Baldur’s Gate 3 player reveals “huge” Illithid power consequence you need to know
Larian Studios Using Illithid powers in Baldur’s Gate 3 is one of the main mechanics to put you ahead of your enemies, and players have long been a little confused about the seemingly mild consequences for using them – until now.
While the little tadpole in your head in Baldur’s Gate 3 may be the catalyst for quite a few storylines, it also gives you pretty immense powers that help you stand dominant against most enemies in the game.
This endeavor doesn’t come without consequences, though. Specifically, if you decide to consume more tadpoles to enhance your power, all of the Origin characters are pretty suspicious of your actions. And, if you want them to join you, you have to really work to convince them.
While these story-specific “consequences” do exist, players have long wondered why the game itself doesn’t punish you very much for becoming more and more Illithid. Essentially, it seems that you can consume as many tadpoles as you wish, and get stronger, without any real drawbacks.
One player has now found that this may not be true. “If you have not taken any tadpoles you can freely refuse to turn half Illithid later in the game with absolutely no Wisdom check and no way for the emperor to force it on you,” ‘Sad-Papaya6528’ shared on Reddit.
“If you indulge in these powers he will basically be able to force you to turn half Illithid against your will (it’s a 21 wisdom save, so most people will have to save scum and this is a huge consequence in Honour Mode),” they continued.
Essentially, the OP believes that your freedom of choice is taken away if you decide to indulge your Illithid powers. Baldur’s Gate 3 just expresses this in the form of an extremely difficult check when the Emperor invites you to become half-Illithid, starting your journey to becoming a fully-fledged Mind Flayer.
Players in the comments largely disagreed with this idea, though, saying that the game still doesn’t really punish you for using Illithid powers.
“There are no gameplay consequences. Using too many powers doesn’t instantly kill your character and turn you into a mind flayer. You can turn into a half Illithid with the only downside being how you look,” one player explained.
Fans overall felt that, while the narrative consequences of becoming Illithid are present, even they are not enough. Especially considering that you don’t automatically fail any quests, get locked out of dialogue options, or lose any companions as a result of your choices.
“Maybe if your companions left you or you lose access to certain quests but no instead you gain the overpowered ability to fly and a bunch of other ridiculous abilities,” a player commented.
If you are looking to read about other fates you may face in Baldur’s Gate 3, you can check out why you shouldn’t use the ‘Gale Bomb’ in Act 2 and if you should take Raphael’s deal in Act 3.