Casting spells is a science in Baldur’s Gate 3. However, some spells are particularly challenging: They require concentration. But since it is so easy to accidentally lose concentration, players are now hoping for pop-up warnings.
What is it about? Some spells in Baldur’s Gate 3 are marked “Concentration.” This means that the casting character must maintain concentration on this spell constantly.
Concentration can be broken voluntarily. However, it is usually lost due to damage taken, unconsciousness, or character death. Or, if you cast a second concentration spell with the same character.
Concentration spells are marked with a small eye next to the range, like here:
What happened? Many players repeatedly face the problem of casting two concentration spells successively. Since most spells can only be cast as an action and not as a bonus action, this doesn’t happen very often. However, the mishap can even occur in the same turn.
When this happens, it is often frustrating: You have (usually) unintentionally wasted a spell. Here’s a clip of how a ranger can cast two spells and negate the benefit of the first in just one turn:
In the video, the character first casts ‘Hunter’s Mark,’ which would increase every attack by an extra W6 damage. Then the ‘Ambusher in Darkness’ ranger attacks with his special attack and casts ‘Thorn Whip’ as his action.
However, since both ‘Hunter’s Mark’ and ‘Thorn Whip’ are concentration spells, ‘Hunter’s Mark’ loses its effect.
How to level up the ranger-rogue mix shown here, you can read in our guide to our three best multiclassing options:
Baldur’s Gate 3: The best multiclass builds and what makes them so good
Pop-Ups as a Solution?
Some players on Reddit are currently discussing the issue. Their suggested solution would be a type of pop-up with a warning message like:
“Warning: You are already concentrating on a spell. Are you sure you want to cast a second? You will lose concentration on the first spell.”
Since a recurring pop-up would be annoying, users are advocating for it to be implemented as a toggleable feature. This way, those who need the warning can enable it.
What are the chances of such a feature? Larian Studios is quite quick with their updates: Patch 2 followed just days after Patch 1, and hotfixes seem to appear almost daily. They have already addressed many issues and questions from the community in this process. For example, the unintentionally stormy romances or also Karlach’s not entirely satisfying ending. The chances that Larian will at least consider such a warning are therefore quite good.
Have you ever wasted a spell because you used two concentration spells? Would you find a pop-up warning useful? Let us know your opinion in the comments!
