Illithid Powers Question

[Solomon]

Do you have to unlock the inner ring powers first or is there a way to circumvent them to get to the middle ring?

[Jaeleth]

All powers (outer ring) are only available after you accept the astral touched tadpole, which is something you'll only be offered after a given time in the game. By the way, when you accept it do NOT consume it, just interact with it, otherwise you won't be able to offer those powers to other members of your party . The powers offered are, indeed, game changing and, immo, I'd always accept them unless I'm a total freak for good looks, lol. You'll have to pass checks to convince other party members to consume tadpoles and even worse checks to convince them to take the astral tadpole (partial ceremorphosis). I never tried to convince the girls, they're supposed to be beautiful, and didn't tried to convince Astarion since he's too focused on looks, lol, but Gale accepted (of course).

[Tax evasion]

https://bg3.wiki/wiki/Illithid_powers
You get "Illithid Persuasion" unlocked by default.
This gives you access to Psionic Overload, Favourable Beginnings, Transfuse Health, Concentrated Blast and Force Tunnel. Powers beyond that are locked until you unlock the required power.
Some events give you an illithid power "for free" (survival instincts being one of them), but you cannot naturally circumvent the progression system, with the outer ring being limited to Partial Illithids.

[Solomon]

Ugh... I didn't realize it would make my character look awful... and I've used a number of tadpoles, so I guess I'm screwed trying to roll to resist the astral tadpole. 😭

[Kadh2000]

There are no in-game consequences of looking awful. Nobody even comments on it. Maybe tieflings, dragonborn, and everything else in the FR makes a human with black markings on their body nothing special. "Interesting tattoo. Where'd you get it?"

[Solomon]

Is there a way to respec the powers?

[Morgian]

No. But there are enough tadpoles to fill them all out on your main. If you wait until act 3 when you get the astral tadpole, you get the inner circle for free.
However, while some powers are nice to have, none are a must-have. You can play through the game without ever touching a worm. But since there are no negatives, why not pick them up?

[Mike Garrison]

Originally posted by Morgian:

But since there are no negatives, why not pick them up?

For some people, the change in appearance after the astral tadpole is enough of a negative that they don't want it. Or just for RP purposes.