Here there be dragons . . . (SPOILERS)

[Fryman]

Referencing my old D&D books (MM, FF, MM2) I was wondering when shadow dragons got so tough. Sure, they are a dragon -- and dragons are nasty -- but I was always under the impression that shadow dragons were not as difficult as the other breeds. I know there's also a red dragon somewhere in the game (saw it on the BGII box) and if this first dragon is that tough I can only imagine the red one.

I stumbled upon the shadow dragon (with that really long name) before battling the Shade Lord. I had the shadow dragon stone so he didn't bother me. My party is: PC (Cavalier), Jaheira, Minsc, Valygar, Aerie, and Yoshimo. We're all levels 8-9. Perhaps it's too early for this encounter?

Needing money to bail out Imoen, I took this quest. After several thrashings at the claws and breath weapon of this drake, I decided to leave and come back later when my party gains a few levels and when I have some serious gold to buy magical stuff. Then we can whoop his evil ass.

Any tips on fighting dragons?

[IronDragon]

If memory serves the dragon(s) power up as you level up…so it is entirely possible to take out the shadow dragon at your level.

There are tried and true tactics to do battle with dragons if you want to do a search though it is more fun to figure it out for yourself.


That said there is nothing wrong with waiting. I often wait to tackle this particular beastie till after I fetch Imoen back which will provide you with much needed fire power.

[Rockstar]

I would actually say that the shaddow dragon is the easiest in the game.

It is true that dragons level up with you but the advantages you gain from leveling are definately more than his.

As you gain levels, your mages and clerics gain more powerful spells and your warriors will find more powerful weapons along the way. You may as well save yourself the grief and just rescue imoen first.

Tips for dragon battles:
- haste all party member
- buff party members with cleric spells (particularly your warriors)
- dragons may often use stoneskin. This means the first few attacks you make on the dragon will be ineffective to strip down the skin layers (which are determined by its level). However, if you have magic swords and axes that do elemental damage, it will still hit the dragon and disrupt any of his spells.
- have a couple of 'lower resist' spells and a 'greater malison' spell if the dragons magic resistance is rendering your mage's spells useless
- cast your 5 summonings and use them as meat shields so your warriors can hack away in peace
- if your dragon is an elemental dragon (fire or ice) then consider casting 'protection from elements' on your tank/s. It makes a difference, trust me!
- watch out for wing buffets!

good luck!

[Harkoliar]

go back when your lvl 11-13 [img]smile.gif[/img] lvl 9 is abit low IMO.

[SixOfSpades]

Where did this idea that Dragons cater to your level come from?? Sorry, but it's wrong. Only random spawns are level-based: Fryman, since your party was low-level when you entered the Temple Ruins, you encountered Shades and Shade Wolves. If you had held off exploring this map area until much later in the game, you would have found yourself up against Skeleton Warriors and Liches. The random-spawn engine only controls what creatures appear, as far as I know no creature in the game adjusts its difficulty to your party level.

Dragons: A few years back, I overheard my old boss relating his adventures over the weekend [spoilerish clues smudged out]: "And so I go into one of them and I find myself in this [place]. I look at the big [object]-thing, and there's the icon that says you can do something, and I'm curious, so I say I want to [verb] it. A message appears that says, 'Are you sure you want to [verb] it?' and I'm thinkin', 'Yeah, I'm a Level 10 Fighter, I should be able to handle pretty much anything,' so I say 'Yeah, I want to [verb] it. Well, all of a sudden out pops this [HIGH-LEVEL ENEMY!!] He immediately starts casting [9TH-LEVEL SPELL!], and then right afterward he casts [ANOTHER 9TH-LEVEL SPELL!], and I'm like, 'OKAY, I'll be going now!'"

Moral: You so puny!

In BG1, being Level 8 or so meant you had pretty much the entire game under your thumb. BG2, however, has a much larger thumb. Trust me--you puny. Dragons are big. They are scary. They got claws and teeth and wings and breath weapons and spells. Yeah, it's possible to take them out when you're low-level . . . but I wouldn't recommend it until you're comfortable beating them with a more experienced party.

The basics:
Know Your Foe: The color of a Dragon's scales gives a valuable clue as to its favored element. Red Dragons, for instance, deal with Fire. They breathe fire, and fire cannot harm them--I think it actually even heals them. Therefore, when facing a Red Dragon, getting some Fire Resistance is good, and using fire-based attacks on it is bad.
Use some good Summons to try to distract the Dragon into attacking someone other than your party members.
Spread your party out, so that one Wing Buffet doesn't take everyone out of commission at once.
Spells that hamper or incapacitate an enemy are often more useful than spells that do damage.

[IronDragon]

Originally posted by SixOfSpades: Where did this idea that Dragons cater to your level come from?? Sorry, but it's wrong. Only random spawns are level-based: Fryman, since your party was low-level when you entered the Temple Ruins, you encountered Shades and Shade Wolves. If you had held off exploring this map area until much later in the game, you would have found yourself up against Skeleton Warriors and Liches. The random-spawn engine only controls what creatures appear, as far as I know no creature in the game adjusts its difficulty to your party level.

Don’t think so. last time through I sort of forgot the shadow dragon so I returned to take care of him(her?) just before setting off to face Irenicus. (did Watcher’s keep as well ) Despite the late game play and a ridiculous levels still dealt with the same collection of monsters I do at level 9-10. the ruins hold two liches…but that is a tactics mod, (or some other) not because of anything or any level I am at…a big clue is that they are there at level 9 and level 20.

The basics: Know Your Foe: The color of a Dragon's scales gives a valuable clue as to its favored element. Red Dragons, for instance, deal with Fire. They breathe fire, and fire cannot harm them--I think it actually even heals them. Therefore, when facing a Red Dragon, getting some Fire Resistance is good, and using fire-based attacks on it is bad.

One of the interesting things about dragons and their breath weapons is that only seem to use breath weapon on summoned creatures. So fire resistance against everyone’s favorite red dragon isn’t really helpful

Use some good Summons to try to distract the Dragon into attacking someone other than your party members. Spread your party out, so that one Wing Buffet doesn't take everyone out of commission at once. Spells that hamper or incapacitate an enemy are often more useful than spells that do damage.

i tend to think just the oposite

[SixOfSpades]

Originally posted by IronDragon: last time through I sort of forgot the shadow dragon so I returned to take care of him(her?) just before setting off to face Irenicus. Despite the late game play and a ridiculous levels still dealt with the same collection of monsters I do at level 9-10.

The random spawns are determined by the first time you set foot in the area. So if you go there when you're Level 9, the spawn generator for that area thinks that you're always Level 9. Don't believe me? Try not visiting the Temple Sewers until Chapter 6. Then go down there and be forced to fight your way past a Beholder in order to get to the Sea Troll. The only part of the Tactics mod that affects random spawns (including the 2 potential Liches in the Temple Ruins) is the "Always Toughest Random Spawns" component.

Oh, and Thax'sisillya is a girl, yes.

[IronDragon]

Originally posted by SixOfSpades: quote: Originally posted by IronDragon: last time through I sort of forgot the shadow dragon so I returned to take care of him(her?) just before setting off to face Irenicus. Despite the late game play and a ridiculous levels still dealt with the same collection of monsters I do at level 9-10.

The random spawns are determined by the first time you set foot in the area. So if you go there when you're Level 9, the spawn generator for that area thinks that you're always Level 9. Don't believe me? Try not visiting the Temple Sewers until Chapter 6. Then go down there and be forced to fight your way past a Beholder in order to get to the Sea Troll. The only part of the Tactics mod that affects random spawns (including the 2 potential Liches in the Temple Ruins) is the "Always Toughest Random Spawns" component.

Oh, and Thax'sisillya is a girl, yes. [/QUOTE]Nope. The beholder and two gauths are there as soon as I leave Chateau Irenicus. This makes recruiting Keldorn a bit of a trick.

[Kyrvias]

Then that's odd. I always recruite Keldorn as soon as possible, and I've NEVER faced a Beholder and/or two gauths. Ever.

Unless I went there at a high level as my evil party, that is

[SixOfSpades]

Originally posted by IronDragon: The beholder and two gauths are there as soon as I leave Chateau Irenicus. This makes recruiting Keldorn a bit of a trick.

Care to go through your WEIDU.LOG file and check for the aforementioned "Always Toughest Random Spawns?"