Baldur’s Gate 3 bosses are brutal and sometimes brilliant

polygon.com:

Baldur’s Gate 3 is full of unique challenges that other RPGs don’t offer, like having to rescue a gnome strapped to a windmill. But for every goofy quest, I run into a tough encounter that forces me to strategize. This is especially true for boss fights; Larian absolutely loves to pit me against encounters that test my wits — and sometimes my patience. No two boss fights are ever quite the same, thanks to the range of boss enemy types and arenas. But the companions I roll around with also give me different dialogue options for handling the game’s big bads. These boss fights showcase Baldur’s Gate 3’s ethos of creative freedom, even if they’re sometimes a pain. And they’ve made me a better player.

I’m playing as an assassin, along with my true love Astarion, best pal Shadowheart, and grumpy githyanki Lae’zel. I figured out how to exploit their combined talents early on. Lae’zel opens fights, hitting enemies with Distracting Strike, giving everyone else on our team advantage, and then Astarion and I sneak-attack any adversaries left standing. It’s our bonding activity as a couple, and it’s also how I steamrolled through big chunks of the game so far.

Occasionally, though, the game gets devious, and I’m faced with a boss fight that forces me to rethink my strategy entirely. Early on, the Spider Matriarch was the first lesson that I had to stop horsing around and actually use my brain. My usual strategy wasn’t working due to the hypermobile swarms of baby spiders, and I eventually employed a combination of Karlach’s sweeping attacks and environmental damage from falling rocks, which made me feel like a genius.

The game has also consistently delivered creative and entertaining boss arenas. One brawl takes place in the