Since Baldur's Gate 3 is based on the fifth edition of Dungeons & Dragons, players who have only played the board game already know who the most powerful spellcaster might be. As the community has noted, give the Wizard a few minutes before a combat or speaking encounter and there is nothing the class can't do.
Wizards are already powerful but can be made even more powerful with some savvy decision-making when it comes to race. Baldur's Gate 3 offers many fun races and any of them can be a Wizard but only a few of them really shine in the role.
Gnomes
- +2 Intelligence
- Movement: 7.5 meters per turn
- Advantage on Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma saving throws.
- Darkvision
- Forest Gnome: +1 Dexterity, Speak With Animals spell
- Deep Gnome: +1 Dexterity, Superior Darkvision, Advantage on Stealth checks
- Rock Gnome: +1 Constitution, Double proficiency bonus on History checks
While it's customary to choose a subrace, all of the Gnome subraces work so well. Gnomes are the only race that gets a +2 to Intelligence, making them just that much better than any other option. The advantages don't end there, though.
Since the Wizard class is ranged, it will be subject to ranged attacks, many of which will be spells, so the advantage on half of the saving throws will come in useful quite often. When gaining inspiration, there are no casters that can keep up with the output of a Gnome Wizard.
High Elf
- +2 Dexterity
- +1 Intelligence
- Movement: 9 meters per turn
- Darkvision
- Gain 1 Cantrip
- Proficiencies: Longsword, Shortsword, Longbow, Shortbow
- Proficient in Perception
- Advantage against Charmed saving throws
- Can't be magically put to sleep
When navigating the character creation UI, don't get so hung up on the Gnome's Intelligence and sacrifice all of the other possibilities. The High Elf is close on Intelligence and makes up for it by gaining an extra cantrip. This is huge as players will find that they're frequently short on spell slots in long battles.
The proficiency in Perception will also come in useful as High Elves can spot things other races can't. And don't discount the help against Charm and immunity to Sleep effects; these are some of the worst debuffs in the game and High Elves can shrug them off.
High Half-Elf
- +2 Charisma
- +1 to two other attributes
- Movement: 9 meters per turn
- Darkvision
- Gain 1 Cantrip
- Advantage against Charmed saving throws
- Can't be magically put to sleep
The High Elf and High Half-Elf are very similar with the High Half-Elf getting +2 in Charisma while the High Elf gets +2 in Dexterity. This makes for an interesting opportunity for the Wizard. The Wizard is great at spellcasting damage but players who want to focus on speaking and utility encounters will not be disappointed.
With a huge spellbook, the Wizard can do most of what a Bard can do and a High Half-Elf can be the party leader without missing a beat. Save the game before an encounter, equip some charm and negotiation spells, then watch why veterans rave about how the Wizard is as good at manipulating people as they are at blowing things up.
Baldur's Gate 3 is available in Early Access on PC and will be available on August 3rd, 2023. The PlayStation 5 version will be available on September 6th, 2023. A version for Xbox Series X/S is still in development.