Baldurs Gate 3: Best Wizard Subclass [Ranked]

Baldur’s Gate 3 features eight wizard subclasss. These are Necromancy, Divination, Enchantment, Illusion, Abjuration, Transmutation, Evocation, and Conjuration School.

For those who do not know, a subclass is like an extra classification you can pick in addition to the main class. Therefore, these choices affect your Character’s skills, strength, and growth as they level up. 

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Key Takeaways

Subclasses can add another layer of complexity to the Wizard Class. Therefore, given below are some of the best Subclasses and what makes them special:

1. Illusion:
   • Deceptive and situational in battles.
   • Spells focus on false perceptions and vanishing tricks.
   • Not highly impactful in quests.
2. Transmutation:
   • Alters physical properties.
   • Connected to alchemy.
   • Limited benefits compared to other subclasses.
3. Abjuration:
   • Focuses on defense and protection.
   • Creates barriers and dismisses enchantments.
   • Valuable for team defense.
4. Conjuration:
   • Summons objects and creatures.
   • Adds versatility to battles.
   • Aids the party with additional support.
5. Evocation:
   • Manipulates energies for powerful spells.
   • Focuses on raw elemental power.
   • It’s ideal for those seeking offensive prowess.
6. Necromancy:
   • Manipulates life force, death, and the undead.
   • Versatile with offensive and defensive options.
   • Unique sustainability with healing from Grim Harvest.

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Subclass Overview Table:

Subclass	Bonus
Illusion	Illusion Savant, See Invisibility, Improve Minor Illusion, and Illusory Self.
Transmutation	Transmutation Savant, Experimental Alchemy Transmuter’s Stone, and Shapechanger.
Enchantment	Enchantment Savant, Hypnotic Gaze, Instinctive Charm, and Split Enchantment.
Abjuration	Abjuration Savant, Arcane Ward, Projected Ward, and Improved Abjuration.
Divination	Divination Savant, Portent, Expert Divination, Third Eye: Darkvision, and Third Eye: See Invisibility.
Conjuration	Conjuration Savant, Minor Conjuration: Create Water, Benign Transposition: Teleport, and Focused Conjuration.
Evocation	Evocation Savant, Sculpt Spells, Potent Cantrip. and Empowered Evocation.
Necromancy	Necromancy Savant, Grim Harvest, Animate Spell, Undead Thralls: Better Summons, Undead Thralls: Additional Undead and Inured to Undeath.

Illusion 

As a wizard, I found the Illusion subclass the least useful for completing quests. It deceives enemies with false perceptions, disguises, and vanishing tricks. But its niche spells and situational subclass features rarely helped me in battles.

• Level 2: Illusion Savant (halves illusion spell costs), Improved Minor Illusion (enhances cantrip)
• Level 6: See Invisibility (reveals invisible creatures)
• Level 10: Illusory Self (auto casts duplicate for dodging)

Spell Description Table:

Spell	Level	Description
Color Spray	1	Blind creatures
Disguise Self	1	Change your appearance completely
Mirror Image	2	Make three fake illusions of yourself that divert enemies' attention
Fear	3	Display a scary image that scares targets. Making them easier to hit and stops their movementt
Seeming	5	Disguise up to 4 members of your adventuring party

Transmutation

As a Transmutation wizard, you can alter physical properties rather than Illusion. In my experience with the subclass, I used spells to transform objects, allies, enemies, or myself.

Transmutation connects to alchemy here. But this subclass ranks low due to limited benefits.

Bonuses:

• Level 2: Transmutation Savant (lower spell costs), Experimental Alchemy (extra alchemical brews)
• Level 6: Transmuter’sTransmuter’s Stone (store magic in stone for creature buff)
• Level 10: Shapechanger (transform into flying Blue Jay)

Spell	Level	Description
Feather Fall	1	Immune you and your allies to fall damage
Good Berry	1	Conjure 4 enchanted berries into either your own inventory or that of a companion. Creatures who eat a berry regain 1-4 hitpoints
Dark Vision	2	Give a creature the power to see clearly in the dark up to 12 meters away
Spike Growth	2	Change a part of ground into spikes. Movement is halved. A creature walking on the spikes takes 2-8 Piercing damage for every 1.5m it moves
Poly Morph	4	Transform a creature into a harmless sheep.

Transmutation wizard bonuses aid alchemy, which is less valuable than finding items by looting.

Enchantment

As an Enchantment wizard, I bewitch and charm creatures rather than directly attacking them. But this subclass ranks low due to its narrow focus. My bonuses:

• Level 2: Enchantment Savant (lower spell costs), Hypnotic Gaze (disable enemy)
• Level 6: Instinctive Charm (turn an attacker against allies)
• Level 10: Split Enchantment (target two enemies with spells)

My spells charm beasts, scare enemies, and possess humanoids to attack others. For example:

Spell	Level	Description
Animal Friendship	1	Make a beast decide not to attack you
Dissonant Whispers	1	Whisper a unsettling tone to a creature and scare it
Crown of Madness	2	Drive a humanoid enemy to madness, compelling them to attack the nearest creature, even if its an ally, excluding you
Dominate Beast	4	Make a beast fight alongside you
Hold monster	5	Paralyze a creature preventing it from moving, acting or reacting

The enchantment needs to have buffing and defensive spells. It focuses on debuffing enemies, which can be limited. 

Abjuration

As an Abjuration wizard, I could focus on defense and protection. This school allows players to create barriers, fend off foes, and dismiss enchantments. Here are the bonuses I get:

• Abjuration School Level 2: Abjuration Savant (Feature)
• Abjuration School Level 2: Arcane Ward (Feature)
• Abjuration School Level 6: Projected Ward (Feature)
• Abjuration School Level 10: Improved Abjuration (Feature)

Spell	Level	Description
Mage Armour	1	Protect a target from attacks by increasing its armor class to 13
Aid	2	Heal your allies, and increase their hit points max by 5
Lesser Restoration	2	Cure a creature from disease, poison, paralysis or blindness
Remove Curse	3	Remove all creature's Curses and Hexes affecting it.
Banishment	4	Temporarily Banish your target to another plane of existence.

Though some might think of Abjuration as a background role, I enjoy being the shield that guards my team.

Divination

As a Divination wizard, I get glimpses of the future, unveil hidden truths, and use this knowledge to my advantage. 

• Divination School Level 2: Divination Savant (Feature)
• Divination School Level 2: Portent (Feature)
• Divination School Level 6: Expert Divination (Feature)
• Divination School Level 6: Third Eye: Darkvision (Action)
• Divination School Level 10: Third Eye: See Invisibility (Action)

Spell	Level	Description
True Strike	Cantrip	Divine a character's defenses to give you Advantage when you next Attack Roll against it.
Speak With Animals	1	Gain the ability to understand and communicate with beasts
Detect Thoughts	2	Use your mind to read thoughts of creatures while talking to them

Divination is powerful, but unfortunately, its spells can be situational.

Conjuration

Players can summon objects and creatures to aid them as a Conjuration wizard. Here are the skillset:

• Conjuration School Level 2: Conjuration Savant (Feature)
• Conjuration School Level 2: Minor Conjuration: Create Water (Action)
• Conjuration School Level 6: Benign Transposition: Teleport (Action)
• Conjuration School Level 10: Focused Conjuration (Feature)

Spell	Level	Description
Find Familiar	1	Get a helpful familiar fairy-like spirit that can transform into the animal you pick
Fog Cloud	1	The cloud makes it hard to see for creatures inside
Cloud of Daggers	2	Conjure a cloud of spinning daggers that attack anyone inside
Minor Elemental	4	Conjure a minor elemental to fight alongside you
Arcane Gate	6	Create two linked teleportation portals

With Conjuration, I could bring versatility and surprise to any fight.

Evocation

Specializing in Evocation, you can manipulate energies for powerful spells. It slates unique Spells for your Character that are extremely powerful to turn the tide of the battle. 

• Evocation School Level 2: Evocation Savant (Feature)
• Evocation School Level 2: Sculpt Spells (Feature)
• Evocation School Level 6: Potent Cantrip (Feature)
• Evocation School Level 10: Empowered Evocation (Feature)

Spell	Level	Description
Chromatic Orb	1	Throw a ball of energy. It does 3d8 Thunder damage, or 2d8 Acid, Cold, Fire, Lightning, or Poison damage and makes a surface.
Magic Missile	1	Shoot 3 Magical Darts which always hit their target and do damage.
Prayer of Healing	2	Heal all allies you can see
Shatter	2	Damage all nearby creatures and objects.
Wall of Stone	5	Raise a wall of stone

Evocation is perfect for those who want to wield raw elemental power.

Necromancy

Necromancy Wizard allows players to manipulate life force, death, and the undead. I mostly used spells to raise the dead and use necrotic energy to harm or heal. 

• Level 2: Necromancy Savant (lower spell costs), Grim Harvest (regain health when defeating foes)
• Level 6: Animate Spell (raise corpse as servant), Undead Thralls (enhance summoned undead)
• Level 10: Inured to Undeath (resist necrotic damage and prevent max HP reduction)

With the Necromancy subclass, you can restore health by damaging enemies and resisting necrotic damage. These spells include:

Spell	Level	Description
Ray of Sickness	1	Release a ray of sickening energy possibly Poisoning the target
Ray of Enfeeblement	2	Target deals half damage with weapon attacks using Strength.
Revivify	3	Resurrect a companion. They return to life with 1 hp
Feign Death	3	Put an ally in a protective, magical coma which makes him Resistant to all damage except psychic
Create Undead	6	Raise a corpse as a mummy that fights by your side.

Necromancy is well-rounded with offensive and defensive options. The healing from Grim Harvest also makes this subclass uniquely sustainable.

My Thoughts

Wizards are an essential class for every party, and during my 20-plus hours, the Wizard was integral. I found the choice for the Subclass to be very difficult, as all the options presented to me had their moments. Necromancy stands out with its versatile powers, especially the ability to summon undead allies and resist necrotic damage.

If you prefer raw power like me, Evocation is tempting. This is why I would recommend using Evocation if you are not sure what to pick. Ultimately, every subclass has its unique experience, and the best wizard subclass depends on individual playstyle preferences.

More Reads:

• Baldurs Gate 3 Best Fighter Build.
• Baldurs Gate 3 Best Feats.
• Baldurs Gate 3 Best Level 1 Spells.