The stats for Baldur’s Gate 3’s first anniversary are in, and it has been revealed that players are ignoring one of D&D’s most beloved spellcaster classes in favor of one of the unpopular ones.
The arcane spellcasters have always been among D&D’s most popular classes, as they get to do all of the cool stuff. Impressive spells like Fireball, Lightning Bolt, Teleport, Fly, Haste, and Polymorph all fall squarely in the domain of the Wizard and Sorcerer.
In a game like Baldur’s Gate 3, where most people enjoy it as a single-player experience, it would make sense for the arcane classes to be desirable. After all, it’s not like in D&D, where a mix of character types among multiple players is encouraged.
Surprisingly, one class doesn’t see much attention among players. As discussed in a thread on the Baldur’s Gate 3 Reddit page, the first-year anniversary stats revealed by Larian show that Wizard isn’t among the top three picks for most races and is #8 out of #12 in popularity.
According to D&D Beyond‘s 2023 stats, the Wizard was ranked #4 in popularity, making it the most popular spellcaster class in the game. Despite this, Baldur’s Gate 3 players aren’t as interested in the class.
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There is also a total reversal for the Sorcerer class. The Baldur’s Gate 3 stats cite it as a popular top-three pick for several races, as well as being the #2 most popular class in the game (behind the Paladin.) Meanwhile, D&D Beyond cites it as the #11 class out of #13.
One possible reason for this disparity is that Baldur’s Gate 3 gives you a Wizard early on, with Gale joining you in the early hours of the game. Gale is a fully fleshed-out character with his own sidequest that runs throughout the story, so people interested in playing the class can always just use him.
The fact that Baldur’s Gate 3 gives the player tons of magical scrolls also diminishes the need for a Wizard. Their main benefit in D&D is their ability to learn every spell in the game, but if you’re given free uses of them via magic items, then do you need to bother with a Wizard in the party?
