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Message: <blockquote data-quote="takasi" data-source="post: 4084220" data-attributes="member: 20194">Did anyone defeat the black dragon at D&D XP? How did you do it?With everything said about positioning in 4th edition, I would think there is no way the pregen party could defeat the black dragon.I'm going to assume the cave he's in is at least 15 feet high. Why? Because dragons aren't stupid, and if he's going to be able to defend himself well he's going to want a lair he can at least fly in. Or better yet, climb up to and cling onto the cave wall and unleash his breath weapon.(Alternatively, to give the flavor of a black dragon the area should have water - preferably acidic water - and an ability for the dragon to swim away from the party in between breaths.)From there the dragon just has to wait a few rounds to get his breath weapon 'recharged' and then blast the party until they're dead. He can do this by flying around the room or as mentioned earlier by clinging to the cave walls.Factoring in the recharge and probability of hitting, I'm guessing the dragon will have about 5 damage per round from his acid per target he can hit. Even with healing surges, each character has roughly six rounds to survive each.The dragon has 280 hit points and 24 AC (21 reflex). Even the best ranged attacker (the ranger) needs a 14 or better to hit, or will hit 1/3 of the time. His average damage is 1d10+1d8+3, or 12, which is 4. Other characters aren't going to be nearly this good. The wizard needs a 16 or better to hit with magic missile, hitting 1/4 of the time, and doing only 9 points, so about 2 average damage per round. The fighter doesn't have a ranged weapon, but assuming he can get one he'll need at least an 18 or so to hit (hitting about 1/8 of the time), and even if he had 1d10+5 (or 10 average) that's again only 2 points of damage. The warlock, fighter and paladin are also about 2 points per round ranged. So with all six fighting, that's about 14 (let's say 15 to make it easier) average damage per round.At least until round 6 when one of the party members fall. The dragon should be at around 180 hit points by then, and if he's smart he'll target the ranger first. The party's average drops to 10, giving the dragon another 18 rounds to finish everyone off.And if you're a simulationist, you should give the dragon a healing surge at some point to give him another 70 hit points. I think it's extremely unlikely that a party could kill a smart flying dragon. I don't see why a DM would run the dragon on the ground, or why a dragon would choose a lair he can't fly around in.If you beat the dragon, how did the DM run it? What was the overall result?</blockquote>

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