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One thing that continues to annoy me is that a whole lot of spells (and potions) have no information of how long the spell will last. Neither in the spell description nor once actually cast.

For example just now I killed some rats in a cellar in Baldur's Gate using Wall of Fire, cast by Will as a level 5 warlock spell. The spell does not say how long it will last. Doing a mouse-over on the fire surface does not say how long it will last. Entering turn-based mode and passing repeatedly doesn't seem to pass time much faster. Casting create water on it will not do a thing.

So how do I know how long it will last? I did eventually go down but it took at least 5 RL minutes.

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    I think this is more about the duration of surfaces and created environmental effects. I am yet to see a spell or potion without a duration in the tooltip.
    – Neon1024
    Aug 14 at 8:26
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    Are you sure that the fire persisted fully from concentration on the spell Wall of Fire? Or was the environment on fire and continued to burn after the spell ended?
    – Shadomew
    Aug 14 at 18:49

2 Answers 2

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Spell durations are visible in the spell description tooltip, between the description and the data about range, area, and concentration.

Some spells note a specific duration in rounds (whether or not they also take concentration).

screenshot of the druid cantrip shillelagh. The duration of 10 rounds is circled in red.

screenshot of 2nd level druid spell spike growth. The duration of 100 rounds is circled in red.

Some spells note a duration of "until X rest".

screenshot of 1st level cleric spell shield of faith. The duration of until long rest is circled in red.

Interestingly, I did find at least two concentration spells in my current party composition without a listed duration in the basic spell tooltip: enhance ability and protection from energy. Both spells allow you to pick one of several sub-variations to apply to a given casting. When I tested enhance ability, once I had selected the spell, it took me to the choice of ability to enhance, and those sub-variations did have the spell duration listed.

screenshot of 2nd level cleric and druid spell enhance ability in its basic form. No duration is listed.

screenshot of the enhance ability subcategory fox's cunning. A duration of until long rest is circled in red.

I would expect that if a spell lets you pick one of multiple possible ways of casting it, the same pattern would apply. If wall of fire is translated directly from pen and paper, it would allow either a line or a ring, and so would show the duration on that sub-variation tooltip.

If a character is currently concentrating on a spell, you can check the concentration icon by their character portrait when they are selected. Hovering on the icon shows the natural duration of the concentration spell. The X on the icon also allows you to end your concentration before the duration naturally expires.

a screenshot of the icon indicating the selected character is concentrating on a spell. A red arrow has been drawn pointing to it.

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    Hadn't noticed that little icon down there before :) That works, as does casting another concentration spell. This game has way too many tiny but important icons...
    – Amarth
    Aug 15 at 17:07
  • @Amarth I came into BG3 off of about a month of Solasta, so I went looking for certain UI elements for things like this so I'd know what they looked like. It's pretty easy to miss!
    – MissMisinformation
    Aug 15 at 20:42
  • Like the "disable helmets in dialogue/always" button (in inventory, check a tiny icon next to the helmet).
    – Amarth
    Aug 16 at 14:55
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Wall of Fire uses Concentration. This means that it lasts until the caster takes damage, casts another Concentration spell, or drops concentration. (If the caster takes damage, they must pass a Constitution saving throw to maintain concentration.)

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    This is not always true -- many spells, such as the Cleric's Spirit Guardians, has both a 10-round duration in addition to the concentration requirement. Guidance is the same way.
    – Raven Dreamer
    Aug 13 at 20:10
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    @RavenDreamer: Sure, a spell can have multiple requirements. I was just talking about what "Concentration" means. Regardless, they will all be listed on the spell's popup.
    – BlueRaja - Danny Pflughoeft
    Aug 13 at 20:32
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    The caster can take dmg whilst concentrating, but must pass a saving throw to not have their concentration broken.
    – Neon1024
    Aug 14 at 8:25
  • You can manually cancel concentration on a spell as well. Select the character in question, look at the portrait on the quickbar, and there should be a little icon of the concentration spell below and slightly on the left of it with an X in the corner. Clicking on the X on that icon cancels the spell.
    – MissMisinformation
    Aug 14 at 19:46
  • Well this explains a lot, I didn't know about concentration out of combat.
    – Amarth
    Aug 15 at 17:05

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