How to Prepare Spells in Baldur’s Gate 3

Baldur’s Gate 3 has many different types of magic classes, some of which need to prepare their spells. However, the game doesn’t do a great job of explaining why you need to prepare spells or how to do this. If you’re feeling like your Cleric or Wizard isn’t using their best abilities, here’s what you need to do to change that.

What Does It Mean to Prepare Spells in Baldur’s Gate 3?

The concept of preparing spells is adapted from Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition. Each magic class in the game has a spell list they have access to. Some magic classes, such as the Sorcerer or Bard, must pick a select number of spells from this list when they level up, meaning they can only use a limited selection of these spells during the game.

However, some classes unlock all their spells at certain levels, but they can only have a select number of these equipped at a time. These equipped spells are known as prepared spells. At the end of a Long Rest, these classes, such as the Cleric and Druid, pick what spells they feel will be most useful for the day ahead. Wizards also do this, but the spells they have access to come from a spellbook which is added to through level progression or by copying spells from other sources.

As an adaptation of the Dungeons & Dragons rules, Baldur’s Gate 3 features this same concept. However, it no longer requires a Long Rest for these spellcasters to change their spells. Instead, this can be done at any time, except during combat.

How Do You Prepare Spells in Baldur’s Gate 3?

In order to prepare spells, you need to find the Spellbook menu for the appropriate characters. This is found by pressing K with keyboard controls or through the shortcut menu found with the right trigger on a controller. It can also be accessed through a tab on the inventory or party menu. You can also prepare spells every time your character levels up.

In this menu, you’ll find all the spells available to your character, as well as a section which shows the spells you currently have equipped. Simply click on a spell in the second section to remove it from your prepared spells. Click on the spells in the full list to add them to any empty slot in your prepared list.

Baldur’s Gate 3 is available now for PC and PS5.