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Hello, Gamers!
After theDank Crypt, the next big encounter area will be the Blighted Village - an abandoned village recently infested with Goblins that’s just west of the Emerald Grove Druid Circle. It is possible to pass through this areawithoutcombat, as long as you convince the Booyahg at the beginning of the Village that you’re a friend, but I highly recommend that you kill everybody in this village. This guide will run you through each of the encounters you’re able to find in the Blighted Village, starting from the very beginning.
Preparing for the Blighted Village
Before you even waddle up into the Village, make sure you haveLae’zelwith you in party. Lae’zel is very good during these encounters due to her Psionic Jump ability, which lets her basically fly around the area. Her mobility is invaluable for maneuvering around the hordes of Goblins in this area.
My other suggestion would be to bring Shadowheart for her support, and Astarion for his Sneak Attacks - which will be very useful tobeginthe fights in this area.
Additionally, this encounter area is around Level 2. If you are Level 2 or 3 when you come here, you will be totally fine and won’t have to worry too much about the damage in this area. If you’re still Level 1, you should consider leveling up before you return here.
Baldur’s Gate 3: Where to Find All Companions
This resource will serve to tell you when and where you will encounter all of the companions you can possibly have in Baldur’s Gate 3.
Encounter 1: The Rooftops
If you have wisely chosen violence in your dialogue with the Booyahg at the door, you will be thrust into an encounter with a total of 5 Goblins on the rooftops of the Blighted Village. There is a chance that some wandering Goblins may join the fight, but they have 14 health points at the highest, so we don’t have to worry about them too much.
Due to these mobs being higher up than you, Astarion will not be able to Sneak Attack from the door. The best way to use him is to make use of hisCunning Action: Dashto get as close to one of the rooftops as possible. Facing into the Village from the door, we recommend you send him to the left rooftop - this will position him to take care of the Goblins around the back of the building, too.
The Goblins around the back of the left building will not join the fight until you aggro them. You can take care of the first group before even touching these guys, making for an easier encounter.
When it comes to Lae’zel’s turn, use her Githyanki Psionic Jump ability to jump up onto the right rooftop. You do not need to use Dash, she can make it with just one jump. From here, use Action Surge and attack the two Goblins on the rooftop.
Use Tav/Durge and Shadowheart to take out the Goblin hiding inside the right building. You should be able to take it after moving just a bit into the Village with either a bow or some magic.
After you have finished these guys off, you may start picking off the other Goblins wandering around in the back of the left building. Be careful not to enter into any other buildings just yet, as there are Ogres that you definitely want to take care of on their own.
Going through the right building, there’s a sleeping Hobgoblin that you can kill easily just by sneaking up to it and attacking it. Because it’s asleep, you’ll crit and most likely kill it right away.
Encounter 2: The Windmill
Now that you’ve gotten rid of straggler Goblins, you can freely go up the path from the main gate to the Blighted Village Windmill - where a group of Goblins and Worgs are terrorizing a Deep Gnome tied to the turning Windmill.
Sneak up to this group with Astarion - you can use him to Jump up and hide on one of the rooftops adjacent to the stairs leading up to the area. With him, you can choose to Sneak Attack any of the Goblins or Worgs for a strong start - or you can simply target their leader. A crit on the leader will bring its health low enough to trigger a cutscene where the rest of the Goblins and Worgs will flee, but the leader will stay and beg for his life.
If you decide to go this route, you’re able to end this encounter very quickly. If not, you will have to fight all of them. As ever, I recommend that you kill the lot of them for the experience. At this point, getting to Level 4 should be your number one priority, and each of these Goblins is basically free experience with how easy they are to kill.
If you’re going to kill them all - take out the Goblins with the lowest healthfirst.Especially Booyahgs, who can buff their party members.They do a bunch of damage and they’re free kills, so get them out of the way so you can focus on the Worgs and tougher Goblins.
After you clear this area, you’re able to save the Deep Gnome. Or you can kill him - hilariously. He goes flying!
After you’ve done this, your next encounter should be just a bit up the road from the Windmill to a Barn.
Don’t forget to make use of yourShort Rests! Some abilities come back after a Short Rest, so it’s worth it to use them if you’re running low on resources for the coming fights.
Encounter 3: The Barn
This is another entirely avoidable encounter, but, hey, we’re here for the experience. And there’s something kind of funny about walking in on a Half-Ogre in the making.
It’s important to note that once you’ve opened the doors to this room, there’s no avoiding a conflict of some sort. That being said, these two look a lot stronger than they actually are. You should avoid clumping in together into the barn and instead keep a couple of people ranged. I did this fight with the same party as I did the horde of Goblins - with my Paladin Durge, Lae’zel, Astarion, and Shadowheart.
Keeping Astarion and Shadowheart ranged to whittle down their health in chunks while I kept Lae’zel and Durge in the front to keep aggro made quick work of these guys.
After you’ve taken them out, you should definitely Short Rest. Next, we’ll be heading back to the start of the Village to find the three Ogres.
Encounter 4: The Ogres
If you do not want to kill these guys and instead want to convince them to join you for future conflicts, that’s not a bad idea. They can help you throughout all of Act 1, but if you wanted to recruit them solely to have them for fightsbeyond Act 1, you should know that it will not work.
As the fights of Act 1 are allrelatively easyto get through without too much optimization, I personally recommend you kill them. As always. Plus,Lumpwill drophead piecethat increases your Intelligence stat to17regardless of what class you are. If you want to multiclass into Wizard on any of your characters, this item is highly worthwhile.
Warped Headband Of Intellect
If you do decide to fight them, it’s well worth your time topre-positionboth Astarion and Shadowheart - or any of your squishy, ranged characters. It’s okay to put Astarion on one of the roofs with a clear look down at the Ogres for some easy Sneak Attacks - but be wary of which roofs you use. Some of the support columns holding up this already broken building can be destroyed, causing a cave in (a cave in that unfortunately does no damage to the Ogres).
If you have a Paladin and Compelled Duel, you can use it on these Ogres to keep their attention on the Paladin. This will keep the rest of your party members safe, but be careful of getting too close to them in general - theirSlamattack can easily one-shot your party at Level 2.
Your best bet for this fight is to lead the Ogres into a trap by funneling them through one of the openings in the building, or to use items like Smokepowder Bombs to whittle down their health quickly. If you run Tempest Cleric on Shadowheart, she can useShatteron them for some big Thunder damage.
This is the toughest encounter of the Blighted Village, so be sure toRestbeforehand and get back any resources you need in order to emerge victorious. Good luck, Gamers!
