As I stated previously, I've played through the game four times, completely un-screwed.
Same, from someone who plays exclusively on Tactician and will be playing Honour Mode.
As a Ranger Hunter who just auto-attacks enemies, I pretty much do not benefit from Illithid passives/abilities at all because of how much damage I dish out each turn, so I don't even get to use them. In fact, funnily enough I actually would be gimping myself IF I was using them because my *Bonus Action* is a difference between doing just 30 damage or 45+ damage
That isn't to say that Illithid passives are entirely useless, they have their tiny little fun utility niche as toys to have fun with. But what they provide in actual gameplay is so inconsequentially minor that there is zero difference between my Illithid/non-Illithid playthrough. Both are breezed through without any challenge.
Which is why my choice is entirely based around the story itself when it comes to using tadpoles.
