Larian Studios Forums Baldur's Gate III Baldur's Gate III - Suggestions & Feedback Concentration: Low Level Spells

I was just thinking about all the concentration spells I never cast, particularly as my Character scales up in power. Spells that should be entertaining or thematic for certain characters types, but which just never get used at all after a certain point, because they compete directly with other concentration spells that are just better.

Examples might be a spells like Faerie Fire, Bless/Bane, Protection from Good/Evil, Hex etc at lvl 1. Or spells like Web, Blur, Crown of Madness, Phantasmal Force etc. at lvl 2. Other concentration spells remain situationally useful and somewhat competitive throughout, say Invisibility, or stuff like Hold Person or Silence, Darkness and Cloud of Daggers etc. Anything that can be upcast too, for sure, but as a general rule once you unlock the 3rd level concentration spells most of the 1st and 2nd level concentration spells become totally obsolete. Is anyone really going to cast Web over Haste, like ever? heheThe same thing happens at the lvl cap, where eventually even the OP 3rd level concentration spells are totally eclipsed by the 4th/5th level concentration spells, stuff like Hold Monster. At the level cap if the choice is between Globe of Invulnerability and say... Web?

You know what mean hehe. But this makes me a little sad, because often it's the low level concentration spells that give a lot of the flavor components I enjoy for characterization. I'm thinking not just the arcane type casters, but also Priests and Druids and such, even the half and quarter casters. Thematic spells like Bless or Barkskin or cool spells like the Flaming Sphere or Flame Blade or Heat Metal, they just lose out to stuff that is more mechanically useful for the concentration requirement. Like Flaming sphere vs Spike Growth or Fog Cloud say, stuff that inhibits enemy movement or lines of sight, at the same or a lower spell lvl. Or I don't know, any of those compared to real show stoppers like Spirit Guardians.

For cantrips there aren't all that many that require concentration, mostly just for exploration I suppose, maybe dancing lights or resistance I guess (only ones I can think of right now that have combat applications.) But for lvl 1 there are some standouts that do seem like they might be cool, if they weren't made immediately defunct by stuff that's way more useful when we lvl up. This veers dangerously into homebrew territory I'm sure, but I can't help but think some of the weaker levelled spells might drop their concentration requirement as the character progresses to a higher tier of power further along in the campaign. So for example, perhaps at Caster lvl 6 the first level spells in the class list no longer require concentration. At Caster lvl 12 maybe the same happens for the 2nd level spells in the class list, or something along those lines.

If that seems like too much rule bending, perhaps the same could be achieved via itemization, like maybe a sentient wand or special tome or whatever that does some of the concentrating for us? Might be doable. They probably have hella telemetry to show which concentration spells get cast all the time vs spells which never get cast, so maybe just going down the list they could do for the spells that don't get much play otherwise and then sprinkle some know-it-all Grimoires around the campaign. It might also be handled via a feat similar to magic initiate or warcaster, but with a theme like ascended concentration. I think it's kinda amusing how a warcaster can get yeeted off a cliff and somehow maintain concentration, and yet it's a complete impossibility to concentrate on more than one thing at a time hehe. I know these rules come straight over from D&D, but there are other areas in the game where liberties were taken, say short rest or how spells are prepared and whatnot, so it doesn't seem like a huge stretch. Especially if it was done via items or campaign specific boons that might make sense, something via the tadpoles even?

Anyhow, just an idea. I'm sure I can't be the only one who's pondered this dilemma. It'd just be cool to have a bit more flexibility so the caster archetypes could feel a bit more variable or custom style in that way. You know like so players could make the Arachnomancers and such if they want to, and use Web for fun combos without feeling like we're making a bad joke lol.

ps. for Web specifically, it's just so easy to destroy right? Like half the time it just turns into a flaming surface anyway. It might be interesting if web somehow got stronger with lvl or it could create larger surfaces over subsequent turns by being recast. I think another issue for these types of spells is just the party cap at 4 working against overall variety, because your 5th wheel isn't really there to handle the wingnut experimental stuff. You know tactics that perhaps aren't optimal but which might scratch the itch for RP.

I'm not really thinking here about ways to make Shadowheart or Gale more boss than they already are, but more for the Tavs. Even if it was a one off for the main, to me that would seem like a cool approach. Some classes like Wizards and Clerics have to weight which spells are going to get cast via preparation already. Usually that's where the tough calls have to get made about which concentration spells are going to get cut, like making a tier list every morning based on what's going to be most reliable... So another option might be an item that does some sort of Minor Sequencer thing there, where the theme is that a chopsen concentration becomes non-concentration when prepped that way? Might be another callback that could fit the BG vibe. Not to get too into the weeds about the relative power of spells, since it's always a mixed bag and that's unavoidable probably, but some spells you just kinda wish did more for the concentration trade off. Maybe specialist Wizards could get that as some kind of perk or item by magical school as a way to slide something in. Probably each class has a couple spells that could just be folded into class focused items I suppose. I think casters and the emergent play there is pretty solid in BG3, but the break concentration goofs or competing concentration stuff is sorta the bane of the game for me there. I feel like the choices just sorta flatten out after we peak, and it's a lot of the usual suspects at the lvl cap especially. Would be nice to see that revisited somehow, even if it's down to mods, though it'd be cool to see a precedent there since what works for BG probably translates downstream. What concentration spells come to mind for the rest?