Anyone know a use for Arcane Lock?

[Angelis Mortis]

I think I may be missing something useful, but I'm coming up short trying to think of a use for it

[Ackranome]

It only is useful if you have a gate inbetween you and enemies as far as I can tell.

[Hawke]

To isolate assassination targets, I suppose. There are situations where you would want to knock out or kill NPCs one by one without alerting everyone. Though, I have not tried it and usually (one time in Moonrise Towers) it is possible to do without Arcane Lock.

[Ellie]

There's a few moments where its good to lock someone in a room so they don't get help for example, but it's too situational to ever keep it prepared I think

[Zygfryd]

If you lock a door in the middle of combat, enemies will need to break it down I imagine. But I haven't tried it.

In Rivington, there's a family with children squatting in a house with a basement full of traps. I haven't gone back to check if leaving it open led to any sort of tragedy.

[Occasum_Solis]

Originally posted by Hawke:

To isolate assassination targets, I suppose. There are situations where you would want to knock out or kill NPCs one by one without alerting everyone. Though, I have not tried it and usually (one time in Moonrise Towers) it is possible to do without Arcane Lock.

best example: Aligning with the Gobos in Act 1 but you want the Hammer from the Hobgoblin

[Kernest]

Originally posted by The_Guy:

best example: Aligning with the Gobos in Act 1 but you want the Hammer from the Hobgoblin

I think that one is possible without locking the doors, since no enemies walk in or out, you just sorta have to be very careful that the patrol that walks across the broken wall doesn't spot you.

I myself took most of the minions out via explosive barrels.

But I guess the one that fell into the spider pit caused the rest of them to aggro

But as to OP, no reason to keep Arcane Lock prepared, but there are situations where you can see that it'd be good before combat has started, and then just prepare it. Wizards don't need a rest to switch spells, just to be out of combat.

[buttawise]

I've never used it. I can think of one or two instances where maybe I could've but just use Fireball instead.

[Ka-mai19]

Originally posted by Hawke:

To isolate assassination targets, I suppose. There are situations where you would want to knock out or kill NPCs one by one without alerting everyone. Though, I have not tried it and usually (one time in Moonrise Towers) it is possible to do without Arcane Lock.

You can also assassinate a target after triggering a surprise round, have your character escape through a door, then arcane lock the door with a different character.

Could be an easy way to cheese a room full of enemies.

[wendigo211]

Keeping Isobel alive during the assault on Last Light Inn

[Ellie]

Originally posted by wendigo211:

Keeping Isobel alive during the assault on Last Light Inn

That's actually pretty smart

[Angelis Mortis]

Originally posted by wendigo211:

Keeping Isobel alive during the assault on Last Light Inn

Ok yeah I hadn't considered that. So from what I'm gathering it feels like it's very situational.

[Scheneighnay]

1. Stop fights from spilling over into new areas

2. Combine with AoE DoTs to build a gas chamber that enemies are stuck in

[Fiddlewidget]

I know this is 9 month old now, but I'm posting in case an update has changed things. Because now it does nothing. I tried to use it in the Isobel fight, and the enemies just walked right through the doors anyway. Useless waste of time.

[harken23]

1. While outside, cast Evard's Black Tentacles inside
2. Close and Wizard, er, Arcane Lock the door
3. Open the door when the banging stops.

[Brian_the_Brute]

It can prevent the hag from escaping down below if your party isn't strong enough to waste her before she retreats. It would deprive you of the hag's hair though as a reward if you don't let her play out her part and force her to stay topside with the lock spell.

There are several cases where lock just gets ignored and it seems it wasn't fully tested on all doors it should work on.

It would be a lot more useful if BG3 was like tabletop and enemies would come rushing to defense from hearing the loud noises of battle in the next room over.