Illithid abilities in Baldur's Gate 3: how to unlock and tier list of the best

Illithid abilities in Baldur's Gate 3 - a type of skill that a character can discover while traveling around the world. They appear on the condition that you agree to further absorb the parasites as they are found. Skills have their own tree for leveling up, and studying them can lead to certain consequences.

In this guide we will tell you what illithid abilities are, what they are and how to get them. Is it worth using and what consequences should you prepare for?

How to unlock illithid abilities

Illithid abilities belong to a special skill tree that becomes available as the game progresses - take a long rest several times until you dream with Guardian, in which he will talk about parasites and their power that can be used. Keep in mind that the dream will not appear if at least one larva has not been previously found and illithid wisdom has not previously been used in dialogues.

To unlock illithid powers in Baldur's Gate 3, you must consume parasites, which each grant one skill point. You can find them in a variety of places, the order of collection is not important, you can start with those that are easiest to pick up.

The most convenient way to pick up the parasites is in the Goblin Camp by killing mintaru.

If, in the opposite age, you collaborate with goblins and do not want to kill their leaders, then two parasites can be easily and quickly found in the vicinity of the druid grove - on Nettie’s table near the drow's corpse; and also take from the dying a dwarf named Edowin, who can be found surrounded by Absolute cultists west of the Emerald Grove.

Once the parasites are found, go to the skills menu by pressing B on the keyboard, and activate the larva on the desired ability to unlock it. note that skill opens once and for all, you cannot cancel pumping, unless you load an earlier save. Choose carefully.

In a separate article, they How to find all parasite samples in Baldur's Gate 3.

Baldur's Gate 3 Illithid Abilities

A total of Guardian in a dream, the abilities of the second circle are unlocked after activating certain skills in the first. To unlock the skills of the third circle, go through the story to a certain point.

Illithid Abilities 1 circles:

Illithid Persuasion - allows you to force Absolute cultists to obey.
Concentrated Blast - Start casting a concentration spell to be able to activate this skill and deal psychic damage to the target. If the enemy also uses a concentration spell, the character using the skill will receive additional healing.
Health Transfer – Spends half the caster’s health in exchange for healing an ally for the same amount of HP.
Psionic Overload - All attacks deal additional psychic damage, but the character also takes psychic damage every turn.
Auspicious Start - When making an attack roll or ability check, a skill bonus is added against the target.
Tunnel of Strength - Gives the character the ability to throw forward 9 meters and throw opponents 4 meters away from him if they fail the test of strength. The skill does not provoke attacks of opportunity.

Illithid Abilities 2 circles:

Culling the weak - creatures whose health is less than the number of studied illithid abilities of the character immediately die, and nearby creatures receive psychic damage.
Psionic recoil is a retaliatory action that causes psychic damage. Can be activated if an enemy within a 9m radius creates a spell.
Slave Shield – creates a shield that protects the active character or ally and gives 10 temporary HP. If the enemy removes these HP, the shield breaks and stuns nearby enemies. To be stunned, the target must fail an Intelligence test.
Dangerous Game - for three turns, gives the creature a power that heals it every turn, but also makes it vulnerable to all damage. The skill is notable in that it can also be activated on an enemy.
Jitters – Gives targets in a large area disadvantage on their rolls for three turns if they fail a wisdom test, and also deals psychic damage for each miss.
Attribute Drain – When making an attack roll, the character reduces the target’s corresponding attribute by 1 unit. The characteristic depends on the type of attack (melee weapon - strength, ranged weapon - agility, spell - the characteristic associated with it).
Luck of the Far Reach - Once before a long rest, one successful attack roll is converted into a critical hit.
Charm – prevents the enemy from attacking the caster until the next turn. Cast by a counter action.
Evasion – Creatures that take falling damage take additional psychic damage.
Repulsion – repels all creatures in a large radius from the caster and deals damage to them. In this case, the creatures must fail the test of strength.

Illithid Abilities 3 circles:

Flight – allows you to fly to any point.
Mind Blast – Releases a wave of psychic damage in a cone. Stuns victims for one turn unless they an Intelligence test.
Mind Sanctuary - Creates an area that allows characters inside it to use an action instead of a bonus action and vice versa. This means that each skill within a given area can be used twice - for an action and for a bonus.
Free Spell – Reduces the cost of spell slots and charges per action or spell to zero.
Draining Intelligence – for five turns, absorbs the enemy’s intelligence by 1 unit per turn and heals the character.
Elusive Beast Form – transforms into an Elusive Beast that can use the Evasion skill and has 85 HP. The strength, agility and endurance indicators change and become equal to 18, 15 and 16. Evasion deals psychic damage to targets and teleports to another point, leaving a copy of the beast in the same place. As soon as HP drops to zero, the form disappears.
Erase Composure - Reduces the target's armor class by 1 point if the target fails the intelligence test. When a target dies, Lost Composure is applied to an adjacent target, reducing armor class by 2.
Illithid Mastery - Grants proficiency in Persuasion, Deception, and Intimidation checks.
Psionic Domination - If an opponent casts a circle spell that is equal to or inferior to the character's proficiency bonus, a counter action can be activated to negate it.
Black Hole - pulls all enemies to one point and slows them down if they fail the intelligence test. A total of 5 black holes can be summoned before the short .

Best Illithid Abilities

Next, let's look at which illithid abilities in BG3 can be called the best:

Auspicious start – a very convenient ability that increases the chance of the first attack hitting the target from the skill bonus.
Luck of the Far Reach – a retaliatory action that, after activation, makes one of the attacks critical. For greater benefit, try to use this skill on your strongest abilities to enhance them even more.
Repulsion – allows you not only to cause damage, but also to push nearby creatures far away from the character. The skill also works on allies, this will allow you to use it to push them out of the danger zone.
Psionic Overload – gives additional psychic damage from attacks. The skill becomes especially useful if the character has the Awakening ability, obtained in Illek nursery - It allows you to use illithid powers as a bonus action.
concentrated explosion – an excellent skill that provides not only damage, but also healing if the character and his target use concentration. This ability should only be unlocked if there is a hero who masters spells with concentration.
Rejection of the weak – helps to finish off enemies with low HP and not spend extra action points or spell slots on them.
Slave Shield – gives not only bonus HP, but also stuns opponents with some chance.
A Dangerous Game – a very useful skill that can be used on enemies, thereby giving them vulnerability to all incoming damage for 3 turns, and increasing the total damage of the squad several times. It can also be used on allies who have many different attacks in one turn, since they can easily heal.
Mandrage – an ability with a fairly large radius. Can hook several enemies at once, hinder them and deal damage with each miss.
Black hole – a very strong skill that pulls opponents at one point and slows them down. Combines well with powerful area attack spells that can deal damage to pinned enemies.
Sanctuary of the Mind – an ability that creates an area in which skills can be activated twice: for an action and a bonus action, respectively.
Free spell – further reduces the waste of spell cells and charges, which increases the character’s overall damage.
Illithid Mastery – Grants proficiency in Persuasion, Deception, and Intimidation checks, which is useful for characters who do not have such skills to begin with.
Psionic Domination – makes it possible to neutralize an enemy spell without spending a spell slot on it.
Explosion of consciousness – a very good skill that deals a lot of damage to enemies in a large radius, as well as stunning them.

How to use illithid powers

Illithid abilities work similarly to spells - they can be cast, used as a response or bonus action, or activated as a ive. Each skill can be used a limited number of times before stopping for a short rest or a long rest.

Illithid powers can also be used by any ally, but first you need to improve your relationship with them and convince them that using the parasite can be beneficial. To do this, select the dialogue options on conviction and successfully complete the verification.

Is it worth using illithid abilities?

The abilities of illithids are directly related to the plot of the game, and also have a certain impact on relationships with companions. Skills will greatly expand the list of spells available for use and bring variety to the gameplay.

Using a parasite can lead the main character to completely unexpected consequences, which can either help in the adventure or harm if the age initially assumed a different path. Illithid abilities make the game even more interesting and deeper, so if you didn’t use them initially, try it in a new playthrough.

Consequences of using illithid power

However, as useful as illithid abilities are, their use does have some consequences. In particular, not all companions like the use of parasites, which everyone is so eager to get rid of. In some cases, a difference of opinion may lead to dialogues with a test of conviction, but, in general, it will not greatly affect the relationship.

During the story, the character will be twice asked to absorb a stronger larva, which will affect the hero. The first will open the 3rd circle of illithid abilities, but will cover the character's body and face with dark veins. The second will turn you into an illithid. Each choice is connected to the plot, so you can't miss it. It is necessary to carefully consider further actions: whether to use new powers or not, and also whether you are ready to accept the consequences of illithid abilities.

We hope this guide helped you learn more about what illithid abilities are in Baldurs Gate 3, how to get them and how to use them. If you have any questions, ask them in comments. Follow the release of new articles on Baldur's Gate 3 on our website.