The Divination School may be the strongest subclass of Wizard, or at least, the strongest one in a chess match. Here is a guide on how to build a mean prophetic force in Baldur's Gate 3.
How to build a Divination Wizard in Baldur's Gate 3
Divination Wizards are all about their Portents. This subclass feature allows them to pre-roll a few amounts of dice (Portents) every time they wake up as if they had a premonition in their dreams. Later during the day, they can swap any rolls made by themselves, an ally, or a foe, for any of the numbers they had rolled in their Portents.
From this ability, Divination Wizards can dictate the rules of combat using their portents to aid allies or thwart enemies. Learning how to use the dice in critical moments is key to making best use of their divination potential.
When you reach level 6, you will get the feature Expert Divination, which upon finishing a short rest will give you a random prophecy. Since completing the prophecy will give another Portent, you should prioritize that whenever you have the chance.
Best race for Divination Wizard in BG3
Since Wizards don't have access to armour or shields, Humans are an obvious choice. Their feature Civil Militia gives you access to Light Armour and Shields.
Halflings are a good alternative for their Lucky trait, which allows them to reroll 1s. Combine that with the Portent dice and you will have even more control of your luck. However, you would be sacrificing shields and +2 AC for a trait that only becomes useful five per cent of the times you roll.
That is why I chose the Half-Elf. And on top of Civil Militia, they have Darkvision and Advantage against being charmed.
Related: Baldur’s Gate 3 Gale Build Guide
Best items for Divination Wizard in BG3
- Hood of the Weave gives +2 to Save DC and Attack Rolls, and is obtained from Mystic Carrion in Act 3.
- Ring of Protection gives you +1 AC and +1 Save Throws, you can get it from Mol if you steal the Idol of Silvanus for her.
- Robe of the Weave gives +1 to Save DC and Attack Rolls and AC +2, found in Ramazith's Tower (X:4972, Y:706).
- Quickspell Gloves let you cast one cantrip as a bonus action, they can be purchased at Sorcerous Sundries.
- Markoheshkir is a staff that gives you +1 to Save DC and Attack Rolls and gives you Kereska's Favour, a blessing that grants you resistant to a type of damage of your choice and two free spells associated with that type. It is found with the Robe of the Weave in Ramazith's Tower (X:4972, Y:706).
- Cloak of Displacement gives you the effect of Blur at the begining of your turn, giving your enemies Disadvantage on Attack Rolls against you. This effect lasts until you take damage. The Cloak can be purchased from Entharl Danthelon at Danthelon's Dancing Axe.
- Ketheric's Shield gives you +1 to Save DC and Attack Rolls and can be looted from Ketheric Thorm.
Ability Scores for Divination Wizard in BG3
Intelligence is your main Ability, but you will need a strong Constitution to compensate for the d6 of HP you get each level, and to improve your Concentration Saving Throws. This is what my Wizard looked like straight out of the oven:
- STR: 8
- DEX 14
- CON 16
- INT 17
- WIS 10
- CHA 8
Related: BG3 Necromancer Warlock Build Guide
Level Progression for Divination Wizard in Baldur's Gate 3
I went full Divination Wizard for the 12 levels. There's an option to multiclass into Sorcerer (3) and get Metamagic options, but that would mean losing access to some 5th and all 6th-level spell slots. For a character that is Support and needs the higher spell slots to Counterspell, it is best to keep it vanilla.
The spells I chose aren't the most important part of the class, since Wizards can learn any spells from scrolls. However, this guide aims to highlight the most powerful spells at each level.
| Character Level | Features | Spells |
|---|---|---|
| Level 1 | Cantrips: Firebolt, Mage Hand, Shocking Grasp. Spells: Mage Armour, Thunderwave, Shield, Magic Missile, Fog Cloud, Sleep. | |
| Level 2 | Subclass: Divination School, 2 Portent Dice | Grease, Burning Hands. |
| Level 3 | Misty Step, Scorching Ray. | |
| Level 4 | Feat: Ability Score Improvement, Intelligence to 18, Constitution to 17 | Cantrip: Ray of Frost. Spells: Web, Gust of Wind. |
| Level 5 | Fireball, Counterspell. | |
| Level 6 | Expert Divination | Haste, Sleet Storm. |
| Level 7 | Phantasmal Killer, Conjure Minor Elemental | |
| Level 8 | Feat: Resilient (Constitution to 18) | Animate Dead, Dimension Door |
| Level 9 | Cloudkill, Cone of Cold | |
| Level 10 | Third Eye: Darkvision and See Invisibility | Cantrip: Bone Chill Spells: Conjure Elemental, Dominate Person |
| Level 11 | Eyebite, Disintegrate | |
| Level 12 | Ability Improvement: Intelligence to 20 | Animate Dead, Globe of Invulnerability |
How to play a Divination Wizard in BG3
If your party is an orchestra, The Divination Wizard is the director. I make my Wizard stand somewhere they can see everyone (otherwise they can't use their Portent on them), I try to keep them safe and I never spend their reactions on opportunity attacks; you should save those for Portents or to cast Counterspell.
Since Wizards can learn spells from scrolls, you can make them even more powerful with the secret spells that can't be learned otherwise, such as Artistry of War or Dethrone.
For more on Baldur's Gate 3, check out Baldur’s Gate 3 (BG3) Cleric guide here on Pro Game Guides.
Ian Neiman began his gaming journey with Age of Empires 2, back when computer mice still had rolling balls underneath. Since then, he has developed a passion for anything medieval and found a special love for fantasy books and tabletop RPGs. Nowadays, he dedicates his time to gaming, watching F1, brewing coffee, and crafting storylines for his Dungeons & Dragons campaigns.