If you position yourself well, you can actually set things up so that the dragon and Forsworn will fight each other. Creep close enough to the camp, and the Forsworn will start shooting arrows at the dragon, which will obligingly begin chewing up the Forsworn for you. You can then walk in and mop up the survivors after one side finishes the other off. You can also pick off a few Forsworn by slowly advancing upon the camp, bringing out a bow and unleashing ranged sneak attacks against the Forsworn that you first come across. This also gives you the added benefit of pulling only a few Forsworn at a time, giving you a series of easy fights instead of one big rumble against the entire camp. You don’t need to worry about Esbern and Delphine dying during the fight in the camp. They are marked as “essential” in the game, meaning they will only fall down to one knee when they run out of health but will never actually die—even when a dragon is breathing spouts of fire down their throats. [3] X Research source You can actually skip a large portion of the fight by dashing through the camp and entering Karthspire itself. Most of the Forsworn will be busy fighting the dragon; giving you the chance to run past them and enter Karthspire itself.
There are a few bedrolls here, so you can rest up to recover health once you have cleared out all opposition.
This segment will be a lot easier if you use the Whirlwind Sprint Shout to bypass the plates. The Become Ethereal Shout will also negate the damage from the flames, while the Light Foot perk from the Sneak skill tree will allow you to walk over the plates without triggering them. [4] X Research source
