i'm really mad. i did the haer'dalis quest, and i'm up to the astral prison. i have only one mage in my group : Aerie. are there any spells to counter the bounty hunter's death magic attacks? maybe I could do psychological warfare by blasting arch enemy at them, hehe.

The Clerics spell "death ward" offers protection. I can't remember the spell level though, so you may or may not have it.

You could also use assorted mage spells if you've got 'em. Spell Immunity: Necromancy, appropriate spell mantle's and spell reflections, that sort of thing. Chances are, these have not been found yet at this point in the game but consider them useful for future battles. :)

At this point, if you lack a cleric with death ward, i'd suggest a barrage of arrow or a couple gulps of invisibility potions and quick feet. :D

You could also try casting anti-caster spells to increase their chance of spell failure or just sending everybody at the caster and take him/her down physical style. To stop them from getting a death spell off by simply interrupting their casting.

oy! if you're on this page, thanks. i forgot that i could also get stuff like that. maybe i've been using the longsword +1 for waaaaaaaaaaaaay too long...

You can also try to improve your partys saving throws and magic resistance with spells like protection from evil 10', improved invisibility, bless, chant, prayer, ....
"Save or die" attacks aren't that dangerous anymore if you have a 95 percent chance to stay unharmed.
Buffing spells which allow to kill the enemies faster will also reduce the danger of getting killed.

Improved Invisibility doesn't just improve your saving throws. It makes it impossible for any spell caster to target you (although physical attacks can still hurt you). Until the enemy dispels the invisibility you're safe from anything that isn't an area spell.

Melf's Minute Meteorites is a great way to keep disrupting spell casters and Aerie has a goof to hit chance so it's ideal for her.

That bounty hunter Yuan-ti mage...He casts a Finger of Death, right? It is annoying, yes. It is suprising how easy you fail your saving throw at that stage of the game.

Try Death ward, Spell Deflection, Reflection, try to have good saving throws, and disrupt the yuanti mage before he can cast a FoD:Breach him ASAP and wail on him with your fighters!

I think he usually casts hold person or something too and that can get REALLY annoying with those thralls around!

That is an important lesson:go for mages always, then target clerics/druids, and then you can deal with other weaklings (thieves and fighters) at your leisure.

If you have a competent thief, this would be a good time to try out that fancy "backstabbing" thing the young people are all talking about.

If the enemy mage has protection spells like stoneskin up, use dispel magic or breach to drop them. Keldorn's inquisitor dispel ability also works for this purpose.

So, valhalla12492, how did you survive the encounter? Just curious!

A handy tactic I use is to have everyone use missle weapons and focus thier fire on one enemy spell caster at a time. I use the best ammo I have. This usually takes them out of the fight. And any fight is easier when you don't have to worry about pesky spell casters.

^Have some normal ammo if the enemy casts PfMW. Then, if they also have Protection from Normal Missiles (a dreaded combo!) you need a swift Breach before they unleash their death magic on you! Or grab your rusty-old normal katana and go for it! (unless you face a lich ofcourse :p )

Missles that do elemental damage and arrows of peircing seem to make itthrough these defenses. The Flail of Ages is a great mage killer, most mages do not use Protection from the Elements.

Try having Jaheira/Cernd/druid PC cast Insect Plague or Creeping Doom.