[Throne of Bhaal] Strategy against Draconis?

Yann1989

Hello ladies and gentlemen,

I have defeated the last boss Watcher's Keep the first time I tried and then I thought I had become the best and invincible Bhaalspawn ...until I met Draconis and his acid breath. He destroyed me.

If I try again, I may succeed but it looks like it's going to be a hard fight.

So I wanted to know: what is your strategy against him? How to avoid his massive acid attack?

Please no spoiler about what's next in the dongeon, e.g. don't compare him to other ennemies that are later in the story.

lunar

Protection from acid spell (lvl 5 mage) or green scroll is a must, ofcourse. Shadow dragon armor has good acid resist as well, IIRC. Ac is of little value against a dragon so have your best frontliner wear it.

Other than that have at least two true sight spells running as he pops in and out of invisibility, and have a few death spells memorised to clear the fodder he summons frequently. Other than that, standart dragon killing procedure:buff with remove/resist fear, lower his magic resistance and use flame arrow sequencers, ruby ray/khelbens whip and breach and have fighters greater whirlwind on his hide, etc. He is also particularly vulnerable to dragons breath hla, since it bypasses mr. Have a planetar running true sight and engagin him even when he is invisible, as well.

ifupauline

The question is how do you want to kill him? Because you can always abuse with your mage, time stop improved alacrity, spell trigger lower resist x3, horrid wilting, cone of cold, vampiric touch and he will die instantly.

elminster

If you've got a high level thief or bard then drop 3 Spike traps. Further away from those traps drop 3 more. Get draconis to be hit by the first 3 (make him come to you) and when he transforms let him get hit by the other 3.

Yannir

If I remember correctly, last time I fought Draconis, I just kited him with Imoen and Shortbow of Gesen. Hit-and-run tactics work, summons to distract him every now and then. Everybody keeps moving, or if they can't handle it, keep them somewhere hidden away. It's an open space so you have room. Use it to your advantage.

Viconia9

If you have played Shadows of Amn, there is a 2-handed Silver Sword that has a 5% chance of killing whatever it hits instantly. That can really help!
Here's what worked for me:
Human Form:
* Summon like crazy! Draconis (human) will focus on them while your NPCs can attack from a distance.
* Use plenty of Breach and Pierce Magic when he's human and he'll go down pretty fast. The trick is to take his human form down quickly taking as little damage as possible.
Dragonis (see what I did there?):
* When he transforms, all of the summons will be stunned.
* Use Breach, Lower Resistance, Pierce Magic and Pierce Shield, Ruby Ray of Reversal, and any other lower defense spells you can lay your hands on.
* If you want to risk it, use Time Stop, but Draconis will work through that, summoning his own baddies. But it does help.
* Horrid Wilting is also very helpful, but only cast it once his defenses are down.
* Magic Missiles also work after defenses and resistance are lowered.
* Other than that, just beat him up with whatever you've got.
(Or do it the easy way and use traps. But that's sort of cheating in my mind.)
Have fun!
And remember: If at first you don't succeed, try, try again!

SymphonyofSwords

Also note that in order to remove stone skin from dragons, you have to cast a spell removal like ruby ray instead of breach.

If you are like me, you will cast improved haste, remove fear among other buffs on your melee oriented party and go to work.

The easiest route is the trap laying strategy, though.

Yann1989

Yep, after having done a break with the game, I went back to BG2:EE and I defated Draconis the second try I tried. I always feel bad for dying but this one was tough so it's still an achievement and I'm quite satisfied I killed this guy

The key to this fight was to cast Protect against Energy on every body before the fight in order not to die from the acid breath. That was really life-saving.

Of course, True Sight, Breach, Dispel Magic, Ray Ruby of Inversion have been useful as well as a few healing potions and a good amount of Summons, but that's classical.

ngreennz

I got lucky once with Draconis. When I was fighting his human form, Sarevok Smote him and he was launched into the left side of the area and got stuck there. I think he was boxing himself in by summoning invisible stalkers in front of himself. I was playing a Blade, so I loaded myself up with True Seeing and every defensive spell I had, and moved him in front and either shot at Draconis or fought Stalkers while tanking Draconis' spells and breath with my defenses. Everyone else was shooting Draconis and trying not to waste spells while he was invisible. Took awhile, but it was much easier than trying to deal with him running around invisible and picking off the back ranks.