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The Arcane Turrets in Baldur's Gate 3 explained

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The turrets outside the Arcane Tower in Baldur's Gate 3 are weak to radiant damage

Baldur's Gate 3 arcane turrets
(Image credit: Larian)
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The Baldur’s Gate 3 Arcane Turrets are a very tricky foe. They guard the Arcane Tower, home to numerous kinds of loot and gameplay challenges, but if you’re not careful they’ll wipe your party before you even get through the front door. They pack a punch and, while they’re not too spongey, they have some incredibly tough resistances. They’re sturdy too, which means attacks will only hurt them if they inflict more than 10 damage.

However, they are not as insurmountable as they might at first appear, and there are some very simple strategies that you can use to take care of them. Read on and find out how to take them down!

How to destroy the Arcane Turrets in Baldur's Gate 3

Baldur's Gate 3 arcane turrets

(Image credit: Larian Studios)

The Arcane Turrets in Baldur's Gate 3 are weak to Lightning Damage, losing double health when hit by it. Lightning is generally the purview of spellcasters, and even then can be pretty situational and hard to obtain. The problem is that their Sturdy quality means that all damage they receive is reduced by a certain amount, so anything they're already resistant to won't do enough damage to pass that Sturdiness. But Lightning does double damage, and so should be enough to pass that minimal threshold.

Here's a few examples of things that can do Lightning Damage - check to see if you have any of them on hand:

  • The Shocking Hands cantrip
  • Witch Bolt spell (1st level)
  • Breath weapon of a Blue or Bronze Dragonborn
  • Arrow of Lightning (rare magic ammunition)
  • Chromatic Orb (1st level spell)
  • Lightning Bolt (3rd level spell)

Alternatively, while not actually weak to it, the turrets have no resistance to Bludgeoning or Radiant Damage.

This means that if you've reached level 5, the point where Shadowheart's cantrips have increased in power, you can just have her repeatedly cast Sacred Flame on them from a distance - it may take a few shots to kill them, as their "Sturdy" quality offers significant damage reduction, but over time they'll eventually break. Repeat this process until you can reach the Arcane Tower (keep in mind that there'll be two more Turrets waiting to shoot you in the entrance lobby, but not on other floors).

How to shut down the Arcane Turrets in Baldur's Gate 3

Baldur's Gate 3 arcane turrets

(Image credit: Larian Studios)

If you want to find the off switch for the Arcane Turrets and shut them down permanently, you need to get inside the Arcane Tower first. Once inside, this is how to turn off the Arcane Turrets.

  1. Use Feather Fall to leap safely out of the West side of the building to the outside garden below.
  2. Pick up a Baldur's Gate 3 Sussur Bloom from the glowing blue tree at the edge of the garden.
  3. Use the garden door to get back into the lowest level of the Arcane Tower.
  4. Inside is a Power Generator - interact with it and place the Sussur Bloom inside.
  5. This will power up the Arcane Tower, turning on all the lights, activating the elevator, and - paradoxically - deactivating all of the Arcane Turrets throughout the area.

This gives you free rein of the tower, including being able to reach the Baldur's Gate 3 Bernard NPC at the top - who, without spoiling things, is quite a poetic soul.

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Joel Franey
Joel Franey
Guides Editor, GamesRadar+

Joel Franey is a writer, journalist, podcaster and Very Tired Man with a BA from Brunel University, a Masters from Sussex University and a decade working in games journalism, often focused on guides coverage but also in reviews, features and news. His love of games is strongest when it comes to groundbreaking narratives like Disco Elysium, UnderTale and Baldur's Gate 3, as well as innovative or refined gameplay experiences like XCOM, Sifu, Arkham Asylum or Slay the Spire. He is a firm believer that the vast majority of games would be improved by adding a grappling hook, and if they already have one, they should probably add another just to be safe. You can find old work of his at Eurogamer, Gfinity, USgamer, SFX Magazine, RPS, Dicebreaker, VG247, and more.

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