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I had a good laugh in the Beholder's lair (in the Underdark) I want to share..
As you should know this place is full of...hmmm.. Beholders, yes
As you can know, the cheesy way to kill'em all in a pinch is to send a party member go-go dance in front of'em draped in the Cloak of Mirroring.
I did that in the first part of the dungeon, but found it more and more boring, so sought a new idea for the final big battle with the Orbs...without taking much risk however, as I had a petrified char on the first encounter (the "ambush" when you enter, but well, no big deal, Stone to Flesh...)
And I got one : Anomen summoned a Pit Fiend in their midst , my char (Ftr/Thief) observed invisible, and damn it was fun
The Fiend was immune to all the Eyes'rays et al, bashed them and fireballed them repeatedly, and killed all but two - the Elder was one of the survivors, and at this point it Imprisoned the Fiend !! I had to finish them myself, so Keldorn came in with Carsomyr and a bottle of magic protection potion...
I had a good time with this one battle, even if it wasn't challenging, at least it was fun, and I felt like I won from good play (instead of overpowered abused item...) !

I don't spend much time on them... wothless creatures... gotta kill em all!

Worthless and ugly. But think of what a business an optometrist could set up in that area.

When I did this area, I was down to the last two beholders before I remembered about the cloak of mirroring lmao!

I realised at the last minute, quite by accident - kicked myself (I do not remember acquiring it never mind equipping it - I should pay more attention to the little details...) - then sent in Korgan alone...yes a bit cheesy but I had already done most of it the hard way....

All BG Beholders have two fatal flaws.

Flaw 1: They are stooopid and target people that bounce rays. Beholders are a very intelligent species, and even if they didn't spot a Spell Turning, Shield of Balduran or Cloak of Mirroring on sight, they'd know what they were dealing with as soon as the first Cause Serious Wounds got bounced.

Flaw 2: The Beholder's central eye completely shuts down all magic in its sight. Your uber weapons turn to normal, your spells fizzle, your protective enchantments fade. Good luck...

Xyx,
You're totally right : I didn't exploit these flaws when I sent a Pit Fiend to fight the Eyes : it just bashed them, with some burns in addition , and was immune to most of their damage.

That's why I like the way I defeated them, it was "fair"...
And I'm unsure the central rays should cause items to become normal IIRC AD&D rules...

Originally posted by PDF:
<STRONG>I'm unsure the central rays should cause items to become normal IIRC AD&D rules...</STRONG>

Dunno 'bout AD&D, but in D&D3 definitely. I hope there will be Beholders in NWN

The beholder's anti-magic ray works just like an Anti-Magic Shell spell; it completely negates any magic in the area, including spells, magical effects, and magical items. The thing is, though, the beholder also can't fire his rays into an anti-magic field, so the best he can hope for is a draw.

It is kind of strange that beholders are such pushovers in the BG series. That's certainly due in part to the number of cheesy items available in the game; the Shield of Balduran and Cloak of Mirroring, just to name two. Of course, I suppose it is fitting into the theme of BG2. After all, a lich is powerful enough to rule its own kingdom, but in BG2, you'll find one or two wandering around aimlessly in any given dungeon. And they're just as easily dispatched. Ah well.

One of the Beholder's tactics is to close its central eye, fire its rays, and open the central eye to annoy its enemies while the stalks recharge.

Another tactic is to position itself in between the adventurers, so it can use more stalks. The central eye projects a cone shaped no-magic field. Only the stalks that fire to its front side have to deal with that, the stalks on the sides and back fire outside the cone.