Beholders are extra-planar creatures which can fire Beholder Blast projectile rays from their central eye and eye stalks. They move about via levitation. Beholders are protected against backstabbing surprise attacks. Due to their levitation locomotion, beholders are also immune to spells like web, entangle and grease. They cannot be slowed or held/paralyzed by some other sources either.
Beholders have smaller, weaker siblings, the Gauth, who often appear alongside them in greater number.
Physical description[]
Beholders are floating heads with one big single cyclops-like eye and a large gaping maw directly beneath the eye that tends to drool. The upper half of the head is surrounded by several smaller eye stalks (ranging between 8 to 12). Each eyestalk is capable of firing a beholder blast projectile and each stalk has a different spell-like function. The central eye also has an anti-magic eye beam that bathes the target.
Although their hideous maw can bite, their preferred method of combat is by firing multiple eye blasts at their enemy, causing status effects, dealing magic energy, fire, lightning, petrification, disintegration or instant death effects. Beholders in the EE game have a permanent alacrity power, that allows them to have no "weave cool down" period after firing a beholder blast, which is implemented as a spell effect. This allows them multiple blasts or rays per round. These are scripted attacks by the game engine.
Abilities[]
A Beholder has several eye stalks, each which can fire a different "Beholder Blast" projectile. If the projectile strikes the target, it will cause a spell effect. Most beholder blast spell effects can be blocked by magic resistance and have saving throws to negate or reduce their potency. Also, as the blasts are spell effects, protective magics such as Minor Globe of Invulnerability, Globe of Invulnerability, Spell Deflection and similar can protect the target, but this is dependent on the specific beholder blast type and their assigned spell Power level. A Beholder typically has ten to twelve eye stalks and a Central Eye which can fire the following beholder blasts:
- Cause Serious Wounds (SPIN986.SPL): Deals 17 magic energy damage, no saving throw. Projectile No. 208, spell power Level 4. A Necromancy School and Offensive Damage Type spell. This is the most common and frequently fired attack, sometimes three or more of these can strike a target each round. Can be bounced back by the Shield of Balduran. Can be deflected by the Cloak of Mirroring.
- Charm Person (SPIN980.SPL): Save vs. Spell (with +3 bonus) or be Charmed. Projectile 209, spell power Level 1. An Enchanter School and Disabling Type Spell.
- Domination (SPIN985.SPL): Save vs. Spell (with a -2 penalty) or be under a dominated. Projectile 209, spell power level 5. An Enchanter School and Disabling Type spell.
- Lightning Bolt (SPIN989.SPL): Deals 5d6 Electrical damage, save vs. spell for half. Projectile 321, spell power level 3. An Invoker School and Offensive Damage Type spell.
- Slow (SPIN985.SPL): Save vs. Spell (with a -4 penalty) or be affected by Slow. Projectile 209, spell power level 3. A Transmuter School and Disabling Type spell.
- Death Ray (SPIN991.SPL): Save vs. Death or be instantly killed. Projectile 209, spell power level 7. A Necromancy School and Offensive Damage Type spell.
- Fear (SPIN981.SPL): Save vs. Spell or be under a Panic effect. Projectile 209, spell power level 2. An Enchanter Spell School and Disabling Type spell.
- Disintegrate (SPIN982.SPL): Save vs. Spell or Disintegrate effect applied. Projectile 209, spell power level 6. An Invoker School and Offensive Damage Type spell.
- Flesh to Stone (SPIN984.SPL): Save vs. Spell or be Petrified. Projectile 209, Spell Power level 6. A Transmuter School and Offensive Damage Type spell.
- Scorcher (SPIN987.SPL): Deals 3d6 Fire Damage, no saving throw. Projectile 209, Spell Power level 2. An Invoker School and Offensive Damage Type spell.
- Hold Person (SPIN988.SPL) Save vs. Spell (with a -1 penalty) or be Held. Projectile 209, Spell Power 3. An Enchanter Spell School and Disabling Type spell.
- Paralyze (SPIN990.SPL): Save vs. Spell (with a -1 penalty) or be Held. Projectile 209, Spell Power level 5. An Enchanter Spell School and Disabling Type spell.
- Anti-Magic Ray (SPIN992): No save. Bypasses magic resistance. Dispel Magic applied to any dispellable effect on the target and causes spell casting failure on the target for a few rounds. Projectile 209, power level 0. An Abjurer School and Magic Attack Type Spell. Can be blocked by Spell Shield. See the Link for further discussion and methods to avoid the anti-magic ray. Note that due to the Opcoding methodology, this ray can't be blocked with Spell Immunity - Abjuration.
Most ordinary beholders are able to cast a single, uninterruptible Death Spell upon seeing a summoned creature in range. As such, summoned creatures will most likely be banished. Using summoned creatures against a beholder isn't infeasible, but may not be enough to win an encounter on its own. Multiple beholders in the same area will quickly destroy a group of summoned assailants. On the other hand, gauths on their own don't have any way to banish summoned creatures, and some summoned beings will be able to shrug off the gauth's attacks very effectively.
Beholders have a number of immunities, including being protected from Backstabs and movement modifying effects like Slow, Paralyze and even Stun. As they levitate, webs, entangling and grease don't work on these creatures either.
Locations[]
Many Beholders can be found during the Investigate and Destroy the Cult of the Eyeless questline, especially in the Lower Reaches and the Lair of the Unseeing Eye.
Another large grouping is awaiting the player in the Beholder Cave in Underdark. There are more in Watcher's Keep, and Sendai's Enclave. A Death Tyrant will be summoned in the final battle with Amelyssan in Chapter 10.
If you accept the Investigate and Destroy the Cult of the Eyeless questline from a Temple, you may stumble across an ambush by a Beholder and two Gauths in the Temple District Sewers who teleport in to confront you (seems to be based on party XP level).
Gameplay[]
The Shield of Balduran reflects or bounces some beholder blast projectile rays. Mostly, the shield saves the wielder from getting "machine-gunned" by multiple rapid-fire Cause Serious Wound beholder blast projectiles (projectile 208). This is the most frequent attack by any beholder with eye stalks. Thus, most fights against beholders can be managed without death, by sending in a fighter equipped with this shield. Without that shield, those fights are much harder. Note that Sword Coast Stratagems provides Beholders with a "Telekinesis" Ray to counter this shield (see Mod Content below).
- Spell Protections such as Minor Globe of Invulnerability, Globe of Invulnerability are effective against Gauth eye beams, as they rarely fire more than the Cause Serious Wounds eye beams, at least in the unmodified game. Beholders have several rays with level 4+ Spell power that will penetrate the Minor Globe, and they also have several that will penetrate the Globe of the Invulnerability. The beholder Anti-magic ray will penetrate the globes (and possibly affect underlying buffs and spells effects on the target) but won't dispel the globes.
- Spell protections such as Shield of the Archons, Spell Deflection and Spell Turning are effective, until the repeated rays "burn through" the spell protection, destroying the capacity of its Power level protection limit, due to accrued spell level attacks. Spell Trap will be able to take more attacks, but it too can be overcome by repeated blasts. Spell Immunity protects against individual rays indefinitely depending on their type (e.g. Spell Immunity: Necromancy against the Cause Serious Wounds ray). The Anti-magic ray will not affect these kind of spell protections, but they won't prevent the Anti-magic ray from getting through to the target either. Spell Shield can block the Anti-magic ray.
- Improved Invisibility will not help you once you transition to the weak invisibility state after breaking the Improved invisibility through some kind of action. You can be targeted by all rays at that time. Despite their many eyes, Beholders cannot see through full invisibility, so Mislead can work against them (and they only target the mislead clone with bites, being unable to use their rays against it for some reason). Mirror Image does also work against the rays.
- Use a combination of Spell Turning, Haste, Chaotic Commands, carry several Potions of Extra Healing. The Cloak of Mirroring will guard against offensive damage type eye rays. Edventar's Gift or Free Action further helps by preventing status effects such as being held or slowed. Most rays can be blocked by magic resistance. To negate the damaging, rapid-fire Cause Serious Wounds ray, you can use Protection From Magic Energy. Death Ward protects against the Death and Disintegrate rays. Protection From Petrification prevents the Flesh to Stone ray. The Fear Ray can be blocked by anything that counteracts panic (Resist Fear, Remove Fear, Bard song...). Potion of Magic Shielding makes all saving throws succeed. An arcane caster can protect these buffs with Spell Shield, which stops the Anti-Magic Ray.
- Blind the beholder. This prevents it from using its eyestalk attacks. The best way to blind them is using the spell Power Word, Blind because it allows no saving throw. However, any lower-level spell will work if the Beholder fails its saving throw.
- Cast several AoE spells; such as Fireball, Cloudkill, Holy Smite, or ADHW; while staying outside the visual range of the beholder. Disabling AoE spells may work if a saving throw is missed - such as Confusion (wizard). This tactic works well because most gauths and beholders don't have any magic resistance.
- Transform into a creature with 100% magic resistance, like a Mustard Jelly, and attack them in this form. This works well because beholders have weak physical attacks. Some ways of achieving this transformation are using the Cloak of the Sewers and the wizard spell Polymorph Self (Nalia de'Arnise has it in her spell book). This tactic will not work very well against a Sword Coast Stratagems Hive Mother, see Mod content below.
Notable Beholders[]
Baldur's Gate II[]
Black Pits[]
Gallery[]
Mod content[]
This section is about unofficial content that is only available via fan-made mods.
Installation of Sword Coast Stratagems Mod and the "Smarter Beholders" component will change beholder intelligence and some other abilities in your game. Note that Gauths are less likely to have some of the more deadly eye stalk beholder blast rays. From the Mod Author:
This component upgrades the AI of the beholders, gauths, elder orbs and hive mothers in SoA and ToB. It basically tries to do it non-cheesily, but it's hard to define this exactly since beholder powers are almost all scripted. Beholders get to use their eyestalks about once per ten seconds each, but they will tend to manage to get through more of them in a round; their targeting has also been drastically improved (the new scripts are about 150 times the length of the old ones!)
In accordance with the 2nd edition rules, beholders are now immune to most (not all) of their own eyestalks, which makes them more willing to bombard their way through Spell Deflection. I have added a Telekinesis eyestalk (more for fun than for increased challenge). And I have borrowed, with thanks, the Quest Pack component which allows beholders to lose their eyestalks when damaged. Beholders are also unable to use eyestalk powers when blinded (although their allies may use anti-magic rays to remove the blindness).
This component is sensitive to the difficulty setting:
- BASIC: Beholders use mostly their less-lethal eyestalks (Charm, Fear, Domination, Paralysis, Cause wounds, Slow) and do not use their magic-suppressing central eye. Hive Mothers use only their weaker magic.
- IMPROVED: Beholders also use their central eye against mages and party defenses. Hive Mothers use their full range of spells.
- TACTICAL: Beholders use their Death, Petrification and Telekinesis eyestalks; they use the Telekinesis eyestalk to steal some party items (notably the Shield of Balduran, if you have it).
- HARDCORE: Beholders steal items slightly more quickly.
- INSANE: Beholders use their Disintegrate eyestalk.
With this mod, beholders are given different colored animations to distinguish between normal beholders, Death Tyrant, Elder Orb and Hive Mother varieties.
Most SCS beholders have a special Death Ray that is scripted for use when they detect hostile "Summoned" creatures, such as Mordenkainen's Sword, Skeleton Warrior or similar. The ray acts as a single target Death Spell, which will destroy/banish a struck summoned creature brought forth by the party (no saving throw). This Death Ray is different than the ordinary one fired at non summoned creatures. It can only affect one creature at a time. This ray is however blocked by Magic resistance - which means that summoned creatures with a high MR are still quite effective against a beholder. (Reference dw#besud.spl)
Speaking of the Death Ray, SCS will use another version of the ray than the unmodified game. It still is a level 7 Power level attack, but even if the target has a spell protection, the ray will always inflict 2d8 Magical damage, because it has a component that is a level 0 effect. Magic resistance can still block it. This will even go through a character with a Protection From Magic scroll. (Reference dw#befod.spl)
SCS Hive Mother Beholders have been provided with a more potent Anti-Magic Ray (SPIN550.SPL), that drains spells from memory and charges from items and wands in quick slots or if equipped. The Hive Mother's rapid firing Cause Serious Wounds ray (SPIN551.SPL) now bypasses magic resistance and deals 5d8 Magic energy damage and has power level 0 so it will ignore spell level protections such as Spell Trap and Spell Deflection. And finally, the Hive Mother has a super potent Disintegration eyestalk (SPIN552.SPL), that has a -4 penalty to saving throws. If you are playing SCS with Spell Revisions, the disintegrate beam also deals massive magic energy damage (35d6), even if you make your saving throw, you'll take at least 5d6. The Hive Mother's telekinesis eyestalk will steal the Shield of Balduran and or the Cloak of Mirroring from an opponent in range, after a few rounds.
With the Spell Revisions mod, a Minor Globe of Invulnerability or Globe of Invulnerability will be destroyed by an Anti-magic Ray.
Mod gallery[]
External links[]
- Beholder on the Forgotten Realms Wiki, a wiki for the Dungeons & Dragons campaign setting Forgotten Realms.
Gallery[]
