Barbarian | Baldurs Gate 3 Wiki

Barbarian
Subclasses
Berserker Wildheart Wild Magic Path of the Giant
Barbarian Initial Features
Strength Saving Throw Proficiency Constitution Saving Throw Proficiency Light Armour Proficiency Medium Armour Proficiency Shield Proficiency Simple Weapon Proficiency Martial Weapon Proficiency Unarmored Defense Rage Choose 2 Skill Proficiencies

Barbarian is a Class in Baldur's Gate 3 (BG3). The Barbarian's primary ability is their Strength, and their saving throw proficiencies are Strength and Constitution, with a Hit Dice of 1d12. They use their brute strength and primal rage to take over the battlefield and defeat their enemies. Barbarians are proficient in using Simple Weapons, Martial Weapons, and can utilize Light Armor, Medium Armor, and Shields.

Barbarians in Dungeons & Dragons and Baldur's Gate 3 represent fierce and primal warriors. They harness their inner rage and unleash it upon their foes in battle. Barbarians are known for their physical prowess, endurance, and ability to withstand punishing blows.

The defining feature of Barbarians is their ability to use Rage in combat — gaining physical damage resistance, dealing extra damage, and advantage on Strength checks and saving throws. 

The strong embrace the wild that hides inside - keen instincts, primal physicality, and most of all, an unbridled, unquenchable rage.

Baldur's Gate 3 Barbarian Table of Contents

1. Baldur's Gate 3 Barbarian Class Features
2. Baldur's Gate 3 Barbarian Class Progression
3. Baldur's Gate 3 Barbarian Subclass Features
4. Baldur's Gate 3 Best Barbarian Builds

Baldur's Gate 3 Full Barbarian Guide

BG 3 Barbarian Class Features

HIT POINTS

• Hit Points at 1st level: 12 + Constitution Modifier
• Hit Points at Higher Levels: 7 + Constitution Modifier

PROFICIENCIES

• Armor: Light Armour, Medium Armour, Shield
• Weapons: Simple Weapon, Martial Weapon
• Saving Throws: Strength, Constitution
• Skills: Choose 2 Skills from - Animal Handling, Athletics, Intimidation, Nature, Perception, Survival

EQUIPMENT

• Barbarian Clothes, Leather Boots
• Greataxe, Handaxe x2
• Health Potion x2, Scroll of Revivify

Unique Class Feature

• Unarmoured Defense: Your body is as resilient as any armour. While not wearing armour, you add your Constitution Modifier to your Armour Class. Wearing Heavy Armour impedes all positive effects of your Rage.
• Rage: Deal 2 extra damage with melee and improvised weapons, and throwing. You have Resistance to physical damage, and Advantage on Strength Checks and Saving Throws.

BG 3 Barbarian Class Progression

Level	Proficiency Bonus	Level Up Features	Rage Charges	Rage Damage
1	+2	Rage, Unarmoured Defence	2	+2
2	+2	Reckless Attack, Danger Sense	2	+2
3	+2	Pick subclass	3	+2
4	+2	Feat	3	+2
5	+3	Extra Attack, Fast Movement	3	+2
6	+3	Subclass feature	4	+2
7	+3	Feral Instinct	4	+2
8	+3	Feat	4	+2
9	+4	Brutal Critical	4	+3
10	+4	Subclass feature	4	+3
11	+4	Relentless Rage	4	+3
12	+4	Feat	5	+3

 

 

BG 3 Barbarian Subclass Feature

Best Barbarian Builds for Baldur's Gate 3

Barbarians are relentless frontline warriors who thrive in the chaos of battle, drawing upon their primal rage to shake off punishment and deliver devastating melee attacks. Unlike more technical martial classes, Barbarians excel with their raw physical power, exceptional durability, and straightforward aggression. Their Rage grants bonus damage while reducing incoming physical damage and allows them to remain in the thick of a skirmish longer than almost any other class.

Berserker

The Berserker Barbarian is the embodiment of the Barbarian class in its most fundamental form. It transforms an already fearsome warrior into an unstoppable force of destruction capable of overwhelming enemies through sheer aggression and relentless attacks. While some of the other subclasses offer utility or specialized mechanics, the Berserker focuses on one goal: to finish a fight as quickly as possible. The subclass consistently delivers serious sustained damage through Frenzy and their bonus action attacks.

The greatest strength of the Berserker Barbarian is its simplicity. Playing a Berserker Barbarian requires little setup and comes online effectively as soon as the subclass is unlocked. Activating Frenzy immediately grants the Barbarian additional offensive options and allows them to attack more frequently than other martial classes of the same level. 

When making any Barbarian, Strength should be the top ability prioritized for their attack damage and accuracy. Constitution follows next to give them even more health, and it also boosts their Armor Class with Unarmored Defense. Putting points into Dexterity also wouldn't hurt for the initiative boost.

Frenzy

Berserker Barbarians gain access to Frenzy at level 3, which is an enhanced version of the class' Rage. It transforms the usual rage into an even more offensive ability. Frenzied Strike lets the player make additional attacks with Bonus Actions, while Enraged Throw can give the Barbarian some utility and damage by knocking enemies prone while dealing significant damage. This can create opportunities for the Barbarian themselves, or their melee allies to attack with some Advantage

Mindless Rage

Mindless Rage is a subclass feature that players get at level 6, which grants the Barbarian with Immunity to Charm and Fear effects while raging. This feature is extremely valuable later in the game, where enemy spellcasters and bosses have abilities that can debuff and mentally incapacitate the player. With Mindless Rage, players are able to ignore the effects and remain focused on attacking enemies to take down priority targets during combat encounters.

Intimidating Presence

Intimidating Presence is a subclass feature that Berserker Barbarians get at level 10. With an action, players can instill Fear in enemies, which will render them unable to move while imposing Disadvantage on the targets' Ability checks and Attack Rolls. An affected creature can resist the effect and become immune to it until a Long Rest, but if the creature fails, the Barbarian can use Maintain Intimidating Presence to prolong the target's fear.

Feats

For Feats, it's recommended for players to raise the Barbarian's Strength score to 20 as soon as possible to get their attack damage and accuracy as high as possible. Once their Strength score is maxed out, players can take Great Weapon Master to increase their damage output, synergizing with the Barbarian's high accuracy and numerous opportunities to get Advantage on Attack Rolls. Savage Attacker can also be picked up for players who prefer heavy weapon builds.

Wildheart

The Wildheart Barbarian is a bit different from the usual Barbarian trope. Rather than focusing on raw aggression, Wildheart Barbarians channel the power of nature and beasts to gain unique abilities that enhance their combat prowess. It offers them some flexibility to adapt to a variety of encounters while still remaining durable enough and still able to have a decent damage output that defines the Barbarian class. The Wildheart Barbarian is great for players who want a bit more tactical gameplay.

The defining feature of the Wildheart subclass is the Bestial Heart feature, which players unlock at level 3 upon choosing the subclass. This feature grants the Barbarian different animal-themed enhancements to their Rage ability that change how the Barbarian approaches combat encounters. They also get Speak with Animals which grants the Barbarian with the ability to understand and speak with beasts.

Ability Score prioritization remains the same for this subclass, with Strength remaining to be the highest attribute for the boost to attack accuracy and damage. Constitution is next for the boost to the Barbarian's Hit Points and the bonus it grants to their Armor Class with Unarmored Defense. Lastly, Dexterity should also have points allotted for the bonus to initiative.

Bestial Heart

At level 3, upon choosing the Wildheart subclass, players get access to Bestial Heart, a subclass feature that enhances the Barbarian's Rage ability to grant them with beast-themed enhancements. Every time they gain a level in Barbarian, they can replace their current Bestial Heart with a different option from the five options. The five different Bestial Hearts are as follows:

• Bear Heart: Enter a Rage that makes you tough enough to stand up to any punishment. You can use Unrelenting Ferocity and have Resistance to all damage except Psychic damage.
• Eagle Heart: Enter a Rage that makes you near untouchable. You can perform a Diving Strike. Foes also have Disadvantage on Opportunity Attacks against you, and you can use Dash as a bonus action
• Elk Heart: Enter a Rage that grants you extraordinary swiftness. You can use Primal Stampede and your movement speed increases by 4.5m.
• Tiger Heart: Enter a Rage that empowers your leaps. You can use Tiger‘s Bloodlust and your jump distance increases by 4.5m
• Wolf Heart: Enter a Rage so inciting it spurs on your allies. You can use Inciting Howl and your allies have Advantage on melee Attack Rolls against enemies within 2m of you.

Animal Aspect

The subclass gains another feature at level 6, and then again at level 10. Animal Aspect provides a permanent passive enhancement that allows the player to specialize the Barbarian's strengths further. Unlike the Bestial Hearts feature, Animal Aspects are not tied to the Rage and their effects remain active at all times, offering buffs both in and out of combat. There are ten Animal Aspects that players can choose from each with their own unique passive buff.

• Bear
• Chimpanzee
• Crocodile
• Eagle
• Elk
• Honey Badger
• Stallion
• Tiger
• Wolf
• Wolverine

 The Aspect of the Beast: Wolverine synergizes well with Tiger Heart's Bleeding effect. Enemies suffering from Bleeding become significantly easier to control, which creates a devastating combination that blends damage and crowd control.

Land's Stride

At level 8, players get another feature called Land's Stride that lets the Barbarian ignore Difficult Terrain, allowing them to move normally through them with no movement speed penalty. Plant-covered surfaces with thorns or spines also no longer harm the Barbarian, and they also gain Advantage on saving throws against magically created plants that would impede movement.

Feats

Similar to the Berserker Barbarian, players should raise their Strength to 20 as soon as possible to increase their attack accuracy and damage. After their Strength score is maxed out, they can take Great Weapon Master for the damage boost. Alert is also a good Feat to take to give them a +5 bonus to initiative, allowing the Barbarian to set up their Rage before engaging enemies on the battlefield.

BG 3 Barbarian Tips & Builds

• NEW SUBCLASS, Path of the Giant, will be added in Patch 8.
• For beginners, the Berserker subclass offers straightforward mechanics and strength, making you more powerful. Alternatively, the Wildheart subclass can provide more dynamic options like Wolf Heart, which grants advantage to melee allies against enemies you're adjacent to.
• Activate Rage to deal more damage and gain Resistance to various types of damage, enhancing your combat endurance.
• At level 1, Barbarians gain the Unarmored Defense feature, increasing their Armor Class by their Constitution modifier when not wearing armor. If you're playing an unarmored Barbarian, focus on boosting both Constitution and Dexterity stats to enhance your Armor Class. 
• Using a two-handed weapon is generally more advantageous for Barbarians, providing greater damage potential. Consider picking up the Great Weapon Master feat at level 4 for added damage and a bonus action on kills or critical hits.
• Use Reckless Attack to gain an advantage on attacks, but be aware that enemies also gain an advantage against you.