Baldur’s Gate 3: The 10 Best Spells for Sorcerer

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Penned by Sarah Arnold

Sarah loves RPGs, sandboxes, and sims. She's played every expansion of World of Warcraft and WoW Classic and spent hundreds of hours modding and playing Bethesda games.

Reviewed by Jeffrey Hsu

Sorcerers are the precision spellcasters of Baldur’s Gate 3, using their Metamagic feature to make the most of their limited spellbooks. Since they don’t get to swap out spells on the fly like a cleric or wizard, and they only get to learn one new spell per level, sorcerers must choose their spells carefully. To help you with that end, here are the 10 best spells for sorcerer in Baldur’s Gate 3.

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Typically, a sorcerer will leave the more niche utility spells to their party members and instead focus on spells that will see frequent use. Sorcerers must also consider what spells will pair with their chosen Metamagic selections as well as their subclass features.

Fire Bolt

We wanted to include at least one cantrip on this list because sorcerers get to learn six cantrips over the course of the game, the most of any class. You’ll want at least one damaging cantrip to have as backup when you run out of spell slots (or simply don’t want to waste them). Fire Bolt is the best option, offering 1d10 damage at level 1, increasing by another d10 at level 5 and again at level 10.

This cantrip pairs well with any feature that increases your fire damage, which you’ll want for the number one spell on our list as well, so there’s some good potential for synergy there. Fire is one of the more commonly resisted damage types, but it’s also very useful as you can light fires and blow up barrels from a range.

Hold Monster

Although it costs you a level 5 spell slot to cast, this spell offers the ability to paralyze any kind of creature you may encounter. You probably only have room for one or two control spells in your spellbook, and this one is a great option. Cast this with the Twinned Spell Metamagic option, and you’ll be able to paralyze two creatures at once.

Paralysis is an excellent method of crowd control, robbing your target of any type of action or movement and guaranteeing that your party’s melee attacks will be critical hits. As long as you maintain your concentration, this spell can last for 10 turns, which is quite a long time.

Misty Step

As a squishy spell caster, you want to stay out of the fray as much as possible. Misty Step is a very useful spell for repositioning yourself without drawing opportunity attacks. It’s a bonus action, so you’ll still be able to take your action when you use it, and it’s only a level 2 spell. You can choose to teleport to any place within 18 meters, as long as you can see it.

Besides fleeing from melee attackers, this spell can help you gain the high ground advantage or just move closer to a target when you want to cast a spell.

Chromatic Orb

Since sorcerers can’t change their spells except when leveling up, having some flexibility in your spellbook can prove useful. Chromatic Orb is as flexible as it gets, allowing you to deal damage of any elemental type: thunder, acid, cold, fire, lightning, or poison.

Strangely it does more damage if you choose thunder – 3d8 when cast at level 1, versus 2d8 for the other damage types. Either way, that’s pretty good damage for a level 1 spell.

With Chromatic Orb, you can take advantage of any elemental weakness your target may have. You can also capitalize on whatever may be going on in your environment. For example, if an enemy is standing in water, you can hit them with lightning for some extra damage.

Shield

Sorcerers don’t wear any armor, which can leave them pretty vulnerable to attacks. The Shield spell lets you “Nope” an attack, temporarily boosting your armor class by 5 as a reaction. The extra armor lasts the rest of your turn, so you continue to benefit from it if anything else tries to hit you. That’s pretty good for a level 1 spell, and it stays relevant all the way through the game.

Lightning Bolt

This level 3 spell will be the bread and butter of any sorcerer who chooses to specialize in lightning damage, especially the Storm Sorcery subclass. It has an incredibly long range – 30m is much longer than most damaging spells – and hits all creatures in the direction you send it. It does 8d6 lightning damage to each target it hits at 3rd level.

This spell can be used to great effect on enemies who are wet. Have someone in your party cast Create Water and start zapping. You’ll be cackling and shouting “unlimited power!” before you know it.

Magic Missile

Sometimes you just need to make sure that you hit your target no matter what, and that’s where Magic Missile comes in. This is a level 1 spell that deals force damage, which is rarely resisted, and this spell never misses.

You can also choose to hit a different target with each of the missiles, which even further increases their usefulness. You don’t even need to be able to see your target to use this spell – you can literally cast Magic Missile into the darkness and you’ll succeed in hitting your target.

This spell is also great for breaking enemy spell casters’ concentration, as each missile triggers a separate concentration saving throw.

Counterspell

Where the Shield spell will let you “Nope” an attack, Counterspell will let you “Nope” an enemy spell, and that can be far more valuable. Being able to stop a big area-of-effect or crowd control spell from going off can save you a lot of trouble. And this spell is a reaction, so you can cast it on the fly when needed and it won’t take up any of your actions on your turn.

Counterspell is a level 3 spell, but you can upcast it to disrupt higher level enemy spells, keeping it relevant throughout the game.

Haste

Haste is a tremendously powerful spell, made even more so when paired with Metamagic. It gives your target (which can be yourself!) an extra action, double movement speed, +2 to armor class, and advantage on saving throws. That’s a lot for a level 3 spell slot.

The downside is that it requires concentration, and your target will be hit by a debuff when it expires, unable to move or take any actions for one turn. Still, this spell can pretty much double your target’s effectiveness for up to 10 turns.

What makes this spell especially good when used by a sorcerer is the Twinned Spell Metamagic, which can allow you to cast Haste on two targets at once. Haste is also one of the reasons that sorcerers have such strong burst damage potential. With an extra action, you can frequently blow up your enemies before they even get a turn.

Fireball

As useful as Haste is, it’s hard to beat the satisfaction of blowing your enemies sky high with a well-placed Fireball. Combine this spell with a Draconic Bloodline that improves your fire damage and you’re really in business. Mix in some Metamagic as well while you’re at it – a Heightened Spell to make sure it hits, or a Careful Spell to protect your allies from its effects. And always look for explosive barrels and the like to help you do some extra damage.

Of course, you’ll need to be careful when casting this – Fireball is notorious for causing friendly fire deaths. But if it means you win the encounter, it may be worth a few sacrifices.

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Thanks for reading! We hope that we’ve helped you choose the best spells for your sorcerer in Baldur’s Gate 3. If you have any questions, leave a comment below, and be sure to subscribe to High Ground for more useful guides!

Happy gaming!