HotU: Defeating the Dracolich

[XantharTheFlame]

Any tips?

I'm playing a Paladin, so have lots of hp, my buffed up AC is 52, got stoneskin on.... still getting beaten down pretty fast -- primarily with that breath weapon of his.

I followed the walkthrough and destroyed the phylactery, but by the time I do that my henchmen are all dead and I'm at low hp.

Thanks,
XantharTheFlame

[dragon wench]

That is one of the toughest dragon battles I have encountered...
If you can, stock up on as many high quality healing potions as possible, and give them regularly to your henchmen. Sounds obvious, I know, but I found that it really helped me get through the battle.
As a paladin, can you cast heal? If so, cast the strongest heal spell you have on the dracolich (repeatedly) .. It will have the reverse effect and should remove a decent chunk of his HP.

If you are able to cast Negative Energy protection on yourself that ought to help shield you from his breath weapon.

[mr_sir]

As a Paladin you should hopefully have high charisma and high-ish strength. If so, then don't forget to use smite evil as many times as you are able to do so, this will damage the dracolich more than ordinary attacks. There is also a secret door to get past the traps on the floor on the way to the phylactory, but if you can't find it then stock up on heal potions before the battle, you can buy some from the genie shopseller from the item you find in Chapter 1. Drink a potion of speed, and a potion of invisibility, run straight through the traps, drink a heal potion, destroy the phylactory, drink another heal potion, then use smite evil on the dracolich. Also, remember to buff up with things like Bull Strength and Cat's Grace potions. Whenever you only have about 1/3 of your hit points left, drink another heal potion then carry on. This is how I defeated him with a paladin (also cast as many buffing spells as possible before the fight starts).

Lastly, what weapon are you using? If possible then upgrade it so its keen, does acid damage (or even fire damage, but acid works for more enemy bosses than fire does in general so its better long term to have acid damage), and get the enhancement level as high as possible.

Edit: Oh and don't worry too much about your henchman dying. Its often more hassle trying to keep them alive in fights like this than its worth so just leave them to it (tell them to attack nearest so they attack the dracolich) and just resurrect them again after the battle is over.

[Cuchulain82]

I can't add much more than has already been said, but the obvious thing is to get resistance to his breath weapon if that's what's killing you. Up your saves, get a ring, whatever.

Sneaking past him to the secret door is a good technique, as is summoning a Deva or another similar high-level punching bag. Try this:

-Enter cave w/dracolich, either invisible or hiding (if you're a paladin with a high hide skill, I'm impressed)
-Allow the dracolich to attack your henchman, or summon something else for him to attack.
-Run to secret door and go through (your henchman will come with you because you've gone through the door)
-Summon another deva (or whatever- use a scroll if you have to)
-Destroy phylactery
-Kill everything else


Obviously, it is that last step that is the rub. There's two schools of thought about what to attack first. The first is that you should attack the other little creatures in the area because they are easy to kill and the lower number of attacks you have to face overall, the better. The second is that you should attack the dracolich (who will have run around to your position at this point) because, well, duh- he's the one who's killing you! I can't make the decision for you because it depends largely on how the battle plays out. If you can get to the point where you can destroy the phylactery and be ready for the dracolich by the time he finds you, that is a good spot to be in.