Best Baldur’s Gate 3 Wizard build

What is the best Baldur’s Gate 3 Wizard build? Wizards are the masters of knowledge. Their mind is tuned to gather, store, and use all the world’s lore to be able to cast the most powerful spells in the game. With that being said, what is the best Wizard build? We will dive into the different schools available to discover their unique abilities, features, spells, and cantrips.

With two currently available subclasses, (Evocation School and Abjuration School), and the potential for more to be added when the release date rolls around, we have straight-out damage output on one side and the ability to create and recall Wards that will assist you during your adventures and fights. There is a clear winner with the choices we have at our disposal. Ready to find out? Here is the best Baldur’s Gate 3 Wizard build.

Baldur’s Gate 3 Wizard character creation

We will take a look at the different Wizard features and subclasses available for you.

Class features

These are the default abilities and mechanics for the Wizard class:

• Spell Slots Unlocked (2 lvl 1 Slots)
• Intelligence Saving Throw Proficiency
• Wisdom Saving Throw Proficiency
• Dagger Proficiency
• Dart Proficiency
• Sling Proficiency
• Quarterstaff Proficiency
• Light Crossbow Proficiency

Wizard Subclass features

There are two subclasses available for the Wizard: Evocation School and Abjuration School. Each of them will have subclass-specific features and spells.

Evocation School subclass features

Here are the initial features for the Evocation School subclass:

• Evocation Savant – This feature will half the cost of Evocation Spells from Spell Scrolls. Every spell level will cost 25g.
• Sculpt Spells – The Wizard will create pockets of safety that come along with Evocation Sells. Your allies will succeed in their saving throws and will take no damage from this spell type.

You will also be able to pick two Evocation Schools spells from the following list:

• Burning Hands
• Charm Person
• Chromatic Orb
• Colour Spray
• Disguise Self
• Expeditious Retreat
• False Life
• Find Familiar
• Tasha’s Hideous Laughter
• Jump
• Longstrider
• Magic Missile
• Protection from Evil and Good
• Ray of Sickness
• Feather Fall

Abjuration School subclass features

Here are the Abjuration School subclass features:

• Abjuration Savant – This feature will half the cost of Evocation Spells from Spell Scrolls. Every spell level will cost 25g.
• Arcane Ward – Whenever you cast an Abjuration spell, the Wizard will create a magical ward that will absorb all damage done to the player. The ward has 3 hit points and can last until the Wizard’s long rest. Can be used once per day.

You will also be able to pick two Abjuration School spells from the following list:

• Burning Hands
• Charm Person
• Chromatic Orb
• Colour Spray
• Disguise Self
• Expeditious Retreat
• False Life
• Feather Fall
• Find Familiar
• Tasha’s Hideous Laughter
• Jump
• Longstrider
• Magic Missile
• Protection from Evil and Good
• Ray of Sickness

Best Baldur’s Gate 3 Wizard build

The best Baldur’s Gate 3 Wizard build is:

• Subclass – Evocation School
• Race – High Elf
• Background – Sage
• Skills – Arcana, History
• Weapon – Staff of Crones

Subclass and features

The best subclass for Wizard is Evocation School.

While the Abjuration School subclass feature of summoning a Ward may sound attractive at first, the truth is that the Ward itself is not very powerful, and casting Abjuration spells are not used as often as other spell types. That’s why the Evocation School is the way to go. Evocation School Wizards will cast powerful spells that gather the strength and energy of the elementals.

This way, you will cast as much damage as possible, while also making use of its Sculpt Spells passive ability.

Here are the default initial Evocation spells:

• Ray of Sickness – Fire a sickening energy beam that can potentially poison your target (18m range).
• Feather Fall – While becoming immune to falling damage, the Wizards cause their allied targets to slow their rate of descents.

Abilities

Here are the best stats for Wizard:

• 8-10 Strength
• 15-16 Dexterity
• 14-15 Constitution
• 16 Intelligence
• 10 Wisdom
• 10 Charisma

The main stat for Wizards is intelligence. It measures mental acuity, recall accuracy, and the ability to reason. Intelligence is used as the metric that determines the Wizard’s spell accuracy. Since the Wizard lacks armor capabilities, dexterity will provide the protection that armor sets won’t. For that same reason, constitution will increase your Wizard’s survivability.

Best races

Here are the best races for the Wizard:

• High Elf – The High Elf’s stat bonus gives +1 intelligence and +2 dexterity, making it the perfect race for stat bonus purposes. Darkvision will allow your Wizard to see in the dark (12m), Fey Ancestry will give you a bonus on saving throws against being charmed, and you will have an extra cantrip at your disposal.

Best background and skills

Here are the best backgrounds and skills for the Wizard:

• Background: Sage – A very knowledgeable and well-read character, you are the lore master along your pears.
• Skills – Arcana, History, Religion, Insight, Perception.

Wizard leveling

This section will present the several features, cantrips, and spells you will be able to unlock when leveling up your Wizard. These are all independent of your subclass choice.

Level 1: Cantrips and Spells

Besides the Wizard’s initial features, you have the ability to choose three cantrips, choose six spells, and prepare four spells from the following cantrip and spell pools:

Level 2: Spell slot and subclass

At level 2, your Wizard will unlock one level 1 spell slot and will prepare 5 spells from the previously presented spell pool. You will also be able to pick your subclass between Evocation School and Abjuration School.

Level 4: Spells

The Wizard will unlock one level 1 slot and two level 2 slots. You will be able to pick two spells and prepare six spells from different spell pools. You will have the following new spells at your disposal:

Level 4: Cantrips and spells

At level 4, every Wizard will pick one cantrip, pick two spells, and prepare 7 spells from the aforementioned cantrip and spell pools. Additionally, you will be able to pick one feat from the following list:

• Ability Improvement
• Athlete
• Defensive Duelist
• Dual Wielder
• Great Weapon Master
• Lightly Armoured
• Magic Initiate: Bard
• Magic Initiate: Cleric
• Magic Initiate: Druid
• Magic Initiate: Sorcerer
• Magic Initiate: Warlock
• Magic Initiate: Wizard
• Martial Adept
• Mobile
• Moderately Armoured
• Shield Master
• Skilled
• Tough
• Weapon Master

Level 5: Level 3 spells

The wizard will unlock two level 3 spells slots. Additionally, you will be able to pick two spells and prepare 8 spells from the following list:

• Blindness
• Blur
• Burning Hands
• Charm Person
• Cloud of Daggers
• Colour Spray
• Crown of Madness
• Darkness
• Darkvision
• Detect Thoughts
• Disguise Self
• Enlarge – Reduce
• Expeditious Retreat
• False Life
• Feather Fall
• Find Familiar
• Flaming Sphere
• Fog Cloud
• Grease
• Hold Person
• Invisibility
• Jump
• Longstrider
• Mage Armour
• Magic Missile
• Magic Weapon
• Melf’s Acid Arrow
• Mirror Image
• Misty Step
• Phantasmal Force
• Protection from Evil and Good
• Ray of Enfeeblement
• Ray of Sickness
• Scorching Ray
• Shatter
• Sleep
• Thunderwave
• Web
• Witch Bolt
• Animate Dead
• Bestow Curse
• Counterspell
• Fear
• Feign Death
• Fireball
• Fly
• Gaseous Form
• Glyph of Warding
• Haste
• Hypnotic Pattern
• Protection from Energy
• Remove Curse
• Sleet Storm
• Stinking Cloud
• Vampiric Touch

Equipment

To make the best out of your different spells, you will have to boost their effectiveness by using Robes and using staff, especially Quarterstaffs or even Light Crossbows. The Staff of Crones or the Spellsparkler are good examples of what a Wizard can use to boost your spell attacks.

And that’s all for the Baldur’s Gate 3 Wizard build guide. Remember that the subclasses and the leveling are limited due to the game being at Early Access. Be sure to browse our Baldur’s Gate 3 class guide to learn more, and for all Wizard subclasses, our complete spell list will come in handy.