Drakensang:RoT Zant

Krzychu

Sentinel
Joined
December 24, 2006
Messages
485
Location
Milky Way
Sooo… any tips on defeating the Zant?

I'm playing on medium difficulty, and trying to beat him without using any of the seals, obviously. And failing horribly. It seems his health regenerates faster than I am able to deal damage. I can stay alive for quite some time, but he just dodges most of the attacks, or I don't do enough damage to make a difference. The constant mana sap doesn't help too, since Fayris basically cannot cast anything after the battle starts. Fire arrows are always nice, but they rarely reach their target, which, as I understand, is also caused by the demon's aura. My party's levels are 7-8. My character is a warrior. I think I'll probably have to leave the area, and do some other quests, like exploring Efferd's temple, to level up a bit or get some equipment…

I dunno how much the seals weaken him, but I don't plan to use any.

Advice?
 
Joined
Dec 24, 2006
Messages
485
Location
Milky Way
Uh, this is a *really* tough fight.

There are a few tactics I read about in the official forum, but I don't quite remember them anymore now … I think one involved poisons and one extremely heavy buffs.

You can defeat the Zant with only one or two seals used, but I heard you get a bonus of you bring *all* seals to Archon Megalon - who is, by the way, a rather shady character. He is very much infamous within TDE & Aventuria.

If you really want to, then I can take a look at the tactics used.

Here is a tiny kind of battle report/guide from one of the moderators there : http://forum.dtp-entertainment.com/viewtopic.php?f=226&t=15229&start=20#p163523

More tactics : http://drakensang2.wikia.com/wiki/Zant

Sorry, but I can translate some of them if you really want to. Just tell me.

Several people write of constantly hitting the Zanz with burning arrows - the emphasis lies on "constantly" - ombined with master skills in that field.
An extremely high value in self-control is also needed.
And the special abilities of Cuano should be used, too.
Stamina pills or something similar should be used, too.

Someone used "108 bear traps".
Someone else used a summoner to summon skeltons - and because of a "design bug", the summoner regenerates his/her astral energy. Dunno whether this has been patched meanwhile or not.

And most important : All party members should be spread around the tiny "arena" !
Which would mean that the Zant can't damage all of them at the same time.
 
Joined
Nov 5, 2006
Messages
21,908
Location
Old Europe
You can defeat the Zant with only one or two seals used, but I heard you get a bonus of you bring *all* seals to Archon Megalon - who is, by the way, a rather shady character. He is very much infamous within TDE & Aventuria.

Yeah, I remember him from the first Drakensang, though he seemed to be just an observer, and spoke in riddles. And yes, I am trying to get that reward for not using any seals.

Thanks, I already google-translated the strategy from the wiki, but I'll also take a look at the forums - although it seems that what I really need is a lot of equipment, since I only have like 40 fire arrows which I only used for bosses so far. Also, 108 bear traps, oh man, hahaha.

If I manage to keep him on fire, that will probably nullify his regeneration. As for Cano/Cuano, his abilities are useful, but I can only use them every once in a while, and if I only leave the tank (Forgrimm) close to the demon, then I guess that leaves my main character just doing nothing. Hm.

Well, back to Nadoret, I suppose. I will have to settle for (perhaps) finally killing the male rat. I laughed when I saw this quest again… :lol:

Anyway, thanks. Will post results if I manage to beat this thing.
 
Joined
Dec 24, 2006
Messages
485
Location
Milky Way
Two people used far less traps - only around 40. The person setting them up must then be protected, though.

Two points for the background .

- That evil druid (is he really evil ? I don't know, but he is sinister at least) called Archon Megalon had been kidnapping and torturing a female elf in Nadoret, too. Her "spirit" was broken, and that led her boy-friend (or rather, elf-friend ;) ) into revenge. This "side-story" can be played on http://www.dsa-games.de/ , but I don't know whether it is already available in English language on http://www.tde-games.com/ , too (the name of this "Adventure" would be "Seed Of Rage" or so).

- In the background explaining book, the ruins where the Zant is situated in are described as a high-tier "scientific" research institute about 500-600 years before Drakensang 2 - for research on summoning. Demons, mostly.
 
Joined
Nov 5, 2006
Messages
21,908
Location
Old Europe
Hey guys, do you know where i can find Seal of Magic, i was roaming through the temple for hours and can't find it, obviously i missed some entrance or a chest with it.
But still can you help me ? Thx
 
Joined
Oct 10, 2009
Messages
4
Location
Capital Wasteland
There is one very well hidden. In my case, I couldonly find it with Forgrimm's skill of the "Dwarven Nose", or how it is translated.

It's behind an otherwise sealed door. And I think others suceeded in finding it by using a skill that increases the attention or so ...

Sorry, but I don't remember it in detail anymore ... Just try and take Forgrimm with you.
 
Joined
Nov 5, 2006
Messages
21,908
Location
Old Europe
So I finally managed to beat the Zant* without using any seals. It took quite a while.
(*btw, is this his name, or just a demon-type, as in "a/the Zant"?)

If I were to suggest something, I'd say you should stock up on healing potions/oneberry juice. I only had two potions, but over 20 bottles of juice, and I used them all up, regretting I didn't take at least 2-3 more.

I took the best equipment I could, but I didn't go out of my way to make hundreds of ducats* to buy all those "uber" items, since I thought it would probably turn out to be a little game-breaking later. (*it's possible)

As for strategy…

I had Forgrimm, my main character, and a summon (bear) focusing on the demon. Most of the attacks barely made a difference, but by using whetstone you always do at least 1 point of damage when you hit. Mighty Blow rarely hit, and when it did, it would only cause a few points of damage, but I kept Forgrimm using it, since it was his only useful skill for this battle (he actually had the Berserk skill, but I totally forgot about it, so I don't know if it would prove useful, lol). As for my character (sword+shield warrior) the most efficient skill was Lunge (I think that's what it's called in the English version) since it (partly?) ignores armor. When I was lucky it would deal around 10 dmg.

Fayris was the only caster in my group, but the mana burn aura effectively prevented me from casting any spells during combat, so I cast what I needed right before the battle. Immediately after it began I managed to cast one Thunderbolt, which dealt a nice amount of damage, and then mana went bye-bye.
I only had one mana potion, so I saved it for the time when my summoned bear expired to summon a new one (if it's killed before it actually times-out it's probably a bad thing). If had more potions/ways to replenish mana, the battle would likely be a lot easier!
Anyway, I had her standing on the far side of the circle, shooting with fire arrows. They are essential; most of the regular hits barely caused any damage, but the fire effect causes constant damage, so it's important to keep the Zant on fire. 200 arrows should be enough, but it won't hurt to have more. The ranged battle skills are also important, Marksman sometimes caused even 20 dmg.
When the demon was on fire, I couldn't use Marksman yet, and felt like I had a spare moment, I would have Fayris set up a bear trap.

Oh, as for mana: there is a certain costly robe that has some mana regeneration, but I don't know if it wouldn't be just offset by the mana drain aura. I didn't try it because I bought a shield for myself, but if it does grant you some mana during this battle, it would be darned useful, especially if you're playing a mage, I guess.

As for Cano, just keep casting his special skills as soon as they regenerate - Stardust, and that offensive spell. While I didn't invest in the traps skill for Cano, it was unlocked for him, so he *could* set them up as well. It's a little risky, since he can take a lot of damage when he fails, but I found that most of the time he would be successful anyway. Now, as he also has some nice combat skills like Lunge and Bleeding, I was often tempted to join combat and backstab the demon, but unfortunately it often resulted in quick death for Cano. It's safer to keep him away and casting the spells, but if you're feeling lucky… well, I managed to hit for 16 dmg once with Bleeding (the bleeding effect doesn't work of course, but the damage counts!).

One more thing, when I *did* use Cano to stab the Zant, the demon would immediately target and pursue him. If you start to run away with Cano soon enough there should be enough space between the two that the demon won't be able to reach him while running. You can then run around the platform while other characters shoot, try to attack with melee weapons, or heal themselves. I think I made over ten rounds and the demon still wouldn't target anyone else. It was rather silly, but unfortunately I slipped up eventually, the demon reached Cano and killed him in one blow. D'oh.

Bear traps are nice, they do around 14-17 dmg, but I found I didn't always have the time to set them up. Only three traps can be set up at one time - naturally, set up three in advance, before the battle. It's best to put them closely together. When I had 2-3 ready, I would lure the Zant into them with my fighters. Perhaps devoting Fayris and Cano to setting the traps constantly would prove to be more efficient than them attacking the boss, but I didn't go as far as actually testing it. In any case, I had around 50 of them, but used only 20 I think. If you're getting a little desperate, or feeling lucky, you can also set up the traps right under the Zant, for instant gratification - I did that successfully a couple of times with Fayris - somehow she avoided all of the attacks.

The Zant has a nasty area attack which can cause a lot of damage to all surrounding characters, and has a chance of knocking them to the ground. For this reason, remember to keep the other characters like Cano far away to avoid unpleasant surprises. However, this attack often missed, causing no harm. Then again, when I was unlucky he used it three times in a row, hitting each time, and causing me a lot of trouble. The teleport combined with a back attack skill that he has can also be very dangerous, but there's nothing you can do about it.

The battle itself is long enough that any fallen characters actually have a chance of getting up from the ground during the combat. I think it's only possible if the fighting is going on far away enough from the body of a character. When the Zant does the teleport backattack, he disappears for a split second, and at that time a fallen ally may or may not regain consciousness. It can be life-saving if you messed up earlier and a character died.

Anything else? Remember to use whetstones, healing powder, and whatever relevant buffs you may have, including strenght and courage potions for Forgrimm or yourself if you have any. The most important thing is to keep the Zant under constant damage.

Near the very end of the battle I disregarded safety and went all out, attacking him any way I could, and happily emerged victorious.
(However, I must mention that in one attempt, I fought the boss for a veeery long time, and when he had like 1% of his health I still got killed. You can imagine I wasn't very happy with that. So be careful.)

It was a nice boss battle, but it was just loooooooooong.

Well, I hope this will be useful to someone when the English version comes out. Cheers. :)
 
Joined
Dec 24, 2006
Messages
485
Location
Milky Way
Very nice report ! Thank you ! :)

Just a tiny thing :

As for Cano, just keep casting his special skills as soon as they regenerate - Stardust, and that offensive spell.

What he does are *not* "spells" but rather some abilities provided to him by his god of Phex.

It's a little bit … like an (A)D&D cleric would use his or her "clerical abilities" which are provided by his or her god. Still they are not spells, although they might look like spells.
 
Joined
Nov 5, 2006
Messages
21,908
Location
Old Europe
Well, I know they are basically cleric spells/abilities, but I didn't bother mentioning that they don't require mana like normal spells, since anyone will see that when they turn on the game.

Actually, I don't quite understand how those skills regenerate. Is the regeneration speed a set value, or does it have something to do with the karma Cano gets for certain things? I don't even know if this karma actually adds up or what, and what is the current value.
 
Joined
Dec 24, 2006
Messages
485
Location
Milky Way
These "godly skills" regenerate with each time Cuano does a "godly deed". Since he is a follower of Phex, this means he has to do what Phex likes.

Practically, within the game this just means

- opening locks
- taking money from the riches (because from the poor is rather against Phex' ethics)
- etc.

Phex is the god of merchants, burglars, everything merchandise-related. Phex also likes it when the follower uses his wits rather than brute force.
And not for the money and the wealth in itself, but rather for the deed.

In TDE, there's a "demonic counterpart" for almost every or every god there, and the counterpart of Phex is the one encouraging greed.
 
Joined
Nov 5, 2006
Messages
21,908
Location
Old Europe
Zant on hard difficulty

Hello all,

I started the game on hard difficulty and Zant without any seals seems a bit impossible for a lev 8 party because he regenerates so fast between my spikes of dmg it feels I dont do anything. The fire arrows hit like 1 out of 5, bear traps take too long to be placed and until the next 3 are up, the Zant has again full health, while Forgrimm and my character( warrior sw+shield/ 2 haded sword when not focused) don't manage to land constant hits on the demon.

I feel I can take the demon out without the healthregen, as the damage he is doing to me can be healed, which means I would probably need to use the seal of armour, so I can land hits more often.

Can I ask what are the rewards for defeating the demon with 0 seals used ? is it worth knocking my head on this wall ?
 
Joined
Nov 15, 2010
Messages
3
The Rewards taken from the german wiki:

If you give Megalon one Seal you get the recipe for a demon Armor (+ 15 Endurance (? the energy you use for Specialmoves), - 10 Hitpoints)
For 2 to 4 Seals you get increasing Amounts of Money
For the last Seal you get a ring of magical Power (Magic Energie (?) +10; Magic Resistance +5, Kulminatio-Spell +5).

Edit: The Rewards stack, so if you give Megalon all five seals you get the recipe, the money and the ring.
 
Joined
Oct 18, 2006
Messages
511
Location
Franconia
I'm not sure whether it works to chance the game difficulty mid-game ?
My handboook says the difficulty can be changed meanwhile playing a game/session. I have never tried it out, though.
 
Joined
Nov 5, 2006
Messages
21,908
Location
Old Europe
Thanks for the replies.

As far as I know, I can lower the difficulty, but I am not so comfortable doing so :). If I can not do it, so be it, I will make it without the ring.

Anyway, I enjoyed the hard difficulty so far, as I missed getting pwned without any chance of retaliation at some of the quests if I try to make them too fast.
 
Joined
Nov 15, 2010
Messages
3
Using the seal of power tranformed the zant from a fearsome demon into a puppy, even on hard difficulty. he didnt made enough damage on my 2 warriors to use a potion. However, I still didnt managed to beat his regen on hard. Prolly need more levels or farming, which I dont want to make at the moment.

Therefore, if you plan to finish the game on difficult, this is the one seal to use to make your life easy.

Cheers.
 
Joined
Nov 15, 2010
Messages
3
Mighty handy topic, thanks folks!
 
Joined
Aug 3, 2008
Messages
8,238
Location
Kansas City
I had my own little fun encounter with Zant just last night and thought I'd add some more to this thread.

I arrived at the Bosparanian Ruins with a party at about level 6 and finished up most quests, found all the seals but didn't quite have the firepower (or potions remaining) to defeat him the first time. I wanted to save two seals minimum.

So I trundled back to Nadoret and took some time to upgrade my party in every conceivable way. When I returned, everyone was level 7 or so and the fight was much easier. I used three seals (defense, magic and power) and felt comfortable with that. Perhaps in my next playthrough I'll try it with using no seals and try to maximise xp before arriving.

Here's basically what I did:

Forgrimm: Party leader. Buffed him with attributto con and str, sharpened his axe and let him go at it tank style. His main role was to keep Zant occupied.

Cano: Due to a lack of companion options, I decided to turn him into an archer/thief hybrid by pumping his bow skill as well as purchasing some extra bow related abilities. I can confirm as reported here previously, using fire/incendiary arrows is quite effective, as this was basically all Cano did for the fight. One or two hits consecutively are all you need to get some consistent burning damage which adds up.

Jaakon: After summoning a high level elemental creature, he relied mostly on Thunderbolt, since it used the least mana and I had only a few mana potions to last me. Moving spellcasters to the wings of the fight helps them to stay out of harms way.

My character: Battlemage/Healer. I used a similar tactic to Jaakon, only with some power-lightning mixed in, plumbumbarm and lightning find you mixed in. He also healed others where needed.

He eventually went down. Probably the most fun fight so far - and I do like a good challenge.
 
Last edited:
Joined
Jul 12, 2009
Messages
1,974
Location
Australia
Interesting combination.

Yes, I think that keeping the Zant occupied is probably one of the keys to success - or even the main key.

What might be important as well - don't remember it very good anymore - is to take care of the demon's poison.
 
Joined
Nov 5, 2006
Messages
21,908
Location
Old Europe
Killed Zant last night... and NOW I find this :p

No seals used, took me... 2 hours *groan* Incendiary arrows, bear traps... and a Forgrimm full of Oneberry Juice.
 
Joined
Nov 10, 2008
Messages
5,978
Location
Florida, USA
What was your party combination Drithius? For no seals, that sounds like it was a suitably long arduous fight. There's a few more of these drawn out battles through the game.

For my play style, I found it easier to replace Cano with Ardo when the opportunity arose.
 
Joined
Jul 12, 2009
Messages
1,974
Location
Australia
Back
Top Bottom