Highlights
- Cantrips in Baldur's Gate 3 are level 0 spells that have unlimited uses, making them useful for consistent damage or utility throughout the game.
- Certain cantrips, like Light and Sacred Flame, provide quality of life improvements and effective damage against dark-aligned creatures.
- Spells like Vicious Mockery and Minor Illusion add fun and strategic elements to combat, allowing players to debuff enemies or create diversions to gain an advantage.
Cantrips in Baldur's Gate 3 are level 0 spells that don't take up a spell slot. Meaning they have unlimited uses, unlike Level 1-6 spells, and you can use them however much you want without running out. To balance out their infinite casts, Cantrips are usually weaker than higher-level spells and don't deal as much damage as them. But when cast correctly and at the opportune time, cantrips can turn a fight in your favor.
10 Light
Baldur's Gate 3 is filled with dark spaces, and a character without Dark Vision trait will benefit immensely from having a ready source of light in their backpack. While torches serve this function quite nicely, it's a hassle to switch between them and remember to toggle them on and off.Light offers a simple quality of life improvement to the journey of an adventurer traversing the lands of the Forgotten Realms. Certainly not the flashiest of spells, Light is nonetheless appreciated by the party whenever there is a need of it.
9 Vicious Mockery
The quintessential Bard spell, Vicious Mockery, hurls insults at the target, dealing damage and making their next attack be at a disadvantage against a Wisdom saving throw.Vicious Mockery in Baldur's Gate 3 is particularly attractive to players, not only because it's a decent Cantrip that deals damage and debuff at the same time but also because Larian has seen fit to record hundreds of lines of dialogue specifically for the scenario when a character casts Vicious Mockery. Your in-game character will actually hurl audible insults at the target, which is so much fun to experiment with.
8 Sacred Flame
Sacred Flame is a cantrip only available to the Cleric class (and all its subclasses). It deals 1d8 Radiant Damage to the target when cast. The enemy has to then succeed in a dexterity throw in order to avoid the damage.Radiant damage is one of the best types of damage in the game simply because you will be dealing with so many dark-aligned creatures in Acts 1 and 2 that having a ready source of effective damage will be quite useful.
7 Minor Illusion
Minor Illusion is a Cantrip of the Illusion school available to almost all spellcaster classes barring Druids. Casting the spell will create an illusion construct within the range of 18 meters, which will last 10 turns. In Tactician Mode, Minor Illusion can be a lifesaver since it forces enemies that are not engaged with you in combat to investigate the illusion. Be mindful that the illusion will dissipate once they've investigated, so time your attacks to take full advantage of the diversion.
6 Fire Bolt
If dealing pure damage is what you're after, you can't go wrong with Fire Bolt. When cast, this cantrip deals 1d10 fire damage to the target and sets the area around the point of impact aflame.Fire Bolt is available to Elves and Half-Elves during character creation which allows these races to have access to this spell without dipping into magic schools. Knowing one of the best early-level ranged spells in the game can come in quite handy during your playthrough.
5 Ray of Frost
Like Fire Bolt, Ray of Frost is also a damage-dealing cantrip that deals 1d8 cold damage to targets. Unlike Fire Bolt, however, Ray of Frost is even more powerful because of its secondary effect: Movement slow.When cast on an enemy, that enemy will be slowed and have their movement reduced by 3m. This means that casting this spell on strong melee fighters who need to get in melee range to deal damage is going to be lifesaving.
4 Shillelagh
One of the best aids to a Spellblade, Shillelagh imbues your weapon with 1d8 damage plus your Wisdom modifier added as bludgeoning damage. It also converts your attack rolls to take advantage of your spellcasting ability instead of your regular ability. For Wisdom-scaling Spellcasters like Druids and Clerics, who take up the role of the front liner, this cantrip is an immense boon to have in your arsenal. Having this spell cast means you can avoid dipping into martial proficiencies and focus on your spellcasting ability instead. And it's a bonus action, making it even more desirable.
3 Mage Hand
Mage Hand is perhaps one of the best utility spells in the game. A D&D classic, Mage Hand has helped many an adventurer out of a sticky situation, and Larian has tried their best to replicate the same feeling of complete freedom with their iteration of the Mage Hand spell in Baldur's Gate 3.When cast, Mage Hand creates an ethereal moveable hand that can interact with items like levers, doors, and handles. It can pick up stuff and throw it. Basically, it can do everything a regular hand is able to do. In a game like Baldur's Gate, this means you can solve puzzles using just Mage Hand if you're clever enough. It's a game-changer.
2 Eldritch Blast
The Warlock Class would be much, much weaker without having access to Eldritch Blast. It is a long-range damage-dealing spell that deals 1d10 Force damage to enemies it is cast on.All Warlocks gain access to Eldritch Blast, and as they level up, they gain Eldritch Invocations, which are basically upgrades for this cantrip. You can choose Agonizing Blast Invocation at level 2, which allows this cantrip to use your Charisma modifier, making entirely Charisma-focused builds viable.
1 Guidance
If you've played Baldur's Gate 3 for more than three minutes, you'll be familiar with the dice-rolling screen. The task at hand has a set difficulty, and you need to roll higher to be successful in completing the task or fail miserably.Available to Clerics at level 1, the Guidance cantrip makes it so that every time you're trying to do something involving an Ability Check, you'll gain a no-questions-asked 1d4 additional score to your every roll. What makes Guidance so insanely good is that it works for every type of roll. Always useful.