In this Baldur’s Gate 3 Wizard Class Guide, I’m going to be covering the Wizard Class, including all 8 Subclasses, and providing you some useful information. I’ll be doing more Build Guides for Baldur’s Gate 3, but for now, let’s just look at how Wizards function and its basics.
aldur’s Gate 3 Wizard Guide Features
Baldur’s Gate 3 Wizard Class Guide
Wizards in BG3 serve several functions within their group. They not only have offensive spells like Cloudkill, but many are utility oriented as well, like the Knock spell, which allows them to open locked doors or chests. Or the Enlarge/Reduce spell, which allows them to change the size of a creature.
They differ from Sorcerers in several ways, namely that they learn nearly twice as many spells from leveling up, they can learn spells from Scrolls, they cannot manipulate their spells with Metamagic, they must Prepare their spells in advance before casting them, and they use Intelligence to cast their Spells, compared to the Sorcerer’s Charisma.
When comparing Wizard and Sorcerer many players lean towards Sorcerer because of Quickened Spell, which allows them to cast 2 spells on one turn. But what Wizards lack in one turn firepower, they make up for in versatility. Sorcerers may not know the spell needed for every occasion, but Wizards typically will, especially if they learn from Scrolls.
Wizard Subclasses are made up mostly of Subclass Features that reward the player for casting a certain type of spell, such as Evocation Spells if you chose Evocation, and also by reducing the cost to learn spells of that type from Scrolls. Players choose one of these, typically based on the type of spells they like to cast most.
Wizards have no Armour Proficiencies and almost no Weapon Proficiencies, making them terrible in martial combat if they don’t Multiclass. And they do NOT have Proficiency in Constitution Saving Throws like Sorcerers, making them generally worse at maintaining Concentration.
BG3 Wizard Character Creation
In this section, we’ll take a look at how to set up your Wizard during Character Creation for the best results. We’ll begin with Abilities first, since this is arguably the most important part, aside from choosing your Subclass.
Abilities
Your primary Abilities as a Wizard are Intelligence, and Constitution.
- Intelligence determines how difficult it is for enemies to Save against your Spells, improves Spell Attack Rolls, improves Intelligence Skill Checks and Intelligence Saving Throws, as well as increases the amount of Prepared spells a Wizard can have.
- Constitution is there to help keep you alive via HP, and also to help you maintain Concentration on spells like Cloud of Daggers, Hypnotic Pattern, or Hold Person, should you get hit while Concentrating on them.
For this reason, I strongly recommend that you invest 16 in INT and 16 in CON during Character Creation. 14 DEX is also not bad to improve your Initiative, which helps you to take your turn sooner in combat, as well as provide some Armour Class.
- STR: 8
- DEX: 14
- CON: 16
- INT: 16
- WIS: 10
- CHA: 10
Note I’ve changed this from the recommendations as it more optimizes your Character during the early goings of the game.
Githyanki provides the Wizard with Light and Medium Armour Proficiency they wouldn’t otherwise get, as well as Astral Knowledge, allowing them to gain Proficiency in one Ability’s Skills each Long Rest. They will also gain Misty Step at Level 5, which can help with Wizard positioning.
Half-Elf is good for Light Armour and Shield Proficiency, as well as Fey Ancestry. They also gain Darkvision, which can help land your attacks in dark places.
Human is also good for similar reasons, but they don’t gain Fey Ancestry or Darkvision, but will gain an extra Skill Proficiency instead.
Elf is not bad for Fey Ancestry and Perception Proficiency. They also gain Darkvision, which can help land your attacks in dark places, and High Elves gain an extra Cantrip from the Wizard spell list.
Shield Dwarf can also work for Light and Medium Armour Proficiencies, along with Darkvision, and Dwarven Resilience.
Skills
For Skills you’ll minimally want to focus on Intelligence based ones, unless you chose Githyanki, and then you can use Astral Knowledge to select Intelligence. Sage is a great choice for Arcana and History, and then you can select Investigation and Religion.
Baldur’s Gate 3 Wizard Guide – Level 1
At level 1, Wizards gain Arcane Recovery, which allows them to replenish a Level 1 Spell Slot outside of combat once per Long Rest. Wizards will gain another Charge of Arcane Recover at every odd Wizard Level, allowing them to replenish more and higher level spells.
| Wizard Level | Arcane Recovery Charges |
| Level 1 | 1 |
| Level 3 | 2 |
| Level 5 | 3 |
| Level 7 | 4 |
| Level 9 | 5 |
| Level 11 | 6 |
Wizard Level 1 Spells
Wizards will gain access to 3 Cantrips and 6 level 1 spells at this level, along with 2 level 1 Spell Slots. Remember that Wizards need to Prepare these spells in order to cast them, and just because they know 6 spells, doesn’t mean they can Prepare them all at this level.
You can see below how many Spell Slots the Wizard has at each level.
| Wizard Level | Lvl 1 Spell Slots | Lvl 2 Spell Slots | Lvl 3 Spell Slots | Lvl 4 Spell Slots | Lvl 5 Spell Slots | Lvl 6 Spell Slots |
| Lvl 1 | 2 | – | – | – | – | – |
| Lvl 2 | 3 | – | – | – | – | – |
| Lvl 3 | 4 | 2 | – | – | – | – |
| Lvl 4 | 4 | 3 | – | – | – | – |
| Lvl 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | – | – | – |
| Lvl 6 | 4 | 3 | 3 | – | – | – |
| Lvl 7 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 1 | – | – |
| Lvl 8 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 | – | – |
| Lvl 9 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 1 | – |
| Lvl 10 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | – |
| Lvl 11 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
| Lvl 12 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
Baldur’s Gate 3 Wizard Guide – Level 2
Subclass Feature
At level 2, Wizards will choose a Subclass and gain a Subclass Feature from that Subclass, and we’ll go into this more in detail in the Subclasses section.
Baldur’s Gate 3 Wizard Guide – Level 3
Wizards Level 2 Spells
At Level 3, Wizards gain access to Level 2 Spells and gain Level 2 Spell Slots, and can upcast Level 1 Spells with these Slots if they can be. Many spells in BG3 can be upcast for additional damage, or increased targets. Pay attention to which spells they are, so you don’t waste higher-level Spell Slots on ones that can’t be.
Baldur’s Gate 3 Wizard Guide – Level 4
Feat
At level 4, Wizards will gain their first Feat. Ability Improvement is a good choice to further increase their Intelligence Modifier, which improves their Spell DC, Spell Attack Rolls, Intelligence Skill Checks and Saves, as well as allow them to Prepare one more spell.
Resilient Constitution is also not a bad choice here if you find yourself casting a lot of spells that require Concentration, as this will allow you to add your Proficiency Bonus to your Concentration Saving Throws when you get hit in combat.
Baldur’s Gate 3 Wizard Guide – Level 5
Wizard Level 3 Spell Slots & Spells
At Level 5, Wizards gain access to Level 3 Spells and gain Level 3 Spell Slots, and can upcast Level 1 & 2 Spells with these Slots if they can be.
Baldur’s Gate 3 Wizard Guide – Level 6
Subclass Feature
At level 6, Wizards once again gain a Subclass Feature that depends on the Subclass chosen. We’ll cover this in the Subclass section.
Baldur’s Gate 3 Wizard Guide – Level 7
Wizard Level 4 Spell Slots & Spells
At Level 7, Wizards gain access to Level 4 Spells and gain Level 4 Spell Slots, and can upcast Level 1, 2, & 3 Spells with these Slots if they can be.
Baldur’s Gate 3 Wizard Guide – Level 8
Feat
At level 8, Wizards gain their second Feat. Ability Improvement is still a good choice here, though you can choose Resilient CON if you haven’t yet. Alert is also not a terrible idea, allowing you to go sooner in combat, so you can fling spells before enemies can react. Elemental Adept is also an option if you find yourself gravitating towards one type of elemental damage.
Baldur’s Gate 3 Wizard Guide – Level 9
Wizard Level 5 Spell Slots & Spells
At Level 9, Wizards gain access to Level 5 Spells and gain Level 5 Spell Slots, and can upcast Level 1, 2, 3, & 4 Spells with these Slots if they can be.
Baldur’s Gate 3 Wizard Guide – Level 10
Subclass Feature
At level 10, Wizards gain their final Subclass Feature, and again, we’ll cover this in the Subclasses section.
Baldur’s Gate 3 Wizard Guide – Level 11
Wizard Level 6 Spell Slots & Spells
At Level 11, Wizards gain access to Level 6 Spells and gain 1 Level 6 Spell Slot, and can upcast Level 1, 2, 3, 4 & 5 Spells with this Slot if they can be. This is the highest Level of Spells Wizards can learn in BG3.
Baldur’s Gate 3 Wizard Guide – Level 12
Feat
At level 12, Wizards gain their final Feat. Ability Improvement is still a good choice here if you’re not yet at 20 Intelligence. Or you can choose from any of the ones I suggested before.
Baldur’s Gate 3 Wizard Guide – Equipment
The Equipment Wizards use will vary greatly depending on what Race you selected. They generally wear no Armour, but since they can cast spells in any Armour they have Proficiency in, if you have Light or Medium from a Race, you should definitely use that if you can. The same goes for Shields, so if they have Shield Proficiency from Human or Half-Elf they should definitely use one to beef up their Armour Class.
When it comes to weapon, it’s not super important because Wizards will likely cast Cantrips when they don’t want to use Spell Slots, not attack with weapons. However, look for something that gives you a spell you can use or perhaps some passive bonus to Spellcasting.
Baldur’s Gate 3 Wizard Guide – Subclasses
Choosing a Wizard Subclass in BG3 really comes down to what spells you think you’ll use most. Like offensive spells like Fireball or Lightning Bolt? Take Evocation. Want to summon an army of Undead? Choose Necromancy. In this section we’ll go through each Subclass, show you what you get from each, and show you what spells fall under that category.
All Wizards gain Subclass Features at level 2, level 6 and finally again at level 10. These Subclass Features are what set Wizards apart from one another. On top of that, Wizards of a chosen School can learn spells from Scrolls of the same School for half the cost (25 gold instead of 50 gold). Note that they can still learn spells from other Schools, it’s just cheaper for their chosen School.
| Wizard Subclass | Level 2 | Level 6 | Level 10 |
| Abjuration | Arcane Ward | Projected Ward | Improved Abjuration |
| Evocation | Sculpt Spells | Potent Cantrip | Empowered Evocation |
| Necromancy | Grim Harvest | Undead Thralls | Inured to Undeath |
| Conjuration | Minor Conjuration: Create Water | Benign Transposition | Focused Conjuration |
| Enchantment | Hypnotic Gaze | Instinctive Charm | Split Enchantment |
| Divination | Portent | Expert Divination | Third Eye |
| Illusion | Improved Minor Illusion | See Invisibility | Illusory Self |
| Transumutation | Experimental Alchemy | Transmuter’s Stone | Shapechanger |
Baldur’s Gate 3 Wizard Guide – Abjuration
At level 2, Abjuration Wizards gain Arcane Ward. Arcane Ward prevents damage to the Wizard equal to the number of Arcane Ward Charges you have. This goes down by 1 whenever you take damage, and also increases by the level of any Abjuration Spell you cast. The more you cast more Abjuration Spells, the more protected you will be.
Abjuration Spells that Wizards can learn without Multiclassing are as follows:
- Blade Ward
- Mage Armour
- Protection From Evil and Good
- Shield
- Arcane Lock
- Counterspell
- Protection From Energy
- Glyph of Warding
- Remove Curse
- Banishment
- Stoneskin
- Planar Binding
- Globe of Invulnerability
At level 6, Abjuration Wizards can sacrifice their Arcane Ward to reduce the damage a nearby ally takes. This allows them to protect damage to themself or their party members.
At level 10, Abjuration Wizards gain Improved Abjuration. This makes it so whenever they Short Rest, they gain Arcane Ward Charges equal to their Wizard level. This makes Short Rests particularly good for Abjuration Wizards, because remember, they only lose 1 Charge when they take damage.
Baldur’s Gate 3 Wizard Guide – Evocation
At level 2, Evocation Wizards learn Sculpt Spells, which allows them to cast Evocation Spells without fear of damaging allies. How many times have you had multiple enemies group up around your tank, only to avoid casting a Fireball because they would be hit? Well, with this Subclass, you no longer have to worry about this.
Evocations Spells that Wizards can learn without Multiclassing are as follows:
- Dancing Lights
- Fire Bolt
- Light
- Ray of Frost
- Shocking Grasp
- Burning Hands
- Chromatic Orb
- Magic Missile
- Thunderwave
- Witch Bolt
- Darkness
- Melf’s Acid Arrow
- Scorching Ray
- Shatter
- Fireball
- Fire Shield
- Ice Storm
- Lightning Bolt
- Otiluke’s Resilient Sphere
- Wall of Fire
- Cone of Cold
- Wall of Stone
- Chain Lightning
- Otiluke’s Freezing Sphere
- Sunbeam
- Wall of Ice
At level 6, Cantrips will now always deal at least half the damage if an enemy Saves against them. Just remember, this is only with Cantrips that target Abilities, and not ones like Fire Bolt or Ray of Frost that target Armour.
At level 10, Evocation Wizards can add their Intelligence Modifier to the damage of their Evocation Spells. Note that you only add this once with most Evocation Spells, not to each dice rolled. However, if the spell has multiple projectiles, like Magic Missile, the extra damage will apply to each one.
Baldur’s Gate 3 Wizard Guide – Necromancy
At level 2, Necromancy Wizards gain health back equal to two times the level of the Spell Slot used if they kill an enemy, and three times it was a Necromancy Spell they used. Killing Undead and Constructs does not trigger this effect, however.
Necromancy Spells that Wizards can learn without Multiclassing are as follows:
- Bone Chill
- False Life
- Ray of Sickness
- Blindness
- Ray of Enfeeblement
- Animate Dead
- Bestow Curse
- Feign Death
- Vampiric Touch
- Blight
- Circle of Death
- Create Undead
- Eyebite
At level 6, Necromancy Wizards summon an additional Undead when using the Animate Dead Spell by consuming an additional corpse, and these summons have increased hit points equal to the Wizard’s level. These Undead also gain additional damage equal to the Proficiency Bonus of the Wizard. You will also gain the Animate Dead Spell if you don’t know it already.
At level 10, Necromancy Wizards gain Resistance to Necrotic Damage, cutting it in half, and they also cannot have their max HP reduced.
Baldur’s Gate 3 Wizard Guide – Conjuration
Minor Conjuration: Create Water
At level 2, Conjuration Wizards can cast Create Water once per Short Rest without consuming a Spell Slot.
At level 6, Conjuration Wizards can teleport to an unoccupied space or change positions with an ally within 9m. This feature can only be used once per Long Rest, unless the Wizard casts another Conjuration Spell level 1 or higher. Then they can use it again.
Conjuration Spells that Wizards can learn without Multiclassing are as follows:
- Acid Splash
- Mage Hand
- Poison Spray
- Find Familiar
- Fog Cloud
- Grease
- Ice Knife
- Cloud of Daggers
- Flaming Sphere
- Misty Step
- Web
- Sleet Storm
- Stinking Cloud
- Conjure Minor Elemental
- Dimension Door
- Evard’s Black Tentacles
- Cloudkill
- Conjure Elemental
- Arcane Gate
At level 10, Conjuration Wizards Concentrating on a Conjuration Spell cannot have their Concentration broken from taking damage.
Baldur’s Gate 3 Wizard Guide – Enchantment
At level 2, Enchantment Wizards can use Hypnotic Gaze once per Long Rest, which Incapacitates an enemy for 2 turns, preventing them from taking any Action, Bonus Action or Reaction as long as you maintain your gaze. You can reapply this to them at the cost of an Action, but any damage to the target will free them, so it’s best used to remove one enemy completely from a fight until you are ready to deal with it.
At level 6, Enchantment Wizards can use their Reaction to Charm an enemy attacking them once per Round, into attacking another character. This is great for preventing damage to your Wizard, and does not require a Short or Long Rest to reuse.
At level 10, Enchantment Wizards can target to characters with Enchantment Spells that normally target one.
Enchantment Spells that Wizards can learn without Multiclassing are as follows:
- Friends
- Charm Person
- Sleep
- Tasha’s Hideous Laughter
- Crown of Madness
- Hold Person
- Confusion
- Dominate Person
- Hold Monster
- Otto’s Irresistible Dance
Baldur’s Gate 3 Wizard Guide – Divination
At level 2, Divination Wizards gain two Portent Dice after every Long Rest. The number on these dice are random, and they can be used as a Reaction to replace the roll of a nearby friendly Attack Roll or Saving Throw or enemy Attack Roll or Saving Throw. Apply high numbers to friendlies, and low numbers to enemies.
At level 6, Divination Wizards gain a third Portent Die every Long Rest, and can regain a spent Portent Die by fulfilling a Prophecy after each Short Rest. You can see what this Prophecy is by mousing over it next to your character portrait on the left-hand side of the screen.
At level 10, Divination Wizards can gain Superior Darkvision and See Invisibility as Actions that don’t require a Spell Slot, until they Long Rest.
Divination Spells that Wizards can learn without Multiclassing are as follows:
You can see that there are few Wizard Divination Spells in BG3, which is why their Subclass Features do not revolve around these spells.
Baldur’s Gate 3 Wizard Guide – Illusion
At level 2, Illusion Wizards can cast Minor Illusion as a Bonus Action, instead of an Action. Additionally, they can remain Hidden while casting it, and can cast it even if Silenced, which would normally prevent Spellcasting.
Illusion Spells that Wizards can learn without Multiclassing are as follows:
- Minor Illusion
- Disguise Self
- Blur
- Invisibility
- Mirror Image
- Phantasmal Force
- Fear
- Hypnotic Pattern
- Phantasmal Killer
- Seeming
At level 6, Illusion Wizards can cast See Invisibility as an Action without consuming a Spell Slot once per Long Rest.
At level 10, Illusion Wizards can make an illusory copy of themselves as a Reaction once per Short Rest, when they are attacked in combat, causing the attack to miss entirely.
Baldur’s Gate 3 Wizard Guide – Transmutation
At level 2, Transmutation Wizards have the chance to create two alchemical solutions when crafting if they pass a Medicine Skill Check with 15 Difficulty Class.
At level 6, Transmutation Wizards can craft a Transmutation Stone that provides various benefits depending on what you want, once per Long Rest or until you cast another Transmutation Spell. Note that you can only have one Transmutation Stone created at a time, though you can give it to any character you wish.
Transmutation Spells that Wizards can learn without Multiclassing are as follows:
- Expeditious Retreat
- Feather Fall
- Enhance Leap
- Longstrider
- Enlarge/Reduce
- Magic Weapon
- Blink
- Fly
- Gaseous Form
- Haste
- Polymorph
- Telekinesis
- Flesh to Stone
At level 10, Transmutation Wizards can change into a Bluejay as an Action and Fly as a Bluejay would in order to reach places you might not normally be able to.
Baldur’s Gate 3 Wizard Guide – Multiclassing
In this section of our Baldur’s Gate 3 Wizard Class Guide we’ll take a look at Multiclassing a Wizard in BG3, and what other Classes you might Multiclass with. Keep in mind this is not a complete list, but rather helpful suggestions to that make good pairings.
Wizards typically Multiclass with only a few Classes, like Eldritch Knight, Arcane Trickster or Cleric. However, many other Classes dip 1 level into Wizard in order to be able to learn Spells from Scrolls. These would still require Intelligence to cast, but there are a few items in the game that boost Intelligence making this an non-issue.
Primary Wizards might Multiclass after level 2 because this is where they gain their first Subclass Feature. Some of them are pretty potent, like Sculpt Spells or Improved Minor Illusion. Rogues gain a bonus Feat at level 10, and Eldritch Knights gain their last Subclass Feature at level 10, making it a good spot if you want Level 3 Spell Slots, and all Subclass Features of Eldritch Knight or Arcane Trickster.
The next most likely place to Multiclass would be after level 10 where each Wizard gains their final Subclass Feature. Dipping 2 levels into Fighter can give a Wizard Action Surge so they can fling more spells in one turn. Or a level or 2 of Cleric can provide them some valuable Proficiencies like Heavy Armour and Martial Weapons from War or Tempest Domain.
I hope you found these tips helpful, and we’ll have some more Builds out really soon that showoff more of these Multiclassing aspects!
That wraps up our Baldur’s Gate 3 Wizard Class Guide! Stay tuned for more Baldur’s Gate 3 content as we update the other Builds, and be sure to drop by our Twitch Channel if you have questions about the game. If you need something specific, check out our Baldur’s Gate 3 Wiki which is being worked on night and day, as well as our Baldur’s Gate 3 Guides.
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