So those illithid powers are pretty interesting to play around with but they dont mess up your ending as much as youd think. I was actually surprised when I found out using them mostly just makes your companions give you the side-eye, especially Lae'zel who really doesnt like it when you embrace the tadpole stuff. The cool thing is you can still use these powers without worrying too much about ruining your story or relationships

If youre going for the good ending, it actually doesnt matter how many times youve used those powers, cause all the tadpoles get destroyed anyway. Now the evil path is where things get a bit more intense though - youll need to pass some pretty tough checks if you wanna control the Netherbrain, and failing those means game over as a mind flayer. Something interesting I learned is that using the Astral-Touched Tadpole gives you some really nice abilities like Black Hole, but itll change how you look with those dark veins and black eyes

The only time you really need to think twice is if youre offered the Supreme Tadpole near the end. That ones actually a big deal cause accepting it basically commits you to the whole mind flayer transformation thing. Kind of funny how the early game makes such a big deal about using the powers but in the end, its not as scary as they make it seem unless youre specifically going for that evil route