Viconia DeVir may be a familiar name to some Baldur’s Gate veterans. She appeared in the previous Baldur’s Gate games as a tense ally, and now in Baldur’s Gate 3 as a potential antagonist. Whether she is friend or foe, she is extremely dangerous.
The encounter against Viconia is one of the most difficult fights in the game. Viconia herself is one powerful Cleric, but she is joined by her entire Sharran coven. This fight has you outnumbered and surrounded. It will take some solid preparation, good decisions, and a bit of luck to win.
Updated by Jeff Brooks on October 14, 2023: This guide has been updated to include new links throughout to help guide readers to relevant and valuable content to enhance their Baldur’s Gate 3 experience.
How To Prepare For The Encounter
Viconia’s coven of dark Clerics and Paladins can deal a lot of damage in a short time. Their abilities can deal both radiant and necrotic damage. Elixirs to grant you resistance to either radiant or necrotic damage will help keep your party alive. Another option is the Elixir of Guileful Movement. This makes it so your characters ignore difficult terrain and can’t be restrained.
If you have them, elixirs of Universal Resistance will help a lot here. They only last 10 rounds, but they don’t replace any other elixirs when consumed. If you’re lacking elixirs for everyone, Elixirs of Heroism are a decent alternative for a few temporary hit points and a Bless boost.
Bring The Right Party Composition
Going into this fight without the right party composition and counters will be the root of most of your problems. Don’t be afraid to go to Withers and do some class changes. It costs only 100 gold, and you can do it as many times as you need.
What you need for this fight is crowd control. There are a lot of enemies that will concentrate on spells and abilities. Focus on party members that can break concentration. That said, you will need to concentrate on spells of your own. Any spell casters you have should take the War Caster feat.
Spellcasters lose concentration if they fall prone. Battlemaster Fighters can use their trip attack to inflict the condition. There will be a lot of enemies, so Hunter-subclass Rangers do well with their arrow barrages. Arcane spell casters should use spells that create ice hazards to force more enemies prone. This trick can cause enemies to waste their turn if they fall while moving. Grease Bottles will do the same but are easier to resist.
Shadowheart’s questline culminates here, so she’s likely to be with you. Make sure she has Hold Person and Command prepared. You can use these two spells to force enemies to skip their turns. All the enemies you face in this encounter are humanoid, so paralyzing them is a great choice. Lastly, if you have any means of seeing through magical darkness, use it.
How To Defeat The Shar Coven
Once the fight breaks out, the enemy spellcasters will try to cover your entire party with magical darkness. The Sharrans can see through it just fine, but your party will be blinded. Many enemies also apply a debuff that will deal necrotic damage if you start your turn in dim or dark areas. You can counter all this with a Daylight spell. It doesn’t require concentration, and it will give you a large, well-lit area to fight.
If you have your sixth-level spell slot and Summon Elemental, you can call an Air Myrmidon to help you. It’s a great ally for this fight because it can use its raging winds ability to summon a wide wind storm. This storm silences all enemies inside and deals bludgeoning damage to anyone that ends their turn in the wind. It can summon this every turn as an action. It also has an electrified flail capable of stunning enemies.
The Paladins are the next thing you need to deal with. If they hit you, they will deal dozens of damage per attack thanks to Smite. They boast high armor and health. The best way to kill them is to force them to make saving throws against high damage attacks. They’re tough, but all you can do is try to focus them down. Try to fight them in bright areas — otherwise they’ll assume a nocturne form where they resist more damage.
Silence The Spell Casters
The largest threats you need to kill as soon as possible are the spellcasters. Applying Darkness is one annoying trick, but their real danger comes from their constant use of Bone Chill. While only a Cantrip, it will leave your party unable to heal for a full turn every time it hits them.
Outnumbered as you are, you will need that healing. Have Shadowheart or another spellcaster spend a high level spell slot on a big Hold Person spell, and target as many as you can. While they’re paralyzed, run into melee and hit them with the strongest attacks you have. Don’t hold back; the quicker they die, the easier the fight will be.
How To Beat Viconia DeVir
Viconia is a powerful Cleric, with special powers as the mother superior of the Shar coven. At the start of the fight, she will use Shadowheart’s fear of wolves to transform herself and a few others into wolves and attack. This works like a druids Wild Shape, so you will have to deplete the wolf’s health first before you can damage Viconia.
When Viconia transforms back, you’ll need to hit her with everything you have. When you attack, do not using any radiant damage; Viconia can deal back double the damage you dealt. Use your strongest attacks, and don’t give Viconia a turn. If you do, she can use one of her Channel Divinity abilities to hurt your team and heal herself a large portion of health. Be quick and decisive, and you will win.