Baldur’s Gate 3: Can You Respec Illithid Powers? Answered

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Baldur’s Gate 3 offers between 75 and 100 hours of play minimum to complete the main campaign. If you want to explore the entire world and side quests, you’ll be spending hundreds of hours on this game. With that said, it’s highly likely that you’ll change your mind about many things as you play. So, because of the whole tadpole situation, the question is: Can you respec your Illithid powers in Baldur’s Gate 3? After all, these powers are quite unique and interesting, but you may not like something after you’ve chosen it. This is why we will tell you if it’s possible or not.

What Does Respec Mean in Baldur’s Gate 3?

To ‘respec’ your character in BG3 is to reset their progression. You’re giving their ‘specs’ or specific skills and feats a do-over.

In this game, you take your character back to Level 1 when you respec. You keep all your experience points and other progression and decide from scratch how to build your character.

This way, you can change your class, go for multi-classing, and distribute your skill points differently.

Can You Respec Illithid Powers in BG3?

Unfortunately, once you have a tadpole in your brain, extracting it is quite impossible. When you’ve consumed one of those teethy worms, you can’t remove it and put it somewhere else. So, no, you cannot respec your Illithid powers in BG3.

This makes sense lore-wise because getting your tadpole out (or embracing its power) is the main quest, after all.

However, if you’re hell-bent on redoing your tadpole skill tree, you should check out Nexus Mods. There is a mod that will let you do exactly that. So you could respec Illithid powers in Baldur’s Gate 3, though it’s not an original part of the game.

Be careful using mods, though, because Larian Studios may continue to update the game for a while still.

What Are the Illithid Powers in BG3?

Your Illithid powers in BG3 are basically the special things you can do once you start to embrace the power of the tadpole.

These powers and the tadpole are tied to the main story of Baldur’s Gate 3 and offer a more fun gameplay experience. They only become available a bit later in the game and you don’t have to use them if you don’t want to.

In total, there are 25+ abilities you can choose from, and they’re available in a Skill Tree. Every time you pick up a Tadpole Specimen, you can consume it and choose another skill on this tree.

There are specific themes these skills represent: manipulation, psionics, health restoration, and abilities that gradually weaken enemies. These abilities are for use by all players, regardless of their level or class.

How Do You Use Illithid Powers in BG3?

BG3 lets you use your Illithid powers the same way you use spells. You’ll mostly use them in combat, while the Illithid Wisdom check is used in dialogue. Just like spells, you can use your powers a limited number of times per short and long rest.

All Illithid Powers in the BG3 Mind Flayer Skill Tree

Since there are so many skills to choose from, it can become a little bit confusing and you may feel a bit lost when it comes to making your choices. For your convenience, here are the skills available on the Illithid Powers Skill Tree in BG3:

Ability Drain – Lets you make an Attack Roll once per turn. This attack reduces your target’s corresponding Ability by 1.

Absorb Intellect (Available after Evolution) – You can ‘eat’ an enemy’s intellect and lower their Intelligence by 1 per turn. You also heal your wounds for 5 turns (1d8).

Black Hole (Available after Evolution) – Choose a point in a location and pull your nearby enemies, possibly slowing them. You can summon five more Black Holes after the first one.

Charm – This is a counter-action and you’ll use the dark allure of the tadpole to Charm your attacker. As a result, the enemy will not attack you until their next turn.

Concentrated Blast – You’ll blast your enemy for 3d6 Psychic damage, but you must be already concentrating on another spell to use this skill. If your target is concentrating too, you can heal as much as the damage the enemy took. This skill can be used once per turn.

Cull the Weak – This skill can be used when you bring your enemy down to fewer hit points than the number of evolved Illithid powers you have. The enemy automatically dies and nearby creatures will take 1 to 4 Psychic Damage.

Displace – If you cause a creature to suffer Falling damage (when you push them from high up), they take an additional 1 to 8 Psychic Damage.

Displacer Beast Shape (Available after Evolution) – You can transform into a displacer beast and can Displace yourself and your enemies. This form has 85 Hit Points. You keep your Charisma, Intelligence, and Wisdom scores. Once the beast reaches 0 Hit Points, you’ll return to your natural form.

Favorable Beginnings – The first Ability Check or Attack Roll you make against any creature gains a bonus that’s equal to your Proficiency Bonus.

Fly (Available after Evolution) – This lets you fly a target to any point within 18 meters.

Force Tunnel – With this skill you can charge forward and push all creatures and objects in your path 4m away from yourself. You won’t provoke Opportunity Attacks.

Fracture Psyche (Available after Evolution) – You can invade a creature’s mind and disrupt its defences. You’ll lower the target’s Armour Class by 1 point and if it dies while its psyche is fractured, you get to cast this ability on a new target.

Freecast (Available after Evolution) – This allows you to freely cast Spells without worrying about the particular resource needed to cast it.

Illithid Expertise (Available after Evolution) – You get Expertise in Intimidation, Persuasion, and Deception Checks.

Luck of the Far Realms – Thanks to this skill, you can change a hit against your enemy into a Critical Hit if you make a successful Attack Roll.

Mind Blast (Available after Evolution) – You can spew forth a conical wave of Psychic Energy that does 4d8 +5 Psychic Damage. This can Stun targets within the targeted area.

Mind Sanctuary (Available after Evolution) – You can sculpt a magical nexus that lets those inside it take Actions and Bonus Actions interchangeably.

Perilous Stakes – You can choose a creature that heals 2d8 when it attacks, but they are vulnerable to all damage.

Psionic Backlash – With this skill, you can use your Reaction to deal 1d4 Psychic Damage to an enemy caster within 9 when they cast a spell, based on the spell’s level.

Psionic Dominance (Available after Evolution) – If an enemy that is within 18 meters of you targets you with a spell of a Level equal to or lower than your Proficiency, you can nullify the spell. This is a Reaction.

Psionic Overload – You can deal an additional 1d4 Psychic Damage when you Attack, but you also take 1d4 Psychic damage per turn.

Repulsor – You can push any creature and object back 6 meters.

Shield of Thralls – You can conjure a volatile shield around an ally or yourself. It will grant you 10 temporary Hit Points. When you lose the shield, it will burst and can Stun nearby enemies.

Stage Fright – Gives your target a Disadvantage on its Attack Rolls and it takes 1 to 12 Psychic Damage every time it misses an attack.

Supernatural Attraction – With this skill, you can concentrate and teleport to other tadpole-infected creatures.

Reflective Shell – Envelop yourself with a protective shell that reflects projectiles targeted at you. They’ll return to their point of origin.

Transfuse Health – You can sacrifice half of your remaining Hit Points to heal a target for the same amount.

And that is all you need to know about if you can respec Illithid powers in Baldur’s Gate 3. Check out other interesting BG3 guides and articles:

Desere Davis

Based in Sasolburg, South Africa, Desere Davis is a Freelance Writer for Raider King.