Loghain Mac Tir (strategy)

Strategy
Any present party member can duel Loghain, except Dog. (Selecting Dog for the duel results in some amusing dialogue.) Any class can beat Loghain, with the right strategy.

Loghain has high physical and mental resistance, so it is difficult to knock him over or paralyze him. Unlike other boss level creatures, he is not explicitly immune to these effects.

He will use Shield Bash and War Cry to knock over the player, so high physical resistance is very helpful.

General

 * If you run around out of melee range for long enough, he will eventually bring out a crossbow and attack at range. He doesn't hit particularly hard, nor does he have any ranged abilities, so he can be quickly and easily taken down through ranged attacks if your chosen character is good at ranged combat.

Warrior

 * You can beat him fairly easily as a warrior with average stats (~40 str/dex) if you equip some +physical resistance weapons/armor so that he can't knock you down as often. The fight ends pretty quickly if you can get to the point where you don't get knocked down every time he uses War Cry. Just watch your health (his shield bash will still send you flying) and hack away at him, and he won't last long.


 * A PC with the full Weapon and Shield talent tree should have little-to-no trouble with him with proper handling, due to the relatively high Dexterity and Strength requirements for mastering the tree. Activating Shield Wall will prevent your PC from being knocked over, which is generally the largest factor in taking damage from him due to his War Cry and Shield Bash.


 * Another efficient strategy is using a warrior with maxed-out 2H skill tree as well as the second Reaver talent. Keep him feared, pummeled to the ground, and stunned by the passive 2H ability.

Mage
His high resistances make it unreliable to disable him with spells that have resistance checks, but unlike most bosses he is not immune to most disabling effects, so spells that do not have resistance checks are highly effective - Crushing Prison in particular is almost an "I win" button, and Mind Blast and Cone of Cold are also effective.

While he has high physical and mental resistance, he does not have spell or elemental resistance, so damage spells are quite effective compared to rogue and warrior attacks.


 * One tactic is to use Morrigan. She will have Mind Blast, and probably Cone of Cold. Sleep plus Horror makes for a great combo if you can get through his resistance.
 * If you have Wynne in your party, you can also use her strong damage mitigation abilities (healing, Heroic Defense, Lifeward, Rock Armor, etc.) combined with frequent barrages of Stonefist and Arcane Bolt to whittle his health down. However, when Loghain activates Perfect Striking, it may be a good time to use Wynne's Vessel of the Spirit ability for a quick health/mana regeneration, plus disorient effect.
 * If you have crushing prison, then you have many options. Vulnerability Hex followed by Crushing Prison and stacking area persistent effect spells (Tempest, Inferno and Blizzard) and/or damage over time spells (Virulent Walking Bomb, Flame Blast) can defeat him before crushing prison expires.
 * If you have Blood Magic specialization, using Blood Wound is very effective against him.
 * A properly specced Arcane Warrior should have no trouble with him, even on Nightmare. Coupling it with Blood Magic will allow you to stun him with Blood Wound (as mentioned above) and you can slice him down or use Primal spells.

Rogue

 * A rogue with at least level 3 Stealth and level 1 poison-making can simply enter stealth mode at the start of the fight, stand at a distance, and throw ranged attack items (such as acid flasks or shock bombs) at Loghain until he runs out of health. Loghain cannot attack stealthed opponents, but he can approach the Warden's position whenever he takes damage. When he gets close enough, your character may attempt to automatically attack him, but this can be prevented simply by running away from him until he stops chasing you.
 * Dirty Fighting always works to stun Loghain.
 * A rogue who uses the Dirty Fighting talent to stun Loghain and then backstabs him should have little difficulty, providing they maintain distance when Loghain is not stunned.
 * If you've invested in the Dual-Weapon tree and you happen to get your hands on Concentrated Deathroot extract (whether from drops or Poison-Making), all you need to do is use the extract and fight Loghain. If your dexterity is high enough, you'll rarely miss, and he'll stay stunned throughout the whole battle.
 * If you invested in the Ranger Specialization you can use the trick to summon two pets at once and have both of them use overpower on Loghain. Make sure to click on the new tactics prompt when you summon each one, or you won't be able to use the skills. Using Dirty Fighting while Loghain is targeting your pets will insure an easy victory.
 * A Duelist/Assassin can very easily win this as a straight fight. You could probably win with just auto-attack, but using Dirty Fighting and Riposte to stun him will allow you to Backstab him if you have Coup De Grace to make the fight faster.