Baldur's Gate 3 begins on the Nautiloid, the Illithid vessel in which the first beats of the adventure take place. It's no surprise: from the moment the first trailer of Larian Studios' title emerged, creatures like the Mind Flayers began to appear on the stage, clearly suggesting the direction taken by the third chapter of the saga. Yes, the plot of Baldur's Gate 3 has a lot to do with the Illithids, but there is much more hidden in the game mechanics than you might imagine.
The initial movie shows the precise moment in which a tadpole, or an Illithid parasite, is grafted into the brain of the protagonist and all the other original characters created by the developers. This event, obviously, will end up kicking off the adventure, leading most groups of players to try in every way to free themselves from the parasite. But there is also another path: being able to count on psionic powers is in fact an extraordinary feature in the D&D universe, and Baldur's Gate 3 is absolutely no different. In this guide we will analyze Illithid powers in detail, revealing what they are, how to obtain them and everything you need to know. Just remember one very important thing: in the worlds created by Larian Studios, every choice has consequences.
How Illithid Powers work
Once the adventure begins, you will come across special dialogue options related to the parasite in your mind, namely the so-called Illithid Wisdom. Most players will immediately choose to follow the advice of their companions and look for a way to get rid of the tadpole, but know that there is another path, and the visits you will receive in dreams will suggest it to you. The Guardian will appear to you, the second character you created in the editor, practically an incarnation of the Illithid influence who will try to convince you to exploit the parasite. It's up to you, at that point, to choose whether or not to accept his offer; in the early access version it was possible to have a real Romance with the Keeper, but this option seems to have disappeared in the final version.
Basically, to embrace the power of the parasite, all you have to do is find and consume more tadpoles scattered around the world. Once you have absorbed three of them, you will gain access to a hidden skill tree entirely dedicated to Illithid powers: you can access it by pressing the B button - recalling "brain" - opening a screen that represents your mind and the influence that parasites have on it. The parasites will allow you to obtain very powerful active and passive abilities divided into three different degrees of effectiveness, with the last one becoming accessible only starting from the third act. Obviously Illithid powers are only available to infected characters, so recruits like Halsin and Jaheira will never be able to have access to this kind of ability. Let's see in detail how the whole thing works and what these extraordinary powers are.
The location of the parasites and the first Illithid Powers
Unlike what happened in early access, the Keeper will return to visit you in dreams at regular intervals regardless of the path you take. To develop your powers, however, you will have to consume additional parasites, which you can find in the bodies of other infected characters or in certain areas of the game world. Let's see, to start, where the first Illithid tadpoles are found:
- Just west of the druid grove are Brynna and her companions. You can fight them or avoid the fight by using the Illithid option, after which you can collect the parasite
- The leader of the very annoying Gnolls has one, so eliminating him in any way will allow you to obtain it
- In the Goblin camp there are three parasites: one has Gut, one Dror Ragzlin, and one obviously Minthara, who however is a potential Companion! Therefore we need to think carefully about how to proceed in this regard
- One is located in Halsin's study
- One is found in the infirmary of the Githyanki Creche in the middle of the mountain pass
- In the Duergar slavers' base is Nere, who has a parasite in her mind
- Once you reach the inn that hosts Jaheira and Isobel, some guys will arrive to eliminate the cleric, and one of them has a parasite in a bottle
- Northwest of the Rivington fast travel point is a docked ship with a parasite on board
- Kethelric Thorm's two lieutenants, Z'rell and Linsella, each have a tadpole
- In the Mind Flayer colony that follows the previous fight, you can pass a Perception check near the pool of liquid in the area to obtain another bottled specimen
- In the lower city park of Baldur's Gate you will be approached by a character named Manip Edenrosa, who will die due to the parasite in his mind
- More to come!
Let's now see the skills guaranteed by the tree dedicated to the Illithids regarding the first and second levels:
Level 1 Powers
- Psionic Overload (offensive action) - Attacks deal an additional 1-4 psychic damage, but you also take 1-4 psychic damage each turn.
- Favorable Blessings (passive) - The first attack roll or skill check you make against a target also gains a bonus equal to your proficiency bonus.
- Tunnel of Force (offensive action) - Charges forward, pushing away all objects and creatures within four meters of you; this does not provoke attacks of opportunity.
- Concentrated Blast (offensive action) - Can deal 3d6 psychic damage; you must be focused on another spell to cast it. If the target is focused on a spell, you heal an amount equal to the damage dealt.
- Health Transfusion (support action) - Sacrifice half your remaining hit points to heal a target by the same amount.
Level 2 Powers
- Absorb Skill (passive) - Once per turn, when you make an attack roll, the attack reduces the target's skill by 1 point. The reduced ability corresponds to your attack type (for example, melee for STR, ranged weapons for DEX, and spells affect WIS, INT, or CHA).
- Luck of the Far Realm (passive) - When you roll a successful attack roll, you can turn it into a critical hit.
- Charm (passive) - Charm an enemy to prevent them from attacking you until your next turn; use a reaction.
- Displacement (passive) - Creatures that take falling damage from your actions also take 1-8 psychic damage.
- Repulsor (offensive action) - Deals 2d6 force damage and pushes the target back twenty feet.
- Prune the Weak (passive/activable) - Reducing an enemy to fewer hit points than your unlocked Illithid Powers automatically kills them; It also deals 1-4 psychic damage to nearby creatures.
- Psionic Backlash (passive) - When an enemy within nine meters casts a spell, you can use your reaction to deal 1d4 psychic damage per spell level.
- Thrall Shield (Support Action) - Summons a shield that grants a target 10 temporary hit points; if the shield breaks, it can stun nearby enemies.
- Imminent Danger (Support Action) - Empowers a target to heal itself every time it attacks, but becomes vulnerable to all damage types.
- Stage Fright (support action) - Targets have disadvantage on attack rolls and take 2-12 psychic damage whenever they fail an attack; this is overcome if they succeed on an attack roll.
How to unlock level 3 Illithid Powers, choices and consequences
In this section, for obvious reasons, they will be present very heavy spoilers regarding the main plot of Baldur's Gate 3, therefore we invite you to proceed with caution.
First we will cover the Illithid spells level 3, so if you are interested in finding out what the skills are you can proceed calmly. Later, however, we will talk about the consequences brought by the use of these powers and essential passages of the story. If you choose to continue on the path of the Illithids you will gain access to the following abilities:
Level 3 Illithid Powers
- Psychic Fracture (support action) - Lowers the target's armor class (AC) by 1 point; If the target dies while under the effects of the debuff, you can cast this spell again.
- Illithid Proficiency (passive) - You gain proficiency with Persuasion, Deception, and Intimidation rolls.
- Psionic Mastery (passive) - If a spell within 18 feet targets you and has a level less than or equal to your proficiency, you can use a reaction to completely negate the spell.
- Black Hole (offensive action) - Choose a point and draw nearby enemies towards it, with the possibility of slowing them down. After initially casting it into battle, you can summon Black Hole five more times. Afterwards, you must take a short rest to recharge the ability.
- Flight (Support Action) - Allows you to fly around and is automatically unlocked. It doesn't even consume a spell slot.
- Mind Blast (offensive action) - Deals 6-34 psychic damage; covers a conical area and can stun targets.
- Mental Sanctuary (support action) - Creates a field that allows anyone within it to take actions or bonus actions interchangeably.
- Free Cast (passive/trigger) - Removes resource costs for spell slots and charges; regenerates after a rest.
- Absorb Intellect (support action) - Lowers a target's Intelligence by 1 point and heals you for 1-8 hit points for five turns.
- Beast Form (transformation action) - Transform into an astral cat.
Well, now that we have enticed you with all this goodness, including Black Hole and Mind Explosion, it's time to talk about how the Illithid issue evolves. The question is the following: during Act 3, your party will find itself the victim of a Githyanki ambush: once the attackers are defeated, a passage to the astral plane will open. Here, theEmperor Illithid he will ask you for help: the only thing you must not do is attack him, because in this case you will incur a game over and the Absolute will simply wear your corpse like an "Edgarabito" from Men in Black to go around the world.
By successfully helping the Emperor, you will finally have the opportunity to confront him, discovering that the Guardian who visited you in your dream... was this damned interdimensional psionic octopus. At this point it will be your turn to make the decisive choice: your interlocutor will offer you the possibility of as a reward transform you permanently in a half Illithid through a astral parasite. If you refuse, nothing bad will happen; but if you accept, your character will change forever, even in the model: the blue veins will be clearly visible on the body, along with some other details, and you will gain immediate access to level 3 Illithid abilities. Furthermore, all level 1 abilities will be immediately unlocked, even if you haven't run over a single worm in that particular tree. Ah, we almost forgot... it's possible have a Romance with Emperor Illithid.
This is all we have discovered so far, so we suggest you check our guide pages often to discover further developments.
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