Unlocking the power of your brain-bound buddy is one of the best things you can do in Baldur’s Gate 3. Sure, it’s morally questionable to use your mind powers to crush any and all free will, but sometimes being a ruthless dictator is just what the doctor ordered. Illithid powers are a lot of fun, and we advise you to get to grips with them as early as possible.
There are a fair few to unlock, however. Not only that, most of them are excellent. Deciding which powers you should unlock first is always a smidge stressful, especially once you factor in the limited nature of Mind Flayer tadpoles. We’ve compiled a list of the very best powers to help you on your way.
More Baldur’s Gate 3 content:
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Shield Of Thralls
Shield Of Thralls is incredibly useful on any dedicated spellcaster. Gale is a perfect candidate. This ability does two things, and both are excellent. Firstly, the user of the ability gains 10 temporary Hit Points. This makes them harder to kill, which is always nice to see.
The secondary effect is where things get interesting, however. When the Shield Of Thralls breaks, nearby enemies must take an Intelligence Check or be Stunned. This is an incredible debuff, and since the ability scales off of Intelligence, if a character like Gale is using it, enemies are Stunned far more reliably.
Displacer Beast
Displacer Beast turns you into a mighty Displacer Beast…naturally. In this form, you gain 85HP, new abilities, and improved stats. Shapeshifting in Baldur’s Gate 3 is incredibly powerful thanks to that hand HP buffer alone – everything else is just golden.
The big draw to the Displacer Beast is its Displacer ability which deals great damage and warps enemies around the battlefield whilst leaving illusory clones everywhere. You won’t unlock this ability until later in the game, but it’s well worth the tadpole.
Stage Fright
Stage Fright is an incredibly potent debuff. Firstly, it slashes an enemy’s accuracy by giving them Disadvantage on all Attack Rolls. This alone is very handy and would have been worth the price of admission. There’s more, however.
Every time an enemy misses whilst under the effects of Stage Fright, they take 2D6 damage. Considering this ability lasts for 3 turns, you are looking at around 6D6 damage if things go your way. If an enemy attacks multiple times a turn (like a Monk for example) that damage number can skyrocket to 12D6. Combine this with other debuffs or AC buffs and you can kill enemies without ever attacking them.
Fracture Psyche
Speaking of AC, abilities that reduce an enemy’s AC are incredibly valuable. Lower AC means you are hitting them more often in combat, and this is only a good thing. Fracture Psyche is very simple on the surface as it reduces an enemy’s AC by 1. This might not seem overly impactful, but it lasts for 5 turns.
Not only that, if an enemy dies with the ability active, you can cast a more powerful version called Shatter Psyche. This variant reduces AC by 2, and combos into itself endlessly allowing you to chain-lower AC every time you land a kill. Very powerful from the get-go.
Fly
Mobility is king in Baldur’s Gate 3. Heck, if you can’t move effectively you are as good as dead. The game is not afraid to have enemies spawn in high places, and if you can’t close the gap, you are in a lot of trouble. This is doubly so for melee characters.
This is where Fly comes in. Fly lets you fly to any location within 18m. Height doesn’t matter – you just take off and land. This is incredibly useful for closing in on ranged units. Not only that, it’s great for moving your ranged units to vantage points. A great ability on every character.
Psionic Dominance
Counterspell is one of the best spells in all of Baldur’s Gate. Its effect is very simple – if an enemy tries to cast a spell, you can use Counterspell to stop it from going off. It has its limitations, but in general, if you have a mage, you want this spell in your repertoire. The big downside is its cost – this is a level 3 spell, making it very expensive to cast since it eats into your ability to cast things like Fireball.
Psionic Dominance gives you a spell that is staggeringly similar to Counterspell, but it takes up no spots in your spellbook, it doesn’t require spell charges, and it can be used far more often. This is useful on any spellcaster, and it should be a priority unlock once available.
Psionic Backlash
Sometimes Counterspell isn’t enough. Sometimes you can’t stop a spell, and there’s nothing you can do. These spells are always high-level, and with Psionic Backlash, you can punish spellcasters for daring to cast a spell in your general direction.
This reaction deals 1D4 damage for every spell level of a spell. If this does enough damage to kill the caster in question, the spell is negated. This is a very reliable way to deal damage to power casters, and we wouldn’t leave home without it. Heck, you can even have multiple characters react with this at the same time to stack the damage dealt.
Concentrated Blast
Spells that require Concentration are some of the most powerful spells in the game. We are talking about spells like Bless or Haste. These have immediate, long-term, drastic effects that can title a battle in your favour. If you have magic in your party, you will be using these spells often.
Concentrated Blast rewards you with a whopping 6D6 damage blast if you are concentrating on any spells. Not only that, if an enemy is also concentrating, you will heal the damage dealt. This is excellent single-target damage with a smidge of utility, and we love it.
Freecast
Freecast is stupid in the best possible way. To keep things short, you use this and then your next spell or ability has no costs. It doesn’t matter how powerful that cast or use is, it’s free. Not only that, you get to use Freecast every time you Short Rest, making it very easy to restock and use. Almost every character in Baldur’s Gate 3 benefits from this ludicrous ability.
Luck Of The Far Realms
As good as Freecast is, we actually prefer this low-tier ability. Luck Of The Far Realms turns any hit into a crit once per Short Rest. That’s it. It’s super simple but it drastically increases the burst damage of your high-damage physical fighters. We LOVE this on Paladins as they can combo this with their Smite abilities to do unmatched damage to a single target.
It’s not flashy, but it’s effective, and that’s what we love about it.
That’s all we have for Baldur’s Gate 3 for now. Be sure to check out our other guides and lists for more Baldur’s Gate content.
