Best Warlock spells and cantrips in Baldur’s Gate 3 (BG3)

Screenshot via Larian Studios

Warlocks are incredibly powerful spellcasters in Baldur’s Gate 3 because of their unique spell slots and amazing cantrips. If you want to make the best Warlock in Baldur’s Gate 3, you need to know the best Warlock spells and cantrips in the game.

Note: We have guides on the best spells and cantrips for Sorcerer, Wizard, and Bard, so brush up on those if you’re still picking your starting class or contemplating multiclassing.

What are the best Warlock spells in Baldur’s Gate 3?

• Best Warlock subclass – 1. The Fiend 2. The Great Old One 3. The Archfey
• Best Warlock race – Tiefling or Half-Elf
• Best Warlock background – Entertainer
• Best Warlock abilities – 1. Charisma 2. Wisdom 3. Constitution 4. Strength 5. Dexterity 6. Intelligence

Before we dive into the best Warlock spells and cantrips in Baldur’s Gate 3, you need to build out the rest of the Warlock to make them the best. While I always recommend going with whatever is the most fun to you, I think the best Warlock subclass is The Fiend because you gain temporary HP when you kill an enemy. The Great Old One is also great because you can Frighten enemies on Critical Hits, and The Archfey is the best if you want to play a long-range Warlock because you get Fey Presence which can Charm or Frighten enemies.

Tieflings and Half-Elfs make great Warlocks because their race perks put bonus stats into Charisma which is what you want as a Warlock. There are a lot of good background options for Warlock, but I think Entertainer is a great one because you get added proficiencies to Performance and Perception, two Charisma-based abilities.

The ability you want to focus on the most with Warlocks is Charisma because that is their main spellcasting modifier. From there, Wisdom is important because it’s your main Saving Throw modifer. Constitution and Strength should not be ignored as a Warlock, and might be more important than Wisdom because you’ll likely be dealing melee damage and taking hits since Warlocks usually act as up close and personal spellcasters.

Best early Warlock spells and cantrips in Baldur’s Gate 3

Screenshot: PC Invasion

At level one, Warlocks get one spell slot and two cantrips. As they level up, they get more spell slots and cantrips, but not a lot. Warlocks notoriously have the least amount of spells in Baldur’s Gate 3, but they can short rest to get their spell slots back instead of having to long rest to recharge spell slots like every other class. Because of that, I think Warlocks are the best class to multiclass into.

Spells

Cantrips

• Eldritch Blast
• True Strike

It’s a know fact/joke in the Baldur’s Gate 3 community that Eldritch Blast is basically every Warlock’s staple cantrip. Eldritch Blast acts a lot like Fire Bolt, but it’s an attack Warlocks can use over and over again to deal good damage.

Another absolutely necessary spell for Warlocks is Hex. Hex is a unique spell that only Warlocks get to use. With Hex, you deal a little bit of damage, but it’s good because you can make your target have disadvantage on one type of ability checks, like Wisdom or Dexterity. This is really powerful when you know what ability they use to attack and what your allies are going to use as Saving Throws for their attacks. An added bonus is that if you kill the Hexed creature before the spell ends, you can Hex another creature without using a spell slot.

I like True Strike because it buffs yourself or one of your allies with advantage on Attack Rolls for two turns. Simple and good. Burning Hands is also a favorite of mine for Warlocks because, if you’re up close dealing melee damage to groups of enemies, Burning Hands allows you to deal great AoE fire damage.

Best endgame Warlock spells and cantrips in Baldur’s Gate 3

Spells

• Hold Person
• Misty Step
• Shatter
• Banishment

Cantrips

• Blade Ward
• Minor Illusion

As you level up and unlock even more powerful spells and cantrips, I suggest getting the Blade Ward and Minor Illusion cantrips. Blade Ward reduces all bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage by half which helps you keep more HP, and Minor Illusion is really powerful; it’s like Find Familiar, but your Minor Illusion doesn’t do damage.

The best endgame Warlock spells are Hold Person because you can straight up make an enemy stop moving and taking actions, Misty Step to teleport to exactly where you need to be during battle, Shatter (my personal favorite) to deal massive AoE damage that can one-shot groups of three or more enemies, and Banishment which allows you to literally remove a creature from battle for an extended period of time.

Warlocks are a lot of fun in Baldur’s Gate 3. If you’re still picking your starter class or have friends that are beginners, check out our best starter classes in BG3 guide for some helpful direction.