You're going to need a lot more action economy and mobility. Your PCs can probably fly and teleport, so they can just stay out of reach of the Swashbuckler and shoot him until he's dead.
I would suggest adding a bunch of minions, and giving the main guy flight at the minimum.
I'm assuming Swashbuckler 20/Duelist 10? With +6 items for all stats and +5 books? Max hit points, of course, and possibly double or triple max hit points.
1) Gestalt the BBEG. Two class levels, highest BAB/saves/skills between the two.
2) Mythic/monstrous initiative. Have him go once and again at -20 (or since there are 6, 0/-10/-20)
3) Have him with minions or something that balances towards him. Narrow fighting on rafters. Fighting on a slick ship at sea. Tip the fight in the bosses favor.
Swashbuckler//anti-paladin 20/duelist//(un)holy vindicator 10?
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Add Mythic templates. Agile and Invincible would be my suggestions. Dual Initiative, Block Attacks and Second Save will make your BBEG a closer match for your party.
Also, even with significant upgrades, there's a good chance your party will just stomp your BBEG if you don't take additional measures. Make the terrain favor the enemy, and fill it with nasty hazards that the bad guy knows about but the party doesn't. For level 20 play, I'm a fan of things like Wish Traps that cast specific nasty wishes tailored to whoever triggers them. Another option is to add some kind of "the villain can't be killed until this condition is met" thing to the fight will make things interesting.
Etheric Shards is a great terrain hazard spell. Consider filling the whole area with them, and give the BBEG a magic item that negates them in their square only, and leaves them behind in their wake (or something like that).
Additionally, if you want casting to be in the encounter to keep up with the power paradigm, then you could have him be swashbuckler 20//magus 6/Caster 14. That way he can cast a spell as part of a full attack to help his action economy. That is if you want this to remain a solo encounter.
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I want to run a fight where each minion gives a boon to the BBEG, so killing each minion makes attacking the BBEG easier.
For example, one minion gives the BBEG DR 20/-, another gives all energy resistance 30, one grants Fast Healing 20, another a +10 bonus to AC and CMD, one grants +5 to all Saving Throws, another SR 30, etc.
I assume that by 'balanced party' you mean that there's a divine caster, an arcane caster, etc. A level 20 swashbuckler won't really be up to snuff - not on their own, anyway. Obviously, you'll want to give them a few friends, preferably ones that can use magic. High CR monsters with numerous spell-like abilities could fit the bill.
I don't think it would be remiss to give them a few mythic ranks/tiers, either. They work rather well for boss characters, if not for PCs. That would significantly enhance their survivability and action economy.
Don't be afraid to slap a few unique boons onto the big bad, either. Maybe they made a few wishes to get some additional special abilities. Maybe they signed an infernal contract that gives them a template or two, and/or some devil flunkies to boss around. Their ability scores could be generated with as high as a 30-point buy if they happen to be the pinnacle of their respective race.
I want to run a fight where each minion gives a boon to the BBEG, so killing each minion makes attacking the BBEG easier.
For example, one minion gives the BBEG DR 20/-, another gives all energy resistance 30, one grants Fast Healing 20, another a +10 bonus to AC and CMD, one grants +5 to all Saving Throws, another SR 30, etc.
Well, I know what I'm planning on using.
Some thoughts on improving action economy for a martial character like a swashbuckler:
1) Attacks of opportunity (AOO). They work better with reach, so maybe give him a permanent longarm spell or something like that. Helps to catch the players by surprise, also. The Lunge feat doesn't work well with AOO, sadly. The Cloak And Dagger Style chain is probably helpful.
2) Immediate actions. While you can only have one per round, it would be good to be able to use it pretty much each round. Martial Dominance, Step Up + Following Step + Step Up and Strike should help, as well as Sidestep + Improved Sidestep + Juke.
3) Defensive on hit abilities. The fire shield spell is a classic, you don't need any actions to hurt those who hit you. Vampiric Shadow Shield and Shocking Image are more potent versions, probably coming from scrolls. Items providing spell turning can also be nice.
A ring of blinking might improve his chances significantly. In general, consider giving him PC wealth - that's nearly 1 million for level 20, and way more for higher levels...
Going to have to give a single boss a ton of buffs and epic level gear and make sure the battle takes place on his terms and in the location of his choosing.
Traps or general terrain hazards that he boss can avoid without thought. Acid pools, geysers, lava, bottomless crevasses, quick sand, barely balanced heavy rocks...
A ring of blink and boots of haste = 50/50 hit chance and more actions. I encountered a blink dog or something with blink in a campaign and it was the longest and most difficult encounter pretty much ever.
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I once put phantom Halfling paladins on blinkdogs. ***evil grin***
Boots of Haste and a Ring of Blinking are key. Maybe +5 vorpal rapier? Or whatever the piercing version of vorpal is... Maybe a cloak that generates 1d4 mirror images each round; each time an image is destroyed, the attacker takes half damage.
Maybe a ton of debuffing critical feats? An Epic version of the Belt of Battle (I think it's a 3.5 item; +2 to initiative and it has 3 daily charges; 1 = extra move action, 2 = extra standard action, 3 = extra full round action), maybe with 6 or 9 or 12 charges? Or a way to recharge it by getting a critical hit?
Maybe take a page from 5E D&D and give it Legendary Defense (choose to turn a failed Saving Throw into a successful one 3/day), Legendary Actions (3 times per round, you get a special action after someone else's turn; for a martial like your super swashbuckler, maybe a bonus attack, or move 60 feet, or a healing surge (regain 50 hp), or a Bull Rush or Trip against all adjacent enemies, or a free Intimidate check or Fear effect, or something thematic like that; usually a selection of 3 options), or Lair Effects, which are typically terrain-based hazards, like grappling ropes, a tilting ship deck, plumes of hot and/or blinding steam, etc.
I once put phantom Halfling paladins on blinkdogs. ***evil grin***
May I use this idea?
I once put phantom Halfling paladins on blinkdogs. ***evil grin***May I use this idea?
But of course! :-D
Consider giving the swashbuckler at least one and probably more intelligent dancing weapons.