Baldur’s Gate 3 offers a unique branch of optional powers that you can grant your character through the consumption of Tadpoles. Illithid Powers are available to any Class in the game as long as the character has been infected with a Mind Flayer Tadpole, so this allows you to carefully select the powers that will best benefit your build. If you’re having trouble deciding on your selections, then we’ve got you covered with a complete breakdown of the best Illithid Powers in BG3.
First and foremost, you should be aware of the potential consequences for using Illithid Powers. After you’re aware of the risks vs. rewards, you can carefully select and monitor how many Tadpoles your character decides to consume, and which powers they can best utilize. Once you’ve wrapped your brain around this little bit of extra information, follow along below for a list of the best powers available and what makes them viable in Baldur’s Gate 3.
Illithid Expertise
Expertise is a huge asset to characters in BG3, massively improving the modifiers for certain Skill Checks and Dice Rolls.
The skill is usually restricted to Rogues, Bards, and Knowledge Domain Clerics, but with Illithid Expertise, you can grant your character the same sort of effect for their Persuasion, Deception, and Intimidation Checks. This will effectively let you control conversations and influence others with some serious Mind Flayer Tadpole manipulation, which can be extremely helpful in certain situations.
Fly
Have you ever needed to get your melee characters into range to hit a specific target, but there’s a crowd of enemies or allies in the way? Fly lets you glide right over and reach your destination, allowing you to reposition yourself quickly and efficiently.
Typically only available through spells or potions, this ability is super helpful in navigating certain maps and setting up plays in combat. This is perfect for characters such as Lae’zel, Karlach, and Minthara, who rely on getting in close range ASAP to bring value to the fight.
Furthermore, while exploring the Githyanki Creche and attempting to extract the Tadpole via the Zaithisk, you can choose to take the set yourself. If you do so and succeed in all incoming Checks during this scene, you will be rewarded with the huge benefit of being able to cast all Illithid Powers as Bonus Actions permanently. This is massive for Fly, as it would allow your character to reposition and attack a target in the same turn, making for a very efficient round of combat.
Freecast
A godsend for magic users of all stripes, Freecast enables you to make an Action or cast a Spell for free, without expending a Spell Slot or Action.
This can help create a huge offensive round of combat for your party, enabling your casters to set up powerful strategies and AOE Spells in advance and then follow up with an attack. Similarly, this can be used to chain a Spell followed by a melee attack for Classes such as the Arcane Trickster or Eldritch Knight.
It’s arguably the best Illithid Power you can take for Magic Users such as Wizards, Clerics, Druids, Warlocks, and Sorcerers. However, it can also be somewhat useful for Bards, Arcane Tricksters, Paladins, and Eldritch Knights.
Stage Fright
Want to debuff and damage a particularly bothersome enemy? Look no further than this broken ability.
Stage Fright is great for crowd control, as utilizing this ability with your tanky melee characters will very likely enable the damage effects to occur on multiple rounds due to your high AC. 2d12 Psychic Damage is a huge bonus chunk of damage that you can utilize in synergy with your following Main Hand Attack to stack an even higher damage output, especially against enemies that you’ve noticed are struggling to hit your party members consistently.
Luck of the Far Realms
Luck of the Far Realms is a massive asset to have in your arsenal, making a very worthy reaction for any character regardless of Class or role. With this Illithid Power, you can expend your Reaction to turn one of your successful Attack Rolls into a Critical Hit.
This is huge for boss fights in which you need to quickly isolate and deal damage to the target before they can get their most powerful maneuvers and spells out on the field, so you should 100 percent look to utilize Luck of the Far Realms when deciding on your Illithid Powers.
Black Hole
If you’ve been through the battle against Z’rell on the main floor of Moonrise Towers and didn’t one-shot her, then you’re already aware of just how devastating this Illithid Power can be in combat encounters where large hordes of enemies are grouped up within close proximity to one another.
Not only can this power enable you to cleverly hit multiple enemies at once, but it also applies the Slowed status to all of these targets, which effectively works in the same way as casting the Slow Spell.
The effects of Slow are as follows:
- Movement Speed is halved.
- Armour Class is reduced by 2.
- Dexterity Saving Throws are reduced by 2.
- Cannot take Reactions.
- Can only take an Action or a Bonus Action (not both).
- Cannot make more than one attack per turn.
- Spells cast might be delayed for a turn.
Considering it can apply these effects, Black Hole is an absolute force to be reckoned with and can make large encounters feel much less threatening to fight your way through.
Concentrated Blast
Concentrated Blast is an asset for any Spellcaster who frequently needs to maintain Concentration with their Spells over multiple turns of combat such as Shadowheart or Gale. With this Illithid Power, you can drop the Spell you are currently concentrating on to deal 3d6 Psychic + 3d6 Conditional damage.
Furthermore, if the target you focus on with Concentrated Blast is also maintaining Concentration on their own Spell, you will heal HP equal to the points of damage you inflict. This means that just from a single Action (or Bonus Action depending on your success in the Creche), you can both deal some hefty damage and restore a big chunk of health, making this Power a very handy asset to keep up your sleeve.
Displacer Beast Shape
Similar to the Druid’s Wild Shape, Displacer Beast Shape enables you to change forms into a Displacer Beast. In combat, this can be used in a pinch to give yourself 85 Temp HP, as you remain in form until your next Long Rest, or until your HP hits 0 – and in the case of the latter, you return to your normal form.
However, unlike Wild Shape, which shuffles your Stat scores around based on the animal you shift into, you will keep your INT, WIS, and CHA scores, as these are the stats the Illithid Powers revolve around.
Psionic Dominance
This one is pretty much the Illithid variant of Counterspell, which is best described as a middle finger to enemy Spell casters.
When an enemy within 18m of you casts a Spell, you can use your reaction to cancel the Spell and nullify the effects. However, unlike Counterspell, Psionic Dominance only works if the Spell you are attempting to nullify is equal to or lower than your Proficiency Bonus. Fortunately, this Reaction is available to all Classes whereas Counterspell is restricted to certain caster Classes, so this strongly evens things out.
Mind Blast
Mind Blast is a solid addition to round out any character build, enabling you to utilize an Action that can hit multiple enemies for 4d6+5 Psychic damage and possibly Stun them.
As a Stunned creature can’t take Actions, Bonus Actions, or Reactions, this Illithid power is a huge asset that can bring a lot of utility to the field for your party, allowing them to swoop in and pick off the Stunned targets while they have a lack of actions.
