Wield the Power of A Mind Flayer

When we announced and launched Baldur's Gate 3's Early Access back in 2020, we ran with the line “Mysterious abilities are awakening inside you, drawn from a mind flayer parasite planted deep within your brain,” and since, we never really expanded on what this meant mechanically. We hinted right from the get-go that mind flayers would be a central pillar in our story, which we’ve explored many times since then, but now it’s time to explore how it ties into the RPG systems of Baldur’s Gate 3.

While these creatures may be a source of great power, all that they offer comes with a cost. As the parasites' hosts, you must make a choice. Will you resist the powers and the corruption that comes with them or will you embrace them, risking your body, mind and soul to save the Realms... or destroy them?

If your desire for power outweighs your concern for the well-being of anyone else, or if you simply think psionic levitation would be a really neat party trick, then Illithid Powers may be for you.

Illithid Powers are a hidden skill tree used to enhance your command over your newfound illithid capabilities. Those who wish to harness the parasites' power must first find more of these parasites throughout the Forgotten Realms – some can be located inside jars and in pools of brine, others within the skulls of the infected. And then you must consume them.

Each parasite consumed unlocks one new Illithid Power within a skill tree of 25 powerful mind-flayer-inspired abilities, completely separate to the options you have when you level up in a traditional sense. These are divided into five branches themed around manipulation, health restoration, psionics, and abilities that can inflict immense damage and torment enemies to gradually weaken them over time. Some abilities can be used to control those around you, pushing them to say things in dialogue they would otherwise not. Others endow you with the power to push and pull enemies like ragdolls during battle.

You can even become a displacer beast.

The deeper you go through the illithid skill tree, the more powers you'll discover. But nothing comes without cost. While your companions can also consume parasites to gain their powers, not everyone in your party will agree to it, and your companions' perception of you can undergo a significant shift based on how you approach this opportunity.

Things can also get a bit more… complicated. But we won’t spoil it. That’s for you to discover.​