Talk:Griffin's Bane/@comment-37.106.177.182-20160301163831/@comment-12.130.180.88-20160303164102

Best way is with a ranged vocation. You must quickly shoot the Griffin after that cutscene where he grabs Ser Westly. That will make him safely drop him if you have enough pop with your attack. NG+ this shouldn't be a problem. If it's your first run, bring some Conquror's Periapts/Tagilus's Miracles to boost your strength. Another option is to use a Wakestone to revive him after he dies. You can do that for any soldier that dies here, and the game will treat it as if they never died.

Keep in mind it really isn't a big deal. It changes nothing of substance in the game even if ALL of them die. It's simply changes ONE line of dialogue with Mercedes after the quest. That's it. I ususally don't even bother talking to her at all about the quest lol. Unless I'm making her my beloved that run. Otherwise I just ignore her except when I have to talk to her for the main quests in which she's involved.

The TRUE best way to ensure everyone survives without wasting Wakestones on them is to kill it quickly at the cliffs before he flees to BMT. Imo, this is not ideal on your first run. I think it's good to do the whole quest, go to BMT, etc. After your very first run though(NG+), you'll probably have little reason/need to go to BMT for this quest. Also, it's a lot easier to kill it quickly on those cliffs once you hit NG+ because you'll be much higher in level(and gear) your second time around.