Baldur's Gate 3: The 8 Best Elixirs

One of the more easily forgotten mechanics in Baldur's Gate 3, especially for those who don't hoard every alchemical ingredient they come across, is the Alchemy system. If your ingredients are scattered among your party and you occasionally forget to manually extract them, you might miss out on some game-changing elixirs and oils.

Since elixirs are limited to one per customer, it is expected that they possess potent effects that could impact the game if more than one could be applied to the same character. There is much to consider when selecting which elixir should be readily available at any given time.

8 Elixir Of Cloud Giant Strength

The most potent elixir for warrior classes that utilize strength-based weapons is the Elixir of Cloud Giant's Strength. It grants you a strength score of 27, which is seven points higher than the maximum limit typically allowed through ability score increases.

This increases your strength modifier to +8, which impacts your strength saving throws, athletics checks, weapon attack and damage bonuses, jump distance, carrying capacity, throwing and pushing distances, and even synergizes with magical items that grant bonuses based on strength.

7 Elixir Of Bloodlust

For characters with multiple highly damaging attacks or actions per round, the Elixir of Bloodlust could send you on a killing spree, allowing you to eliminate a handful of smaller enemies with just one character in one or two rounds. While its strength lies in the ability to regain five temporary hit points after each defeated foe, the additional action it grants enables the invocation of some powerful combinations.

While you could cast a few fireballs in a round with it, a fifth-level dual-wielding fighter can execute up to seven attacks in a round as long as they kill an enemy. What makes this elixir so potent is its relatively cost-effective production and its ability to remain active until your long rest period.

6 Elixir Of Heroism

The Elixir of Heroism is a formidable elixir choice that grants you an advantage over any enemy in the game, providing you with one of the most potent enhancement spells without expending a spell slot or needing to maintain concentration. The bonus of ten temporary hit points alone ranks among the highest amounts you will find in class features and spells.

As for the spell "Bless," it grants you a permanent bonus of 1d4 on all attack rolls and saving throws until you take a long rest. This allows you to make attacks against enemies with high armor class or when you are forced to be at a disadvantage. Although it only blesses one character at a time, it's hard to overlook the fact that it remains active for much longer than ten rounds without requiring your concentration.

5 Elixir Of Universal Resistance

The most powerful elixir in the game, the Elixir of Universal Resistance, halves any damage you take from any source until you take a long rest. While it cannot stack with a barbarian's resistance bonus during their rage, it is extremely useful for any race, class, and equipment combination.

While it is an exceptionally potent potion, it could burn a hole in your backpack due to the difficulty of crafting and acquiring it if you don't use it often enough. Nonetheless, you will want to use it in certain boss battles during the third act whenever you wish to keep at least one party member alive.

4 Elixir Of The Colossus

By utilizing the Enlarge/Reduce spell, the Elixir of the Colossus doubles the size of your character. While it doesn't increase your strength score like the potions of Giant's Strength, the additional flat damage bonus has the potential to inflict more damage on weapon attacks than a modifier increase would.

The bonus to strength saving throws and checks is useful for avoiding being shoved, stunned, disarmed, or tripped. However, this elixir is best suited for warrior fighters who wield dexterity-based weapons such as bows, which would not be enhanced by potions of Giant's Strength otherwise.

3 Elixir Of Battlemage's Power

The power of the Elixir of the Battle Mage may seem straightforward at first until you examine the condition of Arcane Sharpness more closely. It grants a +1 bonus to spell attack rolls and spell save DC for each remaining turn. However, since it is an elixir, the condition remains at three until you take a long rest, whereas it would normally decrease by one with each turn.

This means that you receive a fixed bonus of +3 to all spell attack rolls and spell save DC, which is already a significant advantage. However, when combined with other magical items, it means that you will never miss a spell attack or have your spells thwarted by an opponent.

2 Supreme Elixir of Arcane Cultivation

The sublime Elixir of Arcane Cultivation is extraordinary because it grants an entirely new spell slot instead of using existing spell slots, regardless of your spellcasting ability or maximum slot level. For warlocks, the Elixirs of Arcane Cultivation are extremely useful for surpassing the limit of three slots, and they even replenish after a short rest.

For paladins and Eldritch Knight fighters, this grants access to a spell level that is not typically available to their class, allowing them to upcast spells for more damage than usual. When nothing else is available, these elixirs can be used in emergencies to gain an additional spell slot when running out of spells.

1 Elixir Of Vigilance

This elixir is best used as a safeguard during exploration to prevent your group from being wiped out by a surprise attack, as it prevents those who have consumed it from suffering the surprised condition. This is particularly useful in the second act, where enemies lie in ambush practically around every corner.

The other bonus of the elixir is a fixed +5 bonus to initiative, which is best applied to specific characters where you want to ensure they are at the top of the initiative order or to characters with low Dexterity scores that you don't want to act last.