Find and defeat Dragon Ansur in baldurs gate 3's Dragon's Sanctum. Learn strategies for Stormheart Nova and surviving its powerful attacks.
Location: Dragon Ansur is located in the Dragon's Sanctum, past The Wyrmway, beneath Wyrm's Rock. If Duke Ravengard has been saved, the fortress will be hostile. In this case, enter Wyrm's Rock from the south, jump to the grassy cliff edge, then across ledges and down vines to a beach. A pipe here leads to The Wyrmway, requiring the Gaseous Form spell to use. Alternatively, enter Wyrm's Rock prison and head northwest to the Iron Gates leading to The Wyrmway. This latter method is difficult if the Duke was saved first. The outcome of the Ansur encounter is the same regardless of the path taken, so saving the Duke after fighting Ansur is an option.
- 1After unlocking the Iron Gates, proceed towards Ansur's corpse for a cutscene (a non-interactive cinematic the game plays automatically). The choices presented do not affect gameplay but reveal information about the Emperor.
- 2The battle with Ansur begins after the cutscene. Ansur has a large health pool, ranging from 400 (Explorer) to over 600 (Tactician), and frequently uses damaging area-of-effect attacks.
- 3Be aware of Ansur's Draconic Wrath, which retaliates with a lightning breath attack against the first attacker each turn. This can hit nearby party members.
- 4Ansur also uses a powerful arena-wide attack, Stormheart Nova, every few turns.
- 5Ansur has high resistance to crowd control and undead effects.
- 6At the start of the battle, you will face two Water Myrmidons. These are water elementals, and Ansur uses lightning. Combining water and lightning can be dangerous.
- 7Ansur may use its Lightning Breath attack on the Myrmidons, spreading the effect and creating pools that inflict the “Shocked” status. Defeat the Myrmidons quickly while managing Ansur's attacks.
- 8The Myrmidons can also use Healing Vapors to heal Ansur.
- 9When Ansur reaches approximately half health, it will “Gather Power” to prepare for Stormheart Nova. You have two turns to mitigate or avoid this attack, which can otherwise incapacitate or kill the entire party.
- 10For a hidden achievement called “Crash Landing,” attempt to stun Ansur while it is airborne during the Stormheart Nova charge, though this is difficult.
- 11To survive Stormheart Nova:
- Attack the “Attuned Crystals” scattered around the arena to gain the “Crystal Skin” buff, which increases elemental resistance. This is a last resort.
- 12Use crowd-control spells like stun, sleep, or turn undead. However, Ansur has Legendary Crowd-Control Resistance, making these effects unlikely but not impossible.
- 13The most effective method is to cast Globe of Invulnerability around your party to negate all damage from the attack.
- 14After Stormheart Nova, five Lightning Strike circles will appear in the arena. On Ansur's turn, Lightning Strike will occur at these locations, damaging anyone within them.
- 15Ansur's attacks include Multiattack, Fly (can cause prone on landing), Slam (can cause prone), Frightful Presence (causes Frightened), Lightning Breath (cone-shaped), Draconic Wrath (retaliation), and Gather Power/Hoarding Energy (resistance).
- Spread your party out to avoid Ansur's breath attacks hitting multiple members.
- Consider bringing a Wizard (like Gale) or a Sorcerer to improve the chances of landing crowd-control spells.
- Prioritize eliminating the Water Myrmidons early in the fight.
- Use Globe of Invulnerability as the primary defense against Stormheart Nova if available.
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