Path of Fire (aka RNG is bad)

This quest series is about to expire, and I think I'm done with it.  I was originally trying to get 3 copies of the boss card so I could have one unevolved and one evolved version, but the quest is way too much of a pain for one reason.

Scott.

Wtf is this?  It's a thunder card that randomly appears in any stage except the final one.  He has only 20HP, but has incredible defense (75000? defense).  Which in itself isn't an issue, but when he appears, his defense is inherited to his allies for that round.  Which is bullcrap.  Some cards go from manageable to outright impossible.  It's also a "trap" that any setup without armor breaker or a pestilence type skill will half to quit.  If you are lucky he would appear with normal enemies.  Unlucky if Shirley (new holy card) appears with him - she hits hard, and every turn.

The "best" part is that this can happen at anytime, at ANY level of difficulty.  Lowbies trying to clear level I can run into him, and then will most likely stop at that point.

I do have one copy of the boss, which has the defensive ruin skill (quite nice, but cannot be leveled at all).  His evolved form isn't too much to write about though; it changes to the wheel skill, arguably the worst skill in the game due to its unpredictability (it used to be the best skill in the old days due to an exploit, but that was fixed).

My general setup?  I only completed Level II, but I went with Saintess++ as leader just to deal with the possibility of having to face Shirley with Scott in the same round.  My follower is a strong healer (Jotunn++ or Ciguapa+ or similar).  Banshee++ for slowly picking away at enemies that gain the 100000 defense, and the rest are the best cards I can fit (which doesn't really matter that much).  With this, rounds with Scott can be dealt with by using Pestilence until they die.  If the healing is strong enough this doesn't take as long as you'd think, because you can just make 1 combo per turn and auto-healing will prevent death.  The exception of course, is if Shirley is there; then you need to make heart combos occasionally to keep up.  The boss himself isn't strong at all - even with no fire damage reduction a good healer can nullify all his attacks.