Summary
Baldur’s Gate 3has done an admirable job in porting many spells fromDungeon’s & Dragons’immense list. Although it hasn’t managed to go beyond the sixth-level tier of spells (DnD5e goes up to ninth-level spells),BG3has adapted a massive number of them, including the famousfireballand the incredibly powerfuldisintegrate. When players get more powerful, they expect that the higher level spells that are unlocked will become more useful, but low-level spells will always have their place if used in a cunning and tactical way.
Although some cantrips will always be of use, likemage handor a warlock’s favorite,eldritch blast,manylow-level spells find themselves being underratedand underused. Many defensive and support orientated spells come to mind, likeshieldorcure wounds,with the latter often being upcasted to keep the party alive. Some offensive spells can be augmented to not only scale well, but also deal devastating damage at any level.Magic missileis one such instance of this and many builds utilize wizards who just use this spell.
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Magic Missile Can Be Incredibly OP In Baldur’s Gate 3
A Spell That Never Misses
At the start of the game, the reliable and consistent damage ofmagic missileis extremely useful, especially because low-level characters often have a hard time hitting their mark.It will always hit a target in range, provided that neithershieldnorcounterspellis cast in responseand the movement of the cast projectiles often curve around cover, rather than being fired in a straight line. This helps hit foes in tricky positions and can be fired individually to hit different targets.
Unfortunately, the 1d4 damage dice thatmagic missileuses doesn’t help it scale well beyond the lower levels, especially because the damage only increases by 1d4+1 per level that it is upcasted. This makes the spell quickly obsolete inDnD,but inBG3there are many items that improvemagic missileto the point of being completely overpowered, especially for a first-level spell. It becomes a reliable source of damage that can be used throughout all three acts.
Magic missilecan be learned naturally by sorcerers, wizards, Arcane Trickster rogues, and Eldritch Knight fighters. Other classes will need specific items which grant the ability to castmagic missile.
WhereBaldur’s Gate 3and a normalDnDcampaign differis the magical items at the player’s disposal. InDnD,players need to attune to most of these items and typically have a limit of three. These items cannot be reliably sought after either, as their distribution is up to a DM, butBG3lets players use as many magic items as they can fit on a character. Its nature as a video game means that the retrieval of certain items is reliable and players can collect what they need to construct an ultra-specific build.
Ways To Make Magic Missile Overpowered
Technically, Players Don’t Need To Be A Spellcaster
Any item that does an extra instance of damage per attack will help bolstermagic missile,since the spell relies on attacking multiple times. Even if these buffs are small, they add up when firing multiple missiles, and to increase the number of projectiles without needing to upcast the spell, the Psychic Spark necklace from the Underdark in Act 1 is pivotal. Players can also pick up the Spellsparkler in Act 1 too, and the damage will already see a considerable improvement.
Psychic Spark will give the usermagic missile,meaning that the player character doesn’t need to be a spellcaster to use it.
BG3’s Phalar Aluve longswordwill practically double the damage ofmagic missilewith its Shriek ability, and is useful in most instances.This will add an extra d4 to each of the missiles hitting a target, but if a player is using a spellcaster as a glorifiedmagic missileturret, the longsword will probably have to be used by someone else in the party. Still, with the other Act 1 items,magic missilecan quickly become a cheat code, and it only gets better further in the game.
Other items that will improvemagic missileinclude: Hat of the Sharp Caster, which will ensure each missile’s damage roll can’t be one or two, Callous Glowing to deal extra radiant damage, and Markoheshir, a staff which will let the next spell be cast without using a spell slot (useful for upcastingmagic missilefor free). There are even more items too, although these are the most obvious to use. Although this makesmagic missilestrong,there was a glitch with the Spellmight Gloves that made the spell ludicrous, dealing 120-160 damage by Act 3 at first-level, but this has been patched out of the game.
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Magic Missile Was Never Meant To Be This Strong
But The Overwhelming Feeling Of Power Is Amazing
Outside of items, there are other ways to improve a proudmagic missilespammer. Strangely, taking a couple of levels into fighter for Action Surge would work to cast the spell several times a turn, or castinghasteto give the caster more actions that turn. Apowerful sorcerer buildwith Twinned Spell can cast it twice a turn as well, causing damage to skyrocket. Again,there are several ways to do this and a Potion of Speed always helps too, but the focus should be on firing as manymagic missilesas possible.
Although the damage that can be achieved by using nothing butmagic missileis more than mighty, reliability is what makes it so good. Usually,magic missile’s trade-off is low damage for a guaranteed hit, but when bolstered with all the best items,it becomes a guaranteed heavy hit that will land provided that the enemy is in a player character’s line of sight. Outside the mechanical benefits of the spell, the sound design also helps all the projectiles landing feel very satisfactory, especially when all the numbers start flying on-screen.
Baldur’s Gate 3may be an adaptation ofDnD5e, but some of its differences lead to its best moments. Making use of a spell that usually doesn’t scale well in the tabletop version is incredibly fun and helps players feel reasonably clever. That and completely ignoring the frustrations of poor RNG withmagic missile’s guaranteed hits will always be useful no matter the encounter. Mages withshieldorcounterspellwill be amagic missilespammer’s kryptonite, however, but a dragon here and there will be blasted to smithereens.
Baldur’s Gate 3
Developed and published by Larian Studios, Baldur’s Gate 3 is an upcoming role-playing game set to release in August of 2023. Players will create a character to embark on a large-scale journey and can do so solo or cooperatively with a friend. Combat is a turn-based style this time around.
