How to Prepare and Change Spells – Baldur’s Gate 3

Whether you’re playing a spell caster as your main character or just trying to manage your companions’ spells, it’s not always immediately obvious how to change out your spells in Baldur’s Gate 3. The game is based on 5th Edition Dungeons & Dragons, and different spell casters prepare their spells differently in D&D. BG3 is no different. But never fear – we’ll walk you through exactly what to do to change out your spells so you can get back to using them.

How Each Class Changes Spells

When and how you can change your spells depends on your character’s class. Some classes can only change their spells when leveling up or respeccing. Others are able to prepare a loadout any time they are not in combat. Note that spells that are added by your race can’t be changed using either method. They are permanent.

Classes that prepare spells include:

• Cleric
• Druid
• Paladin
• Wizard

Classes that can only change their spells on level up or respec include:

• Bard
• Fighter (Eldritch Knight subclass)
• Ranger
• Rogue (Arcane Trickster subclass)
• Sorcerer
• Warlock

We’ll cover each of these methods below.

How to Prepare Spells

Clerics, druids, paladins, and wizards have a large selection of spells that they always “know,” but only a limited number of these spells can be available to you at any given time. You can change the spells you have prepared at any time except in the middle of the fight. As such, these classes are able to adjust to niche situations in a way that other spell casters can’t. But you will still need to take a long rest to replenish your spell slots.

To change your spells, you’ll need to open your character’s Spellbook. How you access the Spellbook depends on whether you are using a keyboard or a controller.

On a keyboard, you can access the Spellbook by clicking on the Inventory and Equipment button on the left side of your action bars (default hotkey is I). Then click on the Spellbook icon in the top center of the Equipment menu.

On a controller, you will need to press the Right Trigger (RT) and select Spellbook in the radial menu by hovering over it and pressing the A button.

Your currently prepared spells appear in the Prepared Spells row. To change them, click on a spell you want to remove, then click on a spell you want to add. Spells you can prepare are listed in rows for their level (I, II, etc.).

Cantrips can’t be prepared like other spells – these can only be changed on level up. Wizards can only prepare spells they have learned from scrolls or via leveling up whereas clerics, druids, and paladins automatically “know” all of their class’s spells.

How to Change Spells During Level Up

For bards, fighters, rangers, rogues, sorcerers, and warlocks, you don’t get the luxury of changing your spells on the fly. You can only change your spells when you level up.

To level up, look for the arrow on your character’s portrait. If there is no arrow, you’ll have to gain more experience before you can level up. Click on the arrow to open the level up screen.

You may have a few other choices to make here, but we’re going to focus on spells. If your character has new spells available, you can choose those here. You can also replace your existing spells.

New Spells can be chosen under the Spells heading on the left side. The available options will appear in the bottom part of the window. When you choose one, it will appear inside the red Selected box in the middle.

Replacement spells can be chosen under Replace Spells on the left side. You must first choose a spell to get rid of. To do this, click on the Change button at the bottom of the Out box. This will bring up a pane where you can click on one of your existing spells to select it for removal. Next, click on the Change button at the bottom of the In box. Here you’ll be able to choose a spell to add.

When you’ve finished adding and changing your spells, click the Accept button to finish leveling up.

How to Change Spells by Respeccing

There is one other option to change your spells as a bard, fighter, ranger, rogue, sorcerer, or warlock: You can respec. To do this, you will need first need to locate Withers. For a complete walkthrough of how to do this, check out our guide How to Respec (Where to Find Withers).