Best Baldur’s Gate 3 Solo Wizard Build

This solo guide focuses on the key aspects of a Wizard build in Baldur’s Gate 3 (BG3), intended to play solo without companions.

This build page has been updated for thePatch 8 versionof Baldur’s Gate 3.

Best Solo Wizard Build Guide

In Baldur’s Gate 3, Wizards are powerful spellcasters who have an expanded spellcost and can learn spells through scrolls. Wizards also have a variety of subclass choices and can be an effective solo build. What makes the solo Wizard build unique is the usage of summoning and defensive spells for damage and survivability. This solo build will lean into obtainingpermanent bonusesand unlocking spells that can summon allies in combat for added support.

We’ve crafted this solo build focusing on achieving top performance in combat, particularly for those interested in playing onHonour Mode difficulty. This build avoids multiclassing, as the Wizard can prove exceptionally potent as a pure class. Let’s delve into how to effectively utilize the optimal Baldur’s Gate 3 Solo Wizard Build!

Patch 8 Changes to Solo Wizard Build for BG3

The most important change to the Wizard class in Patch 8 of BG3 is the addition of Bladesinging subclass and Booming Blade Cantrip. This allows the Wizard to play effectively in melee range. The downside however is losing out on more spellcasting potential of many Wizard subclasses.

Additionally, the Wizard can take the Warlock Hexblade subclass at one level to start and gain many proficiencies that can aid in combat. This gives the Wizard many more options for dealing with combat. We’ll offer this alternative build below, if you would be interested in trying this new Wizard playstyle.

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Solo Wizard Build Features

The following list presents all the essential solo Wizard Build Mechanics and Features in Baldur’s Gate 3:

How to Play the Wizard Solo in Baldur’s Gate 3

Baldur’s Gate 3 can be played solo by either opting to disregard companions or recruiting them and later dismissing them to your camp. Although playing a Wizard build solo presents a challenging experience, it is possible to complete the entire game solo on Tactician or Honour Mode difficulty.

Below are some general tips on how to play the best Wizard build in BG3 Solo:

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We will explain more about these topics throughout this guide, Best Baldur’s Gate 3 Solo Wizard Build.

Character Creation

Wood Half-Elf is the best racial choice for a solo Wizard build because you gain shield proficiency and the highest movement speed in all of Baldur’s Gate 3 races. Additionally, the Half-Elf race gains access to Darkvision, Fey Ancestry, and other weapon proficencies. Keep in mind, Half-Elf is different than Elf, mainly in the Shield proficiency which is critical for this build.

A secondary choice is the Human race which gains shield proficiency as well, skill proficiency, and increased carrying capacity. Lastly, the Asmodeus Tiefling is a powerful solo Wizard race due to Hellish Resistance, Hellish Rebuke, and Darkness spell.

Best Baldur’s Gate 3 Solo Wizard Build

Here is the bestracechoice for a solo Wizard build in Baldur’s Gate 3:

Background & Skills

Sage is the best background for a solo Wizard because you gain proficiency in two Intelligence-based skills, Arcana and History.Backgroundsin Baldur’s Gate 3 are a way to represent your character’s backstory and give them some startingskillsandabilities. The best skills are investigation and Insight which help with exploring as a solo player in BG3.

Ability Score

The Best Ability Score for solo Wizard Build is 16 Intelligence, 16 Dexterity, and 14 Constitution. Intelligence is your primary spell attribute that determines chances of landing, and damage, and expands your spellbook to hold more spells. Dexterity determines your AC while wearing clothes and order in combat. Constitution is overall health pool and concentration saving through ability score.

Try to land on even numbers vs. odd because odd won’t give you any bonuses. Also, check out ourPermanent bonus guideon how you can boost your ability score through quests.

Below is the best ability score for a solo Wizard in Baldur’s Gate 3:

Best Solo Wizard Build – Level Progression in Baldur’s Gate 3

Alternative Solo Wizard Build

For our alternative Solo Wizard build you’re actually going to start out at Level 1 choosing the Warlock class and Hexblade subclass. This will give you access to two powerful cantrips, Eldritch Blast and Booming Blade. Additionally, the Warlock class grants you a ton of weapon/armour proficencies so you don’t have to use clothing. However, if you choose to still wear robes, make sure to take the Mage Armour spell for additional protection at Level 3.

The only major sacrifice with this build is that you will loose out on an additional feat at Level 12. However, the powerful cantrips and extra proficiences you get with Warlock more than make up for it. It allows you to do damage with these cantrips right from the start, and they remain viable through to the end game.

At level one, you should follow our character creation steps. Select the correct background,race,skills, andabilityscore focusing on Intelligence and Dexterity. You pick asubclassat level 2, so expect a slow start in terms of performance. At level one, you will select the 3Cantripsand 6Spells. However, you will only be able to prepare 4 spells to use on your action bar. Additionally, the Wizard can swap in and out spells, as long as you are outside of combat. Thus, interchange these spells before combat for more defensive, offensive, or utility spells.

CantripSelection

SpellSelection

Wizard Class Feature

Arcane Recovery– you’re able to recover twospellslots. The number allows you to either restore two level 1spellsor one level 2spell. It’s a simple mechanic that you can use to prevent endless Resting in between fights. Expect a lot of rest at lower levels where yourspellslots are limited.

Level 1 Best Solo Wizard Build Prepared Spells – Mage Armour, Shield, Chromatic Orb, and Grease.

Solo Wizard Build Gameplay

At level 1 with a solo Wizard, you will have limited spell slots and rely mainly on cantrips like Firebolt for damage. Always cast Mage Armour after a long rest to increase your survivability. Additionally, save one spell slot for Shield if you get attacked to likely avoid damage. Your area damage comes from casting Grease then Chromatic Orb Fire or Firebolt in the area. Otherwise, use Chromatic Orb Cold on targets to do a fair bit of damage and trigger prone (stun).

For survivability, keep your distance and rely on potions with bonus actions for healing. As a solo Wizard build in Baldur’s Gate 3, you will need a massive supply of potions to survive. Look to merchants in the Hollowed Grove early in the game and stock up on invisibility particularly. Always keep one on you in emergencies and remember, you may disengage from combat and flee if enough distance between an enemy.

Solo Wizard Armour and Weapons

The most important part of this solo Wizard build is picking the Half-Elf or Human race and equipping a shield with clothing while the Mage Armour spell is active. This will keep your AC high and potentially 18 at level 1. This will be higher than heavy armour users’ AC, helping avoid attacks with zero downsides since Quarterstaffs are versatile weapons.

Your clothing choices will be limited in Act 1, but you can obtain jewelry to give you additional spells and that should be your focus.

Solo Wizard Progression

Your overall priority starting Baldur’s Gate 3 with this solo Wizard build is the following:

Take the NecromancySubclassat level two. The primary reason for a Solo Wizard to use the necromancy subclass in Baldur’s Gate 3 is the Grim Harvest subclass feature which returns health when you kill a creature. This subclass will also give a free Animate Dead spell at level 6, helping free up our spells and adding a valuable ally to the fight. Below is what you unlock at this level:

The primary reason you unlock False Life and Longstrider is they can both be applied outside of combat and last until a long rest without concentration. Simply put them on your prepared spells, cast them, and then remove the spells to something else. You will keep the increased movement and temporary HP. Tricks like these are needed for playing solo, and while it might be annoying to do this every long rest, it will make a dramatic difference in your survivability.

Level 2 Best Solo Wizard Build Prepared – Mage Armour, Shield, Chromatic Orb, Grease, and Thunderwave.

At level three, what will happen is to increase yourspellslots. You gain another level 1 and two level 2spellslots. Now you can cast a couple of higher-levelspellsand lower-levelspellsper fight. You will drop the Thunderwave spell and pick two level 2 spells at this level. While Thunderwave is useful, you can obtain theRing of Absolute Forcewhich gives you the spell per short rest. Below are our recommendations at this level:

Spells Explained

The Flaming Sphere spell is particularly helpful at lower levels playing solo. This spell requires concentration so it cannot be combined with another concentration spell. Additionally, the Flaming Sphere lasts for 10 turns, not until a long rest. This means you will need to cast Flaming Sphere just before combat and charge in to trigger a fight, or during turn one if you need extra support. Primarily use this spell as a decoy, something to relieve pressure and soak up damage rather than you.

Scorching Ray is your ranged burst damage fire spell. It’s an improved version of Magic Missile. However, Magic Missile can bend around targets and has a 100% chance of landing. Use Scorching Ray when you need to burst down one target or attack three separate targets. The downside of the spell is it has a wide range of outcomes. Thus, it can do a lot of damage or very little, whereas Magic Missile will do consistent damage.

At this level, use Grease for control, Flaming Sphere as a distraction, and Orb or Ray for damage. When out of spell slots, rely on Firebolt cantrip and always leave one spell slot free for Shield.

Level 3 Best Solo Wizard Build Prepared – Mage Armour, Shield, Chromatic Orb, Grease, Flaming Sphere, and Scorching Ray

At level four the best solo Wizard build unlocks 1 Cantrip, 2 spells, and 1 feat. Below are the suggested selections for the Solo Wizard build:

After you accept the feat to increase intelligence, open your spellbook spellbook and re-add one spell. Magic Missile is great for force damage and guaranteed damage, and Thunderwave is helpful if you don’t have the ring and need a knockback.

At level 4, we gain access to two very powerful defensive spells, Misty Step and Mirror Image. Misty Step is a movement ability allowing you to use a bonus action to teleport 18 meters. This is helpful for offensive and defensive means. One combination for offensive use is Misty Step to an enemy hanging off a ledge, and Thunderwave them off for an instant kill. Additionally, look to acquire two items in Act 1 that contain a free use of Misty Step,Amulet of Misty Step, andDisintegrating Night Walkerboots.

Mirror Image is another defensive spell, that can be prepared during tough encounters. The strength of this spell is it lasts 10 turns without requiring concentration and stacks with Shield. Thus, you can obtain obscenely high levels of AC, likely avoiding 100% of attacks for a couple of turns. You can also pre-buff with this spell since the duration is 10 turns. However, we prefer to use Mirror Image scrolls rather than preparing this spell, though it is useful to learn and keep as a defensive option.

Level 4 Best Solo Wizard Build Prepared – Mage Armour, Shield, Chromatic Orb, Grease, Flaming Sphere, Scorching Ray, Magic Missile, and Misty Step.

When you reach Level 5, you’ll learn two newspells. First, drop Magic Missile or another spell you do not use so you can pick up two level 3 spells. Next, take Fireball and Counterspell. We will not select Animate Dead at this level, mainly because we learn the spell for free at level 6 as one of our subclass features.

Your spell selections of Fireball and Counterspell give you a powerful new area damage spell and a means to counter spellcasters. Fireball is the quintessential multi-kill spell in Baldur’s Gate 3. you’re able to “upcast” this spell using a higher spell slot later in the game, making it effective for your entire playthrough.

Counterspelluses a spell slot and negates an enemy spell. Thus, similar to the Shield spell, you want to leave back one level 3 spell slot or higher just to prevent an incoming crowd control spell for the enemy. What will typically kill you playing solo is being stunned or losing control of your character’s actions. This gives you a much better chance of dealing with it but keep one spell behind to use Counterspell as a reaction.

Level 5 Best Solo Wizard Build Prepared – Mage Armour, Shield, Chromatic Orb, Grease, Flaming Sphere, Misty Step, Scorching Ray, Counterspell, and Fireball.

Also Check:-BG3 Map

At level 6, the best solo wizard build in Baldur’s Gate 3 will unlock two subclass features, and two new spells. At this point, drop Flaming Sphere, and Grease to add Glyph of Warding and Mirror Image. You will gain Animate Dead due to your subclass, thus Flaming Sphere becomes less relevant. Moreover, Grease becomes less effective as you level, and Glyph of Warding can create elemental effects on the ground.

Solo Wizard Build Unlocks

At this level, you start to feel like a Necromancer with Animate Dead giving you two rather than one corpse. These corpses will last until a long rest but must be cast before combat on a corpse. The best way to do this is to find a previous fight and use the spell on corpses after a long rest. This should be done like Longstrider and False Life after every long rest.

The Glyph of Warding spell is selected because it can be used on different element types. Similar to Chromatic Orb, Glyph of Warding hits hard but has a much larger radius. Thus, you can use it as a replacement for Fireball when enemies are resistant to fire damage.

Haste is a powerful spell that gives two actions per turn, but this buff can also be obtained through a potion of speed. However, it’s worth selecting to use just before combat in the hardest fights.

Level 6 Best Solo Wizard Build Prepared – Mage Armour, Shield, Chromatic Orb, Scorching Ray, Counterspell, Fireball, Magic Missile, Glyph of Warding, and Mirror Image.

At level 7 the Solo Wizard build learns 2spellsand access to spell level 4 which is an important one for this build

The Blight spell is a Necromancy school spell that is perfect for mid-year single-target damage. The second spell is another conjuration or summon spell that allows you to bring about another creature to fight alongside you. This summon, stacks on top of Animate Dead and others which helps avoid damage while playing solo. Make sure to cast outside of combat, and this does not require a corpse.

Level 7 Best Solo Wizard Build Prepared – Mage Armour, Shield, Chromatic Orb, Scorching Ray, Counterspell, Fireball, Magic Missile, Misty Step, Glyph of Warding, Mirror Image, and Conjure Minor Elemental.

Reaching Level 8 grants you access to more spells and another feature. Once we take +2 to intelligence, slot an extra spell by going into your spellbook.

Banishment is one of the best single-target crowd control spells in the game. The downside is Banishment requires concentration and only one target at a time. When playing solo, this is perfect to eliminate the highest damage dealer target from the battlefield for two turns.

Ice Storm is another powerful area-based damage spell. Unlike Fireball, Ice Storm leaves the ground icy which can trigger prone when enemies move through it. Swap this spell in when you have a choke point for enemies to funnel through and need crowd control.

Level 8 Best Solo Wizard Build Prepared – Mage Armour, Shield, Chromatic Orb, Scorching Ray, Counterspell, Fireball, Magic Missile, Glyph of Warding, Mirror Image, Conjure Minor Elemental, and Blight.

At level 9 the Wizard learns 2 spells, prepares 13 total, and has access to level 5 spell slots.

At this level, we gain access to Conjure Elemental, which stacks with Animate Dead and Conjure Minor Elemental. Once you turn level 11, you’re able to upcast this spell to summon or more powerful creature. Moreover, you can use this level 6 spell slot and regain the spell slot with Spellcrux Amulet. Thus, you can use multiple level 6 spells, rather than just one. This, like other summons, lasts until a long rest and is a powerful ally in solo combat.

Level 9 Best Solo Wizard Build Prepared – Mage Armour, Shield, Chromatic Orb, Scorching Ray, Counterspell, Fireball, Magic Missile, Misty Step, Glyph of Warding, Mirror Image, Conjure Minor Elemental, Blight, and Conjure Elemental.

At level 10, the solo Wizard build gains one new cantrip and two spells.

At this level, we suggest taking versatile spells like Invisibility and Flight. The reason we don’t suggest taking these spells earlier is that you can gain both of these effects through potions. Using potions helps save spell slots and still provides the benefits. Thus, consider these spells at this stage flexible and fill in what you are missing with the build.

Level 10 Best Solo Wizard Build Prepared – Mage Armour, Shield, Chromatic Orb, Scorching Ray, Counterspell, Misty Step, Fireball, Magic Missile, Glyph of Warding, Mirror Image, Conjure Minor Elemental, Blight, Conjure Elemental, and Ice Storm.

At this level, you will gain access to the highest spell slot, level 6 spells. We suggest dropping Ice Storm for Circle of Death a powerful area necromancy skill.

Additionally, there are two Quarterstaves that bypass this issue in Act 3: theStaff of SpellpowerorMarkoheshki. With either of these quarterstaves, you can negate a spell slot, essentially cheesing two level 6 spell slots. Moreover, an Act 2 necklace,Spellcrux Amuletwill do the same thing.

If you collect all three of these items, you can cast 4 level 6 spells. Thus, you can cast Create Undead, and Conjure Elemental upcast for two powerful allies. Then, you still have one or more left over for powerful area-based damage spells like Circle of Death.

Level 11 Best Solo Wizard Build Prepared – Mage Armour, Shield, Chromatic Orb, Scorching Ray, Counterspell, Misty Step, Fireball, Magic Missile, Glyph of Warding, Mirror Image, Conjure Minor Elemental, Blight, Conjure Elemental, Circle of Death, and Create Undead.

Congratulations on reaching the maximum level in Baldur’s Gate 3 with the best solo Wizard build! We recommend taking the below feat and spells:

Spell Sniper helps gain a powerful cantrip and easier critical strikes. Globe of Invulnerability can save you from dying during the hardest fights in the game, but the downside is concentration. Chain lighting is helpful when facing constructs or any metal objects and enemies. We recommend slotting Globe of Invulnerability or at least saving a scroll in emergency usage situations.

Level 12 Best Solo Wizard Build Prepared – Mage Armour, Shield, Chromatic Orb, Scorching Ray, Counterspell, Fireball, Magic Missile, Glyph of Warding, Mirror Image, Conjure Minor Elemental, Blight, Conjure Elemental, Ice Storm, Circle of Death, Create Undead, and Globe of Invulnerability.

Best Gear for Baldur’s Gate 3 Solo Wizard Build

In Games like Baldur’s Gate 3, you’ll explore the world, loot chests and your enemies’ dead bodies, and complete quests, and all those activities can reward you with useful items, potions, armor, weapons, scrolls, and much more. There are three Acts in BG3, and Best Baldur’s Gate 3 solo Wizard Build Guide includes suggested sets and alternatives for Act 1 and Act 3.

Beginner: Starting the Game

Here’s the best beginner gear, items, and equipment for solo Wizard Build in Baldur’s Gate 3:

Advanced: Endgame

The following table presents the best gear, items, and equipment for the solo Wizard Build in Baldur’s Gate 3:

Below is the best Act 3 Armor, Weapons, and Equipment for Solo Wizard in Baldur’s Gate 3:

Best Consumables, Potions, Ammunition, and Items

The following list is the bestconsumableitems that will aid in our Best Baldur’s Gate 3 solo Wizard Build Guide:

Illithid Powers For Solo Wizard Build

The best Illithid Powers for a solo Wizard build are Luck of the Farm Realms, Black Hole, and Cull of the Weak. Luck of the Farm helps with critical hits and burst damage and, combined with Cull of the Weak, can trigger AOE damage passively. Black Hole requires you to take the Astral Tadpole in Act 2, but it sucks in 5 enemies, slows them, and can be recast for free. This is helpful in certain large-scale boss fights with many enemies. Below are the best Illithid Tadpole Powers for the xxx build in Baldur’s Gate 3:

Permanent Bonuses

Throughout Baldur’s Gate 3, you will have the ability to gain permanent bonuses to your character. These can grant additional spells, ability scores, and other bonuses. Permanent Bonuses are not displayed throughout the campaign but are vital to increase overall combat performance. We have all permanent bonuses here in a guide, but the most important ones for you to collect are listed below.

Solo Wizard Build Changes in Patch 7 for BG3

The release of Patch 7 for BG3 brought with it no significant combat, gameplay, or build-related change for the Solo Wizard build. The main focus of this update was the final narrative additions, mostly centered around evil endings, along with official modding tools and adjustments to honor mode.

Furthermore, the game now features amodding toolkitand anin-game mod manager, allowing players to create and install mods directly within the game. Consequently, this update is intended to hand over creative control to the community. It enables players to produce unique content and continue the story in new ways.