There is always debate about what the most powerful spell in Baldur’s Gate 3 is. But hardly anyone thinks of the most explosive one: Barrelmancy. You can read here how you can become a true barrel magician.
What is Barrelmancy? Barrelmancy or barrel magic is a meme from the release of Baldur’s Gate 3. Players collect as many explosive barrels as they can and place them around the enemies that stand in their way. All it takes is a spark of fire and everything blows up in a fantastic chain reaction.
For each barrel you place, you do a total of six D6 damage – between 6 and 36 points of damage. That’s only two d6 less than the popular fireball spell. And the barrel doesn’t cost you a magic slot.
Some players have captured their adventures with Barrelmancy on video:
Creating explosions without using magic – how does it work?
But, how does barrelmancy work? As described above, becoming a barrel wizard is quite easy:
In theory it’s that simple. Unfortunately not in practice.
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What should you pay attention to? In fact, the game puts a few obstacles in your way when it comes to barrel magic. Here are the things you need to keep in mind.
Your characters only have a limited carrying capacity. However, each oil barrel requires a carrying capacity of 18 kilos. So that you can place as many barrels as possible, you need a character like Barbarian Karlach with the highest possible strength value. However, you must expect to keep many of the barrels in your storage.
Pay attention to the distances between the barrels. If they are too far, there will be no chain reaction. Each barrel has a blast radius of 6 meters. Barrels to be ignited by the explosion must be within this. This also applies to the opponents you want to catch with the barrels.
By the way, you shouldn’t stand within the radius just mentioned when the explosion is triggered.
You should also keep in mind how many life points your opponents have: you can do between 6 and 36 points of damage per barrel explosion. For simple enemies like goblins, a few barrels are enough. However, larger opponents like a Minthara have more life points and therefore need a few more charges to deal with.
Barrel magic – the pros and cons
Should you become a barrelmancer? The result of barrel magic is fun and thoroughly entertaining. However, the necessary preparation takes a lot of time and planning: you have to patiently collect barrels and store them until it is time to distribute them.
The distribution itself can also take anywhere from a few minutes to hours, depending on what and who you want to blow up. In addition, explosions cannot be controlled. So you could also unintentionally cremate important quest NPCs or items.
But if you are clear about the possible consequences, nothing stands in the way of your excursion into barrel magic.
Maybe that’s a good strategy for your next encounter with the best villain of Baldur’s Gate 3. By the way, he’s finally getting the recognition he deserves.