Speak with Animals

Level 1 Divination spell available to Bards and Druids, and a Ritual. It lets you talk to beasts, which unlocks a surprising amount of quest content, lore, and shortcuts.

Spell description: Gain the ability to comprehend and verbally communicate with beasts.

Spell properties

• Range: Self
• Duration: Until Long Rest
• Ritual spell
• Cost: Action + Spell Slot
• Recharge: Per action

Spell upcasting

Casting Speak with Animals at higher levels provides no additional benefits.

How to obtain Speak with Animals

• Bard, Druid at Class level 1
• Nature Domain (Cleric) at Class level 1, as a Domain Spell
• Ranger at Class level 2
• Oath of the Ancients (Paladin) and Wildheart (Barbarian) at Class level 3
• Knowledge Domain (Cleric) at Class level 6
• Forest Gnome at Character level 1
• Granted by features: Magic Initiate: Bard or Druid, Ritual Caster
• Source item: Potion of Animal Speaking

When to cast Speak with Animals

It is a Ritual, so out of combat it costs you nothing but a moment, and Baldur’s Gate 3 is stuffed with talking animals that hand you quests, secrets, lore, and the occasional shortcut. Keeping it prepared quietly opens a lot of content.

There is no combat use whatsoever, so it lives entirely in the exploration and dialogue half of the game. If you have a Druid or Bard, cast it and forget it, because it lasts until Long Rest and pays off constantly.