Does consume memories mean the Aboleth is reduced to 0 hit points? The wording makes no sense.

No, if a Humanoid grappled by the Aboleth is reduced to 0 HP, the Aboleth gains the memories of that Humanoid.

As the other reply said, the consume memories action is only done while the creature is grappled or charmed by the Aboleth. If so you roll the save. Now if while grappled or charmed and the aboleth uses consume mind and that character is reduced to 0 Hp regardless of if it fails or succeeds, the aboleth then gains that creatures memories. Hope that helps.

So it gained 15 HP, and a ton of initiative since it now has Expertise, the tentacle attack now grapples and has 15ft reach instead of 10ft, legendary resistances, its disease/curse is now permanent without remove curse and activates instantly instead of after 1 minute, new dominate is DC 16 save instead of DC 14, and that new consume memories ability. It lost the super powerful disease effect from the tentacles and the mucus cloud is way worse as it no longer applies to every single melee attacker and is instead just once per round at end of aboleths turn so if the enemy just retreats and spreads out at best aboleth can only move and end its turn near 1 with maybe 1 other grappled, and also lets the victim still breathe air whereas the old one was only water, but at least it has the old tentacle curse added on. It can only dominate 2/per day instead of 3/day and the dominate is way worse than the old enthrall since it only gives full control within 60ft instead of unlimited. It only makes 2 tentacle attacks now instead of 3 though it can use consume or dominate as well, Tentacle attack losing the disease means if the party stays on land, then this thing cannot use its disease at all potentially. New psychic drain legendary action is worse, while it can be used multiple times it is no longer automatic and is now a saving throw and only heals half as much as the old one. Honestly not much of an upgrade and very little meaningful changes at all other than legendary resistance. Honestly the biggest blow is losing the lair actions, so the aboleth now does less damage and doesn't have an easy way to drag people towards the water. Not really a huge nerf but the added legendary resistance does not make up the difference enough to call this a buff, especially with losing a use of dominate per day, though assume you only ever fight it in the lair I guess it has more attacks thanks to 4 legendary actions instead of 3. Overall just kind of a lateral move.

Finally, someone is speaking the truth. There are several monsters that are lateral moves while the claims in all the videos were that they would be 'buffed' and nightmares for players. I have seen maybe less than 5 that actually meet that criteria and many monsters have very situational circumstances to really shine. It's a little disappointing. That is why we homebrew, though we shouldn't always need to.

Quote from theron >>

So it gained 15 HP, and a ton of initiative since it now has Expertise, the tentacle attack now grapples and has 15ft reach instead of 10ft, legendary resistances, its disease/curse is now permanent without remove curse and activates instantly instead of after 1 minute, new dominate is DC 16 save instead of DC 14, and that new consume memories ability. It lost the super powerful disease effect from the tentacles and the mucus cloud is way worse as it no longer applies to every single melee attacker and is instead just once per round at end of aboleths turn so if the enemy just retreats and spreads out at best aboleth can only move and end its turn near 1 with maybe 1 other grappled, and also lets the victim still breathe air whereas the old one was only water, but at least it has the old tentacle curse added on. It can only dominate 2/per day instead of 3/day and the dominate is way worse than the old enthrall since it only gives full control within 60ft instead of unlimited. It only makes 2 tentacle attacks now instead of 3 though it can use consume or dominate as well, Tentacle attack losing the disease means if the party stays on land, then this thing cannot use its disease at all potentially. New psychic drain legendary action is worse, while it can be used multiple times it is no longer automatic and is now a saving throw and only heals half as much as the old one. Honestly not much of an upgrade and very little meaningful changes at all other than legendary resistance. Honestly the biggest blow is losing the lair actions, so the aboleth now does less damage and doesn't have an easy way to drag people towards the water. Not really a huge nerf but the added legendary resistance does not make up the difference enough to call this a buff, especially with losing a use of dominate per day, though assume you only ever fight it in the lair I guess it has more attacks thanks to 4 legendary actions instead of 3. Overall just kind of a lateral move.

I'm not sure where you got the expectation that monsters in the 2025 MM should be stronger than their 2014 counterparts (as a note, the stronger the monster, the less likely players will ever encounter it). Even so, your analysis emphasizes the negatives while discounting the positives.

First, a DC increase of 2 is very significant (hence the 2/Day vs. the prior 3/Day). For a character to get that boost, they'd need to increase their spellcasting ability score by at least 3.

Second, the memory drain always heals regardless of the target's roll and can now be done 3 times per round vs the 1 time per round for the 2014 Aboleth, which means 6d6 more potential damage with the same amount of healing (hence the saving throw now).

Third, the permanent nature of the curse (how many keep remove curse prepared) is extremely powerful. Previously, the disease ended after 1d4 hours. Now, the remove curse must be cast on the target. It stands to reason that this change would be far too powerful if the curse could be applied as easily as the disease (which could be removed by lesser restoration, a spell that a player is far more likely to prepare).

Fourth, though you described it as a nerf, being able to use consume memories or dominate mind while also attacking is a huge advantage over needing to sacrifice all three attacks to enslave a target. It's crazy how you classify things that are clearly buffs as nerfs.

I could go on, but there's really no point. The Aboleth is similarly situated in difficulty to where it was for the past 10 years–and where's the crime? I've seen so much negativity on those posts, but it's always contrived. Just enjoy things.

they're unkillable. I love it 

Not unkillable, but certainly a super fun encounter that requires careful tactics. I love using these guys in campaigns, always makes for a super memorable event whenever they pop up.

No, unkillable as in they come back to life...

(I think)

I like all the art in the monster manual but im not sure im a big fan of the aboleth here. It's weirdly crab-like and it's hard to tell where the ice ends and the aboleth begins. not bad mind you, just strange in my opinion

my favorite monster that ive never had the opportunity to use. Also am I wrong in that there is no way to stop their resurrection? Imprisonment has a good use now ig

I like this new statblocks. Not made completly OP like some others and preserving its interest. I have three problems with it, tough... 

I like most of the reformuling of Mucus cloud, but making the curse permanent can really be just annoying. Will probably use old ruling for how long it last.

I kinda dislike creatures that cant be permakill. Its fine if some high level creatures like lich and high level fiends/celestials/elementals need to meet specific condition to be slained and... the Terrasque is the Terrasque. But making creatures just like that who cant be killed (except maybe by a wish) is just frustrating. We only need one "I always come back", and the Terrasque and Tiamat are here to fullfill this role. So if i ever use it, i will just ignore eldricht restoration.

My last complains tough way less important, is that 1 or 2 legendary res would be more than enough. With that number of Hp, even met at lvl 10, he will probably die before burning out 3 LR while facing your average party of 2 casters and 2 martials. Lets gave the players a chance to finish it on a failed save.

Will probably use this statblocks instead of the old one.

DM who complains about it being to weak... DND is not about killing your players. Its about telling a story. Let your players feel powerful. And if you want to make an encounter more difficult and impactful, there are a lot of different and more interesting way of doing than making the ennemy hit harder and more resilient.

Thats exactly why i hate some 2024 statblock (lich...) cause they are made for ruthless brainless DM who go "Gnuuh numbers" like min maxer players, while their so many others ways to do things, and this aboleth show us exactly how to.

I had the pleasure of using it recently in one of my games and i liked it. Ofc it depends on the powerlevel of the PCs but it was an interesting fight.

The higher dex save helped a lot vs the spells of the group. Having legendary resistance for 3 spells added up quite well with the higher change for dex saves. 

The change for his cloud added a nice touch for the aftermath of the fight cause they had no way to remove the curse at that time. (A disease would have ben easier. Also that the cliud gve the wffect and not a hit with the tentacle). The tail attack wasnt missed at all an being able to do a differend dmg type insteat of just bludgeoning made it easier to threaten the tanks without relying on a leg. Action. 

The change to lair made it easier but i missed it a bit and i prefer the old picture.  Overall i like the rework. Its easier to understand and a night boss monster.

Quote from VersusChaos >>

I like this new statblocks. Not made completly OP like some others and preserving its interest. I have three problems with it, tough... 

I like most of the reformuling of Mucus cloud, but making the curse permanent can really be just annoying. Will probably use old ruling for how long it last.

I kinda dislike creatures that cant be permakill. Its fine if some high level creatures like lich and high level fiends/celestials/elementals need to meet specific condition to be slained and... the Terrasque is the Terrasque. But making creatures just like that who cant be killed (except maybe by a wish) is just frustrating. We only need one "I always come back", and the Terrasque and Tiamat are here to fullfill this role. So if i ever use it, i will just ignore eldricht restoration.

My last complains tough way less important, is that 1 or 2 legendary res would be more than enough. With that number of Hp, even met at lvl 10, he will probably die before burning out 3 LR while facing your average party of 2 casters and 2 martials. Lets gave the players a chance to finish it on a failed save.

Will probably use this statblocks instead of the old one.

DM who complains about it being to weak... DND is not about killing your players. Its about telling a story. Let your players feel powerful. And if you want to make an encounter more difficult and impactful, there are a lot of different and more interesting way of doing than making the ennemy hit harder and more resilient.

Thats exactly why i hate some 2024 statblock (lich...) cause they are made for ruthless brainless DM who go "Gnuuh numbers" like min maxer players, while their so many others ways to do things, and this aboleth show us exactly how to.

 I get what you say from a combat, but not from a storytelling perspective. So first, it refroms on the Far Realm, unless the DM chooses otherwise. The Far Realm is, well, far away from the material plane. It is extremly difficult for non planeshifting creatures to come back to the Material Plane in anny reasonable amout of time. When killed you could have it act as a patreon for warlocks or something to create a following of whorshippers to open a portal for it to come back. Some of them where around bevor most gods and are kind of like demigods themselfs, therefor they should be nearly as strong and powerfull as an avatar of tiamat.

"The aboleth gains the target’s memories if the target is a Humanoid and is reduced to 0 Hit Points by this action." it does make sense though? if the target is a humanoid and is reduced to 0 hit points with its consume memory action, the aboleth gains the targets memories

this isn't a good monster to complain about not being permakill, because in the description of the 2014 aboleth's description: "Enemies of the Gods. The aboleths’ fall from power is written in stark clarity on their flawless memories, for aboleths never truly die. If an aboleth’s body is destroyed, its spirit returns to the Elemental Plane of Water, where a new body coalesces for it over days or months."

It means it gains the memories of the human if the human is reduced to zero hit points.