QuenGalad wrote:I find holy smite to be very good against beholders, altough I don't know why. It's just an observation I made.
A good, if a little cowardly, tactics is sending some summons (as mentioned above) down where you think some beholders migt be, while staying at a safe distance yourself. When the summons weaken the beholder group, you can get down there and finish the job. I remember killing them with ranged weapons was easier, perhaps because they cast those anti-healing spells which require touching the target (probably).
Oh, and the point of underdark is showing you, step by step, who Irenicus is, or at least what he wants to do
The beholder's Cause Critical Wounds ray is a ranged spell attack with no need to roll to hit - i.e. hits always.
Using summons is kinda dangerous. You have to send them one by one, because of the beholders Death Spell. They have to be powerful(skeleton warriors, mordenkainen swords, Aerial Servants, Fire Elementals). Preferably the first two listed. And lastly - if the beholders kill your last summon and you're nearby and visible, you're under attack.
The point of the Underdark is to give you the final parts of the grand quest items you're assembling, to give you interesting and tough fights, a new dragon and an inside view of the Drow life.
Btw, Arania, kill as many as you can, but not from the start. Play along with them. I assure you, if you complete each and every quest and sub-quest in their city, you will annihilate three powerful Drow houses, and if you just kill a slaver - you will never be admitted to these places. And there are good Drow, as well, remember that.
Now, as I understand Arania has a problem with Beholders and Elder Orbs. Here are some tips:
1. A Gauth uses mainly "Cause serious wounds" ray and a "Lightning Bolt" ray. They're easy to kill. Protection from Lightning and from Magic Damage helps here.
2. A Beholder uses "Domination/Dire Charm" ray , "Cause Serious W" ray, "Anti-magic" ray and "Flesh to stone" ray, the last one with no save(unlike the spell with the same name). The things are well until a Beholder shoots the Anti-Magic ray, followed straight away by a Flesh to Stone ray. No save. The Anti-Magic Ray goes through any kind of spell protection, removing all combat buffs and deflection like spells like spell turning, causing a 100% spell failure in the target for 3 rounds, making you a stone statue. Spell Shield(lvl 5 wizard spell) is the only spell that can save you from a single Anti-Magic Ray. But not from 2 or more.
My personal way to deal with big groups of Beholders is making two of my mages Improved Invisible, Protected from Magic Energy(6lvl spell), and sending them right in the middle of the beholder group, where each of the mages fires a Spell Sequencer loaded with 3 Skull Trap spells. Kaboom!
The knowledge of their tactic helps also. Now, a Beholder will shoot an Anti-Magic ray, and after that a Flesh to Stone ray. While the targeted character is unable to protect himself with spells for 3 rounds after the A-M ray , he can be still protected by using a green protection from petrification scroll. Or simply an ally mage can cast on him quickly the Prot from Petrification 1st lvl wizard spell(which is cast immediately, as I recall, and if not - well there's a minor spell sequencer in which the spell can be stored and released immediatelly if need be).
Spell Trigger with 3*Sunfire while your mages are protected from fire is equally effective, but Spell Trigger is 8 lvl spell while Spell Sequencer is 7th, also ST is a very rare scroll in SoA, while SS is more common and available to buy.
Note: There is an item found in the Sahuagin City called "cloak of mirroring", it helps on the beholders but yet you're vulnerable to the Anti Magic+Flesh to Stone rays.
For warriors it is best advised equipping them with items which protect from charm and domination spells, like Adjatha the Drinker or the Shield of Harmony, or simply buffing them with Chaotic Commands(lvl 5 priest spell).
3. Elder orbs. These are the toughest beholders which you can meet in a pure SoA game. There are very few of them also in the whole SoA. In those tunnels where are you, Arania, there are exactly two of them, and the second one is surrounded by many Beholders and Gauths, and has nothing of value. So, avoid him, he's in the SE part of the tunnels(lower right corner). on NE(upper right) are some valuable items. And the area is lightly guarded. Also, near the starting point of these tunnels, there is a little alcove with a
+4 sling.
Any way, about the Elder orb. They're Magic Resistant, thank god not 100%. They use spells, like Sunfire, Imprisonment, Stoneskin and several other. They also use the classic Anti-Magic ray+Flesh to Stone combo. Killing one of these is not very easy. Yet you have to kill the Orb who is in the room right next to the entrance. There's another Beholder with him. I suggest using Invisibility radius 10' or similar spell to make all of your party invisible, and buff all of them well before you enter. The Elder Orb begins immediately with True Sight. Surround him and kill him quickly with pure melee while he's casting TS. Because his next spell is Stoneskin followed by rays of various kinds and Imprisonment. After that, take care of the lonely Beholder in the same manner. He most probably will not succeed to activate Anti-Magic Ray + Flesh to stone if you work quickly. The berserker rage protects from Imprisonment and similar spells, as well as from Domination and Paralyze, so it is worth using on beholders if you have Minsc and/or Korgan. BTW, you can buff those two and send them alone against the Orb, enraged, of course.
You may try the same strategy I descrbed about the beholders on the Elder orb. He is not 100% MR.
Weapons with dispelling effect - Carsomyr, Staff of the Magi - is best to be used, in order to immediately get rid of the Orb's Stoneskin. Breach and similar s.pells need more time for casting