Baldur's Gate 3

Spells Overview

Baldur's Gate 3 Spell Tier List For Full Release

There are a lot of spells in Baldur’s Gate 3, with more and more accessible as you get more classes, subclasses, scrolls and spell slot levels. The result is an arsenal of spells each with its own flavor of niche, synergy, and more. To guide you through the process of knowing what spells you should be using, prioritizing, or any special notes for spells in BG3, we have made a BG3 Spell Tier List. Read on to check the best spells in BG3, and any relevant note if there are some interesting tactics or items related to them.

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Here’s a look at the best Baldur’s Gate 3 Spells via a Tier List.

Baldur’s Gate 3 Spell Tier List

If you want to jump to a specific tier, click on one of these links below:

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Be aware we are ignoring spells that are typically only class-specific, along with niche role-play spells that are used more for dialogue than anything else. The reason for this is that Smites are only really used by Paladins outside of odd situations, and the niche of each smite has some sort of Crowd Control (CC) or extra damage, which is all situational. The same goes for Ranger spells or other subclass spells like Spore Druid fungal creatures. Of course, we don’t really need to specify how great Bardic Inspiration is either and all of their Songs. Meanwhile, things like Speak to Dead, and Speak to Animals are obviously useful for role play, story, and quests and are worth having somewhere or on scrolls for when you need them, but they are not worth factoring in a BG3 Spell Tier List.

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S+ Tier Spells in BG3

Hold Person and Hold Monster both allow for an extensive CC chain where the enemy needs to roll saves to escape, or the casters concentration breaks. It can last longer than Petrify, and Polymorph if luck goes your way, and held creatures can be guaranteed crit from spell or melee attacks cast in melee range. Sleep or other incap effects can’t handle this; thus, its synergy as a CC and damage utility is unrivaled. Combine this with Pally reaction smites and Paladins can top damage in your party with ease. Healing word, on the other hand, is a bonus action that can be upscaled for okay heals, but as a bonus action, it can do some serious action economy damage to reviving allies, trading a bonus action for an action spell slots permitting.

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Note that Hold Person is limited to humanoids, requiring the much higher Hold Monster for everything else. Other CC spells like Command, Banishment, Sleep will have more value until Hold Monster comes into play.

S Tier Spells in BG3

Using a range of support and healing spells help makes a good Cleric, regardless of subclass. You’ll often find Cleric’s have access to a lot of the best sells on this Spell tier list too!

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Spell	Level	Description	Note
Aid	2	Spell that grants Temporary HP to allies in an area around the caster.	Use it after a long rest and get free temp HP
Armor of Agathys	1	Provides a thorn-type effect dealing 5 damage per 5 temporary HP. Every spell upscale grants another 5 damage and temp HP for the spell.	Best thorn-type skill in the game with god-tier upscaling.
Artistry of War	5	(2d6 + 6) x 6 Force Damage Spell	A scroll in Act 3 located in the Sorcerer’s Vaults. Wizards can learn this for a very strong spell that is essentially a better arcane missile.
Banishment	4	Charisma save CC effect that sends a target to another dimension for 2 turns.	A pretty strong CC effect, but it feels bad if you don’t land it because of its spell cost.
Beacon of Hope	3	Ensure the maximum possible healing received on a target when you cast a healing spell on them.	Solid healing option for needed burst healing via potions, spells, or other sources.
Bless	1	Bonus 1d4 to attack and saving throws.	God tier spell, made even better by Staff of Arcane Blessing.
Cloud of Daggers	2	4d4 10 turn damage aura spell for enemies that move or are collided with the spell.	Very strong aura AOE spell that early in the game.
Conjure Elemental	5	Best summon spell in the game, outside of Woodland Being and Planar Ally.	–
Disintegrate	6	10d6 +40	Strongest single target spell outright on average, as compared to the Force and Fire spells. Lightning Spells can still out DPR it, but that depends on water and good rolls.
Dissonant Whispers	1	3d6 Psychic with half damage on save. 1d6 damage per upcast level. Also, Frightens enemies who fail their save.	Strong early-game spell with strong CC capabilities.
Fireball	3	8D6 Fire spell with 1d6 upscaling. Dex save halves the damage.	Very strong spell for a level 3 spell with great upscaling. Only gets out damaged by specific Force spells or Vulnerable to Lightning Spells.
Fog Cloud / Darkness	1/2	Fog Cloud creates a huge blind zone preventing enemies from seeing in or out with attacks. Darkness operates similarly.	Fog Cloud is easier to use, but Darkness can good for creatures with Magical Darkness, Gloom Stalkers, etc.
Globe of Invulnerability	6	Creatures inside the Globe are immune to all damage but can still be hit with status effects.	Very strong for the final fight, and for many other Act 3 fights that get challenging.
Heal	6	70 healing and removes Blindness and Diseases.	Strongest Heal in the game, available for Druids and Clerics
Hunter’s Mark	1	Additional 1d6 when hitting an enemy with a weapon attack. Refresh the skill when the enemy dies to use on another target.	Very strong early and still a solid concentration skill for Fighters and Barbs on certain item pieces like Hunting Shortbow, Grymskull Helm, and Ranger concentration.
Ice Storm	4	2d8 Bludgeoning and 4d6 Cold with damage half if Dex saved. Also creates Icy Surfaces that last 2 turns.	Another great AOE skill, but it can be even better if targets are wet for double damage and AOE terrain issues in certain fights.
Mass Cure Wounds	5	3d8 healing AOE spell, upscale grants an additional 1d8 per level.	Really efficient healing spell, which combos great with Beacon of Hope for party-wide huge healing throughput.
Misty Step	2	Target a visible location in range and teleport to it.	Great skill that appears on items, and many classes can learn it: genuinely a great map traversal, and combat skill for defensive and offensive needs.
Polymorph	4	5 turn CC spell that turns an enemy into a Sheep with 3 HP. saved on Wisdom save on cast, or ends when the sheep drops to 0 Hp, which they turn into their normal form.	A strong and long-lasting CC effect
Scorching Ray	2	2d6 fire damage per ray and upcasting grants a ray, meaning another 2d6 ray for targeting.	Great upscaling, multi-target and boss shredding.
Shield of Faith	1	+2AC to the target.	2AC is very powerful for lowering the chance of getting hit.
Sleep	1	Put targets up to 22 HP to sleep. Gaining 8 per upcast.	Can be a niche use early game, but it means you can put around three or four Goblins to sleep in Act 1 fights, which is very strong. Upscaling loses its scaling potential, but it is still one of the best CC effects early game.
Slow	3	Slows up to six enemies, loading AC and Dex by 2, Movement by half, prevents reactions, and gives them only one or bonus action, not both.	Very powerful CC effect to use against melee units for kiting, or for using it as escape tools for Opportunity ignore. May also use it to make hitting lots of enemies with weapon attacks easier.
Tasha’s Hideous Laughter	1	Wisdom save spell that can leave someone Prone laughing for ten turns, with each turn rolling a wisdom save. Enemies probe are disadvantaged to attacks. Can only be used on targets with 5+ intelligence.	Strong game starting CC that keeps its niche throughout the entire game as a strong chain cc effect.
Warden of Vitality	3	Aura that lasts ten turns and can be reactivated as a bonus action to heal yourself and nearby allies for 2d6.	Solid AOE reactivation healing spell on a bonus action akin to the Ancients Oath Heal but better.

A Tier Spells in BG3

Spell	Level	Description	Note
Bestow Curse	3	Grant disadvantage on either attack rolls, or ability checks.	A lot better ways to grant disadvantages on attack or ability checks for less, such as Hex or CC effects.
Blight	4	8d8 Necrotic Damage spell that always hits max damage and grants a Disadvantage against plant-themed enemies.	Decent spell for damage, but its niche only really appears in Act 2 against certain haunted wood creatures, which lowers its value considerably.
Blink	3	User temporarily goes into another dimension and cannot be seen or targeted. Can be canceled.	Solid defensive spell for casters.
Call Lightning	3	3d10 lightning damage, and can be recast following turns for no other spell use. Half damage on Dex save.	The spell can be used for multiple AOE hits in a fight at the cost of 1 spell slot. Also, it can be used by Druids to recast after shapeshifting, granting a lot of strong utility. Damage also doubles if enemies are Wet too!
Chain Lightning	6	10d8 against up to three nearby targets. Dex saves half damage	Potential to do a lot of DPR with this spell, and perhaps the strongest multi-target spell if all enemies are wet and fail save.
Chromatic Orb	1	Choose from all elemental damage and deal 256 (3d6 if Thunder), and leave a hazard or status effect of that element if applicable.	Great options for creating ice, poison, acid pools, burning effects, or doing large upfront damage with Thunder. Very strong early-game spell with decent upscaling too.
Circle of Death	6	9-meter 6D6 Necrotic AOE	probably one of the better dedicated AOE skills, especially at 6th level, but it can’t compete against AOE lighting spells against Wet Targets.
Cloudkill	5	Concentration skill that creates a 6 meter wide fog cloud dealing 5d8 poison damage to all enemies inside it per turn. Con save causes half damage. You can reposition it every turn using an action.	Very strong AOE skill that has the benefit of you able to move it. One of the stronger AOE spells in the game only hampered by Concentration.
Confusion	4	6m AOE CC Spell that can cause enemies to skip randomly goes, attack allies, and another disorienting effect. Wisdom save.	Another decent AOE niche CC option in close-range melee fights.
Conjure Minor Elemental	4	Summons Mephits, Gargoyles and other smaller summon creatures.	Stronger summons than what you have previously, and the Mephit explosions can be brutal in the right settings, but could be better as far as summons are concerned if you play with them poorly. The quality of the spell increases and decreases depending on player’s strategy and build.
Conjure Woodland Being	4	Conjure a Woodland creature, with low HP but hard-hitting effects. Can also summon another creature itself, and has a buff aura.	This is better than normal Conjure, and when used properly it can climb to S Tier. It’s Low HP holds it back, though.
Counterspell	3	Use your reaction to negate a spell cast by an enemy.	–
Create or Destroy Water	1	Create a pool of water, or destroy a pool of water. Upscaling increases the area the pool lands.	Outside of a few niches, it is not useful, unless you’re running a Cold or Lightning build, which then it becomes a god-tier spell for Vulnerable damage.. It gets A Tier because of its niche, but it can be S+ Tier for that one build.
Destructive Wave	5	Cone ability like Thunderwave, with its hitbox dealing 5D6 Thunder and 5D6 Radiant in 6-meter range. Con save to see if enemies are knocked Prone.	Good spell as it’s like Thunder Wave but for Prone, which can be much easier to use against melee enemies for prone, turn misses, and crit opportunities.
Dethrone	5	10d6 + 20 with Con save halving damage.	Decent damage spell learnt via Scrolls in Act 3 Sorcerer’s Vault. The average value is fine, with better spells out there, like Artistry of War, for similar spell level.
Dispel Evil and Good	5	Abberations, Celestials, Elementals, Fey, Fiends, and Undead have Disadvantage on attacks against you. Can also free allies affected by Charm, Frighten or Possess effects.	Worth getting as around level 9, you start fighting plenty of undead and then get more Fiends, Elementals and Undead in Act 3, making it a worthy pick up for a lot of fights.
Dominate Person	5	10 turn CC spell with Wisdom saves. Forces affected creature to fight for you.	Operates like Hold Person, but it’s a nice tool if you can control a very strong humanoid enemy in a fight
Evard’s Black Tentacles	4	AOE Concentration Hazardous Terrain that deals 3d6 Bludgeoning damage, requiring strength save to negate. Lowers movement speed by half.	Similar to Hunger of Hadar, but you can get this on Strange Tendril Amulet From the Healing House Morgue and use it once per long rest, so you can always use the terrain feature in combat for advantages.
Eyebite	6	Concentration spell that can cause Panic, Sickened or Asleep to a target. Last for ten turns and can apply it each new round without using a spell slot.	Decent consistent spell option for CC at the cost of Concentration maintenance, which can make it a decent source of CC for a long period over other spells, granting it a high-cost niche.
Faerie Fire	1	Prevents the target from entering Stealth and grants advantage to attack rolls against them. Saved on Dex Save.	Very good source for Advantage in fights that low cost and only anti-stealth niche, against known rogues and the demon in Gauntlet of Shar.
False Life	1	7 Temporary Hit Point to the caster, with an extra 5 per uplevel cast.	Decent Temp life source. However, Aid is largely better for its party efficiency, and you can only have one source of Temp life at a time, and other sources outscale it later game. It’s still usable throughout the entire game if you don’t build around Temp health sources and items.
Flaming Sphere	2	Summon a sphere, dealing 2d6 fire damage to nearby enemies and objects. Also, can Ram, on its turn, deal 2d6 and leave behind fiery patches dealing 2D6 Fire Damage.	A lot of potential with this summon, especially for a level 2 summon spell and control map builds.
Greater Invisibility	4	Concentration spell that turns a creature invisible. Attacks against it are Disadvantaged, and attacks it makes have Advantage. Invisibility breaks after failing harder stealth checks that occur when you attack, cast spells or pick up items.	Great Stealth tool for combat, especially Rogues and Rangers, and solid map movement tool too.
Haste	3	Target an ally or yourself to become Hastened. Grants +2 Bonus to AC, advantage on Dex saving throws, doubles movement, and grants an additional action. Creature becomes Lethargic after expires, which prevents movement, action, bonus or reactions the next turn.	The spell is good during burst windows or towards the end of fights. Twinspelling with a Sorc grants more value, as does it being used on a War Cleric, Fighter for Adrenaline Surge, and other high burst windows characters.
Heat Metal	2	Choose to heat up a metal piece of armor or weapon, causing the target to drop the weapon. Picking the weapon back up and equipping it grants a Disadvantage. You can recast the skill to deal 2d8 Fire damage as a bonus action. Higher upscale casts grant an additional 1d8.	Damage is fine, but the clutch weapon drop is very useful against certain martial enemies in fights.
Hunger of Hadar	3	AOE Hazardous Terrain. Deals 2d6 Cold Damage on turn start, and 2d6 Acid damage on turn end if they remain inside it (Dex saving throw for Acid half damage). Lowers movement speed by half.	Very large and solid control terrain option, with decent damage for its rank. Generally outperforms most other terrain AOE too, for its double source of damage.
Inflict Wounds	1	3d10 Necrotic damage melee range spell.	Arguably a very strong early-game damage spell, capable of one-shotting goblin bosses on higher average rolls. Upscales add 1d10 per spell slot.
Invisibility	2	Concentration Invisibility spell.	Same as Greater, but breaks much easier.
Jump-type spells	X	Various Ritual spells or Druid spells capable of causing Triple Jump.	All are fantastic for martial character map movement and combat movement.
Lightning Bolt	3	Line spell with a wide hitbox and 30m range. Deals 8d6 Lightning Damage to all targets hit, with Dex save halving it. Upscaling grants another 1d6.	Great spell for its rank, with potential double damage against wet targets. It becomes an amazing spell if they are wet.
Mass Healing Word	3	1d4 + Spellcasting Modifier to all friendly targets in 18m range. Adds another 1d4 per upscale.	Decent AOE heal for combat efficiency, but worse than Prayer of Healing outside of combat.
Melf’s Acid Arrow	2	4d4 Acid Damage, leaving pools of Acid around. Acid patches lower AC by 2, and deal additional 2d4 damage.	Okay damage, but you’re largely doing it to lower AC early on for some easy hits. Great for martial-heavy parties.
Mirror Image	2	Conjures three Mirror Images, each granting 3 AC each. When attacked, lose one mirror image.	Incredibly strong defensive skull when appropriate, making it great for lower AC Clerics or casters without shields.
Moonbeam	2	Calls a 1-meter-wide moonbeam on a location, dealing 2d10 Radiant damage immediately, and another on an enemy that start their turn in it. Actions may move the beam. Con saves only take half damage. Additional 1d10 per upscale	Decent source of damage if you get averages. Works even better with Radiant-themed items, and upscale damage is fairly decent too.
Pass Without Trace	2	+10 to stealth checks for all allies affected.	Very strong group mapping spells to avoid problematic areas.
Planar Ally	6	Summons a Planar being like a Cambion, Deva, and Djinn.	Good summons with some interesting skills. Cambrian can do Charm effects and fire spells, Deva has a CC, Smite, Ress and can cast help, and Djinn is a tank with Thunderwave and a suck-in effect to bring enemies closer. However, each one is niche, and the 6th level spot does make it a competitive spell, rendering this slightly weaker than it first seems.
Sanctuary	1	Makes a target un-targetable, but can still be hit with AOE effects and status effects.	Great defensive tool, and can help with certain fight mechanics throughout the game. It’s always worth having this taking a learned spell somewhere.
Sleet Storm	3	Creates Ice Surfaces, forces Concentration castes to take Con saves.	Good anti-concentration AOE, and provides similar benefits to Plant Growth when used well. It’s very easy to use it wrong and grief your own party, though. Also works very well with Water patches for even stronger Ice patches for anti-melee fights.
Spike Growth	2	Causes Spike to erupt, halving creature movement speed. Moving through this terrain for every 1.5 meters causes the user to take 2d4 Piercing Damage.	You can max someone out three times, so it can be 6d4 worth of damage when used consistently. Combo it with Eldritch Blast Knockback, Thunderwave or Thorn Whip can make it even better, which should make it better than Hunger of Hadar in the right setting. However, it does require forcing the AI to move through it fully every turn, which can backfire in some situations.
Spirit Guardians	3	AOE Aura around the caster that deals 3d8 Radiant and 3D8 Necrotic damager per turn, and lowers movement speed of nearby enemies by half. Upscaling adds another 1d8 of each damage type.	Good aura damage skill, especially for fights against undead. Use Dash to make the most of it.
Spiritual Weapon	2	Bonus action that summons a weapon type to aid you in battle. Each one has weapon skills associated with the weapon type, with around 10 Hp each.	Decent early-game summon, but they do miss a lot more than they should. Use it as an action sponge for better results early game. Upscaling increases their HP by 8, and grants an additional 1d8 Force Damage.
Sunbeam	6	6d8 Radiant Damage line skill in a 18m width and 60 range line.	When used on the Blood of Lathandar, this spell is S+-Tier all the way through Act 2, but the spell’s power falls off other than in minor bits of Act 3, leaving it a decent A-Tier AOE Spell compared to spells around its level requirement.
Thunderwave	1	2d8 Thunder damage and can knock enemies back on failed Con save.	Decent early game AOE, and still very useful for reliable strategies for knocking enemies off ledges, Like Ne’re fight, and platform areas.
Vampiric Touch	3	3d18 Necrotic damage touch skill, with the user healing for half the damage.	Decent death Knight spell, and has great synergy with Temp HP items, Broodmother’s Revenge, etc. But it is a niche spell.

B Tier Spells in BG3

Summons are pretty good spells for action economy and can be even better than that in some instances.

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Spell	Level	Description	Note
Blur	2	You blur, and enemies gain Disadvanage on attacks against you.	Okay, spell, but there’s a better disadvantage, and AC is arguably better.
Burning Hands	1	3d6 fire damage to a target, Dex save lowers damage by half.	It can be a good early-game spell, but it is often outclassed by spells like Inflict Wounds, and Magic Missiles, especially since it can deal half damage. Meaning at average and save, it can deal around 5 damage, which is rather poor. It can be good, but it can be quite bad too. Solid B Tier spell.
Command	1	Lots of CC options for Flee, Cower	Good spell early. It does fall off later though.
Cone of Cold	5	8d8 Ice damage in a 9m cone at 30 range. Con save deals half damage.	It can be strong, but it is beaten by more safer Fire, Force and Lighting damage, especially when wet.
Create Undead	5	Creates a Mummy to fight alongside you.	Good spell, and it comes on Crypt Lord’s Ring in Act 3.
Crusader’s Mantle	3	9-meter AOE that empowers ally weapons to deal additional 1d4 Radiant damage.	Can be okay in heavy martial parties, especially dual-wield classes. But it is a niche spell otherwise.
Dimension Door	4	You and a nearby ally teleport to a visible in-range unoccupied location	A great, but more expensive and less practical Misty Step for the most part. It does have its shining moments, though.
Divine Favour	1	1D4 Radiant damage on weapons	Decent Early damage buff, but it’s a concentration spell, and falls off pretty hard in a few levels time.
Elemental Weapon	3	Roll +1 to attack rolls and deal 1d4 damage of your choice.	Okay buff for weapons.
Enhance Ability	2	Gain advantage on Ability Checks with a chosen Ability score	Kinda niche, can be useful in map or combat with Dex and Str for Stealth, lockpick and throw rolls. Dialogue checks for Investigation, perception, and other dialogue options it comes in handy.
Ensnaring Strike	1	Use your ranged weapon to attack an enemy, and potentially snare them in place for a duration.	Average root spell, but it can get better with Sharpened Snare Cuirass in Act 2.
Entangle	1	Hazardous terrain lasting 10 turns that can root enemies.	Decent early-game terrain spell but is outclassed by other spells of this type.
Find Familiar	1	Summon a creature to aid you, ranging from Crab, Cat, Frog, Rat, Raven, Spider, Imp / Quasit (Warlock only)	Each creature has a niche with its spells. Ravens can blind, Spiders can web, and Frogs can poison. They likely won’t hit, but can be action sponges or some nice utility if they do land. Hard to use properly, thanks to RNG dice rolls.
Flame Blade	2	3D6 Fire damage scimitar you hold, lasting 10 turns and lights an area up in 3, and dim in 6.	Average spell, but with Circlet of Fire, it gets pretty good as a dual wield build option.
Freedom of Movement	4	Snap allies out of Stun, prevent paralysis and restraint; difficult terrain can’t slow them down.	Nice map and fight use, but otherwise, not worth taking.
Grease	1	Hazardous terrain that can cause characters to go Prone and skip their turn.	Can be okay, and may even help extend burning fire areas when used well. But as a Hazardous Terrain, it is one of the weaker options.
Greater Restoration	5	Negate any Charm, Petrification, Stun or Curse.	Okay spell, but it is unlikely you ever have it learned for most of the game, bar a few fights for veteran players..
Harm	6	Reduce a target’s Maximum Hitpoints but can’t go below 1. 14d6, with con save halving the value.	It’s strong, but it is mainly better in fights with huge health pools, or against targets that can heal. The best examples are Cazador, Raphael, etc.
Hellish Rebuke	1	2d10 Fire damage Defensive reaction spell with 1d10 upcast.	Okay early game against ranged threats like Goblins, since the average can kill most 7 HP enemies. But, outside of that, it falls off an isn’t worth the spell slot upscaling.
Heroism	1	Immune to Frighten and grants 5 Temp hit points.	Solid early game anti-fear and temp boost and can remain useful for most of the game.
Hex	1	Lowers ability score on a target, making it harder to do ability checks.	Best used for strength against enemies that like to push. More advanced players preparing fights can get more out of this spell, though.
Hypnotic Pattern	3	9-meter AOE that affects creatures so they can’t attack the caster.	Decent AOE utility spell to save the caster.
Ice Knife	1	1d10 and 2d6 Cold damage spell, that creates an ice patch on impact. Missing damage still leaves an ice patch on impact.	Solid early-game damage, but upscaling falls off.
Knock	2	Unlock locked items using a level 2 spell slot.	Solid way for mages to open locks, but at a cost of spell slot and makes noise compared to lockpicking.
Lesser Restoration	2	Cures Disease, Poison, Paralysis, Blindness	Useful spell to have learned for fights you know these effects are used. Less experienced players will find less value from it, though.
Longstrider	1	Gain 3m on movement in a turn. Lasts until Long Rest.	Powerful Ritual skill for martial characters, but isn’t totally needed.
Mage Armour	1	Increase AC to 13 plus Dex modifier, but only works on targets not wearing an armor class item.	Solid spell for most casters, but doesn’t always work depending on build.
Magic Missile	1	3 attacks dealing 1d4 +1 Force damage. Upscaling adds an additional dart.	Good early and can last slightly Longer with Psychic Dart Amulet in the Underdark. But it falls off around 3/4th level spells.
Magic Weapon	2	Concentration granting +1 to attack and damage rolls	Weaker Bless.
Phantasmal Force	2	1D6 Psychic damage per turn against a target. Damage changes depending on the last damage that hit it. Intelligence Save. Upscaling grants another 1d6.	Pretty niche spell, and doesn’t scale too well, handy for larger HP threats.
Phantasmal Killer	4	10-40 damage per turn, prevents target from moving, easier to hit with attacks.	Decent spell for hitting key targets you don’t want to Concentrate CC spells on.
Planar Binding	5	Target a Celestial, Fiend, Fey or Undead and make it fight for you.	Decent spell, but only usable in Cazador, Lorroaken, and Raphael encounters of Act 3.
Plant Growth	3	Slows movement by 1/4 rather than 1/2. Fire effects can burn away the spell.	It’s the strongest kiting hazard in the game and has its niche in heavy swarm and melee fights. But Hunger of Hadar is largely a better spell for a few reasons. But it still has its niche when needed.
Protection from Energy	3	Resistance (halves damage) to Acid, Cold, Fire, Lightning, or Thunder.	Amazing spell to pre-learn before going to a heavy elemental damage fight. Another spell that gets more value from players with more game knowledge.
Protection from Evil and Good	1	Abberations, Celestials, Elementals, Fey, Fiends, and undead have disadvantages against warded creatures. The target is also immune Charmed, Frightened, or Possessed by those enemies.	Decent spell for level 1, but you only learn it when you know a fight with those come up. Great for Act 2, but limited in Act 1. Rather hard to use, unlike other hazardous terrain like Fog Cloud. However, when you combo it with Sentinel Feat, it will be akin to Flame Sphere as a potential stacking damage source, which can make it a better spell when used correctly. You can also use it as a spell to push enemies into.
Ray of Enfeeblement	2	Weaken a foe to do half the damage when using strength-based weapons.	Really good spell against strength-themed martial characters with a large enough HP bar to make it worthwhile. Another spell where better game knowledge makes this better. Think Ogres, high HP bosses with melee weapons.
Remove Curse	3	Removes Curse from a target.	Nice to have learned on a Wizard or Cleric, but only learn it on the character sheet when you need to dispel a curse before a fight you know it happens, or after a fight when you’re cursed.
Shatter	2	3D8 Thunder Damage 3-meter AOE spell, which can be con saved and take half damage. Enemies made of inorganic materials are disadvantaged on their save.	Good spell against Grymforge guards, Arcane Tower boss, and in Act 3 with Steel Watchers., but impractical outside of that.
Shield	1	Reaction spell to increase AC by 5. The effect lasts till the start of your next turn.	Pretty clutch reaction spell use that can have value more than Shield of Faith and Mirror Image. However, it’s less obvious when those times are. If this is your only option then it’s fine to use it.
Silence	2	Silence an area, preventing spellcasting and making characters inside immune to Thunder Damage.	Niche against spellcasters and requires proper placement to use properly.
Stoneskin	4	Take half damage from bludgeoning, piercing and slashing damage. Concentration Spell.	Niche spell but a great defensive for melee only fights against creatures with commonly found weapon types.
Warding Bond	2	An ally gains +1 to AC and saving throws, and resistances to all damage. If they do take damage, the spellcaster takes the same damage too.	Can be okay as a heavy defense buff, but large hit will make this spell hard to use properly.
Web	2	Hazardous terrain that can web enemies for a turn with a dex save. Webbed enemies grant an advantage to attackers hitting them.	Good spell for rooting enemies with range weapon attacks, or allies immune to web effects via spells and certain pair of boots from Act 1.

C Tier Spells in BG3

Necromancer summons are good, but their clunkiness and hunger for corpses can make the spell unfun to use at the best of times

Spell	Level	Description	Note
Animate Dead	3	Consume a Corpse to summon a skeleton archer or warrior.	Fairly Low HP summons with okay damage. Think of a goblin with around 15 HP in terms of a character sheet. It can get tedious finding bodies or hauling bodies around.
Arcane Gate	6	Creates a portal between two areas to shorten movement distances between those two points.	Only useful where movement is incredibly useful in the very late game, like the epilogue, Raphael’s House of Hope, Iron Throne, etc
Barkskin	2	Increases target AC to 16.	Only okay really early game, and can get scaled using certain items, Mage Armor, Dex bonus, Shield combos, or other higher AC armor pieces. It’s much better in actual 5e.
Calm Emotions	2	Humanoids cannot be charmed, Frightened, or Enraged.	Another preemptive spell to avoid a character getting feared, or used as a niche to stop an enemy Barbarian from enraging. Not worth a spell slot for it, though, when there are other tools that are better.
Color Spray	1	Target creatures up to 33 Hit Points and blind them. Upscaling grants 11 per level upcast.	It’s a decent spell for large melee or archer fights early game, but its upscale HP falls off quite hard after Act 1 as other CC tools become much better.
Darkvision	2	Allows the user to see in the dark up to 12 meters.	On paper, it is good, but Darkness in BG3 is considered stronger as dark vision type racial or spell can’t penetrate Darkness spells.
Daylight	3	Make an item shine bright light or conjure a sphere of light, illuminating Darkness in a 15m radius.	Good spell for eliminating Darkness, but when Darkness is cast multiple times, this gets overwhelmed. Not as effective as it should be when you need it in Act 3. it is more of a B Tier spell in Act 2.
Enlarge - Reduce	2	Enlarge a creature granting 1D4 weapon damage bonus and advantage on STR Checks and Throws. Reduce makes a target lose 1d4 of damage on weapon attacks and grants a Disadvantage on STR Checks and Throws.	Blind and other harder CC is a one, and 2 levels are better than this, including Color Spray.
Feather Fall	1	You and nearby allies in 9m radius gain immunity to fall damage for 10 turns.	Extremely niche spell to learn. You are largely better off carrying it as a scroll when you do fancy doing some long-distance exploring, which you will use every now and then.
Feign Death	3	Put an ally into a coma, preventing all damage except Psychic for 10 turns. Disease and Poison no longer have any effect. Help or turn expiration removes the effect.	This is a much less practical Blink, and Healing Word’s action economy is much better than this ever will be for cheesing.
Fire Shield	4	Grants resistance to either Fire or Cold damage, and lights you up in 3 meters. You also get a 2d8 damage type to attackers.	Expensive for the damage it gives, and potion resistances are much more efficient in terms of cost.
Flame Strike	5	5d6 Fire and Radiant dice in a 3m AOE. Dex saves can half the damage.	It can be a decent small AOE on multiple targets. It just comes with small AOE placement strategy and some nasty saves, but it is not the worst spell for that out there.
Glyph of Warding	3	4 meter AOE you place, which triggers sleep, detonation, or a form of elemental damage at 5d8.	It has its strong moments, and its damage is good for its spell cost. However, using it properly can be hard to predict, and you may need to build and plan around to use it properly.
Grasping Vine	4	6 HP summon that can pull enemies closer towards it.	An incredibly weak summon for the spell cost. But, it can be a good summon for Spike Growth cheese grater comps. If it wasn’t for that, this spell is D Tier.
Guardian of Faith	4	10 turn summon spell with 60 HP. Dealing damage takes 20 HP off it, and it can retaliate like a sentinel if enemies pass through its barrier.	It can be a good spell for damage. However, since it is stationary, it is very easily bypassed and needs using well at the right moment to get good value from it.
Insect Plague	5	Create hazardous terrain in a 6-m radius, causing Disadvantage on stealth checks and can deal 4d10 piercing with half damage on con save.	The spell cost of the spell is worth the damage, yet, the zone is very small and less practical, so we drop it down a tier compared to Black Tentacles and Hadar.
Otiluke’s Freezing Sphere	6	10d6 ball of ice that you can conjure and then throw for use later.	Decent damage for its spell cost, but low rolls can damage the potential of this spell, and a save completely negates it. It can be good if it rolls high against wet targets, but the outright save lowers its potential drastically.
Otiluke’s Resilient Sphere	4	Place a sphere around a target, blocking all incoming and outgoing damage and reducing movement speed by half.	Feels like a weaker Blink, but you can concentrate it on others. Feels like a soft way between Blink and Globe of Invuln with its obvious weakness of concentration.
Prayer of Healing	2	9-meter AOE heals doing 2d8 + spellcasting modifier to allies outside of combat.	It’s a decent spell early game, but upcasting it doesn’t feel worth it as short rests just get better.
Protection from Poison	2	The target creature has all poisons neutralized and get an Advantage on saving throws against poison, along with resistance to poison damage.	It’s a decent niche spell, but again requires a lot of player knowledge to use it before heavy poison fights, which are few and far between for the most part.
See Invisibility	2	See invisible creatures, and if they fail a dex save, they are revealed to other party members.	Good spell, just extremely limited uses bar the demon in Gauntlet of Shar, Haunted Mansion in Act 3, and the Hide and Seek Quest from the top of my head.
Stinking Cloud	3	Create a cloud, and those inside must make a Con save or become Nauseous, which is a poison effect that prevents all actions while it lasts.	It can be a strong form of CC, but it can make things harder for your melee characters to maneuver fights. Feels like normal Fog Cloud or Darkness are more reliable.
Wall of Stone	5	Create a wall from one in-range point to another with no blocking features. It creates a line of sight.	I only used this seriously during the final fight, and the LOS helped the channel. There may be other niches and fun to be had, but it feels hard to abuse properly in BG3 compared to 5E rules.
Witch Bolt	1	1d12 Lightning Damage spell can be reactivated through concentration without costing a spell slot.	Good economy early game spell with limited spell slots, and wet helps to make it even better. But it falls off very hard, which is fine for an early-game spell. Still worth picking now and then.

D Tier Spells in BG3

Spell	Level	Description	Note
Arcane Lock	2	Lock a chest or door, unable to be reopened with Knock.	Kinda desperation lock-the-door type thing to buy time, but not once have I ever thought I wish I had this spell learned right now.
Blindness	2	Blinds a target, granting them disadvantage on attacks and advantage on your attacks.	It’s okay to use, but Color Blind is cheaper and easy to use, as is Darkness.
Contagion	5	A target rolls three con saves every turn. On three failed, it gets an affliction of the caster’s choice. Most are Disadvantaged, but Flesh Rot makes them vulnerable to all damage, and the most worthy one to use.	It can be a good spell on very hard bosses. But waiting a few turns to apply it at minimum could be a waste if the fight gets easier over time.
Crown of Madness	2	Concentration spell that can make a target hit any of its allies in melee range.	Niche spell early game but never used again when you get better CC tools.
Death Ward	4	If a target with this buff on them falls to 0, then they survive on 1 HP.	It sounds good on paper, but it is an action and a level 4 spell slot, whereas a level 1 spell slot healing word bonus action can do the same results in terms of action economy damage for significantly less.
Enthrall	2	Forces a target to look at you, for 10 turns with wisdom saving throws at the start of each turn.	Operates like a taunt, but there’s better taunts in the game via Bear pets, Bear Form, and Paladins.
Gaseous Form	3	Turn into a ball of gas and bypass map passageways made for very small creatures. Also grants advantage on all saving throws.	Largely a role-play map maneuver spell which makes it good, but it can be used in combat, but it is an inferior Blink in that sense.
Goodberry	1	Conjure 4 magical berries each healing 1d4 on consumption.	Okay, combat healing, but it is likely not worth the spell slot, and consumes actions in combat, so all potions are flat-out better. Much better in 5e.
Gust of Wind	2	Push away clouds and potential knockback targets.	Inferior Thunderwave for but I can be useful extremely rarely against Cloudkill or Fog, but that only appears from time to time in Act 3. So you will hardly ever use this as intended.
Otto’s Irresistible Dance	6	10 turn wisdom save CC spell that forces a creature to dance, preventing movement and actions. Attacks made against the character have an Advantage.	Inferior to Hold Person and Monster allows allies to guarantee crit, which is much better than Advantage.
Ray of Sickness	1	2d8 Poison damage and may poison an enemy.	Its early game damage is fine, but the lack of guarantee poison kills it, and can be out done by Witch Bolt, which can do repeat casts for better action economy for casters.
Revivify	3	Resurrect a target ally from the dead, restoring it to 1 HP.	With Withers in the game, this spell is meh unless you need a clutch spell. You can also get it from scrolls very common too, meaning the Spell itself is often not needed to learn.
Telekinesis	5	Select a target, and on a failed STR save, you can later throw them in a direction. Heavy objects can take more damage from this.	It can be good but it feels like it’s not worth using 5th level spell lost for a funny meme unless that’s your goal. You can get these on a pair of gloves in Act 2 if you do the Githyanki Creche beforehand to make it more worth using it.
Wind Walk	6	9-Meter AOE Gaseous Form, grants Tiny (nerf to your martial character damage) and can fly.	Issue is you fairly need a full party to be tiny, and there’s plenty of ways to get Fly in BG3, so that part is worse than it should be. Pretty costly and largely ineffective spell.