Baldur's Gate The Baldur's Gate Series Thread

[Melcar]

Glitterdust, Animate Dead, or just send someone with +100% MR and poke their eyes out.

 

[Xeon]

I used the shield in my current playthrough and the quest ended so fast and it was kind of ridiculous compared to my first time. I did finish the quest without the shield on insane using a Berserker with a lot of buffs and had to retreat a few times to heal, The group of Beholders mostly, 1 or 2 didn't seem that hard IIRC but the group of them took the hp down so fast it was kinda hectic.

 

[Lonely Vazdru]

So what's your preferred method for killing Beholders?.

I usually use a mage + staff of the magi, cast "cloudkill" or "Deathfog" from out of their sight, immediately turn invisible, wait for the spell to end and repeat as many times as it takes for them to die. Sometimes they just sit there and die, other times they move a bit so it's trickier and it may take the occasional fireball to finish them off but it still does the job.

 

[SwiftCrack]

I prefer to use the shield because beholders are fucking cheese, so I don't feel bad out-cheesing them.

Same with basilisks, send animate dead skellies to cheese them.

Vampires I can do with negative plane protection.

 

[DragoFireheart]

Same with basilisks, send animate dead skellies to cheese them.

All you is protection from petrification. No need for skellies.

 

[UglyBastard]

In my solo run I usually just pulled them around the next corner and backstabbed/berserked their ass when possible.

 

[MicoSelva]

I never buy the shield - too cheesy.
Globe of Invulnerability (not minor, the regular one) makes you immune to cause wounds spells and most of their other attacks and abilities. Just cast it on a well-armoured fighter (these fuckers can be nasty in melee too), add haste and watch beholders die. Although you might still need good saving throws to survive, because the globe does not stop everything, I think.

Spoiler

 

[MrMarbles]

With SCS II groups of beholders pop up in new places, and they can remove spell protections. Somewhere in the Athkatla sewers I got frustrated and bought the shield. Turns out there is scripting in the mod for the beholders to nab it from you That's some pretty impressive modding work.

 

[VentilatorOfDoom]

Yeah, they also grab the reflecting cloak from you if you have it. Those in the sewers you just have to kill real quick, in the beholder lairs I also tend to use invisibilty (potions and/or staff of the magi) and cloud spells like incendiary cloud, death fog etc.

 

[DragoFireheart]

MicoSelva do their dispel rays remove the globe?

If not, I'm thinking a Globe of Invulnerability with a Berserker using Rage would equal dead Beholders: short of bite attacks there is not a god damn thing they can do.

<3 my Dwarf Berserker.

EDIT: Wait, you can't cast the Globe on someone other than yourself.

 

[MicoSelva]

MicoSelva do their dispel rays remove the globe?

I do not think so. In my LP, the globe held for its full duration, despite being bombarded with every possible ray they could throw at my character.

 

[DragoFireheart]

MicoSelva do their dispel rays remove the globe?

I do not think so. In my LP, the globe held for its full duration, despite being bombarded with every possible ray they could throw at my character.

I'm a bit shocked to be honest considering that their god damn rays remove nearly everything else.

 

[Incantatar]

I don't think the Globe of Inv. is a good tactic against beholders. They do have rays as anti-magic, flesh to stone and death, none of which should be deflected from the globe. Secondly you can only cast the globe on yourself. A non dual classed Berserker can't have the globe on himself. Well, technically the Staff of Power (if it's usable by non mages) could be used but that's not a regular collected item.

some good tactics:
Mislead, Invisibility + Skeleton Warriors, high MR, protection from magic damage + (rage) immunities, Chaos spell, vanilla buggy Spell Shield + Spell Turning/Trap/Deflection

 

[MicoSelva]

Well, it worked for me (solo F/M/T). I have some mods installed, but I do not think any of them alter spell effects (beyond bug-fixing). Maybe it was just the case of my character being able to survive anything but the 'cause wounds' spells (and these were stopped by the globe), but I still think the anti-magic ray does not dispel it.

EDIT: I am not using any mods like SCS, mind you.

 

[MrMarbles]

I do not think so. In my LP, the globe held for its full duration, despite being bombarded with every possible ray they could throw at my character.

As Incantatar said, I think the anti-magic ray works almost like a Spell Strike in SCS, and rips off anything except Spell Shield (which will only work once and therefore be p. useless).

Mislead, Invisibility + Skeleton Warriors, high MR, protection from magic damage + (rage) immunities, Chaos spell, vanilla buggy Spell Shield + Spell Turning/Trap/Deflection

With all modifications in SCS beholders can also zap improved invisibility, target characters and ignore summons if they see you, and Spell Shield + Spell Turning/Trap/Deflection bug doesn't work. Off screen nuking with fireball/cloudkill doesn't work, they move towards you. Shield of Balduran and cloak get nabbed. Never tried Mislead cheese.:D Other tactics early game:

- High MR works, so Rasaad or Viconia could help. Still risky
- Glitterdust (a gamble)
- Mustard jelly form from cloak of the sewers (usually the one I go for)
- Chaos
- Off screen skeleton warriors (takes a loooong time)
- Balls to the wall charge and Power Word: Reload
- Staff of Magi Spell Trap?

Late game:
- Slayer

EDIT: Multiple casters with sequencers, wands and fireball potions for instant nuking can sometimes work

 

[MicoSelva]

I am not using SCS or any mods like that, as mentioned in the edit above.

Skeleton warriors will just get death spelled into oblivion, I think? Or do you first bait death spell with some other summon and only then throw skeleton warriors forward?

 

[Incantatar]

Spell shield in Vanilla can't be dispelled by the Beholders. It's quite a useful bug. And even SCS Beholders can't do anything about Mislead (I never installed option 1, perhaps that might change it). Elder Orbs probably but not Beholder and Gauths.

 

[MrMarbles]

Skeleton warriors will just get death spelled into oblivion, I think? Or do you first bait death spell with some other summon and only then throw skeleton warriors forward?

You may be right about that, haven't tried skellies for a while so it might be off the table. Beholders never seem to run out of spells, so baiting doesn't help much.

 

[hoverdog]

Bruteforce was the way to go for me in my latest SCS playthrough - hasted warriors plus massive barrage of flame arrows, lightning bolts, holy smites, magic missiles and whatnot did the trick, though elder orbs with their spell protections were a big pain in the ass.

 

[GarfunkeL]

SCS makes Beholders truly scary - even Gauths can kill a buffed character quickly, especially if there are two or more. AoE cheese does sorta work but you have to keep a running battle with it, because as MrMarbles said, SCS makes them follow you. So what I did in the first lair under the sewers, where you have some room but not much, is to have a caster go ahead and cast Cloudkill and Fireball at the edge of the screen (they see through invisibility so that's pointless), then have another caster do the same as the first one is running away and hope that they run into the second wave of spells, then animate dead / summon monsters to act as cannon fodder and once they have targeted them, go to town with bows and DD spells. If your party gets cornered and there's more than 1 left, you're fucked and will need Power Word: Reload.

 

[DragoFireheart]

Funny, I've read in numerous sites that bows are bad in BG2 but I'm still finding uses for them. Mage interruption, a way to mitigate narrow hallways, etc.

 

[hoverdog]

The Unseeing Eye with SCS is damn br00tal.

Spoiler

Unseeing Eye as an Eye Tyrant plus two Death Tyrants? Why the hell not

 

[DragoFireheart]

The Unseeing Eye with SCS is damn br00tal.

Spoiler

Unseeing Eye as an Eye Tyrant plus two Death Tyrants? Why the hell not

 

[GarfunkeL]

Yup, though you can sort of kite them around so you only face the big cheese alone. At least that's how I've done it with SCS. Unless you cheat like a motherfucker, the only way to semi-safely clear the lair is to kite one group at a time. Otherwise you get swarmed with cultists and gauths and regular beholders and the bonus goodies.

Funny, I've read in numerous sites that bows are bad in BG2 but I'm still finding uses for them. Mage interruption, a way to mitigate narrow hallways, etc.

Yeah, I don't understand where this idea that bows are shit comes from. Sure, arcane spellcasters will out-damage then with powerful spells, but you can make some pretty decent machinegun-level archers and there's plenty of magical arrows as well and as you said, interrupting mages is occasionally crucial (SCS makes all mages cast Protection from Arrows but only some combine it with Protection from Magical Weapons) and you are often fighting in cramped corridors.

 

[VentilatorOfDoom]

SCS makes Beholders truly scary - even Gauths can kill a buffed character quickly, especially if there are two or more. AoE cheese does sorta work but you have to keep a running battle with it, because as MrMarbles said, SCS makes them follow you. So what I did in the first lair under the sewers, where you have some room but not much, is to have a caster go ahead and cast Cloudkill and Fireball at the edge of the screen (they see through invisibility so that's pointless), then have another caster do the same as the first one is running away and hope that they run into the second wave of spells, then animate dead / summon monsters to act as cannon fodder and once they have targeted them, go to town with bows and DD spells. If your party gets cornered and there's more than 1 left, you're fucked and will need Power Word: Reload.

in SCS2 I had my mage use invisibilty and the cloak of non-detection, only a hive mother or an elder orb would see through that