Baldur’s Gate 3 Wizard guide

When it comes to BG3 Wizards, what's the best way to play?

Table of Contents Table of Contents

When it comes to the Dungeons & Dragons spellcasters, Wizards are the notoriously underlooked class. When you take a look at the Wizard in the Players’ Handbook, you see a wizened old man. Perhaps this dissuades people from picking them because Wizards of the Coast know that the Wizard class can be the most broken classes depending on the subclass. In Baldur’s Gate 3, this is no different. Although we currently only have access to the Abjuration and evocation, and although both are great classes, we think one is better than the other… At least for these early level Early Access.

Of course, the game gives us a lovely bombastic Wizard already. So you can use this guide to spec out Gale or simply use it for yourself!

Wizards in Baldur’s Gate 3

Bearing in mind, players will only have access to the first subclass feature, so it ends up being a competition between the two features more than the rest of the subclass. There are also a few other things to consider when making a Wizard, you’ll need to prioritize your Intelligence so picking a good race will be a good start. Then you’ll need to remember, Wizards don’t usually have high Con, meaning you’ll have low health and be quite squishy. However, to make up for that, you’ll have access to the widest and more varied spell list. Whether you select your spells to start, or you learn from spell scrolls, Wizards are the most versatile spellcasters. Wizards will be able to pick up Guiding Bolt Spell Scrolls – a spell normally unique to Clerics – and learn it. This ability alone makes them a brilliant jack of all trades.

Best Races for Wizard

When creating your character, your first prompt will be to select your race. In Baldur’s Gate 3, your race will give you various ability score increases, so picking the right one can give you a boost from the start. But don’t worry, you don’t have to select these races if you’re not a meta player.

As a Wizard, you’ll want to prioritize Intelligence. Your second highest stat should be Dexterity, as it is your most useful one. Dex will increase your AC and your Initiative score, and if you’re playing a supportive Wizard, starting any encounter first means you can bolster your allies before the fight even begins.

Half-Elf: Getting a +2 in Charisma and a +2 in any other stat, you can get it in your Intelligence. Having Charisma is not a bad thing either, it’s one of the most useful stats for social interactions.

Tiefling (Asmodeus or Mephistolpheles): Tieflings get a +1 to Intelligence, as well as – depending on your subrace – getting a variety of abilities and feats.

Humans: Humans get a well-rounded +1 to all stats, and that’s pretty much it.

Background and Skills

To get that slight advantage, as a background you’ll want to pick either Sage or Noble, which will give you Arcana, History, or Persuasion. Ideally, the skills you’ll want from the get-go are:

• Arcana
• History
• Perception
• Insight

Wizards and Spellcasting

In the BG3 Early Access, you’ll only have access to level 2 spells (not counting the ‘Speak with Dead’ Amulet or Spellscroll!). But remember, as previously mentioned, Wizards can learn new spells via spell scrolls. So don’t worry too much about which you need to select, as it’s more than likely you’ll encounter a spell scroll which you can use to learn it permanently- albeit at the cost of a few GP.

Abjuration or Evocation Wizard?

With the level cap at 4, you won’t really get that much of a chance to indulge in the Wizard subclasses as much as some other classes might. That being said, let’s explore the two different Wizard subclasses:

Abjuration Feat

Once per day, when you cast an Abjuration spell of 1st level or higher, you can use a strand of the spell’s magic to create a magical ward that lasts until your next long rest. The ward has a maximum of 3 hit points and absorbs all damage done to you. When it is reduced to 0 hit points, you take the remaining damage, but the magic remains. Whenever you cast an Abjuration spell of 1st level or higher, the ward regains a number of hit points equal to twice the level of the spell.

While this feat is phenomenal at higher levels and absolutely worth the wait if we’re capped at 4, you won’t really get the chance to appreciate this feat. That’s not to say it’s not a good feat, but our opinion is that you won’t get to really enjoy it until later levels.

Evocation Feat

Create pockets of safety within your Evocation Spells. Allied creatures automatically succeed in their saving throws and take no damage from these Spells.

This feat can be especially useful when casting AoE spells, like Grease, Shatter, Thunderwave. And considering how useful the ‘shove’ mechanic is in BG3, being able to use Thunderwave without worrying about knocking your allies off the edge of the world. For Early Access, we’d recommend Evocation.

Final Thoughts

The Wizard class is by far one of the most versatile classes in Baldur’s Gate 3, allowing you to spec into any kind of spellcasting. It’s very reminiscent to Divinity, in which players can become and play as anything. Overall, we’d recommend Wizards, and if you want to metagame, you’re best off playing a Half-Elf Evocation Wizard! .