Level 1 Arcane Spells Baldur's Gate 1
There are seventeen level 1 Baldur's Gate arcane spells in Baldur's Gate 1 Original. First level arcane spells are strong. Blindness, for example, does not lose its utility over the campaign's course. Indeed, it powers on through even BG2 SCS whereas Sleep loses its utility by mid-game but is godly up until that point. Magic Missile and Chromatic Orb scale handsomely and Protection From Evil, Friends and Identify never lose their utility.
Armor Baldur's Gate 1
Armor (Conjuration, SCRL67): Caster-only, 9-hour duration buff that confers an AC bonus equivalent to scale mail (AC 6). What that means is, survivability of the caster is greatly improved: it is much less likely that casters are hit by a kobold arrow. This spell is eventually superseded by third circle Ghost Armor and fourth circle Spirit Armor, but only in the harder battles due to their short durations. Armor does not stack with conventional armor, but it does stack with other armor bonuses. Armor is a bread and butter spell that we'll have active at all times.
Rank: Top-tier.
Blindness Baldur's Gate 1
Blindness (Illusion, SCRL71): Single-target, quick-fire immobilizer that nerfs the victim's vision radius to 1 point of reach and debuffs their THAC0 and AC by 10 points for 10 turns [1]. Save vs. spells negates. Blinded victims do not attack unless they are adjacent to hostiles, meaning they can be freely attacked with two-handed reach weapons and ranged weapons and spells. Suffice it to say, blinded enemies are dead meat.
Rank: God-tier.
[1] Should be a 4-point penalty, but it's a 10-point one. And it stacks.
Burning Hands Baldur's Gate 1
Burning Hands (Alteration, SCRL68): Quick-fire cone-shaped direct damage AoE that inflicts 1d3 fire + 2 points of fire dmg per level of the caster up to 10th. Save vs. spells for half.
Rank: Mid-tier.
Charm Person Baldur's Gate 1
Charm Person (Enchantment, SCRL69): Single-target, quick-fire divide & conquer spell that allows us to take control of man-sized humanoids for 17 rounds. Save vs. spells at +3 negates. As mentioned above, some victims can be talked to while under a charmed state [see: Charm Dialogue Baldur's Gate]. Unlike ToEE, charmed characters do not area-transition with the party.
Rank: Top-tier.
Chill Touch Baldur's Gate 1
Chill Touch (Necromancy, SCRL82): Caster-only, quick-fire "create weapon" spell that grants the caster to-hit +5 and inflicts (in melee) 1-3 piercing dmg, 1-8 cold dmg and a cumulative 2-point THAC0 reduction. Does not stack with conventional weapon properties. Does not bypass MR, but is no-save. Mages and Bards generally lack the THAC0 to make Chill Touch and Ghoul Touch worth it.
Rank: Bottom-tier.
Chromatic Orb Baldur's Gate 1
Chromatic Orb (Evocation, SCRL83): Single-target, quick-fire immobilizer that most notably inflicts 1-10 magic dmg and 10-round Blindness at caster 4th, 1-12 magic dmg and 3-round Stun at caster 5th, and 2-16 magic dmg and 20-round paralysis (Stun) at caster 7th. The dmg calculations are somewhat bugged, but it's the immobilization that counts.
Rank: God-tier.
Color Spray Baldur's Gate 1
Color Spray (Alteration, SCRL70): Quick-fire cone-shaped immobilizer AoE that inflicts unconsciousness on 1-6 victims of <=4HD. Save vs. spells negates. Why not just cast Sleep?
Rank: Bottom-tier. Color Spray is King-tier in ToEE. cf. ToEE Level 1 Wizard Spells.
Friends Baldur's Gate 1
Friends (Enchantment, SCRL72): Caster-only attribute buff that confers stackable +6 points of Charisma up to the max score of 25. Good for haggling purposes and passing Reaction checks.
Rank: Top-tier.
Grease Baldur's Gate 1
Grease (Conjuration, SCRL66): Quick-fire AoE movement rate debuffer with a duration of 3 rounds + 1 round per caster level. Useful before Web comes along. Movement rate debuff stacks with Slow.
Rank: Top-tier.
Identify Baldur's Gate 1
Identify (Divination, SCRL75): A utility spell that identifies one magical item in the inventory per casting. Unless we have a Bard in the party, this is extremely useful. Duration is 1-4 rounds + 1 round per caster level. Note that Edwin cannot cast ID because Divination is the opposition school of Conjuration.
Rank: Top-tier.
Note: This spell is rendered useless by Identify All Items of Tweaks Anthology.
Infravision Baldur's Gate 1
Infravision (Divination, SCRL76): All characters glow in the dark, making them easier to see. But then BioWare made Infravision an always-on option, thereby reducing whatever value the spell may have had. Note that some races have innate Infravision, and that there are also potions that grant the ability.
Rank: Bottom-tier.
Larloch's Minor Drain Baldur's Gate 1
Larloch's Minor Drain (Necromancy, SCRL84): Single-target, quick-fire direct damage spell that inflicts a flat 4 magic dmg on the victim and transfers that dmg -- cumulatively -- to the caster as hitpoints. The leeching may exceed the caster's total HPs, but the bonus is lost after 10 rounds. Does not bypass MR, but is no-save.
Rank: Mid-tier.
Magic Missile Baldur's Gate 1
Magic Missile (Evocation, SCRL77): See: Magic Missile BG2 and Magic Missile Infinity Engine.
Rank: Top-tier.
Protection From Evil Baldur's Gate 1
Protection From Evil (Abjuration, SCRL78): Single-target buff that effectively grants a 2-point bonus to AC and saving throws vs. Evil-aligned hostiles. Stacks with other armor sources. PfE is also a ward in that it grants an undocumented immunity to charm.
Rank: Top-tier.
Shield Baldur's Gate 1
Shield (Evocation, SCRL79): Grants a 2 point AC bonus over Armor and also protects against incoming Magic Missiles, but its duration is only 5 turns compared to Armor's 9 hours. This spell is much more useful in IWD2.
Rank: Mid-tier.
Shocking Grasp Baldur's Gate 1
Shocking Grasp (Alteration, SCRL80): Single-target, quick-fire direct damage spell that inflicts 1-10 electrical dmg on victims. Damage does not scale with caster level, but is no-save. Can be useful until Magic Missile scales.
Rank: Mid-tier.
Sleep Baldur's Gate 1
Sleep (Enchantment, SCRL81): AoE immobilizer that causes any enemies <=4HD +3 to fall asleep for 5 rounds per caster level. Save vs. Death at -3 penalty.
Rank: Mid-tier (godly in the early-going).
Next up: Level 2 Arcane Spells Baldur's Gate.
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