Desther- how do you kill him?

[Legacy_elorianelf]

               I thought this was posted somewhere a long time ago, but I can't find it now.  How on earth do you kill Desther?  I am a lvl 7 sorcerer/lvl 1 dragon discipile and I have Linu and an imp.  I have tried killing all of those ritual monsters and Desther just comes after me like crazy and beats me to death before I can kill the last one.  Help please.  Any suggestions?
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_MrZork]

               That is a respectably tough fight and, as you note, the ritual creatures are the key. There's little point in fighting him before they are dead. As a general strategy, buff up (haste, protection from evil, stoneskin, improved invisibility, etc.) and send your associates into the main room first (and feel free to summon more; another dire spider can help keep the heat off) and let Desther go after them first. You need to keep him focused anywhere besides on you until you kill those creatures.

The ritual creatures are really wimpy, but have a high spell resistance. You might be able to take them out using a ranged weapon; with magic ammo, you can probably one-shot most of them. If you can stay hasted, then just running around and engaging them in melee one by one is an option, but you may be better off staying farther from the fray so that Desther (or his summoned help) doesn't come after you.

Desther himself has really outrageous HP, but you don't have to get him down all the way before he surrenders. Isaac's Lesser Missile Storms will be helpful here, but it will take many of them (a wand of them would be ideal). I think you have get him about 230 HP down. Also, his concentration isn't fantastic, so spells like Melf's can be useful in getting him to fail some concentration checks when he tries spell casting.

Keep in mind that, although you can't leave the top level after you arrive there, if you can kill off all the baddies outside of Desther's room before he comes after you, you might be able to go into the corner near the stairs and rest to regain your spells. That way you can face him fresh.
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Mr. Versipellis]

               If I remember correctly, the best thing to do is to kill off his minions first, and make sure you use non-magic attacks. If you're willing to exploit the game, there's an area outside where you can run off to and rest, but you have to make sure you're not being followed or it won't work. Linu probably isn't the best henchie for the job since her AI is so flawed - the half-orc (his name escapes me) will probably work nicely, although Desther is reasonably weak to magic attacks.
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Eternal Phoenix]

               ^
Daelen Red Tiger is the name of the half-orc you refer to. He's one of the best companions when it comes to melee combat. Grimgnaw (the dwarven monk) is probably the best in terms of attack and damage though.

MrZock's advice pretty much sums up how to defeat Desther.
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Mystery X]

               Invisibility helps if you are making hit-and-run attacks and you need to evade pursuers.
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_HipMaestro]

               

Elton John is dead wrote...
MrZock's advice pretty much sums up how to defeat Desther.

...except a level 7 sorc only has access to a max of level 3 spells which rules out ILMS, Imp Invis, Stoneskin, Ice Storm, etc..  And there are NO wands of ILMS in the plague campaign, MrZ.  Nice idea,though. '>  Where's that mule with the custom gear when you need it? *lol* 

That 1 level in RDD has really cost a lot as far as casting prowess goes.  Level 4 spells would make this s-o-o-o-o-o much easier.  Therefore, with a lowly Sorc 7,  I would use Death Armor, GMW,  and pound away, preferably with a sickle, so i could use Keen Weapon on it.  Desther should be easy to hit with his puny AC, even with the awful attack of a sorc.  Use Bull Strength via potion or spell to increase the AB a bit.  True Strike if you have it. Just keep lots of pots and/or heal kits handy (I prefer full heals myself, in tough battles and just eat the AoOs that may occur).  Even if you don't hit him regularly, the recipro damage from DA will be constant but will take a while to inflict the -230HP needed for surrender.  My arcanists always use Grimgnaw due to his cold damage gloves and occasional stuns, though at this point that suggestion is a moot point.  But a fighter is typically the best complement for a caster.

At least you will have haste available, which is huge at this stage.  Just pray to make your Fort save if he decides to use Slay Living on you.  Did I mention saving as soon as you enter the final level of Helm's Hold? '>
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_MrZork]

               Yikes! Good catch, Hip. I completely forgot sorcerers are a level behind in spell level access. Having ILMS, Improved Invisibility, and Stoneskin would be a big help here.

The melee approach can be effective here, as HipMaestro notes. And, make sure to add Flame Weapon to the weapon enhancements. Of course, spell selection for low-level sorcerers is a real bear in this case, but the extra 3-6 points of fire damage (Desther has 5/- fire resistance) would help a bit.

Another melee-centric approach is to buff the associates' weapons and try and keep them hasted and healthy with healing kits while they wear down Desther. The imp familiar may have  the highest AB in the group (depending on which Summon Creature spells are available) and he would benefit from Bull's Strength and weapon enhancements as well.

BTW, the most useful save time might be before entering Desther's level, in case there is need to visit the merchant before facing those baddies. I think there is an autosave as the PC enters, anyway.

I really forgot how delicate sorcerer's can be starting out...
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_HipMaestro]

               Another small trick would be to be sure to summon your familiar just before entering Desther's level (if you haven't already) and then rest.  That will provide an additional familiar in queue when the original one dies.  Then, prior to battle, buff your toon, possess the familar and try to kill at least one or 2 of the ritual creatures or other creatures in the chamber.  When the familiar form dies your toon will suffer only minor damage so then rinse and repeat for another "safe" attack (you'll need to rebuff in between to empower your familiar possession the second time).

I suppose a good bet would have been to buy at least 2 of the magic missile wands from Eltoora.  It will probably take more than 1 full one to kill Desther but it is a sure way to do damage from range as your xbow or sling will miss a lot.  That unlimited charges ice wand earned as part of the prelude training would work as well (hope you didn't toss it aside '> ), since Desther only has a bit of fire resistance but nothing against cold.

If you do decide to melee, ask Linu to use her xbow while your toon does the tanking.  The AI seems to refrain from her casting spells with a range weapon equipped (at least, that's how it seems to work for me).  As long as she is plunking and not buffing or healing, it will help to lower Desther's HP total each round.

You may also want to consider taking shield proficiency to use especially in forced-melee confrontations like this.  Yes, it does cost a feat, but can be very useful if no multiclass contains that proficiency.  Unlike armor, a shield can be swapped on-and-off during combat so as not ot incur a casting penalty when your sorc is doing offensive casting, dispelling or rebuffing.

Also, a pseudo-cheat, would be to delevel/relevel using the console and select more appropiate spells if you feel you made a bad guess.  Take note of your "before" XP tally to prevent adding back too much/too little when you relevel.  Personally, I suck playing sorc and have used this to correct poor spell selections I may have made (also, same learning curve for casting bard toons).  Wizard is my own arcanist of preference for the full repertoire on demand, but pure sorc gets a better weapon selection than pure wizard does and doen't need to go through all the spell prep business.
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_cds13]

               Well, Mr Zork advice is more than enough.
SPOILER:



just beware of Desther initial death attacks, maybe he uses some "finger of death" in the beginning so keep away from him until his puppies are all dead. Let your henchman and summons do the wetwork
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_MrZork]

               Just played this through with a sorcerer 7 / RDD 1 for fun. I don't know the particulars of the OP's build (there was nothing special about mine), but I had the same familiar and henchman. IMO, the divide-and-conquer strategy of drawing out the various baddies as much as possible before actually going into Desther's main room seemed like a pretty good one. When I finally got there, it was just Desther and the ritual creatures. I healed everyone up with kits before going in the door with everyone in "follow peacefully" mode. Then I hasted myself and ran past Desther, who was waiting right near the door. When the associates got to where he was, I clicked on "attack nearest" so that they would stay and fight Desther while I ran around to the ritual creatures and killed them. That worked pretty well with just the three of us. I tried it a second time, same strategy but with with an extra summons (Linu's dire spider) for total party of four. That was almost a wipeout for poor Desther.

IMO, the spells that really tilt the scales are Haste and Flame Weapon. I only hasted myself, but I flamed both Linu's mace and my sword. I had the compliment of low-level buffs going, too, but those two spells totally made the offense.

BTW, a point in favor of spontaneous casters: I wasn't able to rest on that level, which was tempting because Desther poked his out the door at one point before we were ready to take him and he dispelled most of my buffs. That might have been the beginning of the end for a wizard but the sorcerer really shines in that situation, since he was able to mostly rebuff and still have a couple spells left for the battle.

Anyway, a fun jaunt and very survivable, at least when one knows what to expect.
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Blablabla79]

               Everytime I fought him he summoned a Skeleton Chieftain. Combined he and his summon dealt around 29+ damage each round and they always hit. So after three rounds I am dead. 

The only time I could defeat him was when he DIDN'T cast Summon Undead before the fight was nearly over. And even then I had to get lucky to win.


I like to ask a similar question: How do you beat Desther WITHOUT getting absurdly lucky?
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_MagicalMaster]

               What class(es) are you playing?  What sort of stats do you have?
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Prizzard]

               

I just tanked him as a Fighter2/Sorcerer3 and plenty of potions. Little tough to keep him focused on me.. But Tomi has the damage to interrupt his spellcasting effectively and wear him down, and I used the Panther familiar for more sneak damage and interrupt. The only real problem was his Chief Skeleton..

               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Empyre65]

               

How did you get to the Desther fight with only 5 levels? I am usually level 8 or 9 or so by then.

               
               

               
            

[Legacy_HipMaestro]

               

How did you get to the Desther fight with only 5 levels? I am usually level 8 or 9 or so by then.

His game is bugged due to a conflict with the PRC 2das and his toon doesn't level as it should... at least that's what I have gathered from one of his other topics in General Discussion