Fighting the Eternal Guardian

[Starhawk]

So, I've got this wizard who had a very easy time bolting the Ancient Chaos Wyrm to death, and didn't even break a sweat killing the High King.

One VERY serious problem: somehow, a monster angered the Eternal Guardian. Now there are two or three hostile versions running around.

What's the best strategy for fighting the Eternal Guardian? Obviously, staying VERY far away is a necessity -- he is the only creature I've fought in ages that can consistently punch through my armor.

Does he have immunities to my bolts or Death Ray? Obviously I can't stand close to him long enough to use ball spells.

Does he regenerate?

Will construct slaying ammo affect him?

I'm worried that if I can't figure this out, this great game is over :(

[gut]

> I've got this wizard who had a very easy time
> bolting the Ancient Chaos Wyrm to death

I will assume you have ~200 HP's.

> One VERY serious problem: somehow, a monster
> angered the Eternal Guardian. Now there are
> two or three hostile versions running around.

Option #1. Lead the spares away. Anger the
stairblocker, teleport to the stairs (taking
one hit, with your tactics set to coward),
and descend to the casino level. The hostile
EG will not follow you down the stairs. You
will not be able to use the DF shortcut though.

> What's the best strategy for fighting the
> Eternal Guardian?

Depends on what inventory/spells you have.
Different tactics for different abilities.

> Obviously, staying VERY far away is a necessity

Not necessarily : )

> Does he have immunities to my bolts or Death Ray

No immunities, but he shruggs off bolts horribly.

> Obviously I can't stand close to him long enough
> to use ball spells.

Don't be so sure of that : )

> Does he regenerate?

Nope.

Option #2. Still lead the spares to another level,
you don't want to fight these guys two at a time.
EG's have the same movement pattern as greater
molochs, kind of diagonally. This can be used
against them. Let one come to stand next to you,
in the '9' direction, then move repeatedly in the
'7' and '3' directions. The EG will follow you,
losing ground the whole time, because you will
be faster than he is.

Eventually you will move, and the EG will stay
put. If you have ball spells with a large radius,
you can kill him rather easily this way. Just a
bit time consuming. Poison is a great help in
fighting the EG, you can poison your missiles,
weapon, or just throw a potion straight at him.

If you decide to melee the EG, it can be done
rather safely, if you are extremely cautious.
Do not just count the turns it takes the EG to
lose a step, but instead, count the patterns
repeatedly. He may lose a step in six moves the
first time, but it may take seven the next time.
Keep in mind that hitting him may take less
energy than stepping away, depending on your
melee skill. Also, keep an eye on your satiation
level, as this can affect your speed.

I would advise using ball spells or poisoned
missiles if available. If you have a means
of webbing available to you, it can cut out
a lot of the stepping.

[Grey]

Humanoid slaying ammo is the quickest thing, and even that takes a while. Balling him to death is possible if you can get willpower over 32 - you're bound to be faster than him, so just step back when he gets next to you and ball when he's not. SLBs help with that... It helps if they're in a long corridor for this - firstly so they can't gang up on you, and secondly so they don't walk in diagonals out of your ball range. You might want to artificially construct a long tunnel along the level, leading them up to one end, balling all the way, then teleport to the other side of them and lead them back up the other side, carrying on balling. Go up the stairs when you need to restore PP and then come back down for more action. Poison as gut says also helps.

Another tactic (which I heard from gut a while back) is to create an alarm trap on the level. Get the eternal guardians to trigger the alarm trap next to each other and they'll start fighting amongst themselves, gradually wearing each other down. Eventually whoever lives will be extremely weak and much more easily obliterated by you.

[Ars]

Can the EGs be led upstairs, as they don't follow you down to the casino? If so, you could sacrifice them (depending on your alignment).

And webbing is ridiculously helpful.

[Starhawk]

Hm, I have 7LB, can get my willpower above 32, and have a couple ball spells with many castings. Also a little humanoid slaying ammo that I can dip in a poison potion. Maybe I can do this after all!!

I'm very tempted to just take the hit from the neutral EG guarding the stairs and slip on by, though. I don't want to lose this character!!

[Starhawk]

Another tactic (which I heard from gut a while back) is to create an alarm trap on the level. Get the eternal guardians to trigger the alarm trap next to each other and they'll start fighting amongst themselves, gradually wearing each other down. Eventually whoever lives will be extremely weak and much more easily obliterated by you.

AHAHAHAHA, I am going to have to try that.

[Elone]

To me, giving RotHK to Guardian for the right of passage is much more important than the exp he gives when killed. If you already anger one Guardian, teleport him away (you're a wizard) and leave the level. There's no point in killing him, right? More will come, and you'll be fighting a lost battle.

[Starhawk]

Wow, the duck/dodge/Acid Ball combination seems to be working, although I have to teleport off the level to regenerate power points.

Each Eternal Guardian has given me 3 levels so far, and I have one more to kill before the peaceful guardian will let me down the stairs. This is great! :)