Familiars are a staple of Dungeons and Dragons, and familiars also play a huge role in Baldur’s Gate 3. If you don’t know, Familiars are animal companions that players can conjure to help them fight off enemies. All Familiars come with different abilities, which will help you in your own way. Let’s see which one of the six is the best familiar available in BG3.
To get a Familiar, players need the “Find Familiar” spell, which is a level 1 spell of Conjuration magic school. You can get different spells, and each of these spell types will summon a single and particular Familiar for you, and there are six different spells from Find Familiar. There are six different familiars players can conjure for themselves in BG3.
Of course, not all of them are equal. As such, let us look at which of these is the best Familiar in Baldur’s Gate 3.
Imp
A familiar that is only available for Warlock but is one of the best familiar players can choose. Imps have the most powerful attacks out of any familiar and the biggest HP of any familiar. Along with this, Imps also can cast invisibility on themselves.
Imp has Devil’s sight and can see the combo potentials of their opponent’s. Imps can also fly and be used for scouting, similar to Ravens. Since Imps can use invisibility, they are arguably better than any other scout in BG3.
Also, players can practically abuse the fly-by advantage all flying familiars get. Talking about attacks, Imps can also deal 1d4 + Charisma damage on their attacks. If the enemy’s constitution saving throw fails, Imp’s attack will deal 1d4 poison damage.
Raven familiar
Raven is the flying familiar that is available to all classes. It can fly up to 18m from your position and can easily scout and unlock map for you without exposing you to danger.
Raven has two attacks. The Beak attack can deal 3 damage per attack, but we focus more on the Rend Vision ability. Although this attack deals only 1 damage, it also blinds the attacked enemy for 1 turn.
Blind ailment, other than putting the enemy at a disadvantage, also gives your teammates an additional advantage when attacking. Like Imp, it also enjoys the fly-by advantage of flying units.
Quasit
In general, the best Familiar players can get in BG3 is Quasit. Quasit can cast invisibility on itself and can stay safe from enemy attacks. Quast can inflict Frighten on your enemies for two turns through its attacks. All frightened enemies get disadvantageous rolls as long as they are frightened, and this can help you turn the tides of difficult battles. Quasit attacks also deal 1s4 + Charisma damage.
Another unique quality only available for Quasit Familiar is that Quasit can interact with the world itself. Other familiars cannot interact with the world, but Quasit can, allowing it to do basic things for you like opening doors. This is important when you are suspecting of a door being trapped. The only downside is that Quasit is another familiar in BG3 that is only available to Warlocks and cannot be used by any other class.
Frog
A frog can attack using Bufotoxin, which disadvantages the inflicted enemy’s Dexterity saving throws. These throws are almost required for using the most powerful spells in BG3, such as Burning Hands.
Frog’s toxin attacks paired with other spells such as Web, Hunger of Hadar, and Grease can further limit your enemy’s dexterity and allow you to use stronger attacks that generally have a low chance of landing.
Cat
Cat’s only ability is distracting enemies. The cat can use the meow ability to distract all enemies towards itself. This allows your character and party members to attack without fearing retaliation.
When Cat is killed, it drops an AoE spell that hits all enemies. You can select what spell your Cat drops on dying, such as Web or Fireballs. Of course, you will see your Cat die, but players can resummon their familiar and repeat.
The Cat familiar is best for glass cannon characters in BG3 or if you need breathing room to heal and get yourself together, and for players opting for stealth as distracting enemies will allow you to pass through areas unnoticed. Cat also takes reduced damage from falls.
Spider
Spider familiar deals 1 damage per attack and 1d4 poison if your enemy fails a save. A successful attack will poison your enemy, dealing additional and continuous damage. Spiders can also Web walk, meaning that Spider won’t be slowed down like other familiars if you use Web sell, and Night Vision saves Spider from suffering disadvantages in darkness.
The best ability for Spider familiar is the Arachnid Jump. This ability allows your familiar to jump over a distance of 18m, and you can reach high areas and secret paths. You can also enhance the jump distance by using the jump spell, making it perfect for exploring and one of the best familiar in BG3.
Crab
Crab’s attacks deal both direct and status damage. Crab’s pinch attacks deal 1 damage and 1d4 Slashing damage inflicting pinched condition. Any enemy inflicted with pinched condition results in your enemy taking 2 additional damage from all piercing attacks.
Furthermore, it also reduces the enemy’s movement speed by 3m. Other than these, Crab familiar has no outstanding abilities or powers that may redeem the familiar. Crab is best used against melee enemies who need movement speed to attack you and works best when your character or party members deal with pierce attacks. If not, you won’t enjoy many benefits from crab’s abilities.
Rat familiar
The Rat familiar is the last familiar on our ranking for the best familiars. The Rat familiar can cause 1 damage per attack, and if your enemy loses Constitution Saving Throw, the attack will also infect the target. When infected, enemies will have their constitution reduced by 1 for ten turns. This leaves all your enemies open for more attacks.
Rat familiar, owing to its small size, allows Rat to access many hidden areas that are inaccessible if you don’t have the Wild Shape spell.
