Thread: The Guardian
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Old 04-04-2005, 04:19 PM   #3
Magness
Quintesson
 

Join Date: January 7, 2001
Location: Manchester, NH, USA
Posts: 1,025
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.
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