Lots of good level 3 wizard spells to pick 2...

[craig234]

Bestow Curse
Counterspell
Fireball (taking that, so it's one pick left)
Fly (but less needed with Misty Step)
Gaseous Form (all those burrow holes...)
Haste
Protection from energy (not sure how useful)
Sleet Storm (but wouldn't the casters just move out of it)
Slow
Stinking Cloud
Vampiric Touch (so, the wizard has an enemy next to them...)

[CrackeR]

Some awesome lvl 5 and 6 ones as well, but you have to manually double click the lower level ones you want to replace with those!

[kbiz]

Counterspell and Haste.

[craig234]

Short list: Counterspell, Haste, Stinking Cloud, Vampiric Touch

(Edit, funny typed that before seeing post above, but Fireball is gonna be one)

[craig234]

How does Counterspell work? How many spells does one cast counter? Seems expensive if it just counters one cast.

[craig234]

Oh, and that doesn't count level 2 spells I'd like, like Darkness... yeesh.

[Pan Darius Cassandra]

You can Scribe spells.

[whoisbatman]

Originally posted by craig234:

How does Counterspell work? How many spells does one cast counter? Seems expensive if it just counters one cast.

Counterspell can be sick though. Yes okay, you counter "only one" spell, but it's a reaction (what, is your wizard going to do attacks of opportunity lol?) and it can completely invalidate your enemy's linchpin spell ability. Don't underestimate the choice of whether you want the enemy to cast a spell or not.

For instance, I was fighting the githyanki in the monastery, and the captain wanted to cast Fear in a cone where my entire party would have been covered (very likely shutting down the weak wisdom save characters). Yeah no, denied! Easily won after that.

[Firecam]

Using a reaction to counter an action spell from an enemy is very strong and you can also choose to counter or not.

[Aeriar]

Also make sure to set up the game to ask before using the reaction, so you use it when it is really needed.

[AokiYakumo]

You can't forget Lightning Bolt, not with the field effects in BG3. Hit a designated target with Create Water from a support (which can be cantrip-cast now), then bask in the afterglow of 16d6 Lightning damage to the face.

Also, honorable mention to Hypnotic Pattern and Slow. Both can effectively neuter an encounter for just long enough to to clear it. HypPat saved my ass in House of Grief by effectively shutting down half the room, meanwhile Slow with the right gear setup is impossible to break, and makes melee-heavy encounters all too easy.

[Pan Darius Cassandra]

Originally posted by whoisbatman:

Originally posted by craig234:

How does Counterspell work? How many spells does one cast counter? Seems expensive if it just counters one cast.

Counterspell can be sick though. Yes okay, you counter "only one" spell, but it's a reaction (what, is your wizard going to do attacks of opportunity lol?) and it can completely invalidate your enemy's linchpin spell ability. Don't underestimate the choice of whether you want the enemy to cast a spell or not.

For instance, I was fighting the githyanki in the monastery, and the captain wanted to cast Fear in a cone where my entire party would have been covered (very likely shutting down the weak wisdom save characters). Yeah no, denied! Easily won after that.

This is why I always have one Lore Bard-10/Diviner-2 in my party.

The combination of Cutting Words, Portent and Counterspell means you control what happens or not, before you even apply Bless or Bane or any of the Illithid powers.

[psychotron666]

Level 3 is the best spell slot in 5e. Sorcerers and wizards typically just use 3rd level spells all game, even just upcasting them to higher levels with their other slots.

[Pan Darius Cassandra]

Slow is very underrated. It's an extremely powerful spell. The only things I don't like about it are that targets get to repeat their saving throw at the end of every turn, and it's useless to upcast (should increase number of targets).

Still, six targets for a lvl 3 spell slot is really nice, and it gives -2 to saves too, so they become subsequently easier to hit with more spells.

I've been thinking about a Slowbane build, where I use either Slow or Bane (whichever has the higher chance of landing) to then make the other easier to land. Since they're both Concentration, it takes two characters of course.

But imagine two characters are Bard/Wizards, one is Lore/Illusionist (for Improved Minor Illusion) and the other is Lore/Diviner (for Portent) One focuses on Bane, the other on Slow, and both have Cutting Words.

The other two characters are Swords Bard/? (maybe Light Cleric for Warding Flare and Radiance) for melee support, and possibly Hold Person/Monster for even more CC.

Throw in some Sleet Storm and Plant Growth, maybe Spike Growth too, and you have near total lockdown of enemies at all times.

I might even try to do a "never get hit" Honor Mode run with this setup.

[KRON]

Haste and Karlach was how I beat the ♥♥♥♥ out of Grym without using the forge hammer. So take haste and fire ball.

[yaerav]

Some 3rd level spells in D&D are traditionally really, really good for their level.

Fireball was basically designed, from the get-go of the Pen and Paper game, to be mildly overpowered, and I'd say, it is the way to go for an Evoker.

I don't really like evokers though, personally. Damage-dealing, in my very subjective and probably wrong opinion, is the task of fighters (etc) and rogues. A wizard, I think, shines when setting and changing battlefield conditions. So my 3rd level spells of choice would be Haste and Hypnotic Pattern.

Were it in BG3, I would choose Dispel Magic over Hypnotic Pattern, but Larian gave very good reasons why they definitely did not want to include that spell in the game. What I am a little bit sad about is the total lack 3rd level spells (not just in BG3, but in core D&D 5e) in my favourite school, Enchantment (but still, honorary mention for upcast Sleep spells)