Man, that Toll Collector boss in Baldur’s Gate 3 wrecked me three times straight. Walked into that creepy toll house thinking my level 4 crew could handle anything. Big mistake.
Getting My Butt Kicked Repeatedly
First try, I just charged straight at the boss like an idiot. Those little gold spirit things revived her constantly while archers peppered my party from the balcony. Wiped in two turns flat. Second attempt, I sent Astarion stealthing upstairs – dude got spotted immediately and pushed off the damn ledge. Third time I tried burning all my spell slots early, ran out of gas when she started summoning armored skeletons.
Stopping to Actually Think
Finally parked my team outside and actually scouted properly. Noticed three key things:
- Those floating gold coin spirits? They’re tethered to pillars – break the pillars, they disappear forever
- Archers are squishy but have height advantage
- Boss lady uses gold piles to heal – no more looting during combat
The Strategy That Finally Worked
Restarted fully buffed and repositioned everyone:
- Left Lae’zel crouched right outside main door with a smoke powder bomb
- Sent Astarion through broken side window, straight to the back pillars
- Kept Gale and my cleric hanging back by the garden
Initiative starts – Astarion smashes two pillars immediately. BOOM! Two spirits gone. Lae’zel chucks her bomb at the boss before she even acts. Half health gone already! Gale starts blasting archers off the balcony with magic missiles. My cleric just spams Sacred Flame on the gold piles so boss can’t heal.
Took two more turns cleaning up skeletons and remaining archers. Boss tried running for gold pile heals but Astarion kept shoving her away. Finished her off with Lae’zel’s greatsword crit. Whole fight lasted maybe seven rounds with zero revives.
What I Learned
Moral of the story? Don’t Leroy Jenkins into boss rooms. Always scout first and play dirty – use the environment, break stuff, cheese height advantage. BG3 rewards clever bastards, not brute force. Next time some fight seems impossible? Step back, smoke bomb in hand, and break some pillars.