Highlights
- Spellcasters can use Divination spells in Baldur's Gate 3 to manipulate destiny and gain advantages in dice rolls, giving them an edge in gameplay.
- Speak With Animals may not seem useful, but in the game, it allows players to communicate with beasts and can lead to entertaining interactions and useful results.
- Spells like See Invisibility and Detect Thoughts can help players deal with invisible enemies and extract more information from NPCs, respectively, but they are best used outside of combat.
Spellcasters who want their Baldur’s Gate 3 gameplay to touch on the chaotic tapestries of fate and destiny can rely on the Divination School to manipulate the environment they’re using magic on. In Dungeons & Dragons lore, Divination Magic often manipulates destiny subtly, giving casters knowledge and advantages in situations they would otherwise not be able to access.
Mechanics-wise, many Divination spells tinker with rolls and checks by adding bonuses and penalties, boosting or hindering the possibility of certain things happening. Since Baldur’s Gate 3 relies heavily on dice rolls to determine the success of actions, players may want to rely on certain Divination spells to secure the edge.
6 Speak With Animals (1st-Level)
At first glance, Speak With Animals doesn’t make for a useful spell in Dungeons & Dragons, especially in TTRPG sessions where combat and heavy roleplay blend together. However, in Baldur’s Gate 3 gameplay where players have the freedom to converse with almost any interactive creature, Speak With Animals can give gamers an entertaining time.
When activated, Speak With Animals grants players the ability to communicate with beasts on a verbal level. This lasts until Long Rest, allowing players to enjoy touring Faerun and talking to animals to their heart’s content. These interactions can yield useful results or end up in hilarious conversations, giving players a much-needed break from the game’s intense plot.
5 See Invisibility (2nd-Level)
Invisibility can become difficult to deal with in Baldur’s Gate 3 gameplay, especially when opponents become nowhere to be found while still making their moves. While Invisibility is broken as soon as affected creatures perform an Action or make an attack, a well-placed strike can make their detection too late to react upon.
However, players do have a cost-effective way of ensuring enemies can’t use this condition to their advantage. With See Invisibility, casters can see Invisible creatures and react to them. With a well-placed strike, players can reveal Invisible enemies to the rest of their team, removing the enemy’s advantage. Since it only costs a 2nd-Level spell slot, See Invisibility can become a hassle to deal with as well, as enemies who use this can remove an opportunity for sneaky Rogues to secure an advantage.
4 Detect Thoughts (2nd-Level)
In its original form in the D&D TTRPG, Detect Thoughts only allows its caster to read a target’s surface thoughts before requiring a Wisdom Save to probe even further, lest the target contests the caster’s probing via an Intelligence Check. This spell is much simpler to use in Baldur’s Gate 3 gameplay, wherein players can immediately use this ability in a dialogue option that allows it.
When properly used, Detect Thoughts is a decent way of getting more out of an NPC in conversations, especially if it’s with a person possibly withholding relevant information. However, its recommended use outside combat makes it unideal in dangerous situations.
3 True Strike (Cantrip)
With combat in Baldur’s Gate 3 being turn-based, players shouldn’t worry too much about precision timing with their attacks and dodges. Instead, skilled players should set up their attacks to deal as much damage as possible - something that True Strike makes easier for spellcasters who aren’t confident with their strikes.
When used, True Strike will grant players Advantage to their next Attack Roll against the target creature for two turns. Casters who usually have access to True Strike are Warlocks, Wizards, and Eldritch Knight Fighters, all of whom can use the extra roll when wanting to maximize their damage output. At its core, they can use this and have a one-turn leeway for heavy-hitting main attacks or use it immediately in conjunction with a Bonus Action off-hander.
2 Hunter’s Mark (1st-Level)
Whereas the Rogue excels in overpowering opponents with multiple attacks, the Ranger as a Baldur’s Gate 3 class excels in manipulating the environment to dish out damage from various sources. And Rangers who want to duke it out on melee can become a close Rogue substitute with Hunter’s Mark. When cast, this 1st-Level spell only takes a Bonus Action to mark an enemy as their quarry, allowing their weapon attacks to deal +1d6 Slashing damage during hits. Despite its small damage boost, +1d6 Slashing is extremely close to a regular Cantrip’s 1d6 to 1d8 Damage, making this bonus quite resource-friendly.
What makes Hunter’s Mark quite the favorable Ranger weapon is its secondary effect that allows Rangers to “switch” targets for free should they die before the spell ends its duration, which is a Long Rest. Should a Rogue dip into Ranger via Multiclass, Hunter’s Mark becomes a nifty +1d6 buff to their insanely powerful Sneak Attacks.
1 Guidance (Cantrip)
Aside from combat, Ability Checks and Skill Checks across environmental interactions and dialogue are the most prominent activities in Baldur’s Gate 3 gameplay, with Guidance providing quite the invaluable boost to rolls that players just can’t miss. At first glance, Guidance as a Cantrip provides a measly +1d4 bonus to Ability Checks across 10 turns. However, Guidance’s effects make it quite the most useful Cantrip in the RPG due to its versatility and the many ways players can use this.
The 10-turn +1d4 buff to Ability Checks is only ever important in combat encounters, especially for players who prefer Shoving enemies off cliffs and unfavorable positions. However, Guidance is bordering overpowered in exploration and dialogue. After all, players can cast Guidance as often as they want to help players pull off Skill Checks, while Guidance is almost always an available option to boost rolls during dialogue.
Baldur's Gate 3 is currently available on PC with a MacOS and PS5 release slated for September 6, 2023.