It’s a little-known fact thatBaldur’s Gate 3has a list of spells that your party isn’t able to cast. I’m not talking aboutspells that are beyond your level, or even those impossible to learn beyond the game’s built-in level cap of 12. There are some spells that are only available to NPCs, and when you take a look at how they actually work, they can get pretty weird.
Of course, some NPC spells are just slightly more powerful versions of regular spells, or relate to unique mechanics that are only used in one fight. Butsome of them have such fascinating, unique effectsthat it’s easy to imagine how they might be applied in the player’s hands. So, without further ado, here are ten of the coolest NPC-only spells inBaldur’s Gate 3that I wish the game would let me cast.
1Rolan’s Mage Armor Is Mage Armor, But Better
Exclusive To Rolan (Of Course)
Rolan is everyone’s favorite tiefling wizard. Depending on how you play things with him, he can go on a pretty incredible mini-redemption arc, going from cowardice during the goblin attacks on the Emerald Grove to boldly storming Moonrise Towers, and finally, fighting back against the corrupt mage Lorroakan. Rolan has several unique spells, owing to his portrayal as a powerful wizard,but perhaps the most useful isRolan’s mage armor. This is a more powerful version ofmage armorthat simply boosts your Armor Class by 2 - your Dexterity modifier doesn’t enter into it.
Mage armorin and of itself is basicallya necessity for any wizard build, but sometimes, it’s not enough on its own. If your wizard has low Dex, it does nothing for you, which is whyRolan’s version would be so much more usefulif you could actually cast it on your party.
2Drunken Inhale Is A Delightfully Mischievous Debuff
Exclusive To Djinni
Now, you cantechnicallyuse this spell inBaldur’s Gate 3, but your party members can’t actually cast it because it’s tied to another spell that you might easily miss.If you summon a djinni using the spellplanar ally, it’ll have access to a unique spell calleddrunken inhale. Its targets are forced to make a Constitution saving throw, and, depending on the result, they’re subject to three effects. If they fail, they take 4d8 Poison damage, are pulled closer to the caster, and are made Drunk, a status effect that gives you Disadvantage on Dexterity and Charisma checks.
On a successful Con save, the targets ofdrunken inhaletake a quarter of the damage, but are not pulled in or made Drunk.
Admittedly, the drunkenness isn’t as useful as the damage and the forced movement here, butit’s still a really fun spell that would be much better off in the player’s hands. Imagine giving it to aWay of the Drunken Master monkwith a couple of levels in a spellcasting class, and you’ll see the chaotic vision.
3Careful What You Wish For Makes For Cheesy Chaos
Exclusive To Akabi
It’s become one of the most iconic moments inBaldur’s Gate 3: you pull up to the Circus of the Last Days, and are offered a shot at 500 gold if you’ll agree to spin Akabi’s prize wheel. You do so, and pass a hidden Perception check, at which point the narrator reveals that the djinni is cheating. You call him out on it, he snaps his fingers and casts a spell calledcareful what you wish for, andyou’re magically transformed into a wheel of cheese.
This spell basically works as a modified version ofpolymorph. It’s not particularly useful, except in cases where you might want to remove an enemy from combat temporarily.But think of the comedic potential: being able to waltz around the Sword Coast turning people into cheese at will just sounds like so much fun.
4Fanatic Retaliation Is An Overpowered Spell For Summoners
Exclusive To Kar’niss
Fanatic retaliationis a spell that can normally only be cast by Kar’niss, the drider you encounter in the Shadow-Cursed Lands. It’s a powerful rebuke that he can only use when one of his allies is defeated, dealing 6d10 Psychic damage and inflicting Silence upon its target. This is a potent spell, and one of the things that makes this fight so difficult. But think of what it could do in the player’s hands.
Imagine if you could strike back at enemies who kill your own party memberswith something similar tofanatic retaliation. This seems to make the most sense as an Illithid power, with its Psychic affinity and sheer power, instead of a regular spell - but still, it’d be an incredibly powerful tool to have in your arsenal.
5Aegis Of The Absolute Makes You Immune To Multiple Damage Types
Exclusive To The Netherbrain
And speaking of spells that simply exude raw power,Aegis of The Absoluteis another one I’d love th have my player characters cast. This spell can normally only be used by the Netherbrain, the game’s final boss, and there’s a reason for that. Once cast,this spell makes the caster immune to all types of damage they took on the previous turn. It’s aimed at testing your combat flexibility: this spell prevents you from just spamming the same two spells and melee attacks at the Netherbrain.
If your characters are well-rounded, thenAegis of the Absoluteshouldn’t pose any particular problem. That’s part of the reason whyBG3should let me cast it. It wouldn’t do any good against most spellcasters in the game, nor anybody who has more than one weapon type in their arsenal - but it is a powerful protective spell nonetheless.
6Castigate Heartform Has Fascinating Roleplay Implications
Exclusive To Viconia
Viconia DeVir is a master manipulator, able to learn the particulars of your party’s inner selves through her heartmapping personality quiz, then exploit them to cause any number of unusual effects. Once she’s mapped your character’s heart,she’s able to use a unique spell calledcastigate heartformthat curses them to always take Critical Hits when Viconia attacks them. In order to remove the effect, they’ll need to “act against their nature” - for example, a character with a Melancholy Heart must perform, or a character with a Violent Heart must heal someone.
This would never happen because of the sheer effort involved, butimagine Viconia’s personality types applied to every character in the game. You’d be able to force some really interesting NPC behavior by casting it on enemies - imagine casting it on a cowardly wizard to force them to stay within your range, or the strongest melee attacker to force them to waste a turn healing.
7Mapped Terror Takes Viconia’s Powers Even Farther
Exclusive To Viconia (Again)
Going back to Viconia for a moment, she’s also gota unique set of spells calledmapped terror. These spells have two effects, which depend on the character’s greatest fear (which, again, she determines through heartmapping). First, she inflicts Frightened, which forces you to run away from her, and then she inflicts a condition related to that fear: Blinding Sickness if you’re afraid of the dark, or Dominated on one of your allies if you’re afraid of betrayal.
Again,you could do a lot of really interesting roleplaying here. Imagine bonus effects for correctly guessing an enemy’s greatest fear, for example. But this also just happens to be a powerful spell that I’d really like to have in my spellbook.
8Forced Teleportation Would Create Looney Tunes Deaths
Exclusive To Cazador
By the mid-to-late game ofBaldur’s Gate 3, some sort of teleportation spell is basically a necessity.Misty step,dimension door, whatever your preference - you need one to get your squishier characters out of harm’s way, and to finish timed fights more quickly. Butwhat if you could wield Cazador’sforced teleportationspell, which he uses to move his minions around the battlefield? Well, for one thing, you’d be able to move your less magically-inclined allies into more advantageous positions, which is nice.
But the real fun would comewhen you usedforced teleportationon enemies. Imagine picking Ketheric Thorm up and dropping him directly off Moonrise Tower - the result would be hilarious, not to mention instantly lethal.
9Untenable Secret Could Let You Skip Certain Scenes
Exclusive To Justiciar Nightweaver
Baldur’s Gate 3players spend a lot of time trying to get other characters to reveal secrets to them. Whether it’s learning the truth behind Shadowheart’s origins or discovering Auntie Ethel’s true identities, information gleaned through dialogue is one of the greatest sources of power you’ll have at your disposal. But what if you could skip past all the talking, and just cast a high-level spell on someone to make them spill the beans?This is how the Justiciar Nightweaver spelluntenable secretmight workif the player could cast it.
This would lead to a lot of fascinating story moments if used correctly, and could be useful for an evil playthrough, especially as Dark Justiciar Shadowheart, inBaldur’s Gate 3.
