Baldur’s Gate 3: The Gatling Gun Wizard – A fun, high damage, decent control caster build

If my Blade Master build started as “Wyll on steroids”, then this has to be “Rolan on steroids”. You’re a Wizard, and you’re going to shoot big boy magic missiles. We’re talking about ~200 damage for a level 4 Magic Missile in the end game, and that’s not even accounting for higher upcasting or vulnerabilities.

That’s about it, really… or is it? With a few tweaks, we can also switch to a Fire based build, and get the capability to cast irresistible control spells.

You can either go all the way with Magic Missile, or switch to a Scorching Ray based variant in the middle-late game. Scorching Rays will do much more damage, considering they can work with Spellmight Gloves, Hex and Psionic Overload (which Magic Missile can’t). Here’s a summary of the differences:

Basically, Scorching Ray will deal a lot more damage (see the spreadsheet further down) and raise Arcane Acuity more easily, but it will also require attack rolls and a change in feats. As long as you get all key items, you can pretty much switch from one variant to the other as much as you like. The only difference in leveling is taking Elemental Adept at level 9. Magic Missile won’t suffer too much from having +5 instead of +6 INT, so you can keep a hybrid playstyle if you like. At the end of the day, both variants work, so it’s up to you to make an informed decision about what you want to play.

Finally, you should note that this build makes usage of the DRS mechanics, which means it is much less efficient in Honour mode. There’s a section about that further down.

We’re going to aim for 11 Evocation Wizard / 1 Fiend Warlock (other variants are discussed in alternative approaches). Here’s why:

11 Evocation Wizard

• Level 10 gives us Empowered Evocation which adds out Spellcasting Ability modifier to our spell damage rolls. Since all Magic Missile projectiles use a separate attack roll, this will add our INT to all missiles. As there’s no Force equivalent of the Elemental Adept feat, this is basically mandatory.
• We’ll make good use of Wizard’s utility kit with scroll learning and arcane recovery charges.
• Gives us 2 feats and all our spells slots.

1 Fiend Warlock

• Gives us access to Command which can see some marginal use as well as Hex which is very good with Scorching Rays.
• Gives us an extra level 1 spell slot recharged on short rest, which actually means 3 extra level 1 spell slots.
• Gives us Light Armor proficiency which can be useful.

• The ability to learn scrolls will allow you to reuse unique spells, such as Summon Quasit or Artistry of War… the latter being a super Magic Missile!
• Doesn’t need too many contested items.
• Doesn’t need boosts to attack rolls in most cases.
• Very smooth progression and excellent late game.
• Comes online basically at level 4-5 (depending on how which you got get your core items).
• A good portion of our damage is Force damage, which enemies tend to be vulnerable to.
• Can wear Phalar Aluve for you, which frees up a weapon slot for your cleric/support.
• Can switch to a Scorching Ray based build for even more damage and great control.
• Doesn’t need many damage spells, can provide a lot of utility instead (Knock, Enhance Ability, Feather Fall, Longstrider, etc.)

• The Shield reaction will be the bane of your existence.
• Not really a party face.
• Somewhat low armor class in the endgame.
• Chews through spell slots really fast and requires to short rest often (to get Phalar Aluve’s ability back).

Start as Wizard. Take 14 DEX, 14 CON and 17 INT. Rest is up to you (but please, dump STR).

Like usual, species doesn’t really matter. The usual friends of spellcasting, Half-elf and Halfling, are irrelevant this time. We do not do attack rolls, so Halfling’s immunity to critical failure is irrelevant (unless you mean to use Scorching Ray as well). And we will not wear a shield, so Half-elf doesn’t give us anything special either.

You can safely pick whatever you like without fear of losing some sort of optimization prospect.

Good news – there’s no mandatory respecs involved. This is the chillest of leveling plans.

We’re going to be leveling up as pure wizard until level 10. Spells are covered in the Spells section.

At level 2, make sure you take the Evocation subclass.

At level 4 feat, take Dual Wielder. We’re going to be dual wielding weapons pretty early.

Around this time, you should grab Hag’s Hair for +1 INT. This build should take priority over Charisma based casters for Hag’s Hair, as they can acquire Patriar’s Memory from Mirror of Loss for +1 CHA.

At Wizard level 8, you need to make a choice for your second and final feat. If you plan to go Magic Missile all the way, take Ability Score Improvement for +2 INT. If you’re going to use Scorching Ray, take Elemental Adept: Fire instead.

You should always take +2 INT from Mirror of Loss. That will bring you up to 22 INT.

At level 11, open Fiend Warlock. Make sure you take Command. If you intend to play with Scorching Rays you should always take Hex, otherwise pick whatever you like.

If you get Patriar’s Memory from Mirror of Loss, you can respec to start with 14 DEX / 14 CON / 17 INT / 13 CHA. You’ll end up with 22 INT and 14 CHA with all the other ameliorations, which is a minor optimization for your Command spell. This is an absolutely minor detail, so don’t go out of your way for it.

You don’t need damage spells other than Magic Missile and Artistry of War (see Loot to use), so take maximum utility!

Cantrips are mostly up to you but you should have at least one offensive Cantrip for the early game, when spell slots are somewhat rare. Friends is great to ease some dialogue checks. Mage Hand is great utility.

You should always take the spells in the Mandatory column and have them prepared. The rest is up to you.

On the Warlock side of things, make sure you get Command. If you intend to play with Scorching Rays, take Hex as well.

Make your way as soon as you can to Waukeen’s Rest to get the The Spellsparkler[bg3.wiki] (usually right after level 3 or right beforehand if you want to grab it the earliest). This staff is never leaving you.

The Bracers or Defence[bg3.wiki] are an excellent early item for you. If your main gloves are contested, you can keep them until the end of the game, but I wouldn’t advise it.

Once you get access to the Underdark, go grab Phalar Aluve[bg3.wiki] and then Psychic Spark[bg3.wiki] (Be careful of the bulette on the way if you’re under level 5). Congratulations, your build is online. You should also grab the Pearl of Power Amulet[bg3.wiki]. Do not wear it, just use it every day yo regenerate a level 3 spell slot.

Later in the Underdark, you can get the Boots of Stormy Clamour[bg3.wiki] and the Ring of Absolute Force[bg3.wiki]. If it is free, you should also get The Protecty Sparkswall[bg3.wiki].

The Gloves of Belligerent Skies[bg3.wiki] are your absolute best gloves. You have priority over any other build to wear these gloves, as you’re going to be dealing Thunder, Lightning and Radiant damage. With this and your boots, you’re going to stack absurd amounts of Reverberation, which will give you extra damage, control, and a source of Mental Fatigue if you use the associated ring.

If you’re playing as The Dark Urge, you can wear The Deathstalker’s Mantle[bg3.wiki].

Within minutes, you can buy the Cloak of Protection[bg3.wiki]. This is somewhat contested, but you don’t have many means of raising your AC at this stage, so you should have priority over it.

If you intend to play with Scorching Ray, you should also grab the Hat of Fire Acuity[bg3.wiki]. Its effect will allow you to never miss any Scorching Ray (save for Critical Miss, unless you’re Halfling) or any control spell. Unfortunately, the Thunder version of this hat (which you can loot at Moonrise) doesn’t work with Magic Missile’s triggers of Phalar Aluve. So if you’re fully committed to Magic Missiles, your spell save DC won’t get very high. But your main focus is damage, not control, so this is fine.

At Moonrise, you can get the Robe of Exquisite Focus[bg3.wiki] if you have no special robe yet. If you’re using Magic Missiles, you can also grab :

• Ne’er Misser[bg3.wiki] for an extra cast of Magic missile once per short rest. It is cast as a level 3 missile, which is five darts.
• Fistbreaker Helm[bg3.wiki] for better Initiative and improved Spell Save DC.

Further into the act, you can get the Callous Glow Ring[bg3.wiki]. This is probably the most contested item of the build… and you should absolutely grab it regardless, because nobody, not even an archer, is going to send as many projectiles as you.

However, you have excellent alternatives with the Coruscation Ring[bg3.wiki] and Ring of Mental Inhibition[bg3.wiki], especially if you want more control rather than more damage.

Finally, make sure you get the Spellcrux Amulet[bg3.wiki]. You will not wear it, just restore a spell slot each day just like with the other amulet.

You should also grab the Spineshudder Amulet[bg3.wiki] for the Scorching Rays variant.

Unfortunately, Spellmight Gloves[bg3.wiki] do not work anymore with Magic Missile. So unless you’re using Scorching Rays, these gloves are a pass.

Your best robe/armor will either be Armor of Landfall[bg3.wiki] or Robe of Supreme Defenses[bg3.wiki]. Both have to be bought and serve a similar purpose. Take what you like most (or what is less contested by other builds). If it is your responsibility to cast Haste on yourself, you should wear Landfall. If you’re getting Haste from someone else, give it to them, unless they have War Caster.

Cloak of Displacement[bg3.wiki] is your best defensive cloak option, unless you have the Dark Urge’s cloak.

Rhapsody[bg3.wiki] is probably the most contested item of the game. Since the damage bonus will be added to all your missiles (and more if DRS mechanics are enabled), there’s a solid argument to take it for yourself. It will also boost your Spell Save DC for control spells. However, you will waste the boost to attack rolls since Magic Missile doesn’t require any (unless you’re playing with Scorching Ray). It’s up to you to decide whether someone else needs Rhapsody more than you do. The Spellsparkler isn’t as good, but will work very well with your build, so you should probably leave Rhapsody to someone else, unless you want to boost your control capabilities.

If your other party members have no control spells (Command, Hold X, Confusion to name a few) or no way to reliably hit them, you should probably look to boost your spell save DC to cast these spells. In this case, Rhapsody becomes a much more important item, and Hat of Fire Acuity with Scorching Rays becomes your best bet.

If you already have good controllers in your party, you probably don’t need to be one yourself.

Depending on whether you want to play a Magic Missile based build or a Scorching Ray based build, there’s a few changes in key items.

Start the day by casting Mage Armour on yourself, Longstrider on all your party, and have someone enchant one of your weapons with Light or Daylight (once you have Callous Glow Ring).

Standard combat gameplay loop:

• Get Hastened (by your own means, or preferably by someone else).
• Activate Phalar Aluve: Shriek.
• Get in Shriek range of your targets.
• Start blasting and enjoy. You’re going to deal Force, Thunder, Radiant and Lightning damage, with enough punch to kill the healthiest boss in one turn.

Phalar Aluve’s skill regenerates on short rest. Considering you really need Shriek to make the most out of your spells, you will need to use your short rests wisely.

If you’re playing with Scorching Ray, you’ll want to disable Spellmight gloves on your first attack of the combat, you make sure you get some Fire Acuity going. After that you can reenable them and enjoy. Use Psionic Overload at the beginning of a tough fight (you can cast it as a bonus action if you went into the Zaith’isk) and don’t bother with Hex unless you have a very chunky (300+ health) target.

You may be tempted to give Phalar Aluve to someone else (and remove the need for the wizard to spend an action to activate it), but you usually shouldn’t. Phalar Aluve’s Shriek is a core of your damage, even without the DRS abuse, and you want to have that available basically whenever. So, unless you can give Phalar Aluve to a character who’s guaranteed to play in sync with you (i.e. reasonably close initiatives), you should wear it yourself.

Control spells will be irresistible if you’re playing the Scorching Ray variant. If you’re playing with Magic Missile, your spell save DC won’t really get that high:

• 8 (base)
• +5-6 (INT)
• +4 (Proficiency)
• +1-2 (Items)
• +6-10 (Fire Acuity – Optional)

Without Fire Acuity, you’ll reach 20 at best. It’s good, but not irresistible. You can either keep controlling weaker enemies, or forego control entirely. This would free up your concentration slot for Haste, which in turns allows your support (if you have one) to Hasten someone else.

You should always use your amulets to restore the highest spell slots.

In the early game, you should always use your arcane recovery charges to restore lower spell slots. Unlike the amulets, which are 1 use per day, you can use your arcane charges to restore several level 1 spell slots. It’s obviously better to be able to cast 3 more level 1 magic missiles than the other way around.

Even in the late game, you’ll want to keep the options of casting lower level Magic Missiles often.

If you get counterspelled, it’s kind of OK. It’s annoying, but you should usually open with a low level spell (1 or 2), so you can manage the loss.

The Shield reaction is going to be another problem. Usually, the enemies with Shield reaction are mages, which are easily identified by their robes and quarterstaff weapon. Just avoid attacking these guys with Magic Missile (either use Scorching Ray or just target someone else) and you will be fine.

Actually, a good part of the damage of the build isn’t a DRS abuse, at least as far as Magic Missile is involved. Phalar Aluve: Shriek is meant to trigger for each missile as each missile is a separate damage roll. The same goes for Empowered Evocation (adding your INT to damage) and Scarlet Remittance triggering for each missile. Psionic Overload and Hex triggering for each Scorching Ray is intended as well.

However, in Tactician Empowered Evocation and Scarlet Remittance will also be added to each Phalar Aluve Roll, and there are as many Phalar Aluve rolls as there are missiles. Phalar Aluve would also cause Callous Glow Ring, Psionic Overload and Hex to proc twice as many times as they should (the last two only being relevant with Scorching Ray anyway).

So there is still a substantial damage loss. You can see the numbers here[docs.google.com]. You can download the spreadsheet here[mega.nz] to tweak the parameters and mess around if you like.

I think the build is still viable for Honour Mode, but it might not be the build you want most in this mode (for instance, Phalar Aluve is forced into debuff mode, while you might actually appreciate the buff more in Honour mode).

As for the Scorching Ray variant – see about playing Sorcerer in Alternative Approaches.

Simply put, when it comes to Magic Missile, Wizard blows Sorcerer out of the water and it’s not even close. The reason for this is the Empowered Evocation passive which lets each missile scale with our INT. Sorcerer doesn’t have access to anything of the sort.

However, when it comes to Scorching Ray, it’s the other way around. The key differences here are that first, Scorching Ray deals Fire damage and unlike Magic Missile (which is Force damage), Fire has a dedicated Elemental Adept feat to support its damage. Second, a Draconic Fire Sorcerer will add their CHA to fire damage as early as level 6, which is far earlier than Wizard’s level 10 with Empowered Evocation.

Sorcerer will also make a much better usage of Command because of natural CHA scaling and metamagic. See this guide for more details on how to build a Fire Sorcerer.

Gatling Wizard is still good, be it with Scorching Rays or Magic Missile.

Sure, but what will that give you? Essentially a third feat and that’s about it. But do you need it?

Ability Score Improvement is out of the equation because it won’t let you get past 20 INT, which you will already have (unless you can’t get Hag’s Hair, in which case it’s perfectly justified). War caster is not that useful, unless you’re not wearing Armour of Landfall and are absolutely terrified of losing concentration.

Then again, you might not be interested in control spells (see the Control spells and Spell Save DC paragraph), in which case you don’t really have much use for the Warlock Multiclassing. War Caster becomes a much more interesting choice as you’ll probably be casting Haste on yourself. Alert is also a great choice.

Unfortunately this build isn’t compatible at all with Eldritch Blast. You scale well with INT, not CHA – and going 10 Wizard means you lose your level 11 spell slot. Eldritch Blast absolutely isn’t worth that.

If something isn’t clear to you, or if you feel like I missed something, let me know in the comments below. I read every single comment I get, and will do my best to answer yours.

Thanks for reading the guide and I hope you have fun with the build!