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Among the problems Spellcasters face inBaldur’s Gate 3, the biggest and most obvious one is the inability to land spells against even the weakest enemies. Melee damage is much easier to understand, as the only thing to worry about is if the die roll is higher than the target’s AC. However, spells work differently and require knowing the ins and outs of enemy weaknesses before becoming truly effective.
Throwing spells at random will rarely yield results, and cycling throughevery spell in the spellbooktrying to find the one with the highest hit chance will make combat much more of a chore than it has to be. The lack of spell hit chance is easy to work around as it’s only a matter of understanding how spells work rather than something wrong with the caster classes themselves. Here’s the breakdown.
How Does Spell Hit Chance Work in BG3?
Spell Hit Chance works by calculating the percentage of possible outcomes as aresult of a dice rolland displaying that percentage to the players to give a clear visual indicator of possible outcomes of using a spell. Players canselect a spell and hover over the target, and the game will show a percentage of how likely it is that the spell will hit if cast. If a spell has a 60% chance to hit, that doesn’t mean that there is something wrong with the spell. All it means is that the spell is not ideal in that particular scenario.
Sometimes a spellcaster may even find themselves entirely useless; that’s just the nature ofleveling upa caster class.In the early game, everything is hard to hit.60-75% chance to hit are good odds during Act 1, and the chance to hit will naturally increase as players level up their classes. Reaching 100% spell hit chance is impossible inBG3(with only one exception) because of how Natural 0 rolls work. Players can get more out of their spells by improving target selection.
Knowing which spells work best against specific enemies and how their resistances affect the outcome helps players easilychoose the most effective spell for any scenario. To do so, they’ll need to understand the underlying mechanics of how spells work and what decides whether a spell hits.
Types of Spells in BG3
There aretwo types of spellsinBG3: Save Spells and Attack Roll Spells. And the way the two types calculate hit chance is different. Here’s how it works.
Save Spells
Save Spells are the more common variant of spells, and most spells players will use are in this category. These are typicallyAoE damage spells(Fireball, Cone of Cold, etc.) orcontrol spells(Hold Monster,Tasha’s Hideous Laughter, etc.). When a spell of this nature is used, the hit chance is decided by how well the target (the character the spell is aimed towards) ‘saves’ itself, hence the title. The formula this is calculated by is:
The proficiency bonus of a character is dependent on their level. It starts from +2 at level 1 and goes up as you level. Spellcasting ability is decided by the class through which a caster learned that spell. If they learned a spell by leveling up as a Wizard, any spells they learn will use their Intelligence modifier. But the same spell, when learned by leveling as a Sorcerer, will use Charisma instead.If the final roll is greater than the enemy’s saving throw, the spell will hit.
Players don’t typically need to worry about a spell not using the correct ability modifier unless theymulticlass into Wizardas a non-Intelligence class andlearn new spells via Scrolls.
Attack Roll Spells
Attack Roll spells require the caster to attempt to overcome the target’s AC in order to deal damage to them. These are typicallysingle-target damage-dealing spellslike Bone Chill andRay of Frost. The formula is as follows:
If the final dice roll for the spell using the above formula is higher than the target’s AC, the target takes full damage from the spell.
Players can easily tell which spell relies on Attack Rolls and which ones allow for Saves by reading the tooltip. It will either say ‘Attack Roll’ or CON/WIS/INT/DEX/CHA/STR Save.
All Ways to Increase Spell Hit Chance in BG3
There are four main ways to increase a spell’s chance to hit inBG3:
Targeting the Right Enemy
If a target has low AC, Attack Roll Spells will have a higher chance to hit. If the target has low Constition but high Dexterity, Blight - which uses CON saves - will have a much higher chance to hit than Fireball - which uses DEX saves. Using the right spells against the right target is what combat revolves around inBG3.
Equipment
Players will start getting items that increase Spell Save DC at the tail end of Act 2 and through Act 3. Equipping casters with these items increases their spells' hit chance drastically. It’s the biggest direct buff a caster can receive.
High Ground
Attack Roll spells become more likely to hit if the caster stands on high ground. As an example,Eldritch Blastis an Attack Roll spell. If the spell hit chance is 70% when aimed at the enemy from even terrain, it’ll be raised to 80% if attacked from high ground.
Support Spells
Certain spells can increase the likelihood of the caster’s other spells landing on the target, indirectly increasing their chance to hit. The best example of this is the Hex spell, which can be used to impose a disadvantage on any of the target’s stats. This means that if players cast Hex, use it to lower DEX, and then cast Fireball, the likelihood of Fireball hitting is doubled.
Using ‘Always Hit’ or ‘Half Damage’ Spells
There is only one spell inBG3that has the ability to never miss in exchange for being inherently low on damage:Magic Missile. Each dart or missile of this spell always deals between 2-5 Damage at level 1, 3-6 damage at level 2, and so on. There is no chance that the spell will miss. Damage from Magic Missile can be negated by certain interactions, but the spell itself will still hit.
The tooltip for Magic Missile sometimes says INT/WIS/CHA Save (shown in the screenshot above). This is a mistake, as Magic Missile cannot be saved. The spell will still work as intended; the tooltip will just be wrong.
Other than Magic Missile, allAoE damage spellslike Fireball, Ice Storm, Cone of Cold, and others have the inherent trait that even if the target of the spell succeeds in their save, they still take half damage.
Like Magic Missile, that half-damagealwayshappens, no matter what. This trait is not exclusive to AoE spells either. Spells like Blight and Chain Lightning also have this ability. To check if a spell always deals half damage, check its tooltip. It’ll say right there whether the spell falls in this category by stating:On Save: Target still takes half damage.
