This article contains strategy for fighting The Guardian during the quest The Descent in the DLC The Descent for Dragon Age: Inquisition.
The battle with the Guardian takes place upon a large round platform with several pillars along the edges. The Guardian itself is a massive enemy with several appendages that can be attacked, much like the limbs of dragons or other beasts, the appendages in this case being numerous rock tendrils and lyrium clusters. During combat the Guardian will lash out with the tendrils to both strike the party and to push them off the platform, but will otherwise remain relatively passive until it periodically begins to project stalagmite-like formations from the floor. The formations can be anticipated by the blue light that appears on the floor in the locations where the formations will emerge. These formations will cause a good deal of damage so it is essential to heed the Inquisitor's warning to run and not let them touch you. The basic battle plan is to attack the flailing rock tendrils and then run to avoid being hit or pushed off the platform. When the rock tendrils reach zero health they will fall off, revealing lyrium stumps that must then be attacked.
An effective strategy is to take command of a mage party member with Storm spells, as The Guardian is weak against electricity and ranged attacks are critical for surviving the fight. Chain Lightning is particularly useful during the fight. When the formations begin to appear from the floor, begin to run and continue to circle the Guardian, attacking with Storm spells and using Barrier to protect the mage whenever possible. Likely the rest of the party will perish during the fight as there does not appear to be an effective way of making the party dodge the formations to avoid taking damage--forcing the party to disengage from combat to follow the Inquisitor is not sufficient to allow them to follow closely and stealthily enough to survive the attacks. However a single mage can survive by moving continuously, attacking with Storm spells, swiftly dodging the rock formations, and avoiding being pushed off the edge of the platform by the tendrils. The battle is one of attrition and speed.
It is also possible to cheese The Guardian to death. Using any mage character, walk to the edge of the platform (preferably right beside a pillar) and get knocked off the edge. When the character respawns The Guardian will be unable to hit the mage with any attack, so long as the character does not move from the respawn position. The player may then attack from range in complete safety.
Another viable strategy if your character is a Tempest Dual Wielding Rogue is to activate flask of lightning and - while the enemy is frozen as a result - hitting the crystals visible on the sides of the guardian and then evading away before the guardian appendages have a chance to hit you. After that the player can circle around the arena till the flask of lightning is available again and repeat the process. Using high damage skills like the death blow during the time freeze instead of simple melee attacks makes this process less time consuming. The player can also equip accessories that reduce cooldown, reducing the downtime between two flash of lightning activations. (It is also worth noting that on harder difficulties a rogue can die in just a couple of hits from the appendages, hence timing exactly when during the flask of lightning + attack cycle to pull away is vital, spending too much time hitting the guardian can result in time being unfrozen before the player has the chance to evade away from the area of attack.
Party Recommendations
- Any mage with many Storm spells. The Guardian, like many other enemies in the Deep Roads, is vulnerable to electricity damage.
- Equip your party's tank with Bolt (turns all your tank's damage into electricity damage, trials reward item, requires Trespasser DLC) for more damage toward the boss.
Recommended Weapons
- Scepter of Razikale (Jaws of Hakkon DLC)
- Hakkon's Wisdom (Jaws of Hakkon DLC)
- Isana's Song
- Bolt (Trespasser DLC)