Baldur's Gate 3: 13 Best Spells You Need To Unlock ASAP

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Best Spells | Wizard
Best Spells | Warlock
Best Spells | Cleric
Best Spells | Ranger / Paladin

If you’re not experienced with Dungeons & Dragons or new to Baldur’s Gate 3, it can take dozens of hours before you realize exactly how useful a spell can be. There are so many spells to choose from when leveling up your Wizard, Sorcerer, Cleric or Warlock — sometimes they unlock automatically, sometimes you’ll have to choose which to unlock yourself — but you’ll always have a premium on which spells you can use, from both your limited number of Spell Charges and having to memorize certain spells.

After dozens and dozens of hours, we’ve found some spells that are overwhelmingly good. These spells are essential for any Wizard, Warlock or Cleric build. The list of spells below also scale incredibly well — spells like Sleep are powerful for the early game in Act 1 but become less useful as you progress. All the spells listed here? They’re unstoppable from the start of the game until the very end. Here’s what we think you need to get first.

More Baldur’s Gate 3 guides:

Best Spells | Wizard

The best spells, sorted by class and level.

Arcane Bolt (Cantrip): A simple effective Cantrip. Arcane Bolt scales incredibly well with your magic-users, becoming increasingly powerful and perfect for smashing objects in the environment. Get Magic Items to increase Cantrip damage and this becomes incredibly useful.

Magic Missile (Level 1 Wizard): This standard spell doesn’t look that impressive at first, but it is a guaranteed hit attack. You will always do the minimum damage. By the late-game, Magic Missile can deal 70+ damage when powered up to Level 4, and it only gets stronger from there. It can snake around the battlefield and always hits, making it a perfect spell for cleaning up a group of low HP enemies or dealing high damage to a single foe that you absolutely won’t miss.

Cloud of Daggers (Level 2 Wizard): A simple spell that devastates enemies. Summons a cloud of damaging daggers. Enemies take damage when entering the cloud and every turn after for standing in it. Disable enemies with Hold Person, Grease, or any other that’ll stop them in their tracks while trying to cross the cloud. Use your melee fighters to push enemies back in. That’s a Bonus Action.

Fireball (Level 3 Wizard): Does this even need to be explained? An extremely good work horse spell that’s simple to use. You hurl a massive fireball that explodes. Enemies caught in the blast take high damage. Very, very good for whittling down large groups of enemies.

Haste (Level 3 Wizard): One of the best spells in the game. Gives +1 Action to anyone you cast on. Incredibly useful for buffing Fighters or Barbarians that have multiple actions already. Let them rampage — the only downside is that your caster must maintain Concentration. Select a good Feat to make their Concentration much stronger if you plan on using this spell often.

Ice Storm (Level 4 Wizard): A favorite spell. If you don’t have Hunger of Hadar, use Ice Storm as a replacement. Drops a very large ice AOE that will cause enemies to move slow and slip, making them easy targets. Put on boots that prevent slipping and you can stand in the ice while enemies are struggling to stand up. Very useful for dealing a (small) amount of damage and denying large areas to enemies.

Conjure Elemental (Level 5 Wizard): Powerful spell that summons an elemental of your choice. The Elemental is a permanent summon that will only leave once you de-summon it or it is destroyed. It serves as an additional guest character and can be commanded. All Elementals can teleport, making them perfect for flanking large groups and attacking annoying spell-casters or rangers. You can summon one of four elements (Fire, Water, Air, Stone) — right-click enemies to Examine them and see what they’re weak again.

Best Spells | Warlock

The Warlock gains most of the same spells as the Wizard and Cleric, but they have one unique spell that is incredibly good.

Hunger of Hadar (Level 3 Warlock): One of the best reasons to have a Warlock. The Hunger of Hadar generates a large AOE circle that blinds enemies inside, counts as difficult terrain, and take 2d6 Cold damage as they enter. If they end the turn in the cloud, they’ll take 2d6 Acid damage. That’s 4-24 damage per turn. Park two melee fights on the edge and lure enemies in, pushing them into the cloud. Or drop it on ranged enemies or magic-users, forcing them to slowly walk out.

Best Spells | Cleric

Many of these spells can also be unlocked by Wizards or other classes. They’re just as good there, but the Cleric can really clean house by specializing.

Healing Word (Level 1 Cleric): A Bonus Action healing spell that has good range. Very useful for keeping your party alive, and you’ll rapidly find Magic Items that can improve your healing skills.

Warding Bond (Level 2 Cleric): Simple buff that gives an ally Resistance to all damage types, +1 AC and +1 to all Saving Throws. Very handy when your Cleric can’t do anything else. Just cast this on the nearest ally in danger.

Summon Weapon (Level 2 Cleric): Bonus Action Spell that summons a small flying weapon. Incredibly useful for distracting enemies and dealing a little damage. When enemies are attacking something that isn’t you, that’s basically free HP. It attacks on its own and is very impressive for Act 1 and Act 2.

Spirit Guardian (Level 3 Cleric): One of the best spells in the game. Spirit Guardians creates an AOE field of Divine / Necrotic damage around your Cleric, dealing damage just by walking into melee range. This is unstoppable against large groups of undead in Act 2. Pair with the Blood of Lathander Legendary and you’ll also blind enemies in melee range. Your concentration will never break.

Best Spells | Ranger / Paladin

Again, these classes only have a handful of unique spells. The Hunter’s Mark is incredibly powerful and can also be acquired through a Magic Item.

Hunter’s Mark (Level 1 Ranger / Paladin): A Bonus Action spell that applies additional damage to marked creatures. Mark an enemy to deal +1-6 damage per weapon attack. Add huge chunks of damage to bosses or tough enemies by applying a Hunter’s Mark then attacking multiple times with Fighters, Rogues or Barbarians. You can easily do +54 damage by attacking the same target all at the same time. If the targeted enemy is killed, you’ll be able to apply it again to a new enemy without expending a spell charge.

That’s our picks for the best spells you absolutely must unlock and use at every opportunity. We’ll add more as we continue to play through BG3.