BG3 Cantrips Tier List

[@kumarsalib722]

The fatal issue with True Strike is that it requires concentration. Because of that, there's no reason it will ever take priority over another concentration spell.

[@ethanpeeples6187]

The reason it sucks is because it costs an action. You could literally just attack twice.

[@tiradegrandmarshal]

@@ethanpeeples6187 Requiring concentration is the insult upon injury, though.

[@Koshbiel]

If they made True Strike a level 1 spell, and it could be up-cast to either cover multiple party members or multiple turns, then it becomes far more useful.

[@fool3609]

I heard somebody say this is the “skip turn” cantrip which made me realize how bad it is

[@ethanpeeples6187]

@Koshbiel just make it a buff to slap on your teammates is my opinion so that way you could have s supportive character do it instead of a wizard and what not

[@CrandrewOuch]

True strike almost feels like it was designed to be a bonus action and may even be pretty decent if it were one. Too bad we don't live in that universe

[@ConcerninglyWiseAlligator]

Even as a bonus action, it would super suck since it requires concentration. Concentration spells tend to be super good since you can cast them once and keep getting value from them. Especially if you have few spell slots available. That's how Warlocks get by with just two slots per fight. The drawback for concentration spells is you can only have one of them at a time, so Casting True Strike, would stop any spell you are concentrating on and that sucks. Even if it wasn’t a concentration spell, a bonus action is relatively expensive for getting advantage. There are many ways you can get advantage for cheap, for example by simply pinning down enemies between two allies, that just costs movement. Not to mention class features like Reckless Attack. As a rule of thumb, if a class doesn't have a feature that gives you advantage, they don't care for it.

[@Kirk9019]

​@@ConcerninglyWiseAlligatorflanking is not a thing in BG3, and is a variant rule in 5e.

[@HamuelTheGrey]

I think there's a sword that has it as bonus action. It's really good on a rogue.

[@HW-ow9zp]

Used when no shot is available

[@Kirk9019]

@@HW-ow9zp if you're within range for True Strike, you can shoot them with a ranged weapon.

[@_0______00__________0_______0]

I started this game almost completely unfamiliar with D&D, and ended up going Warlock. Suffice to say, I've been having a blast... AN ELDRITCH BLAST!

[@1doobiedoo]

Warlock was the perfect class for a beginner. Got a problem? Eldritch Blast solves it.

[@pleaseclap5210]

Bro me too, I had no idea what I was getting into and have always held resident evil as my favorite game of all time but this game has swept me off my feet

[@dighad3824]

This video game is just pure unadulterated fun

[@julianjames2899]

Especially when you get that robe that adds your charisma modifier to your cantrip damage.

[@vhirtue0594]

Warlock and barb are def my fav classes its funny when you need help and your patron bails you out

[@Xenobears]

Poison robes, gloves, cloak can massively improve the poison cantrip… but don’t make up for the sheer number of enemies that resist or ignore poison damage.

[@wruzzer]

idk how many there are cuz i never look at resistance/immunity i'm not interested in, but if it's less than 50% i would deffo go for it. u can always use a different cantrip/spell for the enemies that are immune or resistant.. if i have one cantrip for 50% of the enemies, hell yeah that's good.

[@ICCUWANSIUT]

Spider robes don't affect cantrips if anyone thinks this is a good build, you'll need a different chest.

[@JuanAntonioGarciaHeredia]

​​@@wruzzerThere are only 2 types of resistances in this game: either 50% or 100% (inmune) In act 2, everyone is either resistant to poison or straight up inmune.

[@janisir4529]

It has a higher damage roll than fire ball, but an annoying number of enemies have high constitution, so it misses a lot. I'm only in Act 1 still...

[@wruzzer]

@@JuanAntonioGarciaHeredia i mean less than 50% of the total enemies ingame.

[@samhutchison9582]

Firebolt has to be at least A tier. It's nothing special, but that's exactly the point. It allows casting classes to actually contribute in the small battles in between the big ones where it's actually prudent to use spell slots. It's the workhorse that allows casters to use their other spells when it really matters while still contributing.

[@FlightX101]

Yea firebolt is basically our default spell lol. We’re not as useful for small fights as anything good requires a slot

[@jefferydavidson5347]

Definitely S, it has been the mvp of all my runs

[@kman9884]

Plus, explosive barrels everywhere.

[@Bearshere]

​@@jefferydavidson5347definitely not S it's just the slightly worse version of eldritch blast. Strong A tier cantrip though

[@CadilacGames]

I feel like this was my main action with Shadowheart for like the entire first act when i was saving Spell slots haha

[@PriceMw123]

I'm very glad to see Bone Chill getting some love. There are a surprising amount of undead in this game. More than any average D&D game that I've played.

[@marcosdheleno]

cant have more than neverwinter nights 2. i mean, it has so many, it made weapon master almost useless.

[@KasumiRINA]

​@@marcosdheleno I often play divine casters and NWN2 added a new one, Favored Soul. I picked Kelemvor as deity as you rarely get to specialize in exotic weapons otherwise (bastard swords), multiclassed into Cleric with Paladin dip. At some point casting most buffs became pointless as it took longer to keep them up than everyone dying. I crafted a sword and I think boots that added Charisma and decided to stop because everything just explodes. It's so utterly broken using anti-undead kits in that game, past some level, normal gameplay felt like cheating.

[@nezu_yami]

Dancing Lights and Minor Illusion can both trigger Traps when spawned

[@Mikee512]

Dancing Lights can also block vent traps from emitting, e.g. poison gas. If you place it on top.

[@exantiuse497]

That's almost guaranteed to be a bug imo, it will likely be patchrd at some point

[@CastIronEric]

@@Mikee512 so do you mean like... if i am not in combat and see a trap, i would cast it on the trap?

[@MaxGlycine89]

I recognize that's correct, but it's also, from what I've experienced of BG3, not very useful when many or most of the traps are aimed at behind where the trigger is placed, and they're also repeating. Triggering them means you end up still having to disarm, and more likely to take damage doing so, so you're way better off disarming them in the first place.

[@LicvinTrol]

Wow, i didn't knew that.

[@OakandIV]

Fun one! Very useful. Thaumaturgy gives advantage on Performance and Intimidation, not Deception.

[@jordanmoyes7883]

I do in fact disagree with you about placement of vicious mockery. Sir, It is s tier, simply for the reasoning of I get to insult whoever I'm fighting. And if that isn't the coolest thing ever, I don't know what is. The fact that it gives disadvantage on attack rolls is an added bonus.

[@natemcgennett7171]

Minsc vicious mockery is above S

[@sliceoflife3611]

Vicious Mockery is S tier because you can make content out of it 😂

[@williammrandrews]

😊❤❤

[@Nemchick]

Go play dota with Axe and spam Q, it will be the coolest thing ever...

[@platypus547]

I also find prebuffing with things like resistance to be tedious, but resistance is very occasionally useful out of combat for a few quest type things like the zai’thisk and necromancy of thay.

[@nathanfivecoate5848]

Also the Tests (NOT TRIALS) of Shar in act 2 that will give you a +5 bonus to the appropriate mental ability score until your next long rest. The tests can be done only once

[@cameronkirby9479]

Also Druid and Cleric don't have many cantrips options compared to the number they learn so as a "situational but incredibly useful when it comes up" cantrip resistance is an easy pick for your 3rd or 4th cantrip.

[@wruzzer]

@@cameronkirby9479 that's my thought process too. why would i pick something else than resistance guidance and light on a lvl 1 cleric. i don't get it.

[@ethanhiggins5766]

Thorm drinking contest 🍻

[@arthurgroen8465]

@@wruzzer at level 1 I'd take guidance, produce flame, sacred flame. Early on you don't really need light yet (and even better if you start as a light cleric you get it anyway). Guidance is obviously a must, produce flame and sacred flame give you options for damage. Both in type of spell (attack roll vs save) and in type of damage (fire vs radiant). Resistance and light are options later on.

[@Heolfrig]

Shocking Grasp is a d8, friend! Other than that, enjoyable and pretty close to what I think as well

[@SubmitToTheBiomass]

Good analysis; I agree with the majority of your evaluations and I learned some stuff as well. One thing I'd add about Minor Illusion is that it has amazing out-of-combat utility for pickpockets as well. A lot of vendors are protected by their vision cones and those of surrounding NPCs, but you can force them all to face the same direction with Minor Illusion, then quickly enter turn-based mode and steal whatever you want during the distraction. As an aside, I've never heard anyone else pronounce "1d__" as "one die __" before!

[@KasumiRINA]

Cat familiar meowing or anyone performing also help to distract NPCs like minor illusion does.

[@AirLancer]

"Die" is what the d stands for.

[@JasonNCSU2007]

Shillelagh adds the spell casting modifier to damage. Early game, Shillelagh on a torch is pretty solid. Example, a Druid with 16 WIS is going to deal 1D8 + 3 + 1D4 Fire for 5-15 damage, and more if enemy is weak to fire and/crit hitting.

[@r6TrdSlow]

It can be really great. I’ve got a spore Druid using Mourning Frost staff. I’ve got the “caustic band” ring added, which adds 2 acid damage to weapon attacks, and with Shillelagh activated and 16 dex and 18 Wis that is sitting at 10-25 damage. This is with the spores activated - so you get 2 acid, 1d6 necrotic, and 1d4 cold on top of 1d8 + 5 bludgeoning. Really not bad at all The 16 dex and 18 wiz are at level 4, I did have to min/max that a little bit by giving myself a negative on strength. But there is almost always another party member that has strength for carrying things

[@Bearshere]

​@@r6TrdSlowwhat's the dex for???

[@KenjiAsakura09]

@@Bearshere thats what i want to know, unless they've somehow unlocked the uber secret finesse staff

[@Bearshere]

@@KenjiAsakura09 even if they had, shillelagh replaces your staff modifier with wisdom

[@srikrishnabhat6793]

@@Bearshere Only thing I can think of is higher initiative.

[@a.j.4076]

Acid Splash is great for uncovering Hidden units with Sanctuary, if you don't want to spend any spell slots or don't have any grenades.

[@Re3Ns]

I think create water does the same. It's not a cantrip though.

[@ghosthunter0950]

@@Re3Ns ye its not but who cares tbh. it's such a specific usage.

[@ТеншиТевссар]

Minor illusion is most powerful cantrip. SS tier. Trivialize massive amounts of fights. Lure one enemy to assassin. Lure all enemies to explosive barrel. Lure them close to chasm.

[@spookieboogi6161]

Or I can just pick em up and yeet em over the edge or push em a lot of steps for that

[@sour5550]

You can also use it to make all enemies look away from the Rogue in combat. If you have an illusion mage, it even becomes a bonus action cantrip.

[@kingofgrim4761]

Everytime ive used minor illusion, they succeed their throw and ignore/kill the illusion lol (only a few times)

[@largegroupofmales]

shocking grasp on tempest cleric will never not be satisfying, love seeing enemies fly

[@Tiltigo]

Having not really played dnd before playing this game, I had heard memes about eldritch blast being the only thing a warlock needs, and after playing warlock in my first playthrough, I gotta say I understand now.

[@FluffiestWalrus]

Sooo excited to see all the spell tier lists. I haven’t played sorcerer or bard where you actually have to make a selection vs just preparing - so this will be super helpful

[@beoweasel]

I think FIrebolt is way more useful than you're giving credit. It's quite invaluable for any Red/Gold/Bronze Draconic Sorcerer, because with gear like the Potent Robes, Amulet of Elemental Augmentation, Spellmight Gloves, and the lvl 6 Draconic Sorcerer feat, firebolt can do some ridiculous damage. At 12, I was routinely hitting for more than 50 damage with just a bolt

[@GlacWolf]

I agree. There are a lot of things that intereact with fire. Since hit chance on objects is 100% even non casters can make use of it.

[@zach9036]

I missed the Robes because the knomes died as soon as I broke them out in Moonrise. I was so mad they all ran at the guards. I am doing a "no reload, no save scum" run so reloading to save them wasn't an option.

[@ryanball8944]

Firebolt's biggest downfall is the existence of Eldritch Blast, which is a straight upgrade. A Warlock2/Sorcerer10 with Agonizing Blast and Potent Robes will hit for 33-60 per cast, and it's Force rather than Fire. And that's without other equipment. Adding things like Spellmight Gloves or Spellsparkler can up that damage to 39-87 per cast (average of 63), and since almost all of that is Force it's resisted far less often. I have no doubt that if Eldritch Blast didn't exist, Firebolt would most likely be A tier

[@Hat153]

Also, especially in the early game, blowing up smoke powder bombs/oil barrels is a very effective strategy to get damage off in fight prep

[@JaceGGD]

His fire bolt explanation was trash

[@TKDB13]

I use Mage Hand a lot in combat. With so many useful throwable items and terrain elements it can interact with, the added action economy is excellent, especially if you can pre-cast it right before the fight begins.

[@davidkelvon7936]

Dancing lights can be used to cover grease and poison traps. I think it can detonate explosive traps too.

[@joshwalton25]

it for sure detonates the explosive flowers that appear in the hag's lair and a few other areas

[@davidkelvon7936]

@@joshwalton25 well that settles it then, between Knock and Dancing Lights, Wizards make better Rogues.

[@marjase9172]

​@@davidkelvon7936lol you are so right

[@tiradegrandmarshal]

@@davidkelvon7936 Rogues are just not needed, period. As long as you have someone with decent DEX and Sleight of Hand proficiency in some form, you're covered in the traps and locks department. If you really want Expertise, Bards are just better period.

[@opo3628]

@@tiradegrandmarshal - Indeed. Rogues do the sneaky things *well,* but so can other classes -- and with more utility.

[@fluffrier]

I can't overstate how STOKED I felt when I see you drag Minor Illusion into S. I literally just used Minor Illusion the first time ever in my coop campaign with my friend yesterday and it was so good I just put it into its own Minor Illusion tier next to Eldritch Blast tier in my head's tier list. It was the Inquisitor fight in the Creche. The one place that gave me PTSD from the time I had to kill everyone there with 3 half-dead members because Lae'zel, being Lae'zel, betrayed me. So I just went in there with my lad (we're duoing genocide run), plop down Minor Illusion in the middle of the room and went to town. Needless to say, 6 Fireballs were enough.

[@jasonkulsic6262]

Spoiler Alert!!!!! There is a room in the boss fight there that will allow you to long rest. I used that to heal myself up for the smaller fights afterwards.

[@brianb152]

If Lae’zel betrayed you then you probably deserved it -me, a Lae’zel simp forever ❤️

[@KasumiRINA]

​@@jasonkulsic6262that room that leads to Blood of Lathander? Just save and/or separate your team when disarming traps later in it.

[@kellenboyle86]

Love your videos! Super helpful. Just a quick pronunciation tip: a Shillelagh is an Irish walking stick, despite the spelling, they’re actually pronounced Shi-Lay-Lee. Just wanted to give you that info for potential future vids since you’ve been so helpful!

[@ssjjaeds759]

Shout out Finley

[@MikeTheD]

Ah right and I've heard that too. Always good to know

[@andrews6013]

Ray of frost with a couple pieces of equipment quickly becomes S tier. When every hit generates a 15 foot sheet of ice and the meleers in your party are immune to going prone.

[@willwhite6628]

What equipment?

[@rcola5]

which equipment?

[@almondsai7214]

@@rcola5 Snowburst ring I believe. Makes ice terrain whenever you deal cold damage.

[@KasumiRINA]

​@@almondsai7214and some boots for melee units that prevent slipping on ice.

[@rileymcphee9429]

Thank you for giving Friends the recognition it deserves. I slept on it hard and only recently discovered how good it is.

[@Skyblade12]

Until it’s on Honor Mode and you’re terrified of using it because the game says everyone will hate your for it.

[@KasumiRINA]

​@@Skyblade12 you can still use it on bosses or enemies with no risk, like the Thorm family dialogues where a charisma or other checks let you avoid the fight. They'll die after the talk anyway.

[@l.m.srensen4559]

There’s many times where you get to roll saves, where resistance is a good cantrip. Granted, I’d not push it past high B, but I’d definitely put it at B. And ice bolt also makes pools of ice, knocking guys prone, and I believe that takes half movement to get up from..? That can be done on pools of blood too, as soon as you’ve done ANY damage to a creature that bleeds.. I use it for that more than for the damage.. it’s almost a “STOP RIGHT THERE MISTER!!!” Gather-water-freeze-watch them never get close…

[@Mikee512]

There's no spell called ice bolt

[@finkrer]

Sacred Flame isn't that bad with a Radiant Orb build. The damage is not impressive, but the -6 to attack the enemy gets makes it a decent use of an action.

[@conc782]

Being able to cast it in melee range without disadvantage is also pretty nice

[@someone4650]

The bad thing about Sacred Flame they ignored is that in 5e, it ignores cover, which counteracts the fact that it's a common save with low damage. They should make it be able to hit around corners in game or something like that.

[@sunbleachedangel]

And it doesn't require line of sight, right?

[@Bearshere]

The problem with that is a proper radiant or build is better with a melee weapon because you can get a weapon that does radiant on hit and then divine strike with the equipment that stacks orbs on radiant damage

[@johnchetcuti9960]

You're the best bg3 lists advisor, in my opinion ...Thanks

[@cameronkirby9479]

Great video, some things I hadn't thought of too. I had a few thoughts: *Acid Splash* - I'd rate this slightly higher personally, probably B tier just behind firebolt. Save cantrips, while generally worse than attack cantrips, can be useful against high AC enemies. High AC also blocks all your martials so having an alternative damage cantrip can be useful. Still probably a later pick (and Sacred Flame is far better dex save cantrip) but worth taking imo. *Produce Flame* - I _hate_ this cantrip with a passion for one reason, _terrible UI_. For every other attack ability in the game you select the ability then aim it at the enemy where you can see your hit chance. Produce Flame on the other hand immediately uses up your action as soon as you select it unless you already had it running. It's easy to forget that and select it wanting to see the hit chance only to find you've used your action. After getting burned by this a few times on Shadowheart I just started ignoring it and will probably remove it next time I respec her. *Sacred Flame* - I'd rate this higher too, top of B tier or bottom of A tier. Radiant damage is just that good due to weaknesses and gear. Plus Clerics only options for damage cantrips are Sacred Flame and Produce Flame, making Sacred Flame an autopick for me.

[@Skyblade12]

For Produce Flame you now have to confirm cast it on Self to trigger the action use.

[@KasumiRINA]

I used produce flame to get to lantern, it just makes Shartys hand glow.

[@zacharysavoy6138]

Ever since I took friends as a cantrip I’ve never looked back. It’s amazing as a sorcerer to basically never fail a persuasion or deception check.

[@ericroll]

One surprise I noticed was casting Minor Illusion as a Duergar while invisible and not losing my invisibility. I could cast it over and over to move a herd of enemies to wherever I wanted them. This especially helps if the enemies are really spread out---start at one end of the group and walk them all over to the other end until you have one big happy family. Then walk them over to your Smokepowder barrel for a bar-b-que!

[@elianzxd37]

vicious mockery is my favourite spell in DnD and BG3, it's so much fun xD

[@motlagh]

I find Vicious Mockery works best on a weapon-user (e.g., sword bard) with the mystic scoundrel ring and the ring of arcane synergy, as your head slot will generally be taken by the helm of arcane acuity (and so you can't wear the diadem). Arcane acuity from weapon attack boosts your vicious mockery, then you use your vicious mockery bonus action to freely debuff an enemy and proc arcane synergy for yourself, then continue with weapon attacks.

[@gregoberski5897]

A note on Guidance: It IS useful in combat, but only for 3 possible situations. There are only 3 skills that have any interactions in combat, and they are Athletics, Acrobatics, and Stealth. I put guidance on my tank before fighting (from the ring, on a character that's not normally concentrating anyways, like the tank themselves), and this gives them 1d4 to Athletics, which is Shove checks. You could do the same on a character you suspect will GET shoved, and they will get 1d4 to Acrobatics, which is for resisting the above. Finally you could put it on a character you want to go into stealth during combat and they will have better rolls.

[@MrFuggleGuggle]

shillelagh can be used on torches…making torches a pretty strong damage AND consistently hitting attack weapon for druids and nature clerics, especially through Act 1.

[@clarencealger8380]

absolutely loved Shocking Grasp for my Tempest Cleric/Storm Sorcerer. Got myself out of funky situations because of it. Even got a few kills with it. I imagine doing the double assassination thing when I use twinned spells for Shocking Grasp against two githyanki fighters that decided to surround me. Got myself out, walked a few steps, then Quicken Spell a Call Lighting. It was so fun.

[@obsidianbucksim6766]

I put Ray of Frost in S because of Snowburst Ring. That makes 4.5 meter area of ice around enemies everytime you hit them with the cantrip which further reduces their speed through difficult terrain and potentially knocks them prone. They often fall and end their turn before they get to take and action.

[@erst07]

i was just reading ur article the other day! can't wait for the rest of these videos. i love ur analysis!

[@eaglepursuit]

I don't know if it's enough to move it up to S tier, but Thornwhip works on non-enemy targets, too. You can pull items to you

[@KasumiRINA]

OOOH I was looking for what spell lets me pick up loot that's out of reach, tried telekinesis it didn't work, mage hand is wonky, thanks, I'll learn thornwhip.

[@LAaronB10]

There is definitely some ways to get combat use for mage hand. You can drop any potions on the ground, no action required - and then the mage hand can pick up and throw it. If you precast it, it becomes is an action economy free, thrown potion every round of combat. That is actually fairly strong, but I avoid actually using it because it feels cheesy.

[@yumazster]

It can be very useful for rogues. If you team with the mage hand it should give you sneak attack damage, I think (need to try that still)

[@PWNAGIZER]

For this reason mage hand should be bumped into S tier imo. It's basically giving you free actions and you can do all sorts of stuff to setup more damage/support for your team.

[@boota2474]

Shillaeleagh is absolutely incredible in tabletop. Having access to a one-handed d8 magical weapon at level one is such a boon for just a bonus action and no spell slots. My favourite character I've played to date is actually a wisdom-based fighter that uses magic initiate to get both shillaeleagh and magic stone (magic stone being the ranged version of shillaeleagh where you pick up rocks and enchant them in the same way to throw at fools). Dipped a single level into monk for unarmoured defence, and my wis-dex based fighter absolutely thrashed everything in the early-game and mid-game, while holding its own in the late game. All thanks to two little cantrips.

[@tripletrollface]

Good list. No major disagreements overall. Just 2 minor corrections: 12:15 Friends is an Enchantment spell that can't be used against hostile NPCs. That's why it's a risk factor: on higher difficulties, peaceful NPCs can turn hostile because they think you've bewitched them. It can also negatively affect your companions' approval rating when applied to them. 24:40 Thaumaturgy boosts Performance and Intimidation, not Deception.

[@SecureBirch410]

Shocking grasp is a must have for me. It's never going to be your main so i suppose not s is fair, but it is really great for a spell caster to have that escape option or even to turn what would either be an opportunity attack hit in trying to flee or disadvantage because of close range into advantage, you dont have to disengage or try use firebolt at point blank

[@MundaneThingsBackwards]

Eh. There are so many ways to escape or keep away that it's a nice to have rather than a must have.

[@niz167]

Friends is S-tier imo just so good.

[@JBSouls]

Another tier list, woooo! 🎉

[@karsh001]

Light is really good on your fighter, it helps targeting with your ranged party members.

[@crazy-tommy]

I would rank Resistance much higher. Saving throws are checked in many important dialogs and you can cast it similar to Guidance right from the dialog roll menu. Based on the availability I might even rank it higher than Guidance as you can get Guidance easily from a early game item. Ray of Frost has some added utility as it can extinguish fire. I used it to remove most fire sources in Waukeen's Rest to fully loot everything. I also used it to extinguish the fire on Mayrina's cage in the Hag's lair. I even used it on Karlach to cool her down to get a kiss from her. Blade Ward can be nice on a Draconic Sorcerer that gets Armour of Agathys from the bloodline as a sorcerer can use Metamagic: Extended Spell for one sorcery point to make it last four turns, which extends the lifetime of Armour of Agathys without having Blade Ward eat up your actions for recasting.

[@harchierplebbington9397]

Holy shit, four turns of blade ward? That actually sounds decent for an early game draconic sorcerer

[@CapybaraConnoisseur89]

Friends cantrip and Sorcerer/Warlock is just 👌 I won pretty much every single Persuasion/Deception/Intimidation so useful in dialogues it's unreal, plus Guidance. Also regarding Shocking Grasp, with Sorcerer you can extend range making it distant spell, or if you're surrounded by two enemies, you can make it multiple target, so much utility.

[@logan9042]

Resistance isn't used for cb much but there are a few key character upgrades like the necronomicon, and the tadpole zapper that switches them to bonus actions that benefit from it. Plus clerics don't get much use from cantrips in my experience so you have the option to grab it on the first respec for no real loss.

[@bback74]

Thanks! Actually never used light that much but this is going to change. Also totally didn't think of using bone chill in the elemental fight. Normally I just have tried to burst it down - praying for good rolls. Shocking grasp is very decent - the Warcaster feat made me aware that it actually had some potential damage wise.

[@lolmanmagee2785]

true strike actually has a few use cases. it does not trigger agro, so you can use it before a fight to essentially get the benefits of hiding which is good if its impossible to hide for a unusual reason. secondly it is a cantrip that has concentration so it can be used to proc that one illithid power that requires concentration and then eats it. definitely still the worst cantrip, but i have cast it like twice and it ended up being a correct decision by allowing me to prepare for losing a skill check to avoid a fight and then another time when there was difficult terrain causing me to miss a action and i just cast it on a ally so next turn i could use conc blast and heal off the enemies concentration.

[@BoE34567]

Resistance is actually a really good pickup for out of combat, they're are a ton of saving throws that happen in dialog an it can be used instead of bless or heroism in thoses situations

[@Favmir]

Minor Illusion is also a must-have spell for theives. A lot of merchants are in a crowd where stealth is impossible, and you can lure them out with this spell.

[@cosmicbrownnie1380]

Seeing Sacred Flame so low and in the same tier as Resistance is wild for a 5e TTG player. Seeing Light in top tier and hearing the take "I don't value darkvision because a free cantrip bypasses the negative effects of darkness." Is also mind-blowing. We're equating a passive benefit given to the majority of races, to a finite permanent cantrip slot that could have been used on so many better options just so you can see.

[@Aestus_RPG]

Cantrip slots are by no means a valuable resource. Wizards can learn cantrips from scrolls in this game.

[@lemonZzzzs]

@@Aestus_RPG yep, that's the crucial difference for the value of cantrips. In the TTG version cantrips are not in the spell book (the wizard just knows them innately), so you can't learn them with the usual spell learning features (they're all for spells lv 1+). that being said, sure, making cantrips learnable in game makes light more useful for wizards; but for all other classes, it's still a wasted cantrip slot imho.

[@tropicturtle9021]

Lights value is highly inflated by act 2 because its ’darkness, the act’. It comes in so much handy during that arc and since most of the games party members aren’t going to normally get dark vision, Light is a fantastic alternative.

[@AirLancer]

@@tropicturtle9021 What? The majority of characters either have or can easily get Darkvision. Shadowheart: Half Elf, Darkvision Astarion: Elf, Darkvision Minthara: Drow, Superior Darkvision Halsin: Elf, Darkvision Karlach: Tiefling, Darkvision Wyll: Human, so no Darkvision but as a Warlock he can just get Devil's Sight. So that just leaves Gale and Lae'zel as the only characters that really have to worry about it. There are scrolls of Darkvision that last for an entire long rest, or if you don't mind spending a level 2 spellslot someone can just cast Darkvision. Since it doesn't require concentration, you can just get a Hireling to cast it if you do that kind of thing. Regular ol' Light really just doesn't matter that much outside of very niche situations or for like 5 minutes in Act 2.

[@AttacMage]

​@@lemonZzzzsI generally find that I have a flex slot or two for cantrips, so light is an easy pick when I know I'll be in a dark area.

[@Callidus7SSM]

The Sorrowful Lash cantrip from the glaive from the grove’s vault is beast! Since it’s a bonus action my storm sorcerer (who I speced, mostly through equipment and elixirs, as a spell sword) uses it all the time. I couldn’t even tell you how many enemies I’ve finished off with it after a spell.

[@mikeystir3333]

Vicious mockery only effects the next attack roll so if they attack multiple times in the next turn it only give disadvantage on one of those attacks (the first one)

[@tiradegrandmarshal]

It still deserves the A tier. 1 attack of disadvantage is still good.

[@TheFondalizer]

​@@tiradegrandmarshalI'd disagree as some enemies do 4 attacks any being able to do 30 dmg so one disadvantaged doesn't help too much there

[@ginnnao3250]

As a shit talking bard. Part of my RP is shit talking, running and just dropped CC for my party. This works great for me

[@Ozcaty]

@@tiradegrandmarshal Putting a cantrip that does 3d4 damage at it's highest scaling in A tier is ridiculous. It's C tier mechanically, but S tier flavor-wise.

[@tiradegrandmarshal]

@@Ozcaty Still has one of the better effects among cantrips. Still A tier. I don't care what you say. I'd use it over Fire Bolt 9 times out of 10, the only exception being if Fire Bolt actually had a better than 50% chance of killing the enemy outright.

[@metamorphoslut]

great video as always! it’s also worth noting that, with the band of the mystic scoundrel on a swords bard, vicious mockery is also good for additional weapon damage from the ring of arcane synergy, especially in conjunction with slashing flourish (and haste)

[@Aestus_RPG]

Didn't I mention that?

[@metamorphoslut]

@@Aestus_RPGi think you mentioned the brain drain gloves specifically, and also synergy with other items in general yeah

[@Darkmage1293]

True Strike should just be something like "Reaction, Long Rest". It works once and gives you a clean hit. Because rolling twice is almost always better than rolling once with twice the chance. That's always it's flaw, it's only a good spell OUT of combat to set up an ambush.

[@roxannebednar9163]

I like resistance as a way to pre-buff for sure, the fact that it is concentration actually is what i like about it. It lets you use concentrated blast without really giving much up, it triggers the ring that adds psychic damage to weapon attacks, and it makes enemies twnt to target the caster since they like breaking concentration. This is in addition to its normal effects. I used it on a tanky spore druid build that had a one level dip into war cleric for the occasional extra attack and to cast inflict wounds in a pinch. The double damage on the spore cloud reaction thing triggers two separate damage rolls, so it triggers on hit effects twice. The callous glow ring, coroscation (spelling?) ring, and the radiant shockwave armor and gloves of belligerent skies lets you do both debuffing and standard tanking. You can apply a ridiculous amount of radiating orb and reverberation with a reaction. That being said its definitely pre-buff only.

[@darthy3640]

I liked Mage Hand in the fight against Yurgir, because you could move the bombs away from your companies so they didn’t stay in the blast radius and than throw one bomb back as a free action.

[@corey2232]

Crazy how many hours I've put into this game, yet there's still so many cantrips I've never/rarely used. Part of it is due to my very limited knowledge of D&D, so my imagination of how these abilities can be used aside from "does X damage" is equally limited. The other part is that I tend to stick with what works & don't try to branch out a lot when I become familiar with something. Like Chill Touch is one that never looked all that impressive to me, especially when you quickly gain higher tier, cool looking spells & aren't clever enough to see the potential (Mage Hand is another one that never works the way I want it) 😅

[@Michael-cb3uw]

I never played Baldurs Gate 3... Too busy drinking sprite and watching tutorials.

[@r6TrdSlow]

Same here. And some of the items that you pick up don’t get reflected in the spell/cantrip damage shown, unlike your weapons damaged will change to cover the damage modifiers your items add For example, necklace of elemental augmentation will add damage to almost any type of elemental spell - pair this with the frost staff you can put together in the under dark, and you’ve got a cold cantrip that suddenly does pretty great damage even though it is not reflected at all on the damage it days it does

[@-Pol-]

It works both ways - Playing D&D brings familiarity with the spells but playing Baldur's Gate reveals new spell strategies for tabletop D&D too!

[@MyRegularNameWasTaken]

I'm surprised you didn't touch on the fact that Produce Flame is broken in this game and regularly fails to allow you to throw it the same turn you cast it. I had to re-spec my Light Cleric because of how often I was using an action to create a flame in my hand and not attack with it.

[@Aestus_RPG]

I've never had that happen to me.

[@Aldrasio]

Honorable mention to Sorrowful Lash, which is Thorn Whip as a bonus action. It's only available when you equip the Sorrow glaive but it's such a good spell that I have that glaive equipped on sorcerers/warlocks even if they don't have proficiency with the weapon. Combining it with Repelling Blast to push and pull enemies in the same turn is so much fun. Having that cantrip available as a bonus action bumps it up to S tier, easily.

[@Build-a-Barbarian-Workshop]

Great analysis, as always, Aestus! One thing to note about Shillelagh: it uses your spellcasting ability modifier, whatever that is, regardless of whether it is Wisdom. So if you grab it via magic initiate, you can get Intelligence or Charisma to attack rolls. I don't know if that's also true for multiclassing, though for scrolls and Illithid powers, the game picks your spellcasting ability modifier based on whichever class you leveled most recently, so maybe? I don't know if that is actually relevant for a real build... lol. But sort of interesting to think about given how many quarterstaves have good damage types for triggering other items (fire, thunder, cold).

[@antarath517]

Consider in the early game, a torch. 1d4 + 1d4, not so insane. But it's a club, so shillelagh can make it 1d8 + 1d4. Now it's a weirdly strong weapon that uses your Wis modifier.

[@almondsai7214]

You're right about it not being written to use wisdom. But there is no way of getting it with magic initiate. It says in the feat that your spellcasting ability for those spells is wisdom, not whatever else you had. As for multiclassing, I'm not sure.

[@antoineroca1690]

Resistance is great in dialogs with resistance checks. Like guidance for resistance.

[@antoineroca1690]

Shillelagh is amazing if you build for it.

[@Peleski]

I think this ranking is quite fair. I really like "friends" if playing diplomacy. It just let's you breeze through difficult convincing convos early game, though you do have to make sure you're outa there by the time it wears off.

[@uaenruotel]

I like it a lot, as a Tav wizard without any charisma it made it viable to be the face of the party

[@Elsassgromit]

I really underestimated minnor illusion on my first playthrough, shoving a guard into a pit because he was attracted by a fake cat is a simple pleasure. Like a good Fireball or Eldritch Blast (can be use for the push, cherry on top !) it somehow never gets old for me. Also light is very useful in the first steps on act 2 so you don't have to carry a torch or something else to reppel the curse. And even after since everything is dark it can serve as a nice QoL spell to just simply not miss anything. I would maybe up firebolt a rank, not for combat purposes but only because it's useful to burn vines and other stuff that can make the exploration more teddious. But since Shadowheart and Astation have it by default picking it for that purpose is most likely a waste anyway. Finally mage hand maybe my favorite. Classic from the table top yet really cool way to solve stuff with ease and creativness. But it's really the design of the spell that I love more than it's power.

[@Skyblade12]

Everyone in BG3 is a cat fan, and it feels so bad to punish them for that.

[@jimmystrangus2687]

Every time I've thought about using Chill Touch against undead, they are immune to necrotic damage. I suspect it's the case that all undead are immune to necrotic damage. In that case, Chill Touch doesn't seem worth using. As you said, very few foes heal in this game, and I can think or better uses of an action than to give one undead disadvantage.

[@Aestus_RPG]

Many are immune, but not all.

[@LeveledRogue]

Isn't there gear that adds other damage types on hit? Does that get around that?

[@NitroNotate]

i like sacred flame a lot because it doesn't factor in low ground disadvantage, too close, or if the path is interrupted. That makes it very useful over a spell like fire bolt, for example, when hugging an enemy with spirit guardians.

[@cooldes4593]

Wooooo! Can we do feats tier list next? Feats apply to all characters while spells do not

[@Aestus_RPG]

I planned on doing feats this week, but I needed to do more testing. Not sure when the testing will be done.

[@cooldes4593]

@@Aestus_RPG that’s understandable. I didnt think you would reply so i want to take this opportunity to spread the dual wielder feat agenda. Please do not forget (like i have seen others do) that the dual wielder feats most impactful aspect isnt the +1 ac bonus, but the ability to wield two weapons. The itemization in this game alone makes the feat extremely not only useable, but an amazing addition to literally almost any build. Even late game spellcasters weilding the two best staves in the game at the same time is insanely powerful. The radiant damage build? Sacred star + Lathandars blood of lathander or devotee’s mace! So many possibilities. Anyway, good luck with testing

[@Aestus_RPG]

@@cooldes4593 In the optimizing forums it gets mentioned a lot, particularly for dual wielding staves on EK blasters. I completely agree.

[@greengreeny4697]

Love it, can't wait for others

[@dustinlarkin8582]

Mage hand is useful for battles you can prepare for. You can set bombs in a spot and summon the hand next to the bombs or throwables and use it to launch them from a distance. You can also fill backpacks full of bombs and throw them at a target for massive aoe damage. Making it one of the most powerful weapons in the game. Mage hand is S tier.

[@MundaneThingsBackwards]

110% They improve your action economy to such a ridiculous degree they belong nowhere else than S tier. Every class that can take them should. At WORST they distract and eat a free shot for you.

[@louisgirard832]

I feel its pretty accurate. I will definitively use more of some of them. Thank you

[@slavikcrusader96]

how to summarise True Strike with context; imagine you are wizard within melee range of an enemy, out of spell slots and all your cantrip have disadvantage so you decide to bonk instead of going for a bonk, you cast True Strike to have advantage but then an enemy hits you, you fail the CON save for maintaining concentration and you lost your advantage tl;dr you cast true strike to roll an attack twice instead of once, but if you would've just attacked twice you rolled an attack twice.... making true strike just redundant... thanks Wizards of the Coast for making this cantrip :)

[@sunnyd9321]

Don't forget that minor illusion can set off traps and plug vents, so it's a good way to get around them without dealing with the hassle of disarming.

[@solaryon8711]

Resistance can be used as a bonus to all dialogue checks that require a save, such as Necromancy of Thay. While less common, the save checks are often some of the most impactful.

[@OutlookJonas]

Mage hands limited duration and usage makes it nearly garbage unless you abuse short/long rests. Fire bolt is still an A tier cantrip because it's resourceless fire damage. Bone chill even though it gives undead disadvantage on attacks rolls almost always deal 0 damage to undead since most are immune to necrotic damage.

[@BunnyWitchcraft]

Honestly, just happy to see shocking grasp be good. Rubbish in TT, but I do love a good zap bitch slap.

[@Aestus_RPG]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/qHKtqH-dZ5J9jJosi=BTFB15fxw80ulniA&t=184

[@headinthecloudsbookinhand]

Firebolt is incredibly useful if you do it right. Putting explosive barrels or grease down first for example. It also tends to do the most damage by far (except for eldritch blast). The only real issue I have with it is that resistance or immunity to fire damage is one of the most common types of resistances/immunities in the game.

[@AirLancer]

The barrels are what's doing all the work though. Any source of ranged fire damage could work at that point, including dipping your arrows in a candle, or throwing an alchemist's fire. At that point firebolt itself really doesn't matter, the only thing that matters is that it does fire damage, which there are loads of ways to get easily. Also grease is more powerful when you DON'T burn it, since as a fire surface it adds a really minimal amount of damage (1d4 per turn), versus potentially ending an opponent's entire turn if they get proned or forcing them to waste their action with a dash in order to get off of it since it's difficult terrain.

[@martir851]

You speak well Also, understand the META very well

[@fernywerny1]

Bone chill is my fav, as a circle of spores Druid i basically always spammed it 😅

[@rookie2128]

personally i find acid splash better for breaking open bunched up chests and containers than to use for actual combat

[@roaringthunder8069]

All spellcasting classes benefit from eldritch blast. Spell sniper can grant eldritch blast using the relevant spellcasting modifier of the class + actually applying thebspell attack crits at 19 because its been fixed.

[@TheWither129]

The best part of spell sniper is easily the fact you get the spell in your spellcasting type, yall HAVE to see bard eldritch blast. Its so fucking badass

[@jefferydavidson5347]

I know you expected people to say this, but fire bolt was the mvp of all my runs Also, shocking grasp is only a d8

[@ThaMorseCode]

Good vid, but small note, you said shocking grasp was 1d10, but the spell is only 1d8 (or 2d8 at 5 and 3d8 at 10).

[@Aestus_RPG]

TY for the fix. Not sure how I got it in my head that its 1d10. Probably it used to be in an older edition.

[@Kirk9019]

@@Aestus_RPG it did, back in the days when cantrips weren't a thing.

[@damnilson1707]

I used true strike ONCE so far, it was only because I was entangled and that was the most value I could possibly get on that turn

[@Revan1939]

Acid Splash I’ve found useful against Etherl because if she goes invisible you can still hit her, as long as she doesn’t move. Very situational but pretty good in that situation

[@vasheroo]

Once I got found that poison robe in the underdark, I was like, "Sweet, lets see what cantrip we can use it with." Yeah I was underwhelmed, a lot of enemies were strong against it. I really wanted it to work though so I feel you man.

[@taddybear4244]

Eldritch Blast is absolutely insane when built around it. I think I'll need it if I try Honour again.

[@Probinou]

"I don't think anybody will disagree with me on that. Oh my, what am I saying. This is KZbin. Someone will definitely disagree with me on that" LMFAO! So true XD Joke apart, great video. Thank you!

[@feykro222]

Ray of Frost also has tons of support items in the game. There is the ice staff that creates ice surface every time you hit someone with ice spell. In other words enemy has to save roll every time you use ray of frost otherwise it will go prone.

[@Shadescape12]

Yeah Ray of Frost should be S tier even without items, reducing enemy speed means you can force them to dash and deny entire turns.

[@theblackspark2644]

Ice wizard is very strong. Been using one in my 4 wizard multi class run.

[@Nauct]

Produce Flame top tier RP. You look cool runnin around with a blue flame glowing in your hand

[@MrMucera]

The real reason to use viscious mockery is to listen to the incredible voicelines they came up with for this spell. I don't want to spoil even one of them with an example here.

[@Minwu325]

i think vicious mockery is pretty good early game, especially with spellsparkler bringing the damage up just a little, almost every damage cantrip is usually rolling low at that point of the game anyways but disadvantage is very useful

[@ABadassDragon]

3/4 party members of mine had firebolt and 2/4 had ray of frost and shock. Through out act 1 i was barely casting spells, relying on those cantrips instead. Cleared out the goblin camp just using those. I cast maybe 3 or 4 actual spells during the fight with Drogh Ragzlin. Mostly used minor illusion and shoving most of his people into the spider pit and used hold person Drough himself to make it easy

[@Tentacl]

I'd move fire bolt to S tier keep ray of frost at A, because I really hate to not hate AT LEAST one char capable of cast those in my party at all times. Having a way to ignite of freeze surfaces at will cannot be undestated. Fire bolt is more important because of flamable surfaces, light candles and other light sources near enemies and exploding barrels, of course, but forcing a whole group of enemies to roll resist or fall down with a cantrip isn't too shabby either.´The caveat here is that you only need ONE character with fire bolt, and considering 3 of the origin companions have it, including the most played (Shadowheart) makes people not feel what it's like not having it. I'd also move resistance to A. IF you have it in a character who isn't the same casting guidance and bless it makes some dialogue resist rolls really easy (like the Omelum potion and the Necromancy of Thay in act 1).

[@Asrahn]

Resistance I've found is better for conversations than it is for combat. I remember that darn icon helping me out more than once.

[@karabirb]

one thing i’ll say in favor of resistance, is that there’s many times where u have to make saving throws outside of combat in dialogue and guidance can’t help there, but resistance comes up in the “add bonus” tab and doesn’t need to be pre-cast like in combat. so it’s rly helpful in those situations, but definitely no where near as ubiquitously useful as guidance. i think b tier is fair for it

[@Neonmirrorblack]

Instead of just grouping up enemies, you can drag enemies out of patrols and other congested groups with Minor Illusion. You absolutely do not need to do this, and it's somewhat time consuming, but you can actually diminish big fights by killing off basically all of the enemies one at a time in isolation just for the lulz if you want. It's also very useful for pickpocketing.

[@OGCXRE]

Sacred flame also attacks the enemy from the sky, thus you don’t suffer low ground or path interrupted from using it. The enemy only has to be within range