Baldur's Gate 3 will not be a D&D video game that is all about combat and smashing down opponents, there is a very wide array of skills you will need to cover between the 4 adventurers you will be controlling. This includes elements of stealth, detecting hidden objects, and talking your way out of things. However, there is another important element you will need to round this array of skills, and that element is your knowledge.
The game features many different classes, but none of them are as iconic as a Wizard. The OG spell slinger of the popular tabletop roleplaying game has been a staple of every edition of Dungeons and Dragons and has always been associated with high Intelligence rolls. The role they will be playing is to cover controlling the tide of battle and providing accurate knowledge checks outside of combat.
Best Wizard Ability Distribution
When it comes to being a Wizard, all that matters is Intelligence. This is what the group expects of you and what you do better than anything else. Getting your Intelligence to 20 should and ‘is’ your primary concern when it comes to leveling and progressing. Higher Intelligence means higher everything. You will never be the one taking the lead in a dungeon, that is the scout’s job. The scout will uncover, and disable, all the traps. Likewise, you will not find yourself on the frontline when a Paladin or Fighter is ready to put a barricade between the enemy and the Wizard. The Wizard’s role will be to unleash epic-level spells of destruction, shape the world so that it may be approached in different ways, and to unearth every secret the game hides from you with unlimited knowledge through high Intelligence skill rolls. Dexterity may come in handy when you need to get out of the way and to increase your Armour Class. Everything else should be dumped. Make sure your Constitution is on an odd number.
- Primary Abilities (Max these out): Intelligence and Dexterity
- Secondary Abilities: Constitution and Wisdom
- Dump Abilities (Ignore These): Charisma and Strength
Best Race For Wizards
Rock Gnome will be an ideal pick for being a wizard. Thanks to Gnome Cunning, you have advantage for your Wisdom, Intelligence and Charisma saving throws. The speed is of no issue, as you will be in the back rows of the party when in combat and only moving when needed to reposition, rather than to gain distance. The Rock Gnome subrace provides Darkvision and Artificer’s Lore. Darkvision lets you perform just as well in gloomy caves and deep dungeons and Artificer’s Lore lets you double your proficiency bonus to your History skill checks.
Alternative Race Option
Other gnome subraces are good choices too, but neither offers you as much as Rock Gnome. Githyanki will help give an extra proficiency, to let the wizard be proficient in every Intelligence skill, and the psionics will be great for escaping. Humans Wizards offer a way to round up plenty of odd-number Abilities, with one offered as an Origin companion.
Best Skills & Background For Wizards
There is only one Background that gives two Intelligence skill proficiency, and that is Sage. Sage will provide you with proficiency in Arcana and History. With your Background out of the way, pick up Investigate and Religion. This will give you 4 of the 5 Intelligence skills in the game to go with your primary Ability.
Alternative Background Options
Other backgrounds are not worth it, as they only provide one Intelligence proficiency and one useless one.
Best Subclass For Wizards
Evocation school offers something that no other subclass comes close to its usefulness. Evocation school will grant you “Sculpt Spells”, which will let your allies automatically succeed in their saving throws against your spells and avoid them being hurt. This is basically the game’s way of turning off friendly fire and lets you bring down powerful novas of damage directly on top of your allies in melee combat that are surrounded to hit every enemy and spare your ally.
What Do The Other Sub-classes Offer?
You will get a lot of schools to choose from for Wizards, each of them makes it cheaper to learn spells from their respective school of magic and come with another little feature. Abjuration gives you a little bit of suitability, but this can be wasted if you have an effective party that are each doing their job. Divination is a nice choice for newcomers as it helps them restore previously used-up spell slots and makes managing their economy easier. Other options get very niche and circumstantial.
Best Feats For Wizards
Your main focus is getting your Intelligence Ability up to 20, after that, but there is one feat that will be brilliant to get before that. Resilient will increase your constitution by 1 point, bringing it up to a round number. It will also give your proficiency in saving throws for that Ability, meaning if you are casting a concentration spell and need to roll a saving throw, you get 2 chances to keep casting it rather than just one.
|
Level |
Feat Name |
Feat Description |
|---|---|---|
|
4 |
Resilient |
Increase the chosen ability score by 1, to a maximum of 20. You gain proficiency in saving throws using the chosen ability. |
|
8 |
Ability Improvement (Intelligence) |
+2 Ability points to spend as the player sees fit between Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Intelligence, Charisma and Wisdom. |
|
12 |
Ability Improvement (Intelligence) |
+2 Ability points to spend as the player sees fit between Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Intelligence, Charisma and Wisdom. |
Avoid Multiclassing. There is no class that gives you anything you need, maybe something you want if you are experimenting with build ideas or have a different role in mind. This build, however, is all about optimizing an Intelligence-driven Evocation Wizard.
Best Spells For Wizards
Wizards are spell casters, they have spells for every situation and that is why they have a book with so many. Low-level spells can be cast with higher-level spell slots to make bring them up to keep their viability. Whenever your journey’s goal changes or a new situation approaches, it is best to give your spells a gander and decide which ones may be most useful for this part of the game. There are plenty of good choices to always have on hand though. If nobody in the group has Speak with Animals, this will be a great utility spell to have in the pocket, you don't need to make every spell a combat one, just have what you feel best fits the environment you are in and what might be weak to certain elements.
|
Spell Name |
Spell Description |
|---|---|
|
Acid Splash |
Hurl a bubble of acid that hurts to each creature it hits. |
|
Sleep |
Put creatures up to a combined 24 hit points into a magical slumber. Sleeping creatures awaken if they take damage. |
|
Feather Fall |
Slow the rate of descent of allied creatures. They become Immune to Falling damage. |
|
Fireball |
Shoot a bright flame from your fingers that explodes upon contact, igniting everything in the vicinity for 8d4 fire damage. |
|
Magic Missile |
Create 3 darts of magical force, each dealing 1d4+1 Force to its target. The darts always hit their target. |
|
Find Familiar |
Gain the service of a familiar, a spirit that takes an animal form of your choosing. |
|
Ray of Frost |
Call forth a frigid beam of blue-white light and reduce the target's Movement Speed by 3 m. |
|
Witch Bolt |
Call forth a beam of crackling energy and link yourself to the target through an arc of lightning. Each turn, you can activate the arc to automatically deal an additional 1d12 Lightning Damage. |
Best Party Composition For Wizards
The Wizard does well in a classic party approach, throw in a fighter for the frontline, a Cleric for healing and Wisdom skills and a Rogue with expertise in social skills to cover the talking and rounding out all the other needed skills. Alternatively, you could have a Paladin leading the charge and doing all the talking with them backed up by a Druid and Monk. This approach gives a lot of frontline potential and survivability, but that survivability comes with the cost of not having anyone proficient in thieves’ tools.
Wizards In Combat
A Wizard will be able to rain down extremely powerful spells that cause a ton of damage in a single hit. As an Evocation Wizard, these spells will not harm your allies when dropped on top of them and allow you to be very reckless and get as many enemies affected as possible. They also have a ton of control options that take away enemies' strengths in the fight. Observe the fight and see which enemy can be picked off and what allies need assistance. Many fights will be different and analyzing the field will be key to deciding how best to use your turn. Wizards do not follow a set pattern or rotation of spells, you will need to manage and make decisions based on different situations. Good thing you have such high intelligence.
Wizards Outside Of Combat
You have plenty of utility spells to make use of that can shape the world around you and lots of skills to cover understanding any secret the game has in its lore. Read every book you find for clues, investigate desks, make checks about objects' histories, and explore faiths in the area. Gather information and use it to benefit your party.