Monster Melee - Beholder vs. White Dragon REMATCH!

A rematch I’ve been itching to do: the beholder versus the adult white dragon. Two iconic D&D monsters once again struggle for victory in this terrific combat encounter!
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[@pborsh2670]

I like how when luck is heavily in the beholders favor the battle takes a while but when in the dragons favor it's over in an instant

[@singingcrow439]

I can already visualize it, The beholder in its hubris kept the petrified dragon as a trophy. After some time, a party comes across its lair, maybe intentionally looking to slay it or plunder its home. In the ongoing battle, the party is on the ropes, the trip made them spend most of their resources and crappy rolls dont help. In a desperate moment, the cleric manages to escape its magic nullifying gaze long enough to touch the dragon and cast one spell: greater restoration.

[@strunkshade]

Very Cinematic comment

[@redmist6131]

That sounds fun but you might end up having to fight a dragon at the end of it

[@zbeater4656]

​@@redmist6131 I always imagined dragons as intelligent and prideful so If a dragon is saved by someone they will return a single favor. Maybe that's just my head canon

[@JonathonTheAsshole]

@@zbeater4656 Chaotic Evil says "No. Everyone dies!"

[@RavenStarver]

@@zbeater4656 the favor the dragon grants you is not eating you, now return all those treasures and get out of it’s new lair

[@Brankenhoffer]

An underwater battle between a group of merrow versus a group of sahuagin. The commotion under the ocean, the scuffle under the sea!

[@MiagolioMaxwell]

Personally I would have "how do you wanna do this" the dragon's final tail swipe as knocking the beholder around the cave like a pinball.

[@hexorcist4537]

I'M A FIRING MY LAZAR...I mean eye beams.

[@Onoesmahpie]

Would a lightning dragon technically fire a laser out of its mouth, i.e., shoop da whoop?

[@takeyouforgranite7850]

I think Acererak vs Vecna or Sibriex vs Elder Brain would be cool to see next!

[@AndreAlbuquerque-uk2oi]

I think there isnt Vecna

[@primeemperor9196]

​@@AndreAlbuquerque-uk2oi There's two statblocks that I know of for Vecna.

[@magnus6801]

Все атаки Векны - некротический урон. Ацерак обладает иммунитетом к некротическому урону. Аццерак легко победит.

[@Nom2421]

Beholders would win nearly every fight if they could choose the eye-ray they wanted

[@Mordring]

That is true. Either choose the rays based on opponnent type. Tanky enemy or a heavy melee hitter: wisdom and dex save rays. Squishy wizard or sneaky rogue: strength and con save rays. Or just spam paralysis-disintegrate-death (paralysed creatures automatically fail dex saves which the latter 2 are) each turn, eventually it would land. I was actually thinking the other day to allow it, but on a condition that each ray takes a turn to re-charge after being fired (to avoid the aforementioned spam tactics). With 3 rays per turn plus one per legenday action times 3 (assuming there's at least 3 player characters) the beholder would be down to 4 (likely inferior) rays in its second turn so it would have to bite and LA-ray for a turn for optimal efficiency before going back to ray-spam. That would balance the combat a bit as while beholder could always go for the nastiest option for each player character (with 17 intelligence it would know that a fighter in full plate may not be that dextrous and that fast rogue archer probably isn't too durable), it then would need a cooldown during which the players could either recuperate or retaliate accordingly.

[@MrDavidKord]

Yeah but then it would be a higher challenge rating and would be fighting a tougher dragon.

[@Nom2421]

@@MrDavidKord That might not matter as much as you might think. Assuming the dragon has the same amount of legendary resistances a higher AC and 2x the hitpoints wouldnt mean much in the face of turning to stone, falling asleep, or otherwise being stunned for a full turn.

[@BeatchBall]

My Monstrous Heroes just arrived in the mail the other day. It's about everything I was hoping it would be. I haven't read it all yet, but the ones I have read are fantastic. Well done, Esper. You should be proud.

[@MawsParasite2]

Someone must have un-petrified th' dragon!

[@internetcatfish]

I think it makes sense to do a rematch where the beholder can choose the eye rays, or at least choose one of them. It's weird that they designed the beholder where it has no control over its primary form of attack.

[@AndreAlbuquerque-uk2oi]

I think ita very interesting

[@leri3365]

Would be broken using death or petrify every turn

[@cormack4]

I'm not that dwelled in d&d lore but could it be that the fact they are aberrations they're not that smart or something, idk

[@user-nz7dd3sg5c]

Doesn't make sense, the beholder could do the petrified, disintegration and death ray every round round after round while the dragon could only use his breath if it rolls a 5 or 6.

[@bastionsea2829]

I think designate 1 or 2 of the eyes and a % to determine if the beholder can angle to use it (if it gets the chance it will always use the designated ray as one of it's 3,or the legendary)

[@frostedfireside2542]

Amazing rematch. I’m glad this series is going strong Esper! Maybe you could do a rematch of the goblins vs kobolds with instead of Gakabrazz and Snezdi, you can do two different leaders. A lvl 3 hobgoblin fighter and a lvl 3 Dragonborn paladin(or maybe even a sorcerer like Snezdi). If you wanna do a match in a kobolds hideout/cave, having traps and boulders prepared.

[@dougdupont6134]

I second this rematch

[@BuddhaMonkey7]

I'd like to see a rematch where he uses some of the higher CR goblin and kobold monsters instead of standard ones with added class levels. Maybe a nilbog versus a dragonshield or a scale sorcerer. Throw in a kobold inventor and one of the goblin warlocks from Volo's.

[@frostedfireside2542]

@@BuddhaMonkey7if not that, then at least throw in some winged kobolds and a goblin boss from the monster Manuel. I absolutely agree, if they do a goblin v Kobold rematch, then higher cr creatures should be used.

[@BuddhaMonkey7]

@@frostedfireside2542 Yeah those are both very fun monsters. I want to see the goblin boss pulling one of his allies into the path of a rock dropped by a winged kobold.

[@Rsloppy]

This is my favorite channel right now!! More, more, more!!!

[@fritz8393]

The original Match was the first video i watched from you, since then i have watched through most of your rankings! They are a great way to learn more about the diffrent worlds of D&D and who doesnt enjoy a good tierlist. Your Channel has really been a great discovery and from one bard to another: may your adventures and uplpoads be many!

[@Chris-eh8mi]

This needs to be best of three. It's one-to-one now. Your move. You'll have my view.

[@u.v.s.5583]

And mine!

[@genghiskhan6809]

I have an idea for the first high CR aquatic monster melee: Kraken vs Ancient Dragon Turtle.

[@JetLagRecords]

Esper the Bard, amazing video keep it up bro

[@RP-Dai]

Go white dragon go!

[@atlas_of_prescottia]

My favorite part is 8:23. Love when DM's do this stuff!

[@samwhary5498]

Hey esper. My monstrous adventurers book got here this week. I'm pretty excited to use it hehe. Thanks for that. It'll really spice things up

[@ElfieElfieElf]

Can't wait for more!

[@LCPHGAMES]

I love the series Esper, genuinely an incredibly fun concept and I love the rematches to bring some spice to our lovely luck based hobby, Maybe try and do a best of 3 for the matches? Without the need to show all of it you could simply show the most interesting of the three but mention the result of the others at the end to let things play off differently maybe changing their tactics in each one or so! Either way incredible content good luck!

[@walterlane5069]

❤️💯👍your channel is my favorite!!! I love the monster fights!!! PLEASE PLEASE , DO MORE!!! MANY DIFFERENT TYPES VS UNUSUAL COUNTER TYPES!!!

[@walterlane5069]

Wearwolf vs lepracon, ect

[@AndrewBrownK]

wowee the dice gods are certainly entertaining. Never know which way it will go

[@Guy-sb5hf]

Let's go white dragon! I would love to see all the dragons!

[@leopnogueira]

what a treat after a days work

[@occultnightingale1106]

It'd be interesting to see a battle between an Ancient Green Dragon and a Kraken. Both can do either land or underwater, so it'd be interesting to see them vie for the environment which benefits them best.

[@FloatingParadice]

What is the website or software you’re using for the combat? I’ve used DND Beyond but this looks much better.

[@owenanderson1798]

I think it'd be fun to continue the Beholder dragon rivalry Blue Dragon Wyrmling vs Spectator is one I'd like to see. Two fun low-level Mini bosses go head to head!

[@bastionsea2829]

Amusingly, that was one melee I didn't realize I'd missed

[@lordmortos979]

That beholder death snarl was so lit! 😂

[@justnojustn3036]

Don't worry about mistakes it's impossible to acount for everything. Sometimes a creature messes up or fate bends in an illogical way

[@jacksavadge4210]

Hell, yeah, still my favorite dragon, the head shape is so cool

[@sergiykud]

love the monster melee!

[@bleach-kun]

Dracolich vs Death Tyrant? Battle of the abnormal liches?

[@brandonhughes179]

Frost dragon snacking on the floating eyeball--that's more like it. REDEMPTION for dragon kind!!!

[@dougdupont6134]

I'm not sure id want to bite a beholder .... what do you think beholder meat tastes like?

[@MarekDohojda]

The fact that they are Aberrations, I think only a Dragon could eat it without some serious CON save :)

[@cormack4]

Shit 😂

[@dougdupont6134]

@@MarekDohojda legendary digestion doesn't require a saving roll.... Interesting

[@GoldenDaemonas]

Meatballs?

[@unskilled822]

normal beholder meat must be gross, sticky and viscous similar to octupus probably even poisonous but a red dragon would have quite the meal after finishing the fight with a fire breath

[@joydjinn8692]

I love cheering for the underdogs and I was really hoping for a sleep ray at the end when the Beholder was a 4hp but things don't always go your way. A great fight nonetheless!

[@tannermason4315]

Love this stuff

[@jakerobillard5977]

Hey Esper, I love watching this series and I think I thought of a cool idea you could potentially try. I think it would be really cool to try building some characters from your Monstrous Heroes book for these fights! I think it might get more people interested in buying the book and it still stays in theme with the "monster" part in monster melee. I bought the book and already received it in the mail and just think its absolutely amazing! Thank you for all the hard work you put into it, you can tell a lot of passion went into it and I would love to see some more example builds made from the book and in action!

[@starhalv2427]

How about A classic D&D party (Fighter, rogue, wizard, cleric, all lvl 1) VS A mimic Anyway, actually didn't watch the first iteration of this fight, so I'm gonna go watch that real quick

[@TheLastWhiteKid]

Well done. Now lets see cavalry units vs calvary. Knights on horse back vs death night on nightmare

[@NonAbnormal]

Epic party vs Epic party would be amazing. 4 v 4.... With lots of magic.

[@Mordring]

Maybe with Esper's new book epic monster party vs epic monster party.

[@iFORitzy]

With these 1 v 1 I would love to see best out of 3

[@huntermegabot]

I think a battle of the dragon types could be interesting, like an adult silver vs adult red vs adult amethyst dragon. I would suggest gold, but both the red and gold dragon does fire damage

[@svanmetroz138]

It would be cool to see a fight that takes place in a creatures lair, so it can uses it's lair actions. Maybe a demon lord fighting a company of pit fiends ?

[@thamporgkahwuan6692]

ELMAR VS. WOLVES DESERVE THEIR REMATCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@DmDungeonMastery]

These are very helpful for my creatures but better series ive been doing, your combats point out the glaring problems with some statblocks, beholders are my favorite creature in 5th edition so whenever i decide im going to rework them i gotta really play hardball with their eyerays! lol

[@yusharider]

The one that started it all.

[@mikesands4681]

Beholders can also levitate up and hide among the stalactite. Dragons cannot hover

[@Notsidgaming]

And the dragon will never tell anyone how close he came to death. If he even knew 😂

[@arnijulian6241]

Glad you did the rematch but my point last time was not so much the ''burrow speed'' but 'blindsight' of 60 feet. The Beholder only has dark vision & so it should have disadvantage in the cave with no light sources that you picked to mitigate the dragons flight speed. 'flight' & most of all 'blind sight' are a great pair of stats to have on a monster that most all dragons possess. You seem to miss my point in prior comment of the burrow speeds advantage as their must be at least some were that can be dug & then all you do is camp in a fox hole/dugout & blast with breath from fall cover in darkness using flight to pop in then out. Either the foe retreat out of the cave & flight to kite or they advance on the foxhole that they have disadvantage in as darkness made by a dugout is not effected on the dragon with Blindsight. Try it out in a mock Esper & you will see why Dragons can take on foes way above their relative CR.

[@AndreAlbuquerque-uk2oi]

Beholder will just have disavantage on perception checks

[@arnijulian6241]

​@@AndreAlbuquerque-uk2oi ''Darkvision allows creatures to see in darkness as if it were dim light''. ''Darkvision is limited to seeing in dim light and has disadvantage in complete darkness.'' What you are stating would be the case for ''devil sight''. Most treat 'dark vision' as if devil sight. 'Blind sight' is the best sight hands down. ''Blindsight does not rely on sight and is not affected by darkness.'' Blind sight can tell someone is even behind a wall, below or above ground. If you can get it, it can be a life saver at unforgiving tables. 1 of my tables is entirely battle focused & the DM does not hold punches which I am a tad of a min-maxer so I like the challenge to survive.

[@MrDudestein]

I'd love to see a battle between an ancient evil alignment dragon vs an ancient good alignment dragon. Not sure what the most interesting specific matchup would be.

[@The_Squatch_97]

Red vs Silver

[@rub-al-khali4265]

Great battle!👏👏👏 Tarrasque vs. TIamat?

[@hgcamelsmoker]

What software are you using?

[@jx9737]

Who wants to see undead Delmar?

[@SHAWNDAVIS-rh9ic]

Shadows vs Giant Ice Toads!

[@targetdreamer257]

A coven of Hags (like Green, Nightmare, and Bheur Hag) Vs Drow Inquisitor (possibly with the Variant: Summon Demon) and like two Drow Scout for back up.

[@futurewario9591]

Do a video about Gnomes or Gnomes VS Halflings

[@BobbyCorwen1771]

I think if you're trying to be fair, you would either need to change the rules where the beholder can choose the eye rays, or remove the dragons legendary resistances. The dragon has more speed, power output, and hp. Without massive luck the beholder just gets wrecked

[@berserkshirtbear1271]

"Begone, fiend!"

[@ankh-es8os]

Would love to see a necromancer pc with the full army of undead against something

[@TheDoomed]

Whooo! 🎉

[@uptheironschris17]

Just tuning in and loving your videos. Did a quick search but couldn’t find the information. What are you using for a VTT?

[@The_Squatch_97]

I wanna see a few githyanki (a Kith'rak, some raiders and a few gish'ra) raid a mind flayer colony

[@zacharyholston6033]

Displaced beasts vs blink dogs

[@newtondood]

Alhoon vs Neothelid

[@conraddickinson24]

Dragon's rule Beholders drool.😅

[@wratched]

I thought beholders were chaotic.

[@atlas_of_prescottia]

Not according to the 5th edition Monster Manual. Perhaps in older editions?

[@Mordring]

@@atlas_of_prescottia Nah, they've always been LE (except the weird 4E alignments where they were just Evil). A paranoid narcissistic control freak with a penchant for domination of lesser beings and a hoarding obsession? While surely insane, it definitely fits Lawful to me.

[@TheRiveners]

I haven't seen it anywhere in the videos I've seen, what software is this??

[@zerovalon6243]

Can we get a classic, adult red dragon vs adult silver dragon? With riders would be awesome as well.

[@jamesfogle8976]

How about Orcs vs Hobgoblins or blink dogs vs displaced beast

[@stevem8611]

Beholder can only control his main eye, his other stalks flail around randomly. That's why he rolls to see which 3 whip around and hit, and why the white dragon should absolutely body the beholder, as physical attacks and breath weapons aren't magic, and beholders are only scary for mages.

[@fhuber7507]

1:25 appx, you say Beholder fly speed is 120 ft... nope... 2:15 you get it right

[@BlackrpgNerd]

Draegolth vs surface elf patrol

[@wizardgg7671]

I’ve been watching a few of these and I’ve been really enjoying the series. but I have a question in terms of rematches does it change the Canon of the match for example if we did a rematch with Elmar and he lived with that change what happened and if he lived would be level 2. But to be honest I don’t think we need a rematch I just would like to give him a chance to live! Which brings me to the final question is what are the criteria for a rematch, just interest for you/ audience, you forgot a few things or something else?

[@aviator662]

Reeeeeeeeematch

[@adrenalineunlimited]

Do named legendary variants in a hypothetical random but theoretically plausible situation.

[@coneylove9600]

I respectfully think that an INT 17 beholder would be smart enough (and paranoid enough) to use its intellect to not only assess which eye beam is best to use against a specific target (are they holding a sword or do they appear to be a spellcaster?) but also to continuously use a specific eye beam against a specific target if they see that it works well. There is no way a highly intelligent creature like a beholder is going to just do random things unless it is to throw off the enemy.

[@Mordring]

I agree. That's why whenever my players will face a beholder I'm introducing a couple house rules: 1. Beholder can use any ray it wants on any target it wants, but each ray takes a turn to re-charge just so it can't just be spammed. With 3 rays and another 3 on Legendary Actions, it would be down to 4 on its second turn, forcing bite attack and LA-rays for efficiency. 2. Beholder instinctively ascertains each class' save proficiencies as well as their typical dump saves. However, it goes by assumptions and general tendencies so if the tanky plate-armoured fighter happens to be a savant with 18 wisdom or a squishy spellcaster actually worked out to 18 strength, the beholder still would use sleep or telekinesis respectively and only after witnessing the poor efficiency would it change the tactics.

[@AndreAlbuquerque-uk2oi]

Almost Beholder wins again, its a very unpredictable creature

[@TheDoomed]

Goblins vs Barghest 🙏🏽 please

[@Darkninja282]

What about Banderhobb vs Bulette

[@stethespaniard2]

Your dragon sounds kinda high pitched for such a big creature

[@Mordring]

Whales say hi ;)

[@mystiosmystios2534]

At 11:01 in the video, I don't understand why the dragon made 3 attacks while it was under the effect of the slow spell?

[@Mordring]

Multiattack that most higher level monsters (like dragons) possess is different from Extra Attack player feature that is inhibited by Slow. Multiattack is treated mechanically as a single attack action (assuming the creature just attacks so fast naturally that it blends together). At least how it is in RAW. As a DM I'd probably limit a slowed monster's multiattack by one attack (so 3 instead of 4, 2 instead of 3, etc.). It would still be faster than what a slowed player can make, but it would take the slow into account to some extent.

[@mystiosmystios2534]

@@Mordring Thanks for this long and detailed answer! :) I'm new to D&D 5e, do you know where this is indicated in the books? It will help me better understand this kind of concept ^^

[@christianlangdon3766]

Man wish the dragons werent always out of their element, no swimming or burrowing in the map for the dragon to us.

[@joydjinn8692]

The same could be said for the Beholder. It extremely rare to see a Beholder out of their lairs. They're planners who design their lairs specifically for them. Being out if it is more debilitating than any dragon out for a stroll.

[@christianlangdon3766]

@@joydjinn8692 i mean sure but the dragon would more than happy to be in a beholder layer because upward flight doesn't do anything in 5e despite it being difficult terrain for most systems that care to make a difference.

[@joydjinn8692]

@@christianlangdon3766 Yeah, a beholder lair would definitively have elevation which the dragon wouldn't care. It would probably have small tunnels that the dragon wouldn't be able to get through but what is really dangerous for the dragon is the lair action. The lair itself could grape the dragon and can also shoot eye rays. At that point, ita pretty luck-based battle still but a little more in favor of the Beholder. I wouldn't be surprised that the dragon still win because...y'know...dragons.

[@christianlangdon3766]

@@joydjinn8692 yea definitely would be more up to the dice but you could say that about any beholder battle in 5e. I was just noting that each dragon battle has been in territory where they can't use much of their advantages.

[@TheCrowFairyTale]

Elephants vs hobgoblins please 🥺

[@eggplantcomics8336]

Isn’t the legendary resistance a reaction? The dragon was slowed and can’t take reactions.

[@JamesFromKC]

Need a battle Royale soon

[@robcioxxx3994]

As a beholders fan i could watch BO5

[@GrimHeaperThe]

Slowing ray isn't slow. Multiple types of slow aren't the same as the Slow spell.

[@lordInfernox2]

Solar vs Lich

[@truechaos6927]

im curious, what is that program you are using for these battles?

[@gamrr_NERD]

Are these fights considered cannon in your world? I like to think at the beginning of this fight the beholder was itching to add another dragon statue to its lair lol.

[@esperthebard]

That's a good question. Most of them are not canon. Maybe the guardsmen of Fjarlstead could be. But I am very interested in creating content this is canon for Ichoros.

[@benhover9604]

The dragon was below half, didn't just smash it

[@avivnir373]

tiamat vs tarrasque

[@Migolcow]

I don't think sleep would really be the win condition, it's just broken by damage and the beholder's ability to hit big is too rng. Petrification is the sure thing, otherwise it has to get REALLY lucky with damage rolls.

[@The_mekboy_you_deserve]

I'll still be rooting for the beholder, despite his disadvantages. 9:44 i might be dumb but shouldn't the beholder have had another ray? The first one was given by the legendary action, then he made 2 rays and you said that was his final ray.

[@DeltaSierraAlpha]

I don't think a slowed creature can make a multi attack. I really like this but as someone who always thinks about the rules its sad to see the beholder die to a rule oversight

[@redfaux74]

Within these pathetic 5E rules for the Beholder.... this was still good. But an intelligent Beholder against a dumb dragon? That would be another outcome. Good video. ❤ I am amazed Disintegrate only does that little damage. Especially on a failed save. It used to be a 6th level spell if I remember. That's like an adequate Fireball??? 🤢🤮 Pathetic. I guess there isn't much difference between a 3rd level spell and a 6th level spell. There certainly was in my game. A failed save vs Disintegrate would mean "x" amount of space is dust. That's a kill!!!

[@Mailed-Knight]

Maybe have it fight a younger dragon.

[@lluisdemonermayans2157]

i want dragon vs dragon