In Baldur’s Gate 3 there are several truly challenging fights, some already in Act 1. One of them becomes incredibly easy with a seemingly useless spell.
What spell is that? On Reddit, user RetroNotRetro reports how he gave the character Lae’zel the subclass Mystical Knight
. This gave her the spell Witch Bolt, which according to the user seems to never hit.
Witch Bolt is a level 1 spell that does 1d12 lightning damage. It requires an action and a spell slot. The range is 18 meters or 60 feet. If you hit, the Witch Bolt connects you to your target and can deal an additional 1d12 damage each round.
One side effect is that you always know where the opponent is located. This makes fighting especially against one opponent much easier.
Taking the opponent to the lightning leash and fighting easier
What kind of fight does it trivialize? In Act 1, you encounter Aunt Ethel, a swamp witch disguised as an old woman. When you confront her, she entangles you in a really nasty fight. With 112 hit points and an armor class of 17, she is not an easy opponent.
Especially nasty are these three abilities:
A Witch Circle
: Creates illusion copies of Ethel and hides the original with invisibility.Auntie’s Trickery
: Five illusion copies of Ethel appear and are shuffled with the original in the combat area.Damsel in Distress
: Ethel disguises herself as Mayrina, while Mayrina takes on Ethel’s appearance. Both are then teleported to new points in the arena.
Ethel is designed to confuse players as much as possible and to avoid being found.
However, once you hit with Witch Bolt, the executing character remains connected to the original Ethel until the spell is dispelled. So Ethel can summon as many copies or transform as she wants. As long as she is connected, you always know where the original is located. You just have to overcome the armor class of 17.
Warning: If you play in Honour Mode, every spell used by a player-controlled character triggers the effect Legendary Action: Strange Magical Wave
. This causes even more copies of Ethel to appear.
How do you get the spell? Witch Bolt is available in various ways. At Level 1, it can be learned by Sorcerers, Warlocks, Wizards, and specifically Wizards with the Lightning Subclass. Arcane Tricksters (Rogue) and Mystical Knights (Fighter) get the spell at Level 3.
Alternatively, you can choose one of three talents: Magic Novice Sorcerer, Magic Novice Warlock, or Magic Novice Wizard.
Even over a year after the release of Baldur’s Gate 3, players continue to find new things and optimized ways to play. However, one player recently made a possibly extremely disturbing discovery while searching for Lae’zel: Baldur’s Gate 3: Player suspects Lae’zel at a specific location – then opens the horrifically wrong door
