Analysis of this boss fight to see how we can trivialize it:

Facts:
  • Cazador's health = 270 on Tactician, fairly low for an Act 3 boss.
  • His most powerful spell can be nullified by any party member using a Counterspell reaction at level 5 or 6.
  • This encounter is designed to accommodate the scenario that our beloved vampire spawn gets snatched away before combat starts.
  • Cazador's minions are almost all melee oriented and don't have meaningful ranged attacks.


Player party:
  • All party members are level 10+, possibly 12 already, armed to teeth.
  • Should have at least 2 or 3 characters who each can do well over 100 damage per round.
  • It's okay to let Astarion be snatched, even if you are meant for him to become a full vampire. Let's have faith that Larian would not punish a player for roleplaying here.


Conclusions:
  • The battle can be very hard if the player chooses to fight a hack and slash style with melee weapons.
  • The battle can be very easy if the player relies on ranged attacks and uses cannon fodders (summons) to hold the line
  • The total amount of Cazador's health is obviously designed to be less than the total amount of damage that 3 of player party members are most likely able to deal in 1 turn at this stage of the game. Therefore, on Tactician (or lower difficulty), Cazador is apparently designed to be killable by no more than 3 of well-armed party members in 1 round.
  • Cazador can be "killed" by the end of 1st round, if 2 or 3 party members focus on him dealing a total of - if on Tactician - 270 damage.



Example (my very first encounter with Cazador, one of the most memorable fights to me, which was on Tactician):
  • Before the fight: I let Astarion jump down to a lower level to explore but he seemed to be trapped down there. So I changed my mind and decided to go talk to Cazador without him. During the conversation, I refused to surrender Astarion. And a fight broke out immediately. I really wished to have Astarion face Cazador in combat. So I managed to get him back up to the higher level when the fight had already started, and have him join the fight after my Durge's first turn.
  • Round 1:
    Cazador hit my Durge with a petty attack doing tiny damage
    Cazador cast a powerful spell on my entire party
    my Durge nullified that spell
    my Durge fought back knocking him down
    Astarion joined combat and sneak attacked Cazador (with help of my Durge's familiar, Basket, to set him up for sneak attacks)
    After Astarion's attacks, Cazador had only 50 health left
    Note: only 2 of my party members (my Durge + Astarion) attacked him in round 1.
  • Round 2:
    Cazador got up, ran towards us, then got mesmerized by his own minions (hilarious!!!)
    Karlach dealt 1 hit to him, further reducing his health from 50 to just 5
    Cazador then "died" in cross fire caused by Karlach.
    I meant for Astarion to deal the killing blow, but Cazador couldn't wait that long before having to flee.



Final words:

  • The Cazador fight can be genuinely hard if it is on Honor mode or if the player *unknowingly* chooses to fight him in a hardest way (typically, hack and slash).
  • From the point of view of combat, preventing Astarion from being snatched away is not needed to defeat Cazador in combat.
  • For the purpose of roleplay, Astarion should be with the party. Letting Cazador remove him surely makes the fight more challenging, but it may also make the fight more interesting.

Last edited by Henry NYC; 04/09/24 04:23 AM.