Measuring against opposing wizards, sorcerers, and other spellcasters in Baldur’s Gate 3 gives players a great feeling when using a powerful spell. It becomes all the more frustrating when the opponent can ruin all the fun with just one action – But the community explains how you can outsmart your opponents beforehand.
Which spell is being referenced? It is the powerful level-3 spell “Counterspell” (original: “Counterspell”), which can stop the casting and effect of an opposing spell. It can be learned by wizards, sorcerers, warlocks, and some bards (Magical Secrets) and is highly recommended for any playthrough, as it can prevent particularly dangerous spells from an opponent, especially against powerful bosses.
What is the problem? But you are not the only ones who can learn Counterspell. Many of your spellcasting opponents can ruin your beloved fireballs or cloudkill with just a short reaction. This can be particularly frustrating when it comes to powerful sorcerers who have enough spell slots to do this every round throughout the entire fight.
However, the community has found a trick on how you can outsmart the opponents to continue casting high-level spells without being interrupted. They just have to stop the “wrong” spell.
Here you can see the animated short film for Patch 8 of Baldur’s Gate 3:
The trick shows that the good old Dungeon Master unfortunately cannot be completely replaced
How can you outsmart the opponent? The player CipherNine0 comments under a Reddit post by user ozangeo about the most annoying opposing spells in the game, that there is a simple method to outsmart the opponent: “Counterspell is so funny because you can lure NPCs into wasting it on cantrips.” (via Reddit)
Cantrips are slightly weaker spells in Baldur’s Gate 3 that do not require a spell slot to cast. They generally do not deal as much damage, but can still be quite useful.
The described trick consists of casting a “weak” cantrip first, which then triggers the opponent’s reaction to stop the cantrip with Counterspell. Since the opponent has only one reaction per round, you can then cast your more valuable spells.
The character who is to perform the powerful spell must therefore act after the character who uses a cantrip. Another option would be to haste the spellcaster, allowing the character to take two actions. Then the first action could be used for the cantrip, and the second for the actual spell.
What is the community reporting? Other players show that there is another method to nullify an opponent’s Counterspell. MillieBirdie comments on Reddit that with two spellcasters, you can stop an opponent’s Counterspell with your own Counterspell. This can lead to a long chain of Counterspells, where it is hard to tell which spell will ultimately go through:
MillieBirdie explains under the post on Reddit:
I definitely had a chain of Counterspells in the game. The paladin casts a spell, the opponent uses Counterspell, then the bard uses Counterspell, another opponent uses Counterspell, the mystic knight uses Counterspell …
Maladaptivism comments that this very trick demonstrates how Baldur’s Gate 3 differs from tabletop DnD: “This shows that it is a game and not tabletop, because a nasty DM [Dungeon Master/Game Master] will wait for spells like Healing Word or Revivify to reveal that the opponent actually has Counterspell available.” (via Reddit)
Counterspell is ignored by many players in Baldur’s Gate 3 and Dungeons & Dragons due to its lack of damage. However, it is an extremely powerful spell that can change the entire course of a fight and a whole campaign – but it can also impact friendships: An unassuming spell in Dungeons & Dragons is so powerful that it can even endanger friendships
