Warding Bond

Category: Baldur’s Gate Spells

Level 2 Abjuration spell available to Clerics. You bind yourself to an ally: they get Resistance to all damage and a +1 bonus to Armour Class and Saving Throws, and every point of damage they take is dealt to you as well. No Concentration, lasts until a Long Rest. Read that second half again before you cast it.

Spell description: Ward an ally. They gain Resistance to all damage, and a +1 bonus to their Armour Class and Saving Throws.

Spell properties

  • Range: Melee: 1.5m (5ft)
  • Duration: Long Rest
  • Conditions applied: Warding Bond (Target): +1 Armour Class and Saving Throws, Resistance to all damage. Warding Bond (Caster): takes the same damage the warded ally takes.
  • Cost: Action + Spell Slot
  • Recharge: Per action

Spell upcasting

Casting Warding Bond at higher levels provides no additional benefits.

How to obtain Warding Bond

  • Cleric at Class level 3

Source items: Viconia’s Walking Fortress, True Love’s Embrace

WARDING BOND

Level 2 Abjuration Spell

Ward an ally. They gain Resistance to all damage, and a +1 bonus to their Armour Class and Saving Throws.

Range: Melee (1.5m) Duration: Long Rest
Action Level 2 Spell Slot

CONDITION: WARDING BOND

Duration: Until Long Rest

Warding Bond (Target)

  • +1 bonus to Armour Class and Saving Throws.
  • Resistance to all damage.

Warding Bond (Caster)

  • Takes the same damage the warded ally takes.
  • Ends if the two move more than 18m apart.

When to cast Warding Bond

The maths is not what you think it is. The ally takes half damage thanks to Resistance. You take the full original amount. A 20-damage hit becomes 10 on your Paladin and 20 on you. Cast this carelessly and you have not protected the party, you have booked your Cleric a funeral.

So it is not damage reduction, it is damage relocation. What you are buying is where the damage lands: off the fragile body that keeps getting focused, and onto a Cleric with the armour and the HP to absorb it. That is a good trade in a boss fight and a terrible one everywhere else.

Which means it goes on the squishy companion the boss keeps picking on, cast by a Cleric who is standing at the back and staying there. Do not put it on the character who is about to walk into a Fireball, and do not leave it running while your own HP quietly drains. It lasts until Long Rest, so it is very easy to forget it is on.

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Spell properties

Level
Level 2
School
Abjuration
Casting resource
Action + Spell Slot
Damage type

Range
Melee
Duration
Long Rest
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Notes & sources

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Spell mechanics, descriptions and values are based on Baldur’s Gate 3 version 4.1.1.7209685 and may change with future patches. Where applicable, sources are cited within each article.

Copyright disclaimer & licensing
Some or all of this work is © Larian Studios.
Some spell icons and game data are property of Larian Studios and used here under their fan content policy. Any fan-created works using content from Larian fall under: Larian Fan Content Policy and / or Baldur’s Gate 3 Fan Content Terms. Some of the icons used in these spell cards were downloaded from Sammy8932 on NexusMods.

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