Larian Studios Forums Baldur's Gate III Baldur's Gate III - Story & Character Discussion Massive spoilers, rapheals deal has no incentive for the player (PLEASE PUT SPOILERS IN TAGS)

I thought him to be the kind of devil able to manoeuvre you into a situation where you simply can’t say no anymore, but this is not the case. The crown is simply too important and by the time Raphael offers his deal, there are too many options on the table to avoid the deal altogether. And it makes Raphael look incompetent and weak. As things currently stand Mizora does a way better job imho. At least there is some emotional impact when refusing the deal she offers Wyll. When refusing Raphael's deal I just thought: “Thanks for the info buddy, so nice of you to share, see you later.” Just out of the door I could tell Lae’zel: “Let’s go steal it!”

Either the deal is offered way earlier, when you don’t have all the information yet or the deal needs to include something more meaningful.
Personally, I would love if the deal still included the tadpoles. I would appreciate it if Larian would link serious consequences to tadpole consumption and give the player a better incentive to use them. Why not make tadpole consumption plot relevant instead of just a cool ingame feature? In order to advance in certain areas, Illithid powers are practically required. There should still be a way to avoid them to allow player choice, but it could be so difficult that the tadpoles would seem the best and simpler option.

Once you reach act 3, the full consequences of your action could be revealed to you. Ceremorphosis could be unstoppable at this point, even if you destroy the elder brain. And then Raphael can come in, making his offer (removal of the tadpoles or preventing ceremorphosis) to save your day. This would offer some real incentive (at least for me).
What I would like even more: the cut content where origin characters could decide on their own if they want to accept Illithid powers or not. It would mean your whole party could be at stake or at least several of them. Maybe you resisted but your love interest did not. Would make for some lovely camp discussions and could even be used to turn a companion against you at the last minute if you refuse the deal.