Huh. I just noticed a 2.6 change: beholder death rays are now a "Slay" effect. They were a "Kill Target" effect before.
This mainly makes a difference against undead, which are immune to "Slay" but not to "Kill Target". So those skeleton warriors are better than they were before; you only really have to worry about that one instance of Death Spell per beholder.
What does Hexxat count as?
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It doesn't matter what she counts as - it's what she has immunity to. Which is on her amulet. Death by hit point loss, death by stat loss, charm, level drain, hold, fear, poison, sleep, disease, and paralysis.
While Hexxat is undead, she isn't immune to Slay, or any other form of instant death magic. All of the beholders' instant death rays (death, petrification, disintegration) can get her.
In IWD: Trials of the Luremaster, Beholders were not a problem for my Berserker (at least, on Insane diff.), who in general killed them easily in melee. However, I reloaded 2 times while failing saving throws vs instant death. It seems that BG2 Beholders are nastier. ?
If you had to reload multiple times because you died to them ... yes, they were a problem. Instant death is kind of what beholders do.
I don't think that beholders are more dangerous in BG2 on an individual level ... but how many of them do you face in IWD at a time? BG2 has a standard trigger seen in several places that creates a pack of three beholders and two gauths if the protagonist's level is high enough. In spots like the Underdark lair, even more can pile up; that area has two of those triggers, plus some pre-placed beholders and spawn points. If you're up against four gauths, ten beholders, and an elder orb ... well, the damage rays will shred you even if you have unbeatable saves.
All of this goes against the general D&D lore of beholders. They're supposed to be solitary, so they can be brought in as boss monsters. In BG2, they're very much not.
In truth, if beholders weren't stymied by the engine limitations they would be nigh invincible. Not only do they have all of their different eyestalk rays, they can levitate, which would allow them to escape melee relatively easily and also use 3 dimensions to their advantage. Add to that their extraordinary intelligence and you should have a world of hurt on your hands handling even just one of those bastards. The fact that you can beat multiple beholder, even with a full party is frankly insane. Even with the Shield of Balduran you wouldn't have a prayer. Just off the top of my head, if I was a beholder, I'd use my disintegration ray to create a huge hole under any doofus that tried to use the shield on me. You don't need to aim your rays directly at the target for them to be effective...
While true, this is what Mordy's Swords are for. Get them to spend their death spells on a few summons, then bring out the floating swords. This is also a good option for mind flayers - can't brain drain something that doesn't have a brain!
Magical swords are immune to physical and elemental damage and to lots of status effects. They're not resistant to magic or to magic damage, and beholders dish that out with their Cause Wounds rays. They're also not immune to the death rays, and their saves are pretty bad.
Skeletons are a better bet against beholders; their magic resistance works against the damaging rays, they have considerably better saves, and they're immune to more of the instant death effects.
Comments
(quote added for context due to page transition)
It doesn't matter what she counts as - it's what she has immunity to. Which is on her amulet. Death by hit point loss, death by stat loss, charm, level drain, hold, fear, poison, sleep, disease, and paralysis.
While Hexxat is undead, she isn't immune to Slay, or any other form of instant death magic. All of the beholders' instant death rays (death, petrification, disintegration) can get her.
If you had to reload multiple times because you died to them ... yes, they were a problem. Instant death is kind of what beholders do.
I don't think that beholders are more dangerous in BG2 on an individual level ... but how many of them do you face in IWD at a time? BG2 has a standard trigger seen in several places that creates a pack of three beholders and two gauths if the protagonist's level is high enough. In spots like the Underdark lair, even more can pile up; that area has two of those triggers, plus some pre-placed beholders and spawn points. If you're up against four gauths, ten beholders, and an elder orb ... well, the damage rays will shred you even if you have unbeatable saves.
All of this goes against the general D&D lore of beholders. They're supposed to be solitary, so they can be brought in as boss monsters. In BG2, they're very much not.
Skeletons are a better bet against beholders; their magic resistance works against the damaging rays, they have considerably better saves, and they're immune to more of the instant death effects.