10 Best DnD Spells & Cantrips that Would’ve Made Baldur’s Gate 3 Even Better
Baldur’s Gate 3 has a wide variety of Spells available adapted from the DnD 5e format. However, despite having a great selection to choose from, many players familiar with the DnD ruleset were greatly disappointed to find some iconic classics and fan favorite Spells missing from the list.
While some of these missing Spells can be added through mods on PC, poor console players have been left in the dust, and many PC players don’t feel comfortable installing mods of any kind. Reflecting on the most missed Spells from DnD 5e, we’ve identified 10 of the best choices that would have made the hugely successful Baldur’s Gate 3 even more impressive and enjoyable for players.
Booming Blade
Booming Bladeis one of the best Cantrips available in DnD 5e for Spellcasters who also wield Melee Weapons, essentially making it the bread and butter for popular Subclasses such as theArcane Trickster and Eldritch Knight. As both of these Subclasses are available options in Baldur’s Gate 3, many players were immensely disappointed to discover that the iconic Booming Blade was absent.
Booming Blade is ridiculous amounts of fun to use in combat, and extremely reliable as a Cantrip, meaning it doesn’t require any Spell Slots to cast. Arcane Tricksters, in particular, have a lot of utility with this Cantirp, due to the Cunning Action Disengage Class Feature, which would let them cast Booming Blade, and then disengage to try and get the enemy to move back towards them for their next attack, triggering the extra 1d8 Thunder damage.
As you scale in level, too, Booming Blade becomes quite a solid damage dealer, and one of the best damage-dealing Cantrips available, which is why the utility of this Spell is so sorely missed in Baldur’s Gate 3.
Toll the Dead
Toll the Dead is aNecromancy Cantripthat makes a great addition to many different Spellcasting builds. Unfortunately, this Cantrip is also one of the most missed in Baldur’s Gate 3, as it provides strong utility by enabling the Caster to deal extra damage to enemies who are already missing any amount of HP.
InBaldur’s Gate 3, every little bit of damage adds up and goes a long way, so enabling a minimum roll of a d12 against an injured opponent from a Cantrip alone is a very powerful ability to utilize without the need for a Spell Slot. Additionally, like many other Spells, the damage will scale with levels, meaning it could in theory do up to 3d12 Necrotic damage against a weakened opponent at the maximum BG3 level of 12.
Absorb Elements
Absorb Elements is a Reaction Spell that enables you to reduce the amount of incoming damage from elemental attacks, gaining temporary Resistance to the triggering damage type and adding a +1d6 of this category to your next attack roll. This is a huge asset for certain Spellcasters who make good use of Melee Weapons to keep up their sleeve, as it essentially enables them both more survivability and damage output against enemy magic users. ThisSpelladds some brilliant utility, especially to the likes of Eldritch Knights, Arcane Tricksters, and Rangers, who can capitalize on the follow-up extra damage on their next melee attack.
As there are much fewer Reactions in BG3 than there are general Spells and Cantrips, adding Absorb Elements into the mix would allow even more strategies to be established for a character, enabling certain playstyles. Honestly, I can think of several fights in which my Arcane Trickster would have dramatically benefitted from Absorb Elements, so I completely understand where fans are coming from in their wishes for this Spell to have been added to the game.
Thunder Step
If you thought the classic Misty Step was a great asset to have up your sleeve, then Thunder Step would likely be your next obsession, if it were to have been included in BG3. Much like Misty Step, this Spell operates a get-out-of-jail-free card for when your squishy Spellcasters find themselves surrounded by trouble.
However, as this spell does AoE damage upon your teleportation, you can be very clever on how you use it, ensuring you both get out of concerning situations such as enemy flanking or hazardous terrain and also deal damage to opponents within the same Action.
Green-Flame Blade
Green-Flame Blade operates very similarly to Booming Blade, operating as the other well-known bread and butter Cantrip for Arcane Tricksters and Eldritch Knights, among others, such as the Hexblade. However, while Booming Blade focuses on just one target, Green-Flame Blade enables you to deal additional damage to a creature within 5ft of your target, meaning you could potentially deal solid damage to one enemy, and use the secondary attack as a finishing blow to kill off low HP opponents.
As you level up, the potency of this Cantirp also increases significantly, dealing 2d8 and a 1d8+ Spellcasting Modifier to the secondary target, and then both of these damage rolls increase by a further 1d8 at level 11, which would enable you at BG3 12th level to deal 3d8 to a target and an additional 2d8+ Spellcasting modifier to a secondary target. This would be extremely useful in many Baldur’s Gate 3 combats, especially in the early game, where opponents such as theGoblins at the Goblin Camp, orGnollstend to outnumber and swarm your party.
Prestidigitation
Prestidigitation is much more a utility Spell that can be used in a variety of different situations to establish strategies during Quests, ambushes, theft, and trickery. It is a DnD classic that can be used in many different ways, which makes it a worthy addition to strong utility characters. In the case of Baldur’s Gate 3, it would be a brilliant addition to the likes ofShadowheart, as her build already has so much utility to offer.
Most importantly, fans who wish that this Spell was included in Baldur’s Gate 3 have mentioned how easy it would make washing your party members, enabling you to clean off all of that blood before entering cutscenes. Sure, you can technically throw a bottle of water at your feet in the game, but in the case that you don’t have any water in your inventory, Prestidigitation would be an amazing replacement, as well as come in handy for setting up distractions for NPCs so you can explore, lockpick, and steal to your heart’s content.
Catapult is a great 5e Spell that is both a lot of fun to play around with and also capable of dealing quite efficient damage, making it an enjoyable addition to many magic-user builds. With all of the objects lying around the various map locations and combat encounters in Baldur’s Gate 3, Catapult would likely get a lot of use in battle as well.
If you’ve had fun slinging makeshift weapons and even enemies into one another asKarlach, then you’d be able to take a similar approach as a magic-wielding class using Catapult, which should itch that same level of satisfaction when it comes to dealing damage with a slightly humorous or uncanny approach. Simply pick up a rock or barrel, and yeet it right at them – works like a charm!
Spirit Shroud
Spirit Shroud establishes a very strong way to deal extra damage as a Spellcaster in DnD 5e, and it has a lot of versatility due to being able to dish out different types of damage. Spirit Shroud offers so much utility from a single Spell that it would undoubtedly be one of the best choices to add to a magic-wielding BG3 build, as not only will you deal extra damage of your choice upon any successful attack within 10 feet, but it also prevents that creature from regaining HP until your next turn, and offers the chance to reduce the speed of enemies by 10 feet if they start their turn within 10 feet of you.
Just imagine throwing this onto yourmelee Paladin, who is often surrounded by enemies, or even your utility Cleric, setting up a variety of different plays for the rest of your team, and hindering threats in the process. Yeah, I wish this one had made it into the game, too.
Zephyr Strike
Zephyr Strike is one of the best Bonus Action Spells in 5e, and it makes the Ranger Class, Gloomstalker in particular extremely deadly. Just imagine if you could add this onto yourBG3 Gloomstalker Assassin Multiclass build– you’d be able to Bonus Action Zephyr Strike, move into a group of enemies, Gloom Stalker Melee Attack, Zephyr Strike bonus on Sneak Attack (Melee attack 1), and then follow up with your second main Melee Attack.
Because of the Assassin Class Feature, if any of these creatures are surprised, you’ll deliver automatic Critical Hits, enabling some serious damage on the first turn of combat. And then, since you used the Zephyr Strike attack bonus, your Movement Speed would increase by an extra 30ft, enabling you to move back out without being hit by Opportunity Attacks.
Dispel Magic
So many BG3 fans desperately wish that Dispel Magic had been added to the game. While realistically, it would have been quite broken in terms of balance when it comes to problem-solving, Quests, traps, combats, and puzzles. However, there have been so many times in Baldur’s Gate 3 when players are taking tedious steps to complete a Quest orbypass a certain puzzle. While there are usually multiple ways of solving things, your party may not always be built for working through these scenarios, especially if you’ve chosen to respec companions and play out other classes.
Dispel Magic or a variation of this Spell would make things much less frustrating at certain intervals, and give players a clever way to work around potential threats, similar to how Disguise Self can be used to achieve multiple attempts at theft from Merchants.
