Quick Links
Baldur's Gate 3 gives players a wide range of spells at their disposal for any spell-casting class they select. Many spells are straightforward damage spells, while others give unique bonuses to help players deal with many of the unique situations you'll come across throughout their journey.
Each spell is broken up into different categories: cantrips and different leveled spells. Splitting up these spells into Actions and Bonus actions can further add to the complexity of playing a spell caster, so it's important to know exactly how spells work, so you can play your class to the fullest.
Updated On August 9th, 2023 By Joshua Leeds: Spells are an essential part of many classes in Baldur's Gate 3. Feats such as the one that gives players access to ritual casting are very useful, and this article has been updated to include additional information regarding ritual casting.
What Are Cantrips & Spell Levels
Cantrips are very weak spells, able to be cast as many times as the player desires. Cantrips can be either Actions or Bonus Actions but have no limit to how many times they can be used in or out of combat. For many magic-based classes, cantrips will often be used as your basic attack, as their damage will outpace any weapons you have access to. As you level up, your cantrips will get slightly more powerful but will always be your weakest spells available. Utility-based cantrips are incredibly helpful outside of combat while exploring, as they can be used as often as a player wants.
Other more powerful spells are divided up into spell levels. Casting one of these spells will use one of your corresponding level spell slots. You'll more often than not have more spells at your disposal than spell slots, making you choose how to use each slot daily. You can cast the same spell multiple times a day as long as you have the spell slots to cast it. Baldur's Gate 3 also lets players cast multiple spells in a turn, as long as one spell is a leveled spell and the other is a cantrip.
What Are Spell Slots
Think of spell slots as how many casts you have for the day. Spell slots are divided in the same way spells are, with level 1 spell slots being used on your weaker level 1 spells. Higher-level spells are much more powerful and will require higher-level spell slots to cast. As players level up a spell-casting class, they'll unlock more leveled spell slots to use in a day and cast higher-level spells. Spells will use a similar level spell slot to be cast. For those wanting to use a strengthened lower-level spell, a higher-level spell slot can be used to cast a more powerful version of a lower-level spell.
What Is Ritual Casting
Ritual Casting is a feat that many spell-casting classes can unlock. Ritual Casting will still have the player cast a spell they have prepared but won't use a spell slot to do so. The downside to this is that a Ritual Cast will take much longer to cast than a normal spell.
Due to the increased time to cast, this method is only used outside of combat. This is most effective with healing spells, letting you heal your party without having to use your precious spell slots and save them for combat. The Ritual Caster Feat can be chosen as early as level 4 and will allow players to prepare two ritual spells from their class's spell book.
Preparing Spells And Recovering Spell Slots
To recover your spell slots for the day, simply take a long rest. Getting the full benefits of a long rest will give you all of your spell slots back, while a partial long rest will only restore half of your spell slots.
Each day or level up, some classes will have to pick which spells they have prepared for the day. Here you'll be able to pick from all the spells at your character's disposal and decide which ones you'll have "equipped" to use for the day. If a spell is not prepared for the day, you won't be able to use it in combat. While it may seem annoying to only have access to a limited number of spells during combat, this can help keep your list of prepared spells smaller and more clear when deciding what to do in combat. As some classes level up, you'll be able to prepare more spells to have available for the day.