While the most straightforward path to gaining power is leveling up or improving equipment, Baldur’s Gate 3 has another method of allowing playable characters to become more powerful — gaining access to unique illithid powers. As a result of the game’s conflict with mind flayers, and the illithid tadpoles residing in (almost) every playable character’s head, Baldur’s Gate 3 offers the opportunity to lean further into the power granted by the tadpoles. However, this power comes at a potential cost, as taking on the additional powers goes against one of the game’s main goals — to get rid of the tadpoles and stop any future mind flayer transformations.
[Warning: This article contains spoilers for the story of Baldur’s Gate 3.]Partway through the game’s first act, illithid powers become available to characters, and most of Baldur’s Gate 3’s companions can be convinced to use them as well. Most of these powers are unique and grant incredibly powerful effects, such as Luck of the Far Realms, granting the ability to use a reaction to turn any successful attack roll into an automatic critical hit. However, despite the encouragement that the Dream Guardian gives to make use of these powers, much of the game’s story suggests that using additional mind flayer tadpoles to unlock them will come at a cost — especially in the case of the Astral-Touched Tadpole gained in the third act.
Near the beginning of the third act, it’s revealed that Baldur’s Gate 3’s mysterious Dream Guardian is, in truth, an independent mind flayer named Emperor, who opposes the Absolute and has been protecting the party from its influence. After the initial reveal, Emperor will offer a seemingly important choice in the form of the Astral-Touched Tadpole and will encourage the party to make use of it to further their illithid potential, making them essentially half-illithid. The game presents using the tadpole or rejecting it as a major decision that will have far-reaching consequences, but in reality, the choice is fairly simple.
Related: Baldur’s Gate 3 Review In Progress
Once the Emperor hands the Astral-Touched Tadpole over, there are a few different ways to use or reject it. The first is to refuse the tadpole, which keeps it in the inventory and allows for it to be used later. More drastically, the tadpole can be destroyed, which permanently prevents its use and greatly angers Emperor. Communing with the tadpole unlocks a new tier of illithid powers and allows companions to also use it, although they will have to be convinced through various skill checks. Finally, eating the tadpole also unlocks the new powers for the character but prevents other characters from communing with it.
2023-09-15 02:00:05
Article from screenrant.com
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