A Gauth is a smaller variant of a Beholder. They levitate and move about in a hovering fashion. These creatures are often found with their more mature kin.
Gameplay[]
The Gauth utilize their array of eye stalks to fire beholder blast projectile rays at enemies. They can target a single creature at a time with a specific type of ray.
They are without the dreadful ability known as the Anti-Magic Ray. Gauths cannot be backstabbed. As a Gauth or beholder's eye stalks fire projectiles, you cannot "disrupt" these attacks like you could with a spell caster attempting to cast a spell. These projectiles can't be interrupted by damaging the creature.
In an unmodified game, the Gauth is unprotected against some effects that the Beholder is immune to. For instance, Web, Grease and entangle won't affect a beholder, but will be able to ensnare a Gauth. This is not the case if playing with the Sword Coast Stratagems mod. All beholder varieties are under a free action type protection effect.
A Gauth has several eye stalks, each of 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 allow 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 or 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 gauth typically has five or six eye stalks and can fire the following beholder blasts:
- Cause Serious Wounds (SPIN986.SPL): Deals 17 Magical 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 two or more of these can be fired each round by a single creature.
- 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 dominated. Projectile 209, spell power level 5. An Enchanter School and Disabling Type spell.
- Lightning Bolt (SPIN989.SPL): Deals 5d6 Electricity 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 slowed. Projectile 209, spell power level 3. A Transmuter 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.
Since they rapidly spam Cause Serious Wounds Beholder Blast Rays, you will probably need some form of protection.
Suggested methods to handle Gauths/Beholders:
- The Shield of Balduran reflects some beholder blast rays back to the creatures.
- The Cloak of Mirroring blocks Offensive damage type spells.
- A Protection from Magic scroll or Potion of Magic Blocking will block all magic effects trying to penetrate the globe it creates, either from the inside or from the outside.
- Polymorph Self: Mustard Jelly form will render the caster immune to their effects. The Cloak of the Sewers can cast this once a day.
- The beholder rays are spells. So, get your tank's save vs. spells down, through gear or potions (for example, Potions of Invulnerability).
- Potions of Magic Shielding/Potion of Magic Protection
- Rays can be fooled by Mirror Image.
- All rays are magical and can be blocked by magic resistance.
- Protection From Magic Energy provides immunity to the most commonly used damage ray (Cause Serious Wounds ray).
- Chaotic Commands can help against charm and domination rays.
- Free Action protects against slow and paralyze.
- Minor Spell Turning, Minor Spell Deflection, Spell Turning, Spell Deflection, Spell Trap and Shield of the Archons can protect spellcasters, some may eventually 'burn through' by successive attacks that exceed the spell's protection capacity.
- Spell Immunity can protect against individual ray types. For example, Spell Immunity: Necromancy nullifies the rapid-fire Cause Serious Wounds ray.
- Most Beholders don't carry treasure. So, it's pretty "safe" to use instant certain spells like high level Chromatic Orbs, Disintegrate, and Flesh to Stone against Beholders. You might want to use Lower Resistance on Elder Orb or Hive Mother varieties first.
- Skeleton Warriors (either from the cleric or the wizard spell Animate Dead) have high Magic Resistance and can be used effectively against such creatures, however Beholders (not gauths) typically have one instance of either a Death Spell or with modded content A Death ray (specifically for summoned creatures). As they have a method to banish conjured creatures, beholder groups are not helpless against summoned creatures like the Skeleton Warrior, Elementals or Mordenkainen's Sword.
- The rays ignore Improved Invisibility, once the target has lost their full invisibility.
- Gauths and Beholders can not see through full invisibility, so Mislead works against them. Also they seem to be unable to target the mislead clone with rays, only attacking it with physical bites.
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.