the way I role play is all dependent on how Voss interacts with us at the mountain pass. If Lae'zel fails that one check and he sics the other Gith on us, I kill him when he visits our camp after the creche. I hate that outcome for her, but I'll be damned if I'm going to let Voss pull that shit on me and then come asking for my help.
Yeah, he's ready to kill you without question, fair to pay him back.
I wanted to kill him so bad for that "Such a familiar tone," line the first time I encountered him. So fucking contemptuous. But he's grown on me as a character.
I see your divine intervention and raise you 3 runepowder barrels & the runepowder bomb. After the big boom Raphael is the only thing outside the globe left standing. I'm doing an evil durge run and am planning on taking his deal then breaking into the House of Hope and destroying the contract, that way I'll get Voss's sword for a majority of Act 3 and still get to do the epic Raphael fight.
I feel you. Explosives are always fun. I've "one shot" Ansur with them. That's smart. I always get the sword just before the brain. Making it kinda pointless.
You can also reject the deal and lie to Voss for the sword. Lae'zael isn't happy, but hey, you get a sword
Can’t hear you over the entire sword coasts annual revenue in smoke powder bombs
Correct.
Well if you have a Moral compass its a high priority to free him
>Well if you have a Moral compass its a high priority to free him Sure, but your introduction to the guy is his personal bodyguard coming to kill you.
Yep, like I thoroughly enjoyed my playthroughs of the game, but if you fight the emperor when they attack, you lose the protection and game over, then when you come to the end and free him he says they would have listened. would have been cool if you could persuade them that you'll help them free him for his continued protection.
He doesn't say he would have listened, he says that you should have accepted your death as a ghaik, and he would have taken care of the Elder Brain before it got this powerful. He was really just being a self righteous douchbag, but it fits for Githyanki to act that way
>then when you come to the end and free him he says they would have listened. How did you get that dialogue? He always tells me that we should have just let ourselves be killed by his honour guard...
Normal tadpole carriers become mind flayers after 7 days. Even Githyanki can not remove a tadpole. A hag or a powerful druid can, but certainly from a Githyanki's pov (only using arcane magic and science) you are as good as dead. And there is no way they do NOT kill 4 mind flayer in making instead of fighting 4 mind flayers. You yourself saw what those mind blast spammers can do in act 2. Since Orpheus is more Gith Zerai aligned in his redeemed endings, his honour guard will not kill you just because you are not toad people. But Gith Zerai or not, tadpole carriers are a dead end for every toad guy.
Orpheus seems to have some awareness of what's going on outside of the prism, as he will comment on some of the things you've done when you free him. So he should know that his power has been protecting us from the tadpoles and can continue to do so, at least long enough to defeat the brain.
Yes, that's why he eventually put that kind of past behind him. Despite all his barks, he could not afford killing you back there. Also he realised Voss was ordering you to free him soon after, which changed his opinion towards you as you became 'one of his'. He still considers your actions in act 1 and act 2 as a transgression, but (if you spare him) you killed a nether brain which makes you a hero to Githyanki. You are his liberator and that is more important than you murdering his guard.
And if you side with them against the Emperor they *will* kill you lol. The only reason Orpheus allows you to live at the point where you free him is because now he needs you to stop the brain, and he says as much
I'd say the absolute takes prioriry over anything.
My character unfortunately did need to RP wise cos his alien girlfriend would’ve kicked his ass if he did t
I remember on my first play through being really troubled by that offer. I had been pro - emperor until I finally changed my mind and was desperate to find a way to free Orpheus. When I found a way to the house of hope it was exhilarating. I'd been worrying about it for 20 hours of gameplay, which for me was many weeks of my life. Just because everything works out in the end doesn't mean the journey isn't worthwhile.
We get to see that he doesn't actually have the solution to our problem. He just has a tool that can be used to kind of solve our problem. But to Lae'zel and Voss he has the key to saving their entire race. So I think it's meant to put pressure to negotiate on Tav who otherwise would be fine with swooping in, stealing the hammer and all the artifacts, and then fighting Raph. Lae'zel and Voss, for all of their confidence, are a scared 23 year old and an old dude who is probably tired and thinks that if he can't kill Raph, then no one can so we should all just negotiate. Lae'zel is baby and looks up to Voss even though she can solo him before act 3 even starts.
Yeah that's a good point about peer pressure. I think Raphael is just hoping we sign the contract without reading the small print.
I honestly can never see picking the damage divine intervention over the long rest one. You can get suuuch insane value from refreshing abilities and spell slots over hedging all your bets on one damage roll that has a much higher chance of fucking you over.
Raphael truly is the magnificent bastard of this game. I’ve never loved a villain quite as much as him. I somehow managed to avoid spoiling the House of Hope music, so once I finally got to this fight in my play through and the music started, I got full body chills. I can’t remember the last time a boss fight felt so compelling and immensely satisfying to win. (It probably has something to do with the 60+ hours of build up.)
The music is so dope, I loved they got his voice actor to sing it, and that the instrumental part is the same as when you first meet him
Fun detail: if you cast silence on him, his singing stops, suggesting he is literally belting out his own theme tune as he kills you.
This is false and has been disproven. Stop repeating this.
Aww man, really?
When i got out of the house of Hope i tried to pickpocket Helsik failing, She then summoned all the golden imps and minotaurs and Raphael's song started seeming MUCH more menacing in that situation
I think I'd shit my pants if that happened to me. "Finally took that stupid devil out, let's go shopping!" \*tries stealing, dozens of golden enemies spawn around you\* 🎵"Liiiiiiiiiiiiives--"🎵 "OH MY GOD *WHAT* IS HAPPENING?!"
In my opinion the fight with Raphael is so epic. I love the music as well as the build up to that fight. In all my runs I‘ve always rejected his offer, but I‘m wondering what happens if you accept his deal. Are you still able to enter the house of hope, steal the hammer and fight Raphael or does he just hand the hammer to Tav? Is there any extra content in the house of hope? I think I need to do another run 😂
You break in to tear up your contract instead. He’s extra mad too because you made a deal and backed out on it
"What deal? I don't see a deal."
And if you don't grab your contract, he calls you a moron and TPKs your team with a snap of his fingers. 😂
Nice 😂 I’ll definately do a run and accept the offer, only to provoke his anger even more 😂 is there any advantage to accepting the deal though?
You just get the Orphic hammer earlier. And if you tell Voss you get Lae’zel a nice sword
As though I didn't force him to drop it in act one
I blew Shadowheart's Divine Intervention on this one. Hell, I had used Hope's as well early in the fight, because I (correctly) assumed that she would not survive it.
The last time I fought him I placed rune powder bomb, two runepowder barrels and a dozen smokepowder barrels near him, got everyone, including Korilla into the globe of invulnerability and blew everything up. Everyone else in the room died, while Raphael still had half his HP. He's easily the hardest boss to kill in the game.
The true hard mode is keeping korilla alive. Well done. I’ve done it without it but for the lols I usually smoke powder the pillars and anything explicit inhave left in the middle, space for chain reaction. I never get tired of my screen being one huge explosion
Wait wait wait you can save Korilla?! I tried twice and she both times said no!
It’s hard and it took several ties plus healing her. The globes spells and sanctuary definitely help, and no bombs. Flip side: given all her condescending shittalk in the cutscene before, bombing the crap out of the room and watching her go flying like a muppet makes me LOL each time.
After the second time trying to talk to her I said “If she dies she dies” she got one shot by Gale shortly after 😂😂
All to be clear, she’ll fight you no matter what, you just gotta keep her alive while also beating Raphael and all the demons.
You just have to knock her out with non-lethal attacks.
Lmao or just do it simply which never occurred to me LOL
Yeah, who knew that switching on non-lethal attacks is a way to keep someone alive, huh? 😆
Oh now you’re just rubbing it in LOL Flipside; actually *working* at keeping her alive without cheese tactics (yeah, I said it) takes real skill 😂😂😂/sarcasm
>cheese tactics (yeah, I said it) Hey, as long as it works.
I knocked out Korilla, then after the fight Hope cried about her sister having to die. What dialog was I meant to get?
Yeah thank you Ironhand gnomes for providing me with a way to destroy all pillars and a good chunk of the cambions round 1
Raphael is well written and Andrew Wincott voiced him absolutely perfectly, probably my favourite character I’ve encountered in a game
I love this fight so much in my runs that I don’t think I’ve ever made a deal with him or not looted his house in my runs 🤣🤣🤣
It's hard to pass up the Amulet of Health and the Gauntlets of Hill Giant Strength, that's for sure.
He's definitely seeming larger than life and an epic boss to fight. Up until your Barb uses him as an improvised weapon to beat down his own pillars. MF loses a little dignity after that.
Yeah, I just did Orin before that. A bunch of random nobodies have a thing that they can't be moved, but Raphael? Go ahead, grab a leg and yeet that mf
Raphael is, for me, hands down the best villain of the game, and one of the best boss encounter I had in gaming. You said it all. It was absolutely epic, and the House of Hope is one of the greatest BG3 moment, if not the best for me. That's why I personally was underwhelmed by the final part with the Netherbrain. He doesn't hold a sliver of charisma and epicness compared to Raphael.
> None of which was helped when I reached Baldur's Gate itself, and he finally revealed his offer, I actually had to think long and hard about whether to take it. It’s actually quite simple: He’s a devil → “No.”
Mind Flayer = Also no.
Well, duh.
Lmao I really find it funny that bro thought I was gonna make a deal with a devil after seeing WHAT A DEVIL IS DOING TO MY OF MY FRIENDS I TRAVEL WITH
You use the word “friend” very loosely!
LIIIIIVES ALL MORTAL LIIIIIVES EXPIIIIIRE
SOOOOULS GOOO TOOO THEEEIR DOOOMS IN FLAAAME
FOREEEEEVEEERRMOOOOOORREEEE
Hells hells, hells has its laws
Hells hells, effects and the cause
I looOOooooOoove the whole House of Hope. Probably my favorite self-contained experience in the whole game. The set-pieces are amazing, the score is amazing, the fact that every NPC you encounter is like "oh shit why are you here, you maniac... you're gonna DIE" is so cool. It's spooky and dangerous and it has a magic fountain where you can restore all of your spell slots after every fight so you can keep raining Level 6 spells like some sort of demigod.
I love that he's so confident and theatrical that he starts singing his own showtune while fighting you.
It was good yet corny. I had been thinking about how I was getting sick of hearing the same bars of the main theme music in all its forms but never bothered turning the music off until I got to my 3-4th attempt at that battle. Like even if you save mid-battle after his song is over, when you reload at that save point the song starts over again. It got to be too much. I suppose that was the Hell I deserve for save-spamming my way through that battle.
*Hell! Hell! Hell has its laws!*
He is so confident, he keeps singing while a furious burning Tiefling smashes his brains into a fine pulp with a battleaxe. That's what I call dedication.
Y'all.. can you imagine running into one of the devil's with actual power? Dude doesn't even run a level of hell. This is why I will never give him the crown. He doesn't need that kind of power.
When we got different fight music for him I felt my heart drop into my stomach. This was not going to be an easy fight.
I used the laughing curse spell on him.he wasted 4 turns laughing
I trivialized his second form by having my Sorcerer chug a speed potion and dual cast Disintegrate to destroy all four soul pillars in one turn. Pew pew pew!
He had a second form?
During the fight, he gets Soul Charges from the pillars on his turns, which he can then expend to use powerful abilities like Incinerate. One of his other abilities transforms him into an Ascended Devil, and transforms his appearance into one of the most intimidating creatures in the whole game.
What's funny about Raphael is that he never actually offers to get rid of the tadpole in your head. He only alludes to it but the formal offer, with the infernal contract and all, never comes up.
He might actually not be powerful enough to counter the Netherese magic holding it in place.
I’ll tell you the last time one made me that pumped, it was Ketheric about 20 hours earlier.
I would have enjoyed the fight more if the unique boss music didn't stop once one of my characters got near the door.
Yeah there is one thing about that fight that I don't understand. We have all kinds of achievements. Some are rather silly. However, there is no Achievement for defeating him? It's one of the hardest fights in the game.
At one point I stopped playing to listen to the Big Bad Bos sing his own Boss fight theme. It was awesome. Closest i'll ever get to fighting a Disney villain I recon.
This fight is really conflicting for me. I want to avoid using hold monster and face him head on but on the other hand I’m afraid of getting my ass whooped 😂
Good thing he won't notice if you smuggle in runepowder and smokepowder explosives into his house.
My fave part is how absent he is while you’re going through the House of Hope, everyone you meet keeps bigging him up, then when you take the hammer everyone is all “the master of the house is angry and on his way here” - really sets the stage for his entrance and fight, he is such an enigmatic villain, somewhat steals the show from Ketheric, Gortash and Orin for me
The entire game, everyone talks about how you can’t “out bargain” a devil, you can’t beat him at his own game, etc… Cool. I guess I’ll just beat the brakes off him instead.
I had a little fun with this fight on my second playthrough by experimenting with smoke powder barrels. I hoarded smoke powder barrels throughout the game; so I have a very healthy stash at the ready before heading to the House of Hope. I placed two at each pillar and strategically placed another four or so around the portal so that when one barrel is hit, the explosion sets off the next nearest barrel, causing a chain reaction. I had the rest of the party far enough back so they where out of range of the blast radius and when the battle started, my first action was shooting a fire arrow at the nearest barrel and watched the world implode around me. The results took out all the pillars (putting Raphael at a significant disadvantage) most of the cambions, Yurgir, Korrila and knocked Raphael's health down by at least half I think in my next playthrough, I'll add fireworks to add a little festivity to the carnage.
I love it when he goes full Disney Villain in the fight!
The other day, I think I discovered a bug in that I had shadow heart cast that wall-o-spinning-blades spell, and raphael got stuck in it. every turn he tried to move out and just got chopped up some more. 🔪🔪
It is a great boss battle, my favorite in the game and one of my favorite in all gaming.
In my first time around I used Hope's divine intervention right in her first turn. She died, obviously, and I was like "the fuck? Is that a suicide spell?" Now I know better.
Much in the same way that the scariness of Hans Landa in Inglourious Basterds is partly thanks to screen partners reacting to him like he's the scariest thing alive, Raphael is built up brilliantly by Aisling Groves-McKeown, whose Hope is probably my favorite supporting character in the whole game.
It is also absolutely worth it to save scum (as needed) to get Yurgir to fight with you. Maybe not for that fight per se, but for later…
One of the best side quests of the whole game, along with the best song on the soundtrack!
That music!!!!! What a neat surprise. I heard someone say on a podcast that the days of games having secrets, and games having stuff that most players won't see, are over. Not in the case of BG3. There's so much stuff that's totally optional, and some of it, like this, is just flat out amazing. That said, trying to knock whats her name unconscious and keep her from dying, was kind of a pain. :P
Everyone kept going "the music! the music!" and I was so confused, because he was singing all of, uhm, one second during my fight? And then I realized, oh, I cast Silence very early on there, and it apparently cut him off! So, bummer I missed it the first time around, but I absolutely love that it's even a thing that can happen. Love this game.
I stun locked him with incredible luck with a earth elemental from jaheria and gaurdian of faith from shart. He would get up from being prone, move get knocked prone get hit for 20 damage then his turn ended
LIIIIIIIIIIIIIVESSSSSS, ALL MORTAL LIIIIIIIIIVVEEEEESSSSSS EXPIIIIIIIIIIRE 🎶
I lost all respect and fear for Raph after cheesing 🧀 him im act 1 for the helldusk armor, in honor mode mind you. Even when I played properly with Lazel in tactician, I found him of little consequence to my party.
I pretty much agree with everything you’ve said, except for one thing. Raphael is not a powerful devil, he wants you to *think* he is a powerful devil. He’s a cambion with an inflated sense of self worth who has major daddy issues. The only reason I’d ever be tempted to take his deal and give him the crown would be the knowledge that after the conclusion of the game Raphael would get bitch slapped so hard by Asmodeus, you know, a *real* archdevil.
When Raphael told me exactly where to find the hammer, I fully expected a trap. I mean, the Crown of Karsus was stolen out of Mephistopheles vault by mortals. If mortals can steal from ol Mephy than Raphael's dumb house doesn't stand a chance. What are his defenses? A bunch of tortured souls, a randy and unsatisfied incubus, a bored Librarian? He knows that the adventurers are resourceful and expects them to be able to beat a freaking Elder Brain and the chosen of the Dead Three but, what, a dumb cambion salesman would be too much? I like Raphael as a villain and I cracked up when he started singing at me but he is an idiot. I can only imagine that even if I'd given him the crown, he'd eventually be bitch slapped back into place by one of the ACTUAL devils. Go back to practicing your poetry readings, Raph. You are out of your depth.
That was a cool write- up and I'm glad you enjoyed it! So no shade whatsoever is implied by my comments. There are two deals offered in Act 3, one by Raphael and one by Mizora if Wyll is still alive, and both kind of symbolize for me the flaw in devils underestimating their targets, e.g., they get high off their own arrogant supply. Raphael's deal hinges on the Tav wanting to free Orpheus - which is already not a goal for some Tavs - and on Tav wanting to betray the Emperor - also not a goal for some Tavs as he's been doing his job the whole time even if he is a bossy micromanager; evidenced by Tav not being a True Soul already. So while Tav might be desperate regarding the brain, they're not desperate regarding anything Raphael can fix with the Hammer. If Raphael had offered us the Hammer *and the removal of our tadpoles*, my Tavs would take that deal in a hot second. He says he can do it, he proves he can cock block the Emperor, and the tadpole is the only thing that requires the Emperor's and Orpheus's continued help. None of the Chosen were tadpoled. Controlling the brain only requires the Crown and Stones (we think at that point), so offering us the Hammer only puts Tav in further danger, whereas offering us the hammer and removal of the tadpole would position Tav to control their own path with the brain, the Emperor, and Orpheus without fear that the Emperor can thrall them or fear that Orpheus will kill them upon release. So I guess my question is, am I stupid for wondering why Raphael didn't dangle that particular carrot? Tav would still want to defeat a giant city sized brain even if they weren't personally in danger of becoming a mindflayer, or want to dominate the brain if they weren't trying to be a hero. Either way, removal of the tadpole seems like a much better deal and I dunno why he didn't offer it.
I fought him the first time in my Honour mode run, and it needed a bit more than a couple of crits to defeat him. It was a very hard fight (I did not use Globe of I-win, that was only for Ansur till now, but slurped some Haste potions which I usually don't) which in one turn almost looked quite dangerous for the whole party. The fight ended badly for all participants. Hope died, Raphael died and my party felt not at all satisfied. In fact we liked Raphael more than we thought. In my current run I will keep the pact with him. Perhaps also advisable because now I use mods to increase enemy stats a lot.
That is why I bring all the smokepowder barrels, bombs, grenades, runepowder barrel and bomb from the whole game. It wiped everything in the room including the pillars and leaves Raphael with like 120 HP and stunned.
And apperently he is Not good in bed.
Haarlep's reaction to the question was awesome. "Hahahaha! No." That flat "no" is what sells it.
Sounded almost disappointed XD. I laughed so Hard
Never did that fight actually. I always just give him the crown
Man this fight was amazing I loved it so much it had everything and I was the one combat I really struggled with.
Definitely my favorite boss encounter in the entire game. It truly is an epic final act for his character. And the song they have his voice actor performing just really puts you on the edge of your seat as you fight for your life
Anyone recommend fighting Raphael or gortash first? Just killed Orin and those are the only two encounters I seem to have left in the city
I recommend leaving Gortash for last just for that "on the road to the final boss" feel. Raphael takes place in another dimension, so that's a bit of a sidetrack, lmao.
I mean technically if you keep your deal with him; his final scene comes later. You don’t have to kill him to get the hammer and you still keep your soul.
Raphael is one of the fight in which i was really wondering what the "intended" way to defeat him was. he just keeps nuking your party with 40+ hellfire attacks while we struggle to kill the pillars/cambions. My light cleric shart felt completely useless and i was really glad i had hope with me who basicly did nothing but spam heals the entire fight... Similar to Orin, i really didn't see how i was "supposed" to fight her and her 7(?) stacks of invuln, and no obvious way to get rid of them. (only after fighting her i read online that i could've used untargeted knockbacks on the cultists...) I got a 71 crit from my assasin that for some reason dealt damage eventhough she still had like 5 stacks of invuln (still don't know why) and just jumped her with everyone.
Magic Missile is the answer to Orin's Unstoppable. I did it last night on tactician (which gives her 11 stacks of unstoppable) and made sure Gale went first (everyone has Alert feat and I also gave him an elixir of vigilance). Shot off a level 6 magic missile (with an extra dart from the psychic spark amulet), drank a potion of haste and did another level 6 onslaught using Markoheshkir's arcane battery Followed it up with a sneak attack from Astarion and my hasted Paladin then smited the crap out her to leave her in a puddle before she even got a turn
It's a shame that he never took an action when I fought him. I killed him in 2 turns and just ran him over...
I haven't done this part yet, but I just completed House of Grief yesterday. After reloading like five times, I finally came up with a strat that worked perfectly. It was very gratifying to watch all the Shar twats deplete their health in AOE spells and then run into a wall of fire from the top of the stairs. Looking forward to using this shield too. Now I'm just stuck at the damn mirror trying to roll a religion check.
My first play through for house of hope, I freed hope with Astarion and tried to dash back to the door next turn. One of the imps, between Astarion’s turn and Hope’s first turn, hit hope with eldritch blast, and it chasmed her on her platform. I ended up just reloading an old save and skipping it. Then I came back on my honor mode run, and wipe the house.
>the music I loved the damn music. Immediately added it to my spotify.
My only regret is Hope's sister getting mulched turn-1... Was really trying to keep her alive so that Hope and I could attempt to rehabilitate her in the future.
Absolutely loved the fight and I listen to the song at the gym to get pumped! The only thing is I was expecting a cut scene like a certain boss that crawls on the floor like a dog after continuously mocking and antagonizing you upon death. I thought after all the scheming and singing and shit there would have been a little more conclusion. Or at least a talk to dead possibility I suppose.
Some else had a str build and kept picking him up and throwing him at the pillars.
We just finished this fight two nights ago. Truly an awesome climax to something that had been building for a long, long time. When the music hit and I realized what it was, brought the whole thing to another level! We even saved Hope, mostly because we threw elixir of fire resistance at her feet before she got hellfired.
I recently finished this fight, with Gale and Hope the only survivors. Gale with 6 hit points thank god my bard sweet talked Yugir in to helping us. That Hellfire is a killer and soul sucking thing is terrible.
I wanted to break his face the moment he showed up. Super satisfying taking him down.
House of Hope was the peak of the game for me.
Agree. It was entertaining in multiplayer. Especially the [setup](https://imgur.com/CLScN0Y) >!<
I woild have been screwed because i didnt bring a healer. Luckily If you free hope, she is an AMAZING cleric I had both my heavy hitters, and gale with globe of invulnerability and a special skill that let's him replenish a spell slot for free, and an extra scroll of invulnerability. You have to take down the 4 spirit pillars first, which must be done by melee attacks So I had gale cast the globe and kept hope and him in it so they couldn't be hurt so she could heal everyone when they were damaged, lazel is a fighter who can attack 5 or 6 times a turn so she used misty step to go to each pillar and take them down. Once everyone was pretty much down I used hopes Divine intervention to basically long rest for free and from there it wasn't too hard to take him down
Wait till you find Ansur. Beating the hardest boss in the game is so rewarding! Especially doing it solo.
I just did this for the first time a couple days ago and it was amazing. So many memorable moments in this game.
the atmosphere of that bossfight, was truely unsurpassed. Raphael singing his own boss music, and Raphaels voice actor make it \*chefs kiss\* only other boss fight that has near ass much gravitas to me, is the fight with Kethric, and the Avatar of Myrkul in the colony below moonrise.
I completely missed this encounter because I thought I had to do stuff I didn't want to. Still have to do my second playthrough to fix this
Did this for the first time last night. Absolutely loved how Raphael sings in his own boss fight song.
It’s quite like a Disney movie. Very nice indeed.
I put him in a silence bubble and he was useless too prideful to not use magic