Larian Studios Forums Baldur's Gate III Baldur's Gate III - Help Tips & Tricks Underdark Petrified Drows/Beholder

The petrified Drows in Underdark were yellow when the Beholder charmed them to fight me. I cut the charm effect but they still fight me and I ended up having to kill them. Is there a way to keep them alive to talk to?

I think those Drow are a bit wonky. Some of them attacked the beholder in my game. In the end though they all died (by my hands). You can always use the talk with dead spells. That said it was awesome to see a Beholder that more or less ambushed me.

I think they are only meant to be foes, sadly. I knocked down their leader, the captain. When I came back a while later, she tried to attack me.

Does this beholder feature legendary actions?

This encounter is still very buggy

- If you send a single party member there and let him die the Drow and the Beholder keep fighting.

- Drow who are not charmed attack you all the same.

- The charmed status persists after the Beholder die.

- The Drow don't show as hostile in the map.

They don't act like true npc's. I used the basilisk oil to unpetrify one, well before the fight, and it attacked me right away, no chance for dialogue.

They are hostile to you no matter what. But even though the Beholder "charms" them, once the Beholder attacks them, which it does a lot, their charm breaks, and the Drow starts fighting both of you.

Not a beholder as such, spectator - lesser form of beholder.

It might be because they were hunters and are evil drow in the underdark and will just KOS everything. I wonder if being disguised as a drow would change how they act.

No, it doesn't matter. My character was a lolth sworn drow and they still attacked her, even after the spectator died and I knocked down their leader. It's a shame really. Would make for an interesting encounter.

as far as I know there is no way to talk to them. I also thought this might be a case and did the fight 3 or 4 times. Even killing the spectator without hitting any of the drow I still had to fight them. If you look at the lore material/document one of them had they were down there to attack the temple of selune, so along with being evil alignment them being hostile makes some sense.

Except when you character is lolth sworn drow herself. It's right up on her face.

It's high mobility and damage along with the drow are tough enough at lvl3-4 without tossing in legendary actions. Hands down my favorite encounter in the game though. Definitely "just right" for the difficulty. Those chad-otars are on another level - much tougher but totally doable.

I just pushed him over the edge into the gasses below and set it on fire.

This was a tough encounter but doable with tactics. If anything the game could do with more tough encounters like this one.

It sure is disappointing to have to fight the drow after the beholder is killed. The beholder keeps the petrified drow around so that it can charm them into fighting for it, but they're hostile to it- it's odd that it doesn't try to charm or petrify your party though.

It would be a great encounter, dripping with juicy lore, if you could save the drow and uncover their story. Even if it most likely turned hostile afterwards, it would be nice to have the dialogue.

Just like the Beholder in the flask he isn't immune to frightened.....which means like any tough fight in the EA atm......Lae'zel just solo'd him
Since both fights are optional and out of the way I would suggest to make him immune to frightened.
Rather have them nerf the minotaurs that swarm you at the featherfall entry point in the underdark after the spiderqueen fight.

My first thread in the forum. Here it goes.
After ambush ı checked here and realised drow can be killed earlier. interesting unlike bg2 items drop when dead.
second floar whre beholder ambushesd you is trickey but... I thor items to sthe statues and their health dropped . killed few of them before triggering the Beholder attack.

Then seperated lea'zel to meet with beholder in norrow upper area seperated others as well and hide move froward with one of them and beholder jumpped.Stealth check was succesful and couldnt find any opponent turned back to flesh one of the statues

Lea'zel was too far away but easy again.

Disappointing. I was looking forward to more than just another unreasonable fight. -_-
I cannot even de-petrify them though.

Threw the anti-stone potion at them and it did nothing. LOL.
Oh well - at least I tried.

WTF is unreasonable bout it?

The fact that a Lothsworn Drow attacks another Lolthsworn Drow on sight?

Imagine being ambushed and petrified by a damn beholder.
Apparently there is a blackout without timelagg for the petrified person.
It probably appears like you have just blinked and you are suddenly in another location, when the petrification ends.


So I wander around the Underdark on my stupid mission to infiltrate this outpost leading to the surface.
But suddenly my people are all stone... and I am surrounded by a group of unknown people - which seem to be lead by a fellow Drow though.
Yeah I totally behave like an idiot and attack them... all alone that is.

Cause my group nuked the Beholder before he could even use a single one of them against me.
So they did not had the brainwashing spell on them also.
This encounter is the one in the game which feels the most "Early Access" of all of them.
In the entire version, there needs to be depth, reason, logic, choice.

Those is not some filler-like Gnolls on the road encounter. Drow are favoured by many fans of the Forgotten Realms.
And our only encounter with a group of them in the Underdark is just another mob-battle.
Seems like 'they' are the one's with a tadpol in their heads that ate almost all of their brain.
Just like Zombies without a mind they just attack.
A waste.



This Woman leading them even got a cool Noble's name indicating the stylish Drowsociety background story!
What is she? The most dressed up trashmob of all times?

I could understand it when the Beholder used a buff on them to make himself look allied to them. But not without.
Yeah I had hope it would be different if I create a neutral environment, but it made no difference.
I had hope.

This is normal behaviour.

Actually... ... ... ... ... FU** you are right! ^_^
But it still feels forced and like a waste.

Which Lunatic is fighting a group of people all by themself without at least an attempt to plead for their lifes?
Drow society supports deceit and lies.
No begging for mercy or attempt to lure me with a promise for a reward later, should I let her go?
Meh.

In the cave where there are gnoles there is a chest, in the chest there is an item, I do not know what it says in english, but in my language that item "turns enemies into friends", if u use it, then beholder appears. I thought maybe I could use it on a this drow... Idk. Has anyone tried to do this?

But is it?


What if the attacker is male and the female is a cleric of Lolth? Hell any female? Most males aren't Zaknafein and he even he kept up an outward veneer of respect..
Even away from that sort of set up, a Drow wouldn't attack on sight unless it was damn sure it would win. In many cases, even confidence of a win wouldn't be enough, they would also want to be sure of leaving no witnesses (that matter at least).

The Lolth loyal Drow absolutely are cruel and vicious but they are also scheming and very far from stupid or rash. This encounter could definitely do with some work from a lore/world building perspective..

It's just faulty translation (as it often happens); this item's description says
"A flask that can hold friends and foes. Likely to make the former the later"

so friends - to enemies.

By the way, it's not a Beholder - just a Spectator (lesser type).
Actually, your English is good enough, don't ruin your playthrough with a poor translation:-)

For this specific encounter it wouldn't matter I believe. The petrified Drow have no idea if you are involved in their state, they would only remember up to the point of petrification, not anything during, so they definitely would attack. Even if this did not happen, I am fairly sure most Drow encountering them would at least let them become weakened against the Spectator before trying anything, any survivor could possibly be questioned. Stepping in to help, even if female, would be strange to the others. Not to mention most people tend to have a full party, traveling with non Drow would make you look really suspicious since they clearly aren't slaves.

It would have been interesting to interact with drow from another era though. Cause maybe she were petrified for hundreds of years. Who knows.

I agree, this encounter deserves a dialog option. Seems random you end up fighting them after you both worked to ill the spectator.

You can also kill the drow while they are petrified. I found it interesting they have an AC while petrified, and it's not automatic to hit them. Seems funny whacking away at a statue with a war hammer and missing. Once you reduce them to 0 HP they turn back to normal and you can loot them. Easy way to get a few out of the way before waking the spectator.

Right click the potion and "apply".

I know right. I was hoping to talk to the spectator since theyre supposed to be deep and philosophical beings unlike the average beholder. At first I thought it was because my character was a drow but looks like it attacks anyone and everyone regardless of how you approach it.


Really hoping this turns into a cool quest somewhere down the line where you get to talk to the big 'ol eye and maybe save/kill the drow lady?

Playing as a lolth-sworn myself, I too thought this was a wasted opportunity, was really expecting at least a short dialogue. Especially since the name of the commander seems to be a nod/easter egg to the Dune novels - D'Arkonnen - which immediately made me excited.

It should be known that in statue form the Drow are vulnerable to force damage.

I have my Warlock go through and blow them all up without waking up the Spectator.
The fight is decidedly easier when the Spectator is by themselves.

The very first time I stumbled on this fight my rogue was exploring ahead. I immediately ran away and hid in shadows and the Drow eventually saved versus the spectator's charm and killed him leaving me to only have to fight the two remaining Drow.

I also think, this is a missed opportunity of an interesting quest involving freeing those drow and talking to them after the spectator is killed by your party. Like that it's just another mob battle.
Nevertheless it would be reasonable that those drow act hostile to you, since they were about to attack the Selunite Temple, when they were turned into stone. Since your party is full of overworld beings most likely including your own character, the drow would think you belong to the Selunites and were sent here to repell the attack. Anyway some talking with the drow and different options, how to manage that encounter would be very much appreciated.

But they attack not because of this, but because of Beholder "charm" , which does not off even after his death. I really hope there is a dialogue, it's just not ready yet.

I see your point and I'm with you. Drows are complex beings and shouldn't be wasted as another monster mob battle. There should be different approaches to this encounter and some talking with the drow once they are free from the spectator's charm. It would be very much interesting talking to them, since they were imprisoned in stone for centuries, while attacking the temple and don't know that the Selunite defenders of this temple are long gone and that this temple was defiled by Goblins recently. Still they would consider the main character and his party as Selunite defenders at first, because they don't know that centuries have passed. For them it's just seconds. Maybe they even don't know, that they were turned into stone. Anyway that would lead to very interesting dialogues. I hope Larian will improve this encounter in the future. Using Drows from another century as just another mob battle is a big waste in my opninion.

Feel free to corect me, since i do not know DnD so good as some other settings ...
But i cant help that, at least for some (especialy surface) races, that dialogue should be "Die! Lowborn scum!" ... and for other type of Drow (since i didnt really check their eyes, but i dare to presume they are Llolthsworn) it should be "Die! Filthy Heretic!".

Or they might think we're reinforcements ?? If we are other Drow. Also, do not forget Drow can take you into slavery, and not just kill you. My opinion is that even if there is always going to be a fight, there still should be a dialogue.

Oh yes, totally ... if you are another Drow, or maybe Duegar they should talk to you ...
But right now, i wonder more about dialogue for beaten, knocked out, and tied Drows at that place.

This part is stupid I agree. The captain at least should fight alongside your character if they are Lolth-sworn.

Yup. It’s another failure of the writers. Just because you are evil, doesn’t mean you don’t work for self preservation.

I definitely don't think you can call this "a failure of the writers", but in truth, I also think either we're missing something, or this content isn't ready yet. Think of the moving pieces here, let's lay it down:

1. These Drow are petrified, potentially charmed, and we know that they're on a mission to overtake the Selunite Outpost. From a lore perspective, we can pretty much narrow down the scenario where they're willing to talk to you to a player-character who is a Drow, or is in disguise as a Drow, or meets some condition I'm not thinking of.

2. Assuming the player is a Drow (or otherwise meets the condition to speak with them), it's still perfectly reasonable to suggest that the shock of being unpetrified would be enough to turn a Drow war party hostile.

3. The game gives you a Basilisk Oil potion nearby (in the small hidden camp downhill, behind the spiderweb barrier), which screams "USE ME ON THE DROW!" (unless maybe the Spectator has the ability to petrify party members, but that would make the potion feel like a red herring.

With those in mind, we ask ourselves, "would it be cool if there was a possible conversation here, especially with Commander Maz'ri?" The answer is yes. Yes, it would be cool, especially for an "evil" character. The problem is that if you bring even a single party member anywhere near Commander Maz'ri, even in sneak, the Spectator spawns and all the Drow turn hostile (even while petrified). I was able to hit her with the Basilisk Oil potion from the ledge just downhill from her without spawning the Spectator, and she says "What happened? Straj, we've been spotted, attack!" before going hostile with the "Surprised" modifier (even though she was still outlined in yellow). I hit her with the "Friends" spell, but that didn't do anything (as it shouldn't, the tooltip for that doesn't indicate it's appropriate here: "Enchant a non-hostile creature to gain advantage on Charisma checks against it.")

One of the other Drow yells "For the glory of House D'arkkonnen!" when he becomes unpetrified, but that's the only other dialogue I was able to experience.

I tried "Speak with the Dead" on all of them, but you get "The corpse does not respond", and not "The corpse seems willing to speak, but not to its killer", as you might expect here if that were the problem.

After my testing on this playthrough, my conclusion (for now) is that this is either cut content or not currently implemented. If I had to guess the correct way to initiate a conversation with these Drow, it would be to kill the Spectator before it has the chance to unpetrify Commander Maz'ri, then use a Basilisk Oil (or Lesser Restoration, there's no reason that shouldn't work, but I can confirm that it does not) on her.

As a final test, I tried disguising Astarion as a female Drow and then had him sneak up and use the Basilisk Oil potion on her without spawning the Spectator (leaving her still outlined in yellow). This had no effect that was any different.

(EDIT: It is also possible that this content is currently shelved or being worked on, as Patch 4 actually reduced the game size by 20 GB or so. I have noticed multiple things that were removed, at least for the time being, and this could easily be one of them)

(EDIT #2: I've discovered that Lesser Restoration does not list petrification as a condition it can heal. You need Greater Restoration for that.)

YES! there is a way you can be friendly with the petrified drow and talk to them!

(I have no idea if this was relevant but I was wearing a female drow disguise at the time...)

First, you go up to the wizard drow (His name is Dhourn Initiate of the living library) before the spectator pops up (DO NOT EXAMINE HIM) then unpetrify ONLY him (DO NOT UNPETRIFY THE OTHERS.) Let the spectator kill him (don't kill him yourself) and try to kill the spectator immediately.

One of the drow will have a full conversation with you and you will be on friendly terms with them.

Current play through they all go friendly if you kill the spectator and don't fight them.

Not sure if that's every time, or if you just do it via sneaking and luring the spectator away like I did, but there was nothing fancy involved afterwards. They were all friendly and talked to me (half elf) without any disguises or etc.

But did you talk to Dhourn? He's the one who initiates the hostility after the spectator is gone.

You can brown beat Dhourn as a Female Drow, not sure if you can do it any other way.

Hmmm not really sure now. The spectator did kill one of them, so maybe that was why.

Dhourn is troublesome, what is a mercenary without a master?