Considerations for Illithids

Being Psionicists, illithids are perhaps the most exotic race in BR. Illithids have, just as all spellcasters, little in the way of melee skills. Spellwise they fit in nicely between the mainly offensive elf, and the purely supportive druid, although most of their non-combat spells can only be cast on themselves. Their most remarkable attribute lies in their vast array of protective spells. A fully screened illithid is the ultimate tank, being almost impervious to harm. Almost. Their lack of good offensive spells and skills neatly compensates for this virtual invulnerability, letting an awful lot of damage slip through in little bits while the opponent is slowly worn down.

Weapons policy: Same as elves, bonuses! Get your offensive spells effective and scrape as much damage out of them as you can!

Armor policy: Armor class! Illithids will almost always be found right where the blows land, they need every point of armor they can get together. bonuses are nice, but all must go for that one extra point of armor!

Grouping considerations: Illithids serve a simple purpose in groups. get in front of everyone and block those blows while the rest does the damage. As such they are best grouped with a dwarf or avian (rescue if nessesary and good damage) and a druid (extra healing and even more protection!). They won't do too well with just another druid or another ill, but will combine quite well with any other combination, except maybe kender who will not benefit from the ill's tanking capabilities if they use their backstab skill. Basically, Ill's provide the stopping power, they mostly need a good damage producer to get in business.

Most prominent weakness: Ill's have a great lack of good offensive capabilities, making them vulnerable to a tactic of gradual attrition.

Illithids are rather unorthodox in that, unlike other spellcasters, they fling their spells from the FRONT of the formation, rather than the back. After they are fully spelled up, little can get past their tremendous defences and combined with a heavy hitter this makes for a killer combination. Because of their deliberately reduced damage output, illithids are poorly understood and therefore rarely played. I hope this overview sets some misconceptions right. If you manage to get an illithid or the group it is in to deal some damage, it is practically unbeatable!