This guide focuses on the Barbarian class, subclasses, best races, skills, feats, multiclassing, armour, and weapons in Baldur’s Gate 3 (BG3).
This Barbarian Class Guide will walk you through all the options for creating a powerful Barbarian Build. Each section will break down components, and we have separate guides forweapons,armour, andsubclass, along with builds for each subclassBerserker,Wildheart, andWild Magic. Let’s start with a brief explanation of the subclasses for the Barbarian.
Barbarian Class in Baldur’s Gate 3
The Barbarian class in Baldur’s Gate 3 is a powerful melee combatant specializing in dealing and taking damage. Barbarians are known for their Rage ability, which allows them to temporarily tap into their inner primal strength to become even more deadly.
Barbarian Class Features and Mechanics in BG3:
Barbarian Subclass in Baldur’s Gate 3
The Barbarian subclasses in Baldur’s Gate 3 all offer their own unique benefits and playstyle. The Barbarian class can choose one of three subclasss at level 3:Berserker,Wildheart, andWild Magic. Yoursubclassunlocks additional specific features at levels 3, 6, and 10. The Barbarian isn’t a spellcaster and remains a simple yet effective class for melee regardless of yoursubclass.
Barbarian Subclass Overview in BG3:
Barbarian Character Creation
Character creation in Baldur’s Gate 3 is a comprehensive process that allows you to create a character that is uniquely your own. You can choose your character’srace,class,background,appearance, andability score. The most important of these decisions is yourracebecause you cannot change this without mods once you’ve started your character. The second most important is theability score, which you canchange via the NPC Withersat your camp.Backgroundandskillsare less important forcombatperformance but play a significant role in how your character’s dialogue and exploration function. Let’s break down each of these character creation decisions for the Barbarian class in Baldur’s Gate 3.
Best Barbarian Race
The best Barbarian Race is theHalf-Orcbecause they receive Savage Attacks and Relentless Endurance, which provides the best damage and survivability for a melee-dependent build.Savage Attacks: When you score acritical hitwith a meleeweaponattack, you’re able to roll one of the weapon’s damage dice one additional time and add it to the extra damage of thecritical hit. This pairs well with the Brutal Criticalclassfeature for insane damage oncritical hitslater as you advance the Barbarian. Relentless Endurance gives you 1 HP after being after reaching zero, which prevents you from beingdowned. This get-out-of-jail-free card can save your life and your group from wiping.
Here is a chart for the best Barbarian Races in BG3:
Some alternative choices for Barbarianracesare theZariel Tiefling,Githyanki, andWood Elf. All races grant a +1 and +2 to your chosenability score, making the choice between races less stark. However, theZariel Tieflingreceives two Smite abilities perlong rest(Paladinabilities): fire resistance and Darkvision. TheGithyankigives you increased mobility with Psionic Jump and Misty Stepspells. TheWood Elfhas the best base movement speed of 10.5 meters, along with Darkvision andFey Ancestry. Darkvision is an important aspect of your racial choice, allowing you to see up to 12 meters in the dark. In certain fights or the Underdark, you will reduce your chance of hitting significantly if you do not have Darkvision.
Ability Score
Ability scoreselection is one of the most important decisions when creating your Barbarian class in Baldur’s Gate 3. Yourability scoreswill determine how well your character performs incombat, how well they can interact with the world around them, and how many skills they can be proficient in.
Below is the bestability scorefor the Barbarian in BG3:
Barbarian Ability Scores Explained
The most importantability scorefor the Barbarian is Strength. Strength impacts your ability to land attacks (attack rolls) and determines the damage you deal when wielding meleeweapons. Additionally, it plays a role in your jumping distance and the weight you can bear. Your goal is to reach 16 Strength in character creation. You typically want to land on even numbers because you only gain a +1 on even numbers. So, if you have 16 or 17 Strength, your ability modifier will be the same number. The only change to this strategy is if you plan on gettingpermanent stat bonusesquickly during your playthrough. Auntie Ethel provides one very early if you complete her quest in a certain way. That will push you to 18 Strength, giving you another +1 to your ability modifier.
Next up is the Constitution, which determines health but for Barbarians, it’s a little more complex. At Level 1, Barbarians unlock Unarmoured Defence, allowing you to add your Constitution modifier AND Dexterity toArmour Class (AC). AC determines your probability of avoiding attacks. BG3 wants the Barbarian to useclothingrather thanmedium armour. If you have 16 Constitution and 14 Dexterity, and cloth provides 10 baseAC, your Barbarian will have 15AC. This isn’t very high, but it allows you to wear powerfulclothing designedfor Barbarian, which we will cover inweaponsandgear.
Lastly, we have Dexterity, which I’ve touched on briefly. You want about 14 in Dexterity, so you get +2 to yourACand have a higherInitiative. Initiative determines the order of attack, and at Level 7, the Barbarian unlocks Feral, which grants a +3 bonus toInitiativeand can’t be Surprised. This will have you taking a turn very early and doing big damage on turn one.
Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma are mainly story-based factors if you use this character as your main “speaker.” I like to put one skill high, like Wisdom, and take askillfrom there, vs. a spread-outability score.
Background & Skills
Backgroundandskillselection are important parts of character creation in Baldur’s Gate 3. Yourbackgroundwill give you twoskillproficiencies, while your skills will allow you to perform various tasks and interact with the world.Skillsand their power are directly related to yourability score, meaning if you have the 8 Intelligence, pickingInvestigationwill be a -1 in dialogue. Typically, you want to takeAthletics,Intimidation, andSurvival. These will fit the Barbarian character story and help you in non-combat situations.
Level Progression for Barbarian Class
Level progression in Baldur’s Gate 3 is like other RPGs and games. As you gain experience points, your character will level up. At each level, you unlock aclassorsubclassfeature. Some of these are abilities or passive features that aid your character incombat. The maximum level in BG3 is 12, and we will walk you through what happens at each level. Consider the Barbarian massive spikes in power in Levels 3, 5, and 9. At first, the class will be limited and seem weak, but stick with it until at least Level 5, where it dramatically improves.
Barbarian Class Level Progression in BG3:
At level one, you unlockRageand Unarmoured Defence. Rage is the main mechanic of the class and typically what you use your bonus action for on turn one. Rage gives you Resistance to physical damage andAdvantageon Strength Checks andSaving Throws. Rage lasts for 10 turns by default, but you need to attack and or be attacked every turn to keep it active. You also start with a limited amount of Rage charges, and as you level, you earn more, which replenish vialong rest.
Below is the Barbarian Rage Charge per level in BG3:
Rage and its usage is why you need to play ultra-aggressive duringcombatto get the most out of your Barbarian build. Also, consider equipping a Heavy Crossbow as a rangedweaponso you’re able to continue to attack when movement speed is sluggish.
The second important class feature is Unarmoured Defence. While not wearing armour, you add your Constitution Modifier to yourArmour Class.Armour Classdetermines the likelihood someone will miss an attack, and this passive gives you options inarmour and clothing selections. Barbarians have medium armour proficiency, but themedium armourselects are weak off offensive bonuses. The benefit to medium is higherACvalue at the cost of lower offensive potential. Typically, you want to have 16 Constitution, 14 Dexterity, and wear clothing, which will get you to 15AC.
Shield of FaithspellincreasesArmour Classby 2 and is a great way to increaseArmour Classearly via a Cleric companion likeShadowheart. TheSword of Justiceitem in Act 1 also gives this to the wielder and combines to reach 17 early in Act 1. Also, you don’t want to equip anyarmourpiece without looking at the tooltip, not just the one in your chest slot. Sometimes helmets, gloves, and boots havelight, medium, or heavy armourand will reduce yourAC. Check each piece of equipment and your character screen to have 15 or higherAC.
At Level 2, the Barbarian unlocks Reckless Attack and Danger Sense. Reckless Attack is your primary attack and gives you an Advantage on Attack Rolls, but enemies also have anAdvantageagainst you.Advantagelets you roll twod20rather than one, helping your percentage significantly hit a target. But that target also has the sameAdvantageagainst you. Typically, this is your go-to attack, and if you’re worried about dying on the following turn, use your main hand attack instead to avoid theAdvantagefrom the enemy.
Danger Sense is a passive bonus that gives you Dexterity Saving Throws against traps,spells, and surfaces. This isn’t that impactful, but it can help while exploring.
Level three, you select yoursubclassand increase your Rage perlong rest. My favorite and objectively the strongest isBerserker. We will coversubclasspros and cons in a separate guide.
At level four, you unlock afeat. You can either choose to increase yourability scoreor acquire specific talents. Further in this guide, I will give some options forFeatsand which are the best for the Barbarian. You can unlockfeatsat levels 4, 8, and 12 with the Barbarian.
Level 5 is the massive jump in power due to the Extra Attack feature. You can make an additional free attack after making an unarmed orweaponattack. With one action, you can now attack two times per turn. Depending on your build, you can attack again with your bonus action. You can further augment and enhance this Extra Attack by gaining another action through thespellHaste orPotion of Speed. This will give you 4x attacks and a bonus action attack for 5x in one turn. You will feel much stronger now; typically, mobility is lacking at this level.
Speaking of mobility, you unlock the Fast Movementclassfeature, which increases movement speed while not wearingarmour. This is very helpful for starting out, and you can combine this with theCrusher Ringfor even more movement speed.
Also Check:-BG3 Interactive Map
At level 6, you will get an additional Rage charge and a subclass feature.
At level 7, you unlock the Feral Instinctclassfeature. You gain a +3 bonus toInitiative, and you can’t be Surprised. This is an enormous bonus, even though it doesn’t look important. You are very likely to go first, which is extremely helpful. In Baldur’s Gate 3, The weakness of the Barbarianclassis lower Dexterity andInitiative. Going much later in the attack order means you can be crowd-controlled, immobilized, stunned, etc. This will skip your turn(s) and lower your kill potential. Surprise can also help post-dialogue cut scenes or while exploring, essentially skipping your first turn.
Feral Instinct allows you to open on turn one, likely using Rage for a bonus action and then an extra attack to hopefully take down a target or two. You really feel a jump in power at this level if you have high movement speed and a meta-race selection.
At level 8, you get anotherfeatselection, which will go in depth later.
Brutal Critical is unlocked at this level, which provides everycritical rollan extra damage die as well as the normal additional critical dice. An amazing gear combination isKiller’s Sweetheart Ringand theSurgeon’s Subjugation Amulet. Killer’s Sweetheart gives you an automaticcritical hitafter killing a creature, and Surgeon’s gives you free Paralyze stuff upon acritical hit. You furthermore use thefeatGreat Weapon Master, which gives you another attack with a bonus action after acritical hit. And if you didn’t skip ahead (that’s okay, too), theHalf-Orc racegives you Savage Attacks, letting you roll another dice on acritical hit. You will unload on acritical hitand have more chances to do so.
Level 9 or 10 is a good time tomulticlassingyour builds. Beyond this level, you don’t get much besides afeatat level 12. I’ll explain multiclassing a bit more, but be aware that this is where your Barbarian power dips and nothing impactful happens.
Level 10 is a subclass feature level.
Level 11 grants you a Relentless Rageclassfeature. If you drop to 0 HP while Enraged, you regain 1 hit point instead of being Downed. This is very similar to the Half-OrcRacefeature Relentless Endurance. This is obviously a helpful survival passive.
Level 12, you get another Rage charge and a feat.
Featsare special abilities that characters can choose to gain in Baldur’s Gate 3. They can provide various benefits, such as increased damage output, improved defenses, or new skills and abilities. Barbarians can choose their firstfeatat level 4 and every four levels thereafter. However, they can only choose onefeatper level. If you’remulticlassing, this may change yourfeatselection. More on that later.
Read More:All Acts in BG3 Ranked
Below is a list of the best Barbarianfeats:
In Baldur’s Gate 3, the bestfeatfor the Barbarianclassis Great Weapon Master because it increases damage and allows you to make an additional attack with a bonus action after a kill orcritical hit. Great Weapon Master can also be toggled on or off in the passive section of the players’ toolbar. This toggle will remove the +10 damage and the -5-penalty, giving you some control if your chance to land an attack is low.
The increased damage is massive, and the expense of a -5 attack roll essentially lowers your chance to hit. However, you gain more strength,spells, and potions that negate or completely remove the -5 attack roll issue as you level. Bless is aspellthat helps increase your percentage chance to hit, and the potion Elixir of Heroism gives you Blessed until along rest. Savage Attacker, Mobile, and Tough all make good alternative choices depending on your playstyle.
Recommended BarbarianFeatselection:
This simple and effective Barbarianfeatselection will give you 20 Strength at max level with the Great Weapon Masterfeat. You will hit very hard, have a much higher chance to land an attack, and have utility with your bonus action after a kill or acritical strike.
Multiclassing
Multiclassingin Baldur’s Gate 3 is a way to combine two differentclassesinto one character. This can give you a wider range of skills and abilities and allow you to create a more unique and customized character. The downside ofmulticlassingis you won’t progress to your originalclasslevel, meaning, if you take Barbarian to level 11 and 1 level inFighter, you will miss out on thefeatthe Barbarian obtains at level 12.
Read More:All Bosses in Baldur’s Gate 3 Listed
The Barbarian is a great class tomulticlassin BG3, specifically between levels 9 and 10. The best class tomulticlassa Barbarian is theFighter. The Fighter at level one gives you Great Weapon Fighting. When you roll a 1 or 2 on a damage die for an attack you make with a meleeweaponthat you are wielding with two hands, you can reroll the die and must use the new roll. This will increase your damage consistency and isn’t an innate feature of the Barbarian. You get an Action Surge from theFighterclass at Level 2 and immediately gain an extra action to use this turn.
Action Surge can be combined with aPotion of Speedor Hastespellfor three actions per turn. At max level, with two levels intoFighter, a Potion of Speed or Haste, this is what your Barbarian could do with one turn:
With the potential for seven attacks in one turn with incrediblecritical damage, theFighteris the way to go withmulticlassing. TheRogueandThiefsubclass is also a good option starting at Level 10. This can give you an additional bonus action at max level, which can be used for Berserk Frenzied Strike and Great Weapon Master.
Weapons & Armour
Weaponandarmorchoices in Baldur’s Gate 3 are important, as they can significantly impact your character’s combat performance. We have two separate guides for BarbarianWeaponsandArmour. The best weapon for the Barbarian is theGreatswordfor its overall damage, versatility in weapon skills, and available choices.The best armour for the Barbarianis clothing. Barbarianclothinghas specific gear sets that aid in your Rage and Frenzy. Medium armour will hinder your movement but give you more AC, while Heavy Armour will cause Rage Impeded, which removes the damage and damage reduction benefit. In general, cloth is the way to go with high health.
Best Barbarian ClassWeaponsper Acts in BG3:
Best Barbarian ClassArmourand Clothing per Acts in BG3:
Check out our three build templates for beginner and end-game advanced gear setups for allclassesand Barbariansubclassesin BG3Berserker,Wildheart,Wild Magic.
Q. Is Barbarian a good class in Baldur’s Gate 3?
Ans. Yes, the Barbarian class is really good in BG3 especially if you enjoy melee combat. It provides excellent resistance to physical damage, damage resistance from Rage and features some extremely powerful subclasses as well.
Q. What is the best class to add to Barbarian baldurs gate 3?
Ans. Top multiclass options for Barbarians in BG3 includes Fighter, Rogue, and Paladin.
Q. What is the best race for barbarians in Baldur’s Gate 3?
Ans. The best race for Barbarians in BG3 can vary from player to player, based on your preferences, playstyle, and other factors. However, some of the best race options that you can pick are Half-Orc, Wood Elf, and Shielf Dwarf.
Looking For More About Baldur’s Gate 3?
Thank you for reading Baldur’s Gate 3: Barbarian Class – BG3 Guide. We provide the latest news and create guides for Baldur’s Gate 3. Also, watch me play games onTwitchor visit myYouTubechannel!
