Baldur's Gate 3: How Does Luck of the Far Realms Work? (Illithid Power)

In Baldur’s Gate 3, Luck of the Far Realms is one of many Illithid Powers that players can learn by sacrificing just a bit of their well-being and letting yet another Mind Flayer parasite take up residency inside their brain.

This potent Reaction ability features a short and sweet spell tooltip that unfortunately fails to mention a small but important detail, leaving some players confused with the ability’s exact functionality. Here’s everything players need to know about the Illithid Power Luck of the Far Realms in Baldur’s Gate 3.

Luck of the Far Realms is a Tier 2 Illithid Power that can be unlocked only after the player has learned the Favorable Beginnings ability from the previous tier. This is the only prerequisite, so players are free to learn Luck of the Far Realms after obtaining their second Mind Flayer Parasite.

Before the player can start to learn Illithid Powers, they must first experience a special event that occurs at their camp while they are sleeping. To initiate this event, they need to choose the “Illithid” dialogue option in three separate interactions with NPCs when given the choice.

The player must also obtain a Mind Flayer Parasite Sample from the corpse of an infected NPC or by finding it in certain locations throughout the game. Typically, the first Mind Flayer Parasite Sample players will obtain is by looting the corpse of Edowin, found with Brynna and Andrick in the Forest during Act 1. The player can obtain another Mind Flayer Parasite Sample from defeating Flint the Gnoll Warlord along Risen Road and looting his corpse. Each Mind Flayer Parasite is consumed upon use, so using them on companions or multiplayer characters will limit the number of tadpoles that are available to the player character for unlocking Illithid abilities.

Luck of the Far Realms is a Reaction, meaning its effect is activated only after certain criteria have been met. In the case of this specific ability, it will activate whenever the player makes a successful Attack Roll against an enemy. The Reaction pop-up menu will appear, and the player is given the choice to react with Luck of The Far Realms, activating its ability. Not reacting will save the ability for use on a future successful Attack Roll.

When the player’s Attack Roll succeeds and will hit the foe, they can activate Luck of the Far Realm’s reaction to change that hit into a Critical Hit. However, it’s important to note that this Reaction can be activated only once per Long Rest. Therefore, the player should save this ability for an attack where they know that a critical hit will really make an impact. The player can see the result of their attack roll prior to making this decision, giving them the choice to determine if activating the Reaction is worthwhile.

To take full advantage of this Reaction, players should consider using it with a Sneak Attack prior to starting a battle. It’s also important to keep in mind that only the character who has learned the Illithid Power can trigger this Reaction.

Baldur’s Gate 3 is available now for PC and PlayStation 5. A version for Xbox Series X/S is currently in development.