I have tried the last fight against Dracandros several times and I end up with dead characters EVERY FRICKING TIME. No matter how I try to prepare it ends up the same way. Not sure how to proceed.

Note there seems to be some kind of bug that keeps me from targetting him either through ranged effects or close in. Aim stops working and refuses to target him. Fireballs won't center on him. And when they are nearby they don't affect him.

In Pools of Radiance, I might be willing to go back to the temple and do a raise dead, but with this system I'm not sure where I could go to do it. Can any of you give me any advice on how to proceed?

Dracandros is protected by an invisibility spell which is why can't target him directly with ranged weapons. You can still attack him in melee. Unless he also has a Globe of Protection and/or Fire Shield a Fireball aimed closed to him should hurt him. Alternatively Cone of Cold or Blade Barrier may work.

I recall that he had a tendency of fleeing from battle.

I tried rushing him and the fire shield got me. Should I try hiding behind the walls and let his monsters charge and get rid of them and then go after him?

4th level or higher spells (such as Ice Storm) will not be blocked by his Globe of Invulnerability (if you have any casters capable of casting them).

Detect Invisibility will allow characters to target him at range (you will need magic arrows or Darts of the Hornet's Nest though because he has Protection from Normal Missiles).

I used detect invisibility and I killed him but I lose a character no matter what I do. This time it was my MU. So I saved after the battle, slogged through the tower and caves till I finally came out in the village and was able to raise dead in the village. That was REALLY frustrating, and it was only the first area really.

What is my best bet for the 2nd area and is it likely to be much harder than this?

Hap and the rest of that area is one of the worst difficulty spikes of the game.
Kudos for persevering.

The next area is easier, relatively speaking. But remember Yulash is a war zone, so you are not supposed to explore every square of it.

I have made it past Moander but AGAIN, I lost a character in the fight. I even replayed the battle and this time one of my characters all the way across the battlefield from ANY enemy with nearly full hit points died for no apparent reason when the boss died. I have no idea how this was possible, but the game did seem to want to kill one of my characters whether it made any sense or not.

This time my cleric could raise dead. Still aggravating though.

To some extent, games have changed in that syndrome where you've killed the boss and now you have to fight 30 battles with annoying difficult random foes just to get out of the fricking dungeon. I know people sometimes complain about Skyrim, but usually you finish the boss battle and you tend to find a door that gets you out (or nearly out) of the dungeon. Those Shambling mounds ..... At least they gave us the wand.

Now I'm facing the Zentils. I'm not looking forward to more Drows with weapons and armor that you can't keep very long after the battle. I am finding this game a bit more refined than Pool of Radiance though. I like the Fix command. But I don't like losing the Fine Composite Bows (which don't seem to be IN this game and the bows I have found have been few and far between (and magic arrows as well). It really impairs the archers.

If I manage to win this game and take my characters into Silver Blades, will I lose all my gear again?

Yes, the characters start with nothing.

It does have a difficulty setting, which you can adjust to give foes more (or fewer) hit points.

Sure he was not poisoned? In that case he's not really "dead", but can be revived with a Neutralize Poison spell.

Not sure. the "status" said DEAD.

In Zhentil Keep, entering one door will result in a guard yelling, "Get out of the magistrate's office!" Refusing to leave gets you a fight against ~20 Zhentarim Fighters armed with a lot of +1 gear. The fight gets you a lot of experience points and you can sell the items literally across the street. Unlike most fights in Curse, you can repeat this fight every time you enter the room. I find the game remarkably difficult if I don't grind out a few extra levels in the magistrate's office.