Mind-Archive Interface is a machine in Baldur’s Gate 3 with a head that allows the players to use Mind items they have found at different locations in the game. Built by the Mind Flayers, the Mind Archive Interface can be used to learn more about the life of a mind inserted into the machine. Using the Mind Archive Interface can lead to clues and context about a person’s backstory and even a unique buff in Baldur’s Gate 3 in the form of Githzerai Mind Barrier.
Where to find the Mind Archive Interface
The Mind Archive Interface device can be found in the Necrotic Laboratory in BG3. At the end of Act 2, you’ll get to go through the Oubliette of Moonrise Towers to reach the Mind Flayer Colony. After you’ve defeated the Death Shepard and cleared the area of all the enemies, you can now roam around this area.
At this point, go a little towards the east side of the large round room. This would be just before you reach the Necrotic Lab Brain Puzzle. Just by the wall, you’ll see a machine which is the one you are looking for.
How to use Mind Archive Interface in BG3
Go up to the Mind Archive machine and interact with it. A small box will appear with your inventory. You have to put various Mind Items in this slot to figure out what each one does. Select the Mind item you want to use and insert it here. You identify these by their neon green appearance.
Once a mind item has been inserted, the Slack-Skinned Head hooked up to the machine will start talking. She’ll speak as if speaking from the memory of the specific mind item. Once the dialogue ends, you can take it back from the machine and insert another mind item to learn more.
Sometimes this interaction with the Slack-Skinned Head at the Mind Archive Interface in Baldur’s Gate 3 bugs out. The head becomes unresponsive and you can’t interact with it or insert different mind items.
The only fix for the Slack-Skinned Head bug would be to run BG3 in DirectX 11 mode if you are using Vulkan. This way once you load from that same point, you won’t encounter this bug again and your FPS will also improve which is an added advantage to fixing this bug as well.
However, if you still end up facing the Slack-Skinned Head Bug then you can simply save the game and then restart Baldur’s Gate 3. After that, you can access the menu section and load the game from your earlier save point. Hopefully, that will fix this issue and you can continue with your BG3 playthrough.
Baldur’s Gate 3 Mind Items locations
Before you start interacting with the Interface, you first need a specific type of item. These Mind items can be identified as glass jars filled with a green liquid. Most of the mind items are within the Mind Flayer colony so gather them up and insert them in the interface to interact with the Slack Skinned Head in Baldur’s Gate 3.
| Mind Item | Location |
| True Mind | Under the Mind-Archive Interface |
| Willing Mind | Shelf next to Mind-Archive Interface |
| Closed Mind | In the Barracks during the start of game. |
| Waking Mind | In the Necrotic Lab, east of the Mind-Archive Interface. (The only with a reward) |
| Butchered Mind | In the Morgue on a shelf |
| Fresh Mind | By some crates placed near the elevator |
| Dark Mind | In the room where Shadowheart is on the Nautiloid. |
| Slave Mind | In a room full of Mind Flyer Pods on the Nautiloid. |
How to get the Githzerai Mind Barrier buff in Baldur’s Gate 3
All the mind items when used with the mind archive interface in BG3 provide a specific story or a memory. None of them have any purpose other than to add to the lore. So if you are here solely for the purpose of reward, use the Waking Mind.
This mind is of a Githzerai, a cousin race to the Githyanki. Once you insert the Waking Mind in Mind Archive Interface, you’ll get to have a proper conversation. The Slack-Skinned Head (under the waking mind) will guess that you are not a fan of the Illithid.
She will present you with an offer in Baldur’s Gate 3. The Slack-Skinned Head will mention that her order taught her a psionic technique. Due to this technique, they were feared and hunted down by the Illithid who kept her head as a trophy.
So as part of the offer, the Slack-Skinned Head will ask you to use the tadpole and erase or purge her. This way she will pass her psionic technique onto you. However, the head isn’t telling you the whole story so you can ask her to tell you the complete truth.
Turns out she led the Illithid to the monastery in return for immortality but they took her head as their trophy in Baldur’s Gate 3. So now the choice rests with you or whether you should purge the Slack-Skinned Head or consume it instead in BG3. Makes sense to make a traitor pay doesn’t it?
What happens if you purge the Slack-Skinned Head
By using the Illithid option to reach out and purge her mind, you will be wiping out the memory of the slack-skinned head. This ends up giving you the Githzerai Mind Barrier buff. This gives you an advantage on the Intelligence Saving Throws.
You need to keep one thing in mind this specific buff cannot be transferred so you need to decide beforehand which character gets the buff.
What happens if you consume the Slack-Skinned Head
Nothing. It gives you the satisfaction of having made a traitor pay for her crimes but consuming the Waking Mind or the Slack-Skinned Head has no benefit. On top of that, this might also lead to some party members disapproving of your actions.
Ultimately I think it is a better choice to purge the Slack-Skinned Head in BG3 and gain the Githzerai Mind Barrier Buff.
