The best boss fight in Baldur's Gate 3 is a masterclass in tension, dread, and fear - and I almost missed it

"He'll know." That's the warning I'm given as I creep through the House of Hope, reaching out for my soul contract with parched fingertips. This whole section of Baldur's Gate 3 is a dungeon, similar at times to the Gauntlet of Shar of Act 2, but with one rather major caveat: there is no fast travelling out of here, no escaping Raphael's House of Hope without going through the master himself.

The House is situated in Avernus, after all, and there's no making camp in the abode of an infernal. It's also home to a number of enslaved souls, contract-bound to the archdevil Raphael in keeping with their bargains, and I'm set to become one, too, unless I can track down and tear up our agreement. What ensues is the best optional two hours of Baldur's Gate I've yet to experience, and even after completing the game twice, the dread and anticipation leading up to this battle still hasn't gotten old.

Down comes the claw

Let me admit something right off the bat: I know that Raphael's boss fight is not necessarily the hardest. Once you work out that force spells are the key against his Soul Pillars, and that both Shadowheart and Hope have Divine Intervention to give everyone a full long rest twice during the battle if need be, it really is a matter of using Level 1 charms like Fear to disable and batter the bad guy.

However, it's the lead-up to this grand finale that gets me. By building up such brilliant tension, my nerves are totally shot the first time I go up against Raphael. I make error after error out of sheer intimidation before I reload my save and reassess the situation – and I haven't even mentioned his incredible Disney villain-esque Broadway moment.

Before I even see him in the hells, I'm warned that our altercation won't be an easy one. The spirit of an imprisoned, slightly deranged gold dwarf cleric named Hope tells me time and time again of how careful I must be as I hunt down my contract, going so far as to disguise my whole party as debtors carrying out our sentences in this sprawling devil's domain. We then have to make our way through this lavish yet orderly prison in search of the Archivist, the wails of actual captives punctuating every step we take.

Once we find the contract by lying to the Archivist (and passing some brutal deception checks), we need to find out how to shatter the protective charm encasing it. An NPC named Korrilla, who has been watching me at various points over my journey, tells me that should I take the contract, Raphael will find out. Then, she says, all hell really will break loose.

Without a Hope in hell

Korrilla's not the only one with strong thoughts on the master's temper tantrums. I decide to find out if there's a less conspicuous way of acquiring my prize, and after bumping uglies with his personal incubus, Haarlep, I find out the password. Not only that, but some of the big boss's dirty secrets. 

Haarlep's fear of Raphael is less a fear, really, and more of an eternal weariness. He knows that Raphael is a powerful devil, but he also isn't afraid to mock him. He tells me that Raphael only ever wants to sleep with his own likeness, and when you ask if he's any good at it, Haarlep laughs heartily before spitting a definitive "no." That's pretty funny and all, but since I'm playing a rather wicked Dark Urge character, I end up killing Haarlep too.

After freeing Hope and making my way through an inferno of imps, flaming spheres, and other hellish horrors, we're here at the precipice of it all: the big battle against Raphael. I turn and admire the carnage I've made in his home; the scorched carpets, trashed tables, ransacked vaults, and, not to mention, I've unchained his precious Hope and she's fighting at my side. Nothing remains in sight save for flames and corpses, but the BG3 writers really outdid themselves when they gave this archdevil not only his own castle, but his very own Disney villain-on-Broadway moment. 

Raphael's Final Act isn't just the character's curtain call – it's a fully-fledged musical number, sung by actor Andrew Wincott, that plays while you fight him. No other villain in the game actually sings their own theme tune during their boss battles. Once I get over the initial surprise of hearing Raphael's voice taunting me in the song itself, I zoom into his character model to check if his lips are moving. They aren't, but with how campy and theatrical this devil is, it's too easy to imagine Raphael having this song saved up in his repertoire to sing on a special occasion as he watches his cambions lay waste to the enemy from a raised podium.

It takes me a few attempts to work out a strategy for beating Raphael at his own game, but for once, I don't mind. Replaying the boss fight means getting to hear that incredible song again, the sweeping, climactic culmination of the entire House of Hope segment as all the threads come together. Sometimes I go back to that save file just to experience it all again. The initial shock factor isn't there anymore, but as Raphael himself says: what's better than the devil you don't know? The devil you do.

You can also chat to corpses, but interviewing animals in BG3 is one of our favorite pastimes.