Spellcasters in Baldur's Gate 3 gain access to a truckload of spells that they can cast. Wizards learn the highest number of spells in the game, but other types of spellcasters, like Clerics and Druids, aren't far behind.

Related: Baldur’s Gate 3: Best Utility Spells

However, for players who are not familiar with the Dungeons & Dragons ruleset, figuring out how to swap between your prepared spells can be a chore because even though the game does a stellar job of conveying most of the D&D mechanics, the sheer volume of information players need to know can be overwhelming.

Updated by Hamza Haq on August 14, 2023: Known or Spontaneous Casters are a group of spellcasters who, unlike Prepared spellcasters, don’t need to prepare their spells before combat. A new section has been added to identify the differences between the two types of casters in BG3.

What Are Prepared Spells

Say your Wizard learns 10 Spells on level up, but you look up and see that he only has 6 Spell Slots to mess around with. This means he needs to choose 6 of the 10 spells he learns to have them ready for combat at any given time.

These 6 Spells are what you would call 'Prepared Spells' on your Wizard. Even though this character has 4 more spells in his learned spell list, they are not 'Prepared,' so he can't use them until he swaps one of his prepared spells out for one that is currently 'unprepared.'

How To Prepare Spells

Preparing a spell is easy. Here is what you do:

1. Open the spellbook menu by pressing K. Or click on the Spellbook icon on the top of the inventory screen.
2. The highlighted row is the list of prepared spells currently on the character. There are currently only 6 spell slots.

3. To prepare a new spell, remove one of the already prepared spells from the prepared spell list by clicking on it.

4. Click on the spell you want to add from the bottom menu listing all your learned spells.

5. You'll see the spell you clicked appear on the prepared spell list menu.

Wizards and Clerics are the only two classes that can swap their prepared spells at any point outside of combat. Other spellcasting classes need to either wait for a long rest or wait for a level-up to swap spells.

Prepared Casters vs Spontaneous Casters

Spellcasting classes in Baldur's Gate 3 are separated into two distinct types.

Prepared Casters

These are the casters who essentially have the entirety of their spell list at their fingertips. However, they only have a few "Prepared" slots they can assign to a spell at any given time. They can switch these spells around at their leisure. Prepared Casters include:

• Wizards
• Clerics
• Druids
• Paladins

Spontaneous Casters

These are the classes that need to choose one or two spells to learn at a level up, and the spells they learn are always "Prepared." They don't need to pick and choose which spell they get the ability to cast at any given time. To balance this, these classes only learn a small number of spells compared to Prepared Casters. The list of Spontaneous Casters in Baldur's Gate 3 includes:

• Bard
• Ranger
• Sorcerer
• Warlock
• Eldritch Knight (Fighter Subclass)
• Arcane Trickster (Rogue Subclass)
• Way of the Four Elements (Monk Subclass)

Next: Baldur's Gate 3: Difficulty Setting Differences, Explained