Larian Studios has poured a lot of love into the Bard class, trying to make it as fun and engaging as possible in the confines of a video game setting. And Bards in Baldur's Gate 3 get access to a wide range of spells as they level up.
Choosing the right spells for your Bard requires knowing what the role of your character is going to be. Are you going to be a ranged spellcaster slinging spells from afar, a support helping keep your party alive, or a melee swordsman entering the thick of it? These choices should be the deciding factor in what spells you end up choosing on every level up.
Updated by Hamza Haq on August 27, 2023: Bards are utility-focused casters that can take up multiple roles depending on their subclass and build choices. Five new spells have been added to the list to give players more choices at later levels.
15 Minor Illusion
Minor Illusion creates a small illusion that distracts enemies that have line of sight. Since this is a cantrip, it's a low-cost way of luring enemies out of position and taking them out with a sneak attack.
Minor Illusion sees the most use outside of combat, where enemies are much more likely to be distracted and investigate a disturbance. Bards are great carriers of Minor Illusion since they have spell slots to spare and aren't as strapped for slots as something like a Warlock is.
14 Healing Word
Healing Word heals an ally for 1d4 healing at the first level. It can upcast to heal more, but the main purpose of this spell remains to get just a little bit of boost to the health pool of an ally.
This spell is useful for two reasons. One, it can be cast within the range of 18 meters, and two, it can be cast as a bonus action. Having a healer who can revive downed allies without having to get into melee range and do it as a bonus action is incredibly useful at any stage of the game.
13 Silence
Silence creates a soundless dome in an area where no sound escapes or enters that area until the spell is in place. It is a concentration spell which means it can be interrupted if your caster is out of position and fails a saving throw.
But Silence is still a powerful tool as it allows your Bard to nullify the efforts of many a spellcaster by disabling their verbal spells, not to mention the utility of this spell outside of combat.
12 Tasha's Hideous Laughter
Tasha's Hideous Laughter is a single-target spell that incapacitates an enemy for 10 turns if they fail a WIS saving throw. It doesn't work on constructs or the undead, but it can completely counter creatures and humanoids if successful.
This is a level 1 spell that does the same thing as the level 5 spell, Hold Monster. Since it works on creatures, too, it's actually more useful to have than Hold Person and lasts just as long.
11 Invisibility
Turning invisible is quite useful in Baldur's Gate 3, as enemies rarely have the ability to see invisible units, and even when they do, it requires some dice rolls to work. If an enemy can't see you, they can't react to your presence.
Invisibility makes infiltration and stealth missions a complete joke. It's the most useful for sneaking outside of combat, and with higher-level spell slots, you can cast this spell on multiple members of your party, making this spell useful at every stage of the game.
10 Dissonant Whispers
Dissonant Whispers deals 3d6 Psychic damage to enemies hit by it and inflicts them with the Frightened status if they fail a WIS saving throw. Frightened enemies run away from the caster using all their movement speed and don't use actions or bonus actions.
If the enemy does manage to avoid being Frightened, they still take half damage from the spell. This allows Bards to have a reliable damage source that can be mitigated but never nullified.
9 Faerie Fire
Faerie Fire reveals invisible units in a large area. The dome of the effect is quite large, and if you know the rough location of where a unit is likely to be, you're easily going to be able to find them with Faerie Fire.
The second aspect of this level 1 spell is that if characters under this spell fail a DEX saving throw, attacks against them have an advantage. This works well with melee-focused parties with high AC and DEX, as they're much less likely to suffer the negative effects of this spell compared to their enemies.
8 Hypnotic Pattern
Hypnotic Pattern is an AoE disable that can render all characters that see it hypnotized if they fail a WIS save. It's a double-edged sword in most cases, and you might end up disabling your entire party instead of the enemy if your party fails the save and the enemy doesn't. But it's a useful tool to have in case of emergencies.
Keep in mind that Hypnotic Pattern only lasts until the character affected by it takes damage or is helped. If you're unlucky and one of your allies gets hypnotized by this spell, you can help them wake up to reality in the same turn by using the help bonus action.
7 Dimension Door
A level 4 Conjuration spell, Dimension Door creates a rift in space you and one other ally can step through if they're close enough. This is essentially a get-out-of-jail-free card that you can pull out at any moment to get out of a hairy situation.
But if the enemy has Counterspell and chooses to use it, Dimension Door can fail to function. It's still nice to have, though, and the enemy AI in Baldur's Gate 3 is rarely smart enough, at least in Balanced Mode.
6 Vicious Mockery
The quintessential Bard spell, Vicious Mockery is the very first cantrip you're likely to use as a bard. Vicious Mockery is not a strong spell and only does 1d4 Psychic damage in a turn. What makes this spell powerful is the debuff it lands on enemies targeted by it.
When a creature affected by Vicious Mockery tries to use an Attack, they get a disadvantage on their Attack Roll, effectively making them much less likely to hit. If you manage to affect a boss with this spell, they're going to deal much less damage to your party.
5 Dominate Person
A level 5 Enchantment spell, Dominate Person forces a person to fight alongside you for the duration of the spell (10 Turns) or until they succeed in a WIS saving throw at the start of their turn. Like Hold Person, Dominate Person only works on humanoids, meaning you cannot force a monster to fight by your side.
Despite that, there are more than enough combat encounters with humanoids in the game to make this spell useful. Unlike Hold Person, using Dominate Person doesn’t just incapacitate the target; it makes them fight by your side.
4 Confusion
Confusion is an area of effect control spell that befuddles enemies, forcing them to take random actions like attacking randomly, skipping turns, or wandering around aimlessly.
What makes Confusion a better option than something that Hypnotic Pattern is the fact that this spell never targets allies. Meaning you can cast it without worrying about friendly fire. Combined with the massive area it can target, Confusion is always going to be a positive no matter what.
3 Hold Monster
The upgraded version of Hold Person, Hold Monster targets everything, not just monsters. It can be cast on humanoids and creatures of all sorts, and as long as they fail the saving throw, they become frozen as a statue.
Enemies under the effects of Hold Monster are extremely vulnerable, and any attack against them will always be a critical hit. This comes into play against boss monsters or particularly hard-to-kill creatures with high AC that are very unlikely to hit.
2 Glyph Of Warding
Glyph of Warding is a level 3 abjuration spell that deals the same damage as Fireball but with a lot more flexibility. When cast, your Bard will get the choice between five different types of damaging wards (Thunder, Fire, Cold, Lightning, Acid) and two utility wards (Sleep, Detonation).
The caster can cast any version of the Glyph and have it activate on the same turn if they place it directly underneath an enemy. There is no detonation time, and you don’t need to wait for enemies to walk into it. In fact, it’s recommended that you place the Glyph directly underneath a group of enemies for maximum damage.
1 Otto’s Irresistible Dance
Don’t be fooled by its in-game description; Otto’s Irresistible Dance is, in fact, irresistible. When cast, it will always work on a target, and they will always start dancing. When under this spell’s effects, dancing targets cannot make an action or move, and attacks against them have an advantage.
Otto’s Irresistible Dance is the ultimate boss fight spell. Any creature, no matter how strong, will fall under this spell’s effects as long as the caster can maintain their concentration. The only caveat to it is that only targets that can be charmed can be targeted by it.