Discover the most powerful spells in Baldur’s Gate 3 with our Top 10 Best Spells Casting guide helping you pick from a wide range of spells.
Baldur’s Gate 3 is a complex and challenging game, and one of the most important aspects of the game is spellcasting. Spells can be used to deal damage, heal allies, buff your party, debuff your enemies, and much more. In this post, I will discuss the top 10 best spells in Baldur’s Gate 3. These spells are all effective in combat, have a variety of uses, and are relatively easy to cast. This guide was created during early access and will be updated after the full game release on August 3rd, 2023.
The Best Spells in Baldur’s Gate 3 Ranked
Fireball is the best spell in Baldur’s Gate 3 because it provides unprecedented area damage and can wipe out an entire team with one spell. Combine this with Sorcerer Metamagic, using a bonus action, you can cast this twice in one turn and have the most damage possible in an opening turn. The area damage will kill allies as well, so be careful when casting.
Here is a list of the best spells in Baldur’s Gate 3:
| Spell | Effect | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| Chromatic Orb | Throw sphere dealing elemental damage and creates a surface. | 10 |
| Magic Missile | Deal force damage with 3 magical darts. | 9 |
| Command | Does damage and receives disadvantage to metal wearers. | 8 |
| Thunderwave | Release thunder knockback dealing Thunder damage. | 7 |
| Invisibility | Touch a creature to turn it Invisible for 10 turns. | 6 |
| Misty Step | Teleport to an unoccupied space you can see. | 5 |
| Heat Metal | Target gains hastened, extra action, and +2 AC. | 4 |
| Scorching Ray | Hurl 3 rays of fire dealing fire damage. | 3 |
| Haste | Target gains hastened, extra action and +2 AC. | 2 |
| Fireball | Deal massive fire damage in a 6m radius. | 1 |
10 Chromatic Orb
Chromatic Orb: Hurl a sphere of energy dealing 3d8 Thunder damage, or deals 2d8 Acid, Cold; Fire, Lightning, or Poison damage and creates a surface. Cost action, range of 18m can be used by Wizard, Sorcerer, and Eldritch Knight Fighters.
Chromatic Orb is a versatile spell that can deal damage to a single target or inflict a variety of status effects. The benefit of this spell is the ability to pick the specific elemental damage time. You can use ice to deal damage and possibly knock the enemy prone or flame damage to get the burning status effect dealing more damage over time.
Another strength of this spell is that it scales in power with higher spell slots. You unlock this as a level 1 spell and can use higher-level spells to increase the damage and effect. I find myself using this early and later in the game on every available spellcaster that has this spell.
9 Magic Missile
Magic Missile: Create 3 darts of magical force, each dealing 1d4+1 Force to its target and always hit their targets. Cost action, range 18m can be used by Sorcerer, Wizard, Eldritch Knight Fighter subclass, and Arcane Trickers Rogue subclass.
Magic Missile’s strength is its reliable and consistent amount of damage. The damage isn’t that high, but it ALWAYS hits. Moreover, you can select three targets and scale the spell up if needed. This helps finish off weak opponents when you need a small bit of damage.
The downside of this spell is the weak amount of damage. It also isn’t area based, but you can select up to three targets or all three at one enemy. Use it when you need reliable damage for a kill shot.
8 Command
Command: Command a creature to flee, move closer, freeze, drop to the ground, or drop their weapon within 18m range, 1 turn duration, and requires Concentration. Classes that can cast the spell include Cleric, The Fiend Warlock Subclass, and Paladin.
The Command spell is a powerful spell that can force an enemy to obey your commands. Crowd control can be just as powerful as pure damage. The idea with this spell is to find the biggest threat on the battlefield and attempt to Command it. Melee creatures, you can drop their weapons or have enemies flee. The best time to use this is when you can maintain concentration and have a high percentage of success.
The downside of the spell is the concentration component. Additionally, you can miss or fail and then waste an action. But in certain fights, shutting down the primary threat means your team can take out multiple enemies circumventing the threat. Use this when you need a single target control spell.
7 Thunderwave
Thunderwave: Release a wave of thunderous force that pushes away all creatures and objects dealing 2d8 Thunder damage. Classes that can cast this spell are Bard, Druid, Eldritch Knight Fighter, Sorcerer, and Wizard.
Thunderwave is a crowd control spell that can knock enemies back and deal damage. The benefit of this spell is the obvious knockback effect and that it’s multiple enemies. The goal with the spell is to use it offensively when someone is near an edge and defensively when melee aggressors are in your face.
The downside of this spell is it can be entirely situational. If you don’t have any pressure on you, then most likely you won’t use it. If you play classes with limited spell slots like the Sorcerer, it could be a “dead” skill most of the time. However, in the right situations, you can kill an entire group by knocking them off ledges or “peeling” enemies off you to avoid attacks of opportunity.
6 Invisibility
Invisibility: Touch a creature to turn it Invisible for 10 turns requiring Concentration. Classes that can cast this spell are Bard, Sorcerer, Warlock, and Wizard.
Invisibility is a must-have utility spell that can make you invisible, giving you a tactical advantage. You can use this inside and outside of combat to avoid detection and flee situations. You can also cast this on allies in melee range when they need help. This gives the player a chance to move out of the enemy’s line of sight, heal, regain actions, and prepare for a big attack.
The downside of this spell is you can use a potion and gain the same effect. While the potion of invisibility is consumable, one-time use, it will save you a spell slot if you have them available. Consider this spell useful inside and outside of combat and a must-have utility spell to add to your arsenal.
5 Misty Step
Misty Step: Teleport to an unoccupied space you can see within 18m range, using bonus action. Classes that can cast this spell Oath of the Ancients Paladin Subclass, Warlock, Circle of the Land Druid Subclass, Sorcerer, and Wizard.
Misty Step is a teleportation spell that can get you out of danger or reposition yourself in a fight. The strength of the spell is that it costs a bonus action, rather than an action. Thus, you can combine a high-damage spell, healing, and crowd control, in conjunction with its teleportation. One effective way I use it in combat is to knock back enemies with Thunderwave costing an action, then use Misty Step to zip away using a bonus action. This will create a huge space difference and often save your life.
Another extra benefit is using it outside of combat situations. Oftentimes, spell casters can traverse large distances to reach a secret chest, lever, or something else that other members of your party cannot. Jump has its limitations, while Misty Step has a huge range. The downside is it cost a level 2 spell slot but consider this a must-have spell in every caster’s arsenal.
4 Heat Metal
Heat Metal: Cause a metal weapon or armour to glow red-hot and force the creature touching it to let go or receive a Disadvantage on Attack Rolls and Ability Checks. If the creature is only wearing metal armour, it always receives a Disadvantage. If the creature is still touching the metal, you can use a bonus action on subsequent turns to deal another 2d8 Fire damage and force the creature to let go or receive Disadvantage. Classes that can cast this spell Bard, and Druid.
Heat Metal is a powerful spell that can deal damage to an enemy’s armor or weapon. This spell can single-handedly shut down a heavy armored, or greatsword wielding Fighter or Barbarian. These classes give spell casters the most trouble, and forcing them to drop their weapons, dealing damage, and giving them a disadvantage on attack roles is massive.
The downside of the spell is it requires metal on the target and in some encounters it can be completely useless. I rank it this high because in tough fights, almost certainly there will be a metal-wearing enemy and it shuts them down completely. You can also use a bonus action on subsequent turns to reactivate this if they are still touching metal. Consider this spell a must-have against heavily armored enemies.
3 Scorching Ray
Scorching Ray: Hurl 3 rays of fire dealing fire damage 18m range. Classes that can cast this spell are Sorcerer, The Fiend Warlock Subclass, and Wizard.
Scorching Ray is a ranged spell that deals multiple beams of fire damage. The strength of this spell is its raw damage, even at lower levels it hits very hard. Moreover, like Magic Missile, you can cast it on one individual target or up to three. It gives you flexibility in targeting.
This spell can be combined with gear sets and other passive benefits to fire damage and annihilate a single player or a group. The only real downside is the lack of area damage. As a spell caster, you bring something unique which is huge area damage. This spell is more single target, or multi-target focused, but that’s being picky and this is a must-have spell.
2 Haste
Haste: Target player gains Hastened for 10 turns, requiring concentration. They gain +2 AC, an Advantage to Dexterity Saving Throws, when the condition ends, become Lethargic. Classes that can cast this spell, Sorcerer, and Wizard.
Haste is a buff spell that can increase your character’s speed, attack power, and gain extra action. The extra action per turn makes this spell incredibly powerful especially in turn one of combat when you can cast it on a melee Fighter. If a level 5 Fighter has an Extra Attack, they can attack essentially four times in one turn and use their bonus action for a fifth attack!
The best strategy is to use Sorcerer‘s Metamagic, which allows you to cast a single target ability on two targets only using one action. This gives you two Hastened allies on turn one which radically increases your chances to win the encounter. The only real downside to this spell is you can get a similar effect with the potion of speed. It loses some uniqueness that you can get this from one time consumable, but the Hastened effect is so powerful it’s a must-have level 3 spell.
1 Fireball
Fireball: Shoot a bright flame from your fingers that explode upon contact, torching everything in the vicinity and dealing 8d6 damage. Classes that can cast this spell, Sorcerer, and Wizard.
Fireball is a powerful area-of-effect spell that deals damage to multiple enemies. This is an all-time classic spell from DND5e and is just as powerful in Larian Studios Baldur’s Gate 3. It provides the most area damage as a level 3 spell and can wipe out an entire group of enemies in one blast.
A tip with this spell is to have an ally throw consumable Void Bulb which will create a force that pulls everything in a nearby location. This will force an entire group of enemies into a tight location for your Fireball which has a 6m radius. The only downside to this spell is the AOE damage can kill your allies as well so you need to watch the radius before casting.
Consider Fireball the best skill in Baldur’s Gate 3 currently and we will update this list once the full game is released on August 3rd. The level cap will increase from 5 to 12 allowing for level 4 and 5 spells.
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