Intelligence is one of the six character abilities.
Introduction[]
It is of prime importance to arcane casters as it determines which levels of spells can be learned by mages, bards, and specialist mages, the chance a spell can be written down in the spellbook from reading a scroll and determines how many different spells of one level may be memorised in the personal spellbook.
- Note that this only applies to scribing, not casting. A wizard may temporarily boost their INT and scribe the desired scrolls; they will be able to memorize and cast that spell even when their INT returns to normal.
For sorcerers, the amount of spell for each level is determined solely by the level of the mage - as they can naturally cast 9th level spells and do not scribe scrolls, the only benefit they gain from a high intelligence score is a lore bonus.
For non-caster classes, intelligence and wisdom only adds a bonus to lore bonus, so it's wiser to spend points on the other character abilities when creating a character. A minimum intelligence of 9 is needed to use wands and scrolls.
Scores table[]
| Mages and Bards: | Everyone: | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| INT | Max Spell Level | Max Known Spells/Level | Chance to Learn Spell | Lore bonus |
| 1-6 | - | - | - | -20 |
| 7 | - | - | - | -10 |
| 8 | - | - | - | -10 |
| 9 | 4th | 6 | 35% | -10 |
| 10 | 5th | 7 | 40% | 0 |
| 11 | 5th | 7 | 45% | 0 |
| 12 | 6th | 7 | 50% | 0 |
| 13 | 6th | 9 | 55% | 0 |
| 14 | 7th | 9 | 60% | 0 |
| 15 | 7th | 11 | 65% | +3 |
| 16 | 8th | 11 | 70% | +5 |
| 17 | 8th | 14 | 75% | +7 |
| 18 | 9th | 18 | 85% | +10 |
| 19 | 9th | ∞ | 95% | +12 |
| 20 | 9th | ∞ | 96% | +15 |
| 21 | 9th | ∞ | 97% | +20 |
| 22 | 9th | ∞ | 98% | +25 |
| 23 | 9th | ∞ | 99% | +30 |
| 24 | 9th | ∞ | 100% | +35 |
| 25 | 9th | ∞ | 100% | +40 |
Intelligence-altering items[]
Equipment[]
| Item | Effects | Slot | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Scarlet/Blue Ioun Stone | +1 INT | Head | |
| Breath of Auril +3 | +1 INT, -1 CHA, +more | Weapon (dagger) | cursed |
| Ring of Intelligence | +1 INT, -1 CON | Finger | possibly EE only [TODO: confirm] |
| Turodahel +2 | +1 INT | Weapon (long sword) | possibly EE only [TODO: confirm] |
| ... |
Consumables[]
| Item | Effects | Duration |
|---|---|---|
| Potion of Genius | +4 INT | 3 hours |
| Potion of Mind Focusing | +3 INT, +3 DEX | 12 hours |
| ... |
Spells[]
| Spell | Effects | Duration | Target |
|---|---|---|---|
| ... |
External links[]
- Intelligence article on the Baldur's Gate Wiki, a wiki for the Baldur's Gate games.
- Intelligence article on the Dungeons and Dragons Wiki, a wiki for the D&D ruleset.