Dungeon Siege III

This is for the secret achievement named Trial by Fire.

I did this on Hardcore difficulty with Anjali's fire form at level 10 with Lucas Montbarron as my partner.


SPOILER WARNING:
This is the boss battle at the culmination of the Raven's Rill plotline. You will meet and fight the lady in charge of hiring the Lescanzi to attack the Montbarron estate.

So if you would like to keep revelation reveals to a minimum, I suggest you don't read this until you've tried this battle once for yourself.

Location point of reference, this is in the Town Hall of Upper Raven's Rill after the Mausoleum and Graveyard.
You've been warned.


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After talking with Rajani (Anjali evokes a strong reaction), you will be hurtled into a full on fight with your pathways out of the room blocked by energy walls (as typical of boss fights in this game, apparently).

Rajani's toughness comes in her agility and massive spells. She dodges hits very well and her hits back at you (especially the magic) often would take away a third of your life in one blow.

The trick then is to dodge (LT and L stick) as much as possible, getting shots in when you can.

NOTE: You must stop dodging in order to attack and activate other spells like Inner Warmth. Don't get so keyed up that you forget to keep commands separate.

For this battle, I myself used Anjali's fire form and copious use of Aura of Immolation and later Summon Jackal. Rajani the Archon is very susceptible to Anjali's fire magic which is surprising considering her own fire abilities. But one doesn't take a gift horse in the mouth.

Every time you get around 30 focus energy, come up to Rajani and summon an Aura of Immolation. Best place is to be close enough so that the edge of the fire ring would still burn her but far enough away so you're not easily hit. You will occasionally miss so don't despair, just keep going!

Even better, if you happen to have Rajani chasing you, lead her around to have her run inside or near the circle of fire to make full use of its energies. ;)

In fact, if you can keep the damage coming and have Rajani aggro you, you can lead her around the town hall and let Lucas Montbarron chase and hit Rajani to his heart's content.


Rajani's first form (yes, she'll reveal a second) has 3 main attacks. If you get too near her, she'll unleash a combo of spear strikes that can lose me over 200 hp per hit. A quite accurate and quick missile will occasionally be thrown that can also hurt and at times drain focus energy from your bar. And the one I hate most, a summoned trap of purple energy that blasts anyone in its vicinity and can take up to 300 hp away if I'm "lucky". It does take a second to erupt but that second is short enough notice that if I happen to be reviving Lucas or cast Inner Warmth, I could still end up hit if I don't immediately stop and dodge.

So as you can guess, healing spells such as Inner Warmth will be your best friend through this fight (and many others, I gather). You would have an advantage if you had upgraded the hp related proficiencies like Cauterize and talents like Phoenix's Warmth so that you can gain hp through being hurt and hurting your enemies. For Anjali, at least have one rank of Cauterize in your Aura of Immolation proficiency gauge but keep the majority on the damage-focused Fiery Presence so you can hurt Rajani the most.

Gear-wise, go for pieces with higher Stamina and Armor stats. As well as Vampire which I later learned leeches health from your target. My Staff of Life-Stealing ended up being quite useful in getting back some HP with each hit.

TIP: Don't get too caught up in reviving (hold RB) Lucas if he goes down. Keep your eye on Rajani or you'll both be dead. Also, reviving doesn't always take too long. If you see the white glow swirl around, give it one second at most two and let go. Most of the time Lucas will absorb the white energy and revive. Just don't stay in one spot for long!

TIP: Same goes for items. Rajani or your team will probably destroy some or all of the benches in the hall. These, like barrels and vases, may hold items like health and gold. Don't be distracted! You can always get more of these later, don't end up dying for Rajani's pleasure! ;)

If you keep this up, Rajani's life bar will go down to 0 in no time.



But Rajani won't go out without a fight!

Like Anjali, Rajani also has a fire form and uses it to literally bring the house down! Now you have to contend with collapsed rafters and a really mad rejuvenated Archon.

Rajani will start laying out a field of traps for you to avoid. Small persistent ones will take about 25 hp per step in one. While hard-hitting larger ones would be summoned in a series to catch you off guard and get in multiple hits. (Remember each hit is over 200 hp in damage! So multiple hits pretty much means you're dead!)

Rajani will also choose a target and send a barrage of fireballs that if they miss would additionally pinwheel around and return. If you can find the eye of that pinwheel, you can most likely dodge most of the shots but 5 at a time at 80-some hp per hit would require you to do some fancy dancing.

Plus, the focus stealing missile shots will also carry over and should be avoided. You'll need that focus for the strategy I'm recommending.

So unlike when fighting the first form in which you actively try to keep Rajani focused on you, for this fight here you'll need to distract Rajani from you instead so you can focus on dealing hurt to that fire lady yourself. Lead Lucas towards Rajani and have him tank her, hopefully. Hit her with a few fireballs until your focus is at or above 60. Then Summon Jackal. The fire jackal should weave a beeline straight for Rajani and distract her enough so that she stops shooting at you. This frees you to focus on gaining focus by shooting Rajani and summoning fire jackals when the first one dies.

If Rajani still goes after you, give her and the jackal some time to get to know each other while you keep dodging and shooting. When you notice no more shots are coming your way you can hunker down and barrage her.

Keep this pattern up along with the occasional Aura of Immolation and possible Lucas revives. And you should soon have Rajani laid out on the town hall floor unconscious.

You will earn the achievement here but there will be a choice later where you have to decide the fire woman's fate. Deciding to free her will sow the seed of doubt in Rajani and may prove to be beneficial later. Freeing Rajani will definitely earn you influence with Lucas Montbarron so keep that in mind as well.

This is a fight where one misstep can easily kill you. So keep your wits about you, watch your health, dodge, and kick some fire woman butt!

Good luck!



Related Achievement Note: If you're really good at dodging and have other abilities that can compensate enough to not require Inner Warmth then you may be able to get Rajani's Rival after this fight as well. I figured out my strategy after close to 20 tries and 3 days so I'm not going to recommend this unless you're playing on Easy or have beaten her once already. The game has Hardcore difficulty described as for those who are not prone to throw controllers. I actually came close to being tempted. lol

If you're REALLY good you can go for the I Could Do This Blindfolded achievement where you have no gear advantage either. Same concerns apply, try it when you're more confident. ;>

So one last TIP: if you find yourself flagging and/or just plain frustrated, take a break. ;>

Have fun!