Wisdom Stat Guide
Info on the Wisdom stat in Baldurs Gate 3, what it does, what it affects.
If you're here, you're curious about what exactly Wisdom does in BG3. Wisdom is one of the Primary Stats - formally called "Abilities" in BG3. Commonly Wisdom is abbreviated as WIS. Like all stats, they have various effects to your character in and out of combat.
Wisdom Effects in BG3
Wisdom Modifier: Like all other stats, Wisdom has a modifier based on how much WIS you have. Having 8 WIS means you have a -1 Modifier (penalty). 10 is neutral, meaning you get a +0 WIS modifier. Then for every 2 you have after 10 gives you another +1 to your Wisdom modifier.
Spellcasting Ability for Some Classes
Wisdom is the primary spellcasting ability stat for these classes:
- Druid
- Cleric
- Ranger
- Monk (a bit of a special case, not really spellcasting per se)
Spellcasting ability affects many aspects of casting spells (damage, "hit chance", to put it simply)
In the case of Monk, WIS improves many of their "spiritual arts" among other things. I suppose you can say it's their "main stat".
Skills that rely on Wisdom
Most skill checks are affected by a specific modifier. In the case of Wisdom Modifiers:
- Animal Handling
- Insight
- Medicine
- Perception
- Survival
When performing these skills checks, your WIS Modifier is added to your roll.
Wisdom has one of the more meaningful skillsets. Notably, Perception helps you notice hidden objects and traps. This is probably the most important skill for exploration. In combat, it even helps you detect Stealth.
The other skills are pretty commonly used in dialogue. Insight most of all.
Medicine isn't used very often in conversation, but it has a significant use in BG3. Specifically an "Alchemist" character to create potions. A transmutation Wizard has a chance to double the amount of potions made if they pass a Medicine check!
Animal Handling comes up often if you're talking to them. There's enough of these in BG3 for it to be noteworthy. Luckily all of the WIS based spellcasters have early access to "Talk to Animals".
Survival also helps in exploration, with some plants and buried objects requiring it.
Wisdom Saving Throws
Every stat has a saving throw. The myriad actions and effects in BG3 which require you to "save" to either blunt or cancel out the effect are typically based on stats. Wisdom is no different.
Wisdom saving throws are very common, especially against magical debuffs. One of the great "side effects" of having high WIS.
Summary and Closing
Wisdom is a great stat, and you should be having at least one Wisdom based character purely for the PERCEPTION skill! Yeah, it's THAT relevant! Ranger for ranged DPS, Cleric for support, and Druid for the weird things in-between. Haha.
Hopefully you learned all you needed to know about Wisdom in Baldurs Gate 3. This should cover most of what WIS affects! If you're unsure about something, read the tooltips guys!