How To Prepare Spells In BG3

Spellcasting in Baldur’s Gate 3 is an art that offers a wealth of versatility, but there are still boundaries on these magical arsenals. There are two types of spellcasting systems: «known spells,» where casters have a fixed set of spells always at the ready, and «prepared spells,» which permit casters to select a handful from a broader list for use in combat scenarios.

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Thankfully for casters, Baldur’s Gate 3 has eased up on the traditional tabletop constraints regarding prepared spellcasting — in this game, prepared casters have the luxury of modifying their list of prepared spells on-the-go, and this guide will teach you exactly how.

Known Spells Vs. Prepared Spells

Class Spell List

All spellcasting classes have a Class Spell List. These are the exhaustive list of spells that a spellcaster can learn (without racial features or feats), and are commonly associated with the class’ theme.

For example, Bless, a spell which involves holy blessings, is exclusively on the Cleric and Paladin spell list due to their association with the divine and righteousness.

On the other hand, a spell like «Entangle«, which involves vines sprouting out of the ground to incapacitate foes, is exclusively on the Druid and Ranger spell list due to their association with nature.

Known Spellcasting

Known Spellcasting classes do not have access to their whole Class Spell List, and must instead choose select spells from said list.

These spells, known as Known Spells, stay with a character permanently during their journey (unless you choose to respec them entirely), and are the only spells available to the character.

One Known Spell can be changed per level-up. Otherwise, Known Spells cannot be changed at all.

Prepared Spellcasting

On the other hand, Prepared Spellcasting classes can freely change their available spells to anything on their Class Spell List, provided that they are out of combat. The process of choosing these spells is known as Preparing Spells.

Prepared Casters still have only a certain number of available Prepared Spells that they can cast at any given time, but they can freely swap them out from their Class Spell List, whereas Known Spellcasters cannot.

Known Spellcasters Vs. Prepared Spellcasters

Special Case: Wizards

Wizards are technically Prepared Casters, as they do not have access to cast from all their available spells at all times. They must choose a limited number of Prepared Spells, from a list of spells available to them.

However, Wizards differ from other Prepared Casters in that they can’t prepare every spell on their Class Spell List, but instead have a Spells Known list as well.

This limitation is balanced out by the fact that Wizards can learn from any Spell Scroll item they find in their journeys, making for an almost-infinitely expanding Spells Known list.

How To Prepare Spells

To swap out prepared spells for any Prepared Spellcaster:

1. Ensure you’re not in combat. While you can be anywhere—whether it’s the wilderness, camp, or even a hiding spot in enemy territory—you must be out of active combat to modify spells.
2. Open the character’s Spellbook. This can be accessed from your inventory or party-view. (Default Keybind: K) This window will list all the spells they’ve acquired during their journey.
3. Your prepared spells are in the top row of the Spellbook, beside the spellcasting book symbol. Here, you’ll see your prepared spells—excluding cantrips, which are not technically spells.
4. To swap, simply click on a Prepared Spell to remove it and replace it with a desired spell from your list of available spells.

Once you’ve set your choices, make sure to double-check that the changes went through before wading into battle!

Remember that you can add more rows to the hotbar, by clicking the ‘+’ sign in the bottom right of the hotbar.

This can be especially useful at higher levels when you have tons of actions and spells to choose from.

NEXT: Baldur’s Gate 3: Complete Guide To Wizards