There are few points in a game like Puzzle Quest where you get so frustrated that you stop playing. My experience fighting Dugog was one such occurrence where I took a break from playing. I had to regroup and develop a strategy.

Before Dugog, I had been following the main storyline and paying little attention to the additional side quests and other opportunities to boost my character. I hadn’t developed my citadel, which allows you to learn spells from captured enemies. Certain spells, such as Regeneration, can become invaluable. It allowed me to cure myself with one simple spell that didn’t change the board at all (unlike the previously earned cure spell).

Initially, Dugog seemed unbeatable. The AI seemed to “favor” him, allowing him to get two or three “4 of a Kind” matches as I watched in distress. Some of my friends shared my frustration – the AI enemies did seem unusually lucky.

However, I soon realized that I could gain a much greater advantage by a perfectly honest method – leveling up. At its heart, Puzzle Quest is largely an RPG, so it is only natural that increasing your characters’ abilities is essential to moving ahead. I stopped ignoring the side quests and soon had a much stronger knight. When there were no more side quests to complete, I decided it was time for a rematch.

It still took me a few tries to beat Dugog, but I was much closer to winning each time. Considering the fact that Dugog was the first major boss, it should come as no surprise that he proved a challenge. I was glad that Dugog was difficult, because he taught me to explore the game and enjoy the journey.