I see your long post, and raise you an even longer one!

Are you attempting it solo? that may be part of why you're timing out, but don't get discouraged, it's still possible - just a lot, lot harder.

When i beat Dalama, i did it with a group of 4. All three of us had at least 400 def, while one guy had high 300's and kept getting creamed, so i'd definitely recomended at least 400 defense. Secondly, you can NOT get intimidated by it! Think of it this way: Sure, he's a giant snake monster, but he's only got like 5 attacks he can hit you with! He's not SO Scary! Just Superman dive the laser beam and you're golden! I also suggest "Mounting" him as much as you can, by which i mean stunning him. He's gets stunned extremely easily, and well-placed aerial attacks is the way to get it done. any time he gets stunned, he just lays down on the ground practically begging for you to wail on his head. Heck, you can even just attack his neck/body if you're too far away from his head, he's so big you can hit him from anywhere. Also, neat trick i found- you know that pillar he wraps himself around where you can climb up his back? While everyone else is doing that, you can go below him. There's a pool of water that randomly does a bit of heat damage to you, but hardly much. To the left wrapped around said pillar, you can hit his mid/lower body. While it may not look like the hits are connecting, you'll clearly be able to see blood when you hit his body from down there, and he cannot hit you with anything aside from Meteors if they decided to target you down there, which will rarely happen in multiplayer. Easy way to rack up crazy damage, just be careful since it's a small area and other people might know if it too!

Good luck, and Happy Hunting! :D