Best Wizard build in Baldur’s Gate 3: Race, skills, spells, invocation & more

Wizards can be pretty powerful in Baldur’s Gate 3, but come with a few limitations. So, to help you with those limitations, here’s the best Wizard build in Baldur’s Gate 3, along with the ideal race, subclass, spells, and more.

Wizards in Baldur’s Gate 3 are labeled as the ‘glass cannon’ class. They’re capable of dealing great damage and controlling the battlefield, but their lack of health often means they’re susceptible to going down quickly.

Creating the perfect Wizard in a game like Baldur’s Gate 3 can be tricky, especially when you have to sift through all the available spells. So, here’s the best Wizard build in Baldur’s Gate 3 including the ideal race, spells, and a few great multiclass options.

Contents

• Best race to choose for a Wizard in Baldur’s Gate 3
• Best subclass for a Wizard in Baldur’s Gate 3
• Best background for a Wizard in Baldur’s Gate 3
• Best Ability Score spread for a Wizard
• Best spells for a Wizard in Baldur’s Gate 3
• Best multiclass options for the Wizard
• Best build for a Wizard in Baldur’s Gate 3

Best race to choose for a Wizard in Baldur’s Gate 3

There are a few different races you can choose for an effective Wizard, each prioritizing features that will make your life as a Wizard much easier.

• High Elf
• Half-Elf
• Deep Gnome

Although there are three to choose from, we recommend choosing the High Elf race for its proficiency in perception and additional Wizard Cantrip, especially with it being Fire Bolt.

Best subclass for a Wizard in Baldur’s Gate 3

Your subclass will need to be chosen at Level 2 so don’t worry if you’re just making your character. However, when you get to Level 2, we suggest choosing the Evocation School.

The Evocation School will help reduce the cost of your spells, and will in turn aid your other companions too. On top of this, you get an extra spell, which never hurts.

Best background for a Wizard in Baldur’s Gate 3

When it comes to selecting the best background for a Wizard in Baldur’s Gate 3 Sage is a no-brainer. It grants you proficiency in History and Arcana, two extremely useful skills when exploring the world and uncovering secrets.

Along with that background, we recommend choosing from these skills if possible as they’re the most used throughout the game:

• Insight
• Investigation
• Stealth
• Acrobatics

Best Ability Score spread for a Wizard

The recommended Ability Score spread for the Wizard is pretty good, but if you want to truly optimize your character, these are the scores you should try:

• Strength: 8
• Dexterity: 14
• Constitution: 15
• Wisdom: 10
• Intelligence: 17
• Charisma: 10

Naturally, a Wizards highest ability score should always be Intelligence. This is their spellcasting modifier and will dictate damage, save DCs, and so much more. Then, after that, it’s worth looking at making your Dexterity and Constitution relatively high since those dictate your Health and Armor Class.

Best spells for a Wizard in Baldur’s Gate 3

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A Wizard isn’t a Wizard without their spells. It’s easily the most important element of the class, meaning you need to choose wisely. Here are some of the best spells for your Wizard in Baldur’s Gate 3:

• Cantrip: Fire Bolt
• Cantrip: Ray of Frost
• Cantrip: Dancing Lights
• Cantrip: Chill Touch
• Cantrip: Acid Splash
• Cantrip: Mage Hand
• Level 1: Grease
• Level 1: Mage Armor
• Level 1: Magic Missile
• Level 1: Thunderwave
• Level 1: Chromatic Orb
• Level 2: Scorching Ray
• Level 2: Shatter
• Level 2: Cloud of Daggers
• Level 2: Misty Step
• Level 3: Counterspell
• Level 3: Fireball
• Level 3: Haste
• Level 3: Grant Flight
• Level 4: Dimension Door
• Level 4: Banishment
• Level 4: Wall of Fire
• Level 4: Polymorph
• Level 5: Telekinesis
• Level 5: Hold Monster
• Level 5: Cloudkill
• Level 5: Dominate Person
• Level 5: Conjure Elemental
• Level 6: Disintegrate
• Level 6: Sunbeam
• Level 6: True Seeing

Best multiclass options for the Wizard

Wizard and Fighter

The Wizard and Fighter multiclass in Baldur’s Gate 3 is often considered one of the most powerful. It combines the heavy armor capabilities of the Fighter with the extremely powerful spells of the Wizard.

Mix those two together and you have a strong melee fighter and an even stronger spellcaster. Add that to an action surge and you’re a one-person army.

Wizard and Cleric

You can’t really go wrong when combining two spellcasters like this together. After all, it works in a similar way to the Wizard / Fighter by adding a little more hardiness to the weaker AC of the Wizard.

On top of the useful spells, you can essentially take your place as the group’s spellcasting damage dealer and the support through the Cleric’s healing.

Best build for a Wizard in Baldur’s Gate 3

Race: High Elf

Background: Sage

Skills: Insight, Investigation

Ability order from highest to lowest: Intelligence, Dexterity, Constitution, Wisdom, Charisma, Strength

Build layout:

Level	Feature
1	Cantrips: Ray of Frost, Dancing Lights, Acid Splash — Spells: Thunderwave, Magic Missile, Mage Armor, Grease
2	Subclass: Evocation — Spell: Chromatic Orb
3	Spells: Scorching Ray, Misty Step
4	Cantrip: Chill Touch — Spells: Cloud of Daggers, Shatter — Ability Improvement: Intelligence +2
5	Spells: Fireball, Counterspell
6	Spells: Haste, Grant Flight
7	Spells: Dimension Door, Banishment
8	Ability Improvement: Intelligence to 20 — Spells: Polymorph, Wall of Fire
9	Spells: Telekinesis, Hold Monster
10	Cantrip: Mage Hand — Spells: Dominate Person, Conjure Elemental
11	Spells: Disintegrate, Sunbeam
12	Feat: Warcaster — Spells: True Seeing

So, that’s the best build for a Wizard in Baldur’s Gate 3. While preparing your chosen spells and loading into the game, take a look at some of our other handy Baldur’s Gate 3 guides and content:

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