How to Beat Daimon as a Fighter (1st and 2nd Form)

In this short guide I'll walk you through the two encounters against Daimon on Bitterblack Isle. It's mostly intended for the Fighter vocation, but it should be helpful for any melee vocation.

Guide

I'm sure most people have beaten both forms of Daimon by now, but I figured it wouldn't hurt to write yet another guide for those who are still struggling as a Fighter. I suppose my strategy should work for any melee vocation, but I haven't tried it.

As a Fighter you should have no trouble dealing damage and absorbing Daimon's attacks. The biggest threat in both encounters is therefore the Rift Vortex. Although it's trivial to survive (just use a Wakestone) your pawns will be sent back to the Rift if they get caught in it. If that happens to your main pawn it'll lose out on the experience gained from killing Daimon (which is a lot, especially after defeating him for the first time). So the goal is to get at least your main Pawn through the fight.

Daimon's First Form

First off, preparations: You need at least ~1500 physical damage and as much physical and magic defense as possible. Furthermore carry at least 8 Conqueror's Periapts with you. A few Stamina curatives will prove useful as well. I think I was around level 70 when I beat him.

Getting through the first phase (first three dots of his health) should be no problem. If you die during that phase consider restarting (as there's really no reason to die here). Once Daimon starts doing his Rift Vortex you have several options:

(1) Climb him and slash away at his head. You need to be quick for this as it's not always obvious when he's about to initiate the Vortex. Climbing him during his 'walk' can be difficult as well.

(2) If you have high stagger power you can try to stagger him out of his casting animation with Dragon's Maw. You need to time it right and it may not work every time.

(3) Just grab your main Pawn and hide behind a pillar or even behind the throne. If you have any support pawns they will die though.

There are other options (using group Stamina curatives, ordering your pawns to stay with you etc) but they're not very reliable in my opinion. The safest method is actually to climb Daimon before he even initiates the Vortex and hit his head right off the bat. You'll need a couple of secret augments and lots of Stamina curatives for this to work well though.

In any case, Daimon will now be stunned. This is your hint to deal as much damage as humanly possible. Pop four Conqueror's Periapts and slash away with your most damaging attacks. Eventually he'll bend over and expose his head. Hit it with everything you got. If you've dealt enough damage he may not even make it to his second Rift Vortex cast. If he does just keep hitting him during the animation. If your damage output is high enough he'll never get to cast the Vortex for a second time. If he does grab your main Pawn and hide, then finish him.

Daimon's Second Form

I was around level 110 when I beat Daimon's true form. You should have 2500+ physical damage by now and as much defense as possible. Carry at least 12 Conqueror's Periapts with you. Stamina curatives are helpful again as well. You should also have a couple of Wakestones with you. If your main Pawn is a Mage or Sorcerer make sure it has a Holy enchantment.

First you need to defeat the first form for a second time. At this point Daimon should be a pushover. Once he does the Vortex a Dragon's Maw should be enough to cancel it. Then just pop four Conqueror's Periapts and he'll go down in record time.

The second form is a much fiercer foe. Whittling down his health will take a while, and his attacks are significantly stronger. Still, the first phase should be doable (use a wakestone if you have to). The real threat is once again the Vortex Rift. Climbing Daimon or staggering him is much more difficult this time around and not a very reliable approach. Therefore I'd suggest to simply grab your pawn and hide behind a pillar or the throne during the Vortex. Your support pawns will die but managing them throughout the fight is a hassle anyway. The important thing is once again to hit Daimon with everything you've got after he's done with the Vortex (killing a pawn will trigger his 'exhausted' state). Pop four Conqueror's Periapts (as usual) and hack away. This will probably not be enough to kill him on the spot, but he won't have much health left. Damage him until he's down to around two dots. Pay close attention when he's about to cast the Vortex. Once he does grab your main Pawn again and hide. This time he won't be 'exhausted', so you have to whittle down his health manually. Use a couple of Conqueror's Periapts if you have to, eventually he will go down.

That's basically it. If you have any questions or face any issues with my strategy feel free to comment below.

[fgh]

Fighter able to stop 2nd form vortex if the weapon have strong enough stagger/knockdown power +barbed nail 2x+impact+clout(in some cases). Might need liquid vim/potage to stay climbin. Also, Sanctuary help a lot to survive any physical attack

[StarChart]

(Playing on Hard Mode btw so enemies hit much, MUCH harder)

When I fought Daimon for the first time I was an Assassin. The rusted bow helped an assload with Torpor and Poison. I'm currently lvl 166 and I want to be a Fighter for the rest of my lvls all the way to 200 for the HP. Do you think Dragonforging a Rusted Sword would be worth it? To swap to it from time to time to inflict poison and torpor in his first form and poison in his second? I would honestly just go and fight him as my main voc but I honestly can't afford to waste the rest of my lvls getting 5 hp and 0 def. Can you really stun Daimon out of his Vortex with just a single Dragon's Maw (in his first form)? I do have a Devilsbane that's been DF and a few pieces of the Immortal set.