The final boss in Baldur’s Gate 3 is quite something and frustrates many players. One of these players no longer wants to fight fair and resorts to other means – a strategy that you can replicate with the right locations for these means.
What is the player reporting? The player and Reddit user Earth2-Zied writes in a Reddit post in the BG3 subreddit that after several attempts to defeat the final boss of the game, he no longer wants to keep failing. Therefore, he shows with a picture what his new plan is: an inventory full of explosives, including the gnomes’ rune powder bombs from Wulbren, smoke powder grenades, and whole barrels of smoke powder.
This plan is often referred to in the community as “Barrelmancy,” where you place enough explosives on an opponent and blow everything up with a fire arrow that even Shadowheart cannot miss at that quantity. This can significantly ease a tedious and difficult battle against all bosses.
However, to do so, you first need enough material, which can be found scattered throughout the game, but a hint on the locations can be beneficial. And we don’t want to withhold these locations from you.
Here you can see the animated short film for Patch 8 of Baldur’s Gate 3:
All locations where you can find explosives in Baldur’s Gate 3
Where are the barrels with explosives located? To find enough explosives not only to blow away the final boss of the game but also to survive other situations (like the goblin camp, the towers of the Rising Moon, or Raphael’s House of Hope), you need to keep your eyes open in the following locations:
- Act 1: Goblin camp in the temple, behind the locked door of the Zhentarim traders
- Act 1: Goblin camp in the temple, when you take the stairs behind Dror Ragzlin
- Act 1: The hideout of the Zhentarim, whose access you find through the barn near the burning tavern
- Act 1: In the basement of the smith in the destroyed village
- Act 1: In the forge with the escaped gnome Philomena. If you trade, you get a small vial of rune powder, if you steal from her, even a large barrel.
- Act 2: In the basement of the Last Light inn
- Act 2: In the brewery behind Thisobald Thorm
- Act 3: In the basement of the fireworks store
- Act 3: In the hidden workshop of Wulbren’s gnomes, where Barcus and Wulbren also work (There you can also receive a powerful rune powder bomb from Wulbren, with which you are supposed to destroy the factory of the Steel Guards. However, you can also keep it for other purposes.)
- Act 3: At the dock of Baldur’s Gate, where some Bhaalists want to blow up Volo. If you not only save him but also pour water over the barrels, you can take all 8 barrels and use them for your own purpose another time.
What does the community say about the player’s plans? Although “Barrelmancy” is seen as “too easy” by many players, the community praises the player’s rigorous approach:
- “Spoken like a true Ironhand gnome. Good luck, you angry bastard,” comments GlassSpider21 (on Reddit).
- “If you can’t summon the flames directly from hell, purchased ones are okay too,” posts Baranix with a meme (on Reddit).
- “That’s just the normal way to defeat the brain [the final boss],” notes Low-Development-5211 (on Reddit).
The user smiledontcry (on Reddit) points out, however, that in the hardest mode of the game, the Honour mode, you have to deal as much damage in one go as possible if you want to defeat the Elder Brain with this strategy. The final boss has the ability “Aegis of the Absolute,” allowing it to become immune to all damage forms it has taken in one round of combat.
After an attack with smoke and rune powder, it will then become immune to this strategy. Therefore, the saying goes: Put everything on one card, place all the explosives you have to defeat the opponent.
Another player also used Barrelmancy to blow up the goblins and bosses of the goblin camp. However, he did not place the barrels in one spot, but created a sort of chain reaction that wiped out the entire camp. Players agree when they say that the evidence is simply beautiful: Baldur’s Gate 3: Player collects explosive barrels for 8 hours for 1 minute of fireworks
