Well, I've been struggling for the last hour with no success - I just can't beat him.

I've already had a search on the forum but all the help is, for the main part, too party specific.

I have a fighter, barbarian, paladin, cleric, rogue, wizard. They are all around level 12 and 13.

Lots of the advise from other threads tells to cast Lower Spell Resistance but no-one seems to have this.

Any advice would be much appreciated.

Cheers
Blunderbuss

This is a tough fight, and your lack of mage power puts you at a disadvantage. Take a moment to prebuff and summon- and buff the summons. Stoneskin and haste for all tanks are an absolute must. Once you have done this, put in the last pillar and the fight begins! Start by having all of your tanks dive into the melee (including that lil thief), and have your cleric and wizard use offensive magic or further buffs. Your cleric should use any offensive magic, but once he runs out have him help out with the melee. If your tanks start taking heavy damage, pull them out of the melee, and your other tanks and summons should keep the dragon from pursuing. This may take some luck, but you should be able to win.

If you have it, Mordenkainan's Sword spell is a great way to inflict heavy damage, and your mage can always fire a crossbow if all else fails.

OK, a few points.

First, preparation:

Have your cleric fill his 1st level slots with Remove Fear spells. And remember that your pally had an aura of courage that protects him and anyone close from dragon fear.

Second, have your wizzy memorize as may Chain Lightning spells as possible, assuming that he has that spell. Another great spell to use here, if you have it, is the level 7 spell, Mordenkainen's Sword. Works great in this battle.

FYI, the Guardian is vulnerable to lightning and electrical attacks and is very resistant to fire and acid attacks. Also, IIRC, you need +3 weapons to hit him, or at least get thru his strong resistances.

If you have any protection from Acid scrolls around, use'em now.

It's not a bad idea to use some really tough summons. They may not do any damage, but if they draw the attention of the dragon, that's a very good thing.

Have your party fully buffed with your best protection spells. Stoneskin your tanks. Mass Haste the entire party. Prayer and Recitation are nice as well.

I fight this battle at the base of the platform, only sending up one party member to place the stones.

I prefer to keep my non-melee characters WELL back from the dragon, at about maximum arrow range, to try to keep them away from the dragon's fear.

Whenever a party member happens to get hit with dragon fear, have your cleric IMMEDIATELY cast a Remove Fear on him.

I prefer to keep my cleric away from melee in this battle, even though he's an axe wielding battleguard who prefers melee. I don't want to risk him getting hurt or dragon feared. He's far too important in this battle. It also keeps him out of range of the dragon's acid breath attack.

If a tank gets severely injured in melee, have him run back to the cleric, and NOT the reverse. (In the time that the cleric runs up to the injured tank and casts a Heal spell, the tank could be dead.) Since you have 3 tanks (the pally, fighter, and barbarian), having 1 retreat for healing isn't a big deal, particularly if you have some summoned monsters taking some hits from the dragon.

This dragon is very, very tough. But I've found that my above tactics tend to work very well.


There's another simpler tactic that you can try, but there's no guarantee of success. Cast a Lower Resistance and Malison spell, then follow it up with a Disintegrate spell. Oh, you can try the Disintegrate spell without LR, but it reduces the chance that the dragon will fail its saving throw.

Killed him.

Used your advice Magness: worked brilliantly. Did it on my second attempt. The summons were useless, but left me just enough time to get Mordenkainen's Sword ready for use.

What an amazing spell it is! It, almost, single-handedly took the dragon down to 'hurt' within the first 30 seconds. With three 'Heal' spells ready, I managed to get everyone cured and back into battle before the dragon could take up chase.

Anyway, cheers for the advice.

Blunderbuss, there's really no reason that you couldn't have a Mord's Sword up and ready BEFORE starting the Guardian battle.

Also, about the only real value for the summons is to suck up damage and distract the dragon from attacking your tanks for a little while.


Anyways, congrats!!!