Baldur's Gate 3 barbarian class guide: Best choices & options explained

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We’ll be taking a look at the best way to level up your barbarian, which race and subrace to choose, the best Illithid Powers and the best equipment to pick - so we’ve got every angle covered.

Where the barbarian falls short, your other party members will pick up the slack when you do actually need to engage your brain or do some sneaky sleuthing. Check out our best builds to see how to optimise any class out there.

There are baddies (or goodies, if you like an evil playthrough) to be dealt with, so we won’t keep you waiting any longer. Read on and all shall be revealed!

Baldur's Gate 3 barbarian class guide: Best choices & options to build your barbarian

If you just want a quick overview then check out our berserker barbarian cheat sheet just below. If you want a more in-depth explainer then be sure to check out the rest of the article too!

• Race – Dwarf
• Subrace – Shield Dwarf
• Subclass – Berserker
• Background – Soldier
• Skills – Athletics and Intimidation
• Weapon – Everburn Blade (early-game) / Sword of Chaos (late-game)

Dimunituve in stature but massive in strength and damage output, our Shield Dwarf can charge straight into the heat of battle and come out the other side victorious.

The Everburn Blade can be found in the opening of the game, too, meaning you’ll be pummelling (and igniting) foes left, right and centre out of the gate.

Read more on Baldur's Gate 3:

• Baldur's Gate 3 review - our final verdict
• Baldur's Gate 3 builds - create your character
• Baldur's Gate 3 cast - all voice actors
• Baldur's Gate 3 mods - best hacks and cheats
• Baldur's Gate 3 multiplayer - co-op explained
• Baldur's Gate 3 companions - recruit them all
• Baldur's Gate 3 classes - best class and sub-class
• Baldur's Gate 3 change appearance - can it be done?
• Baldur's Gate 3 early game tips - get an epic sword

Best subclass for barbarian in Baldur’s Gate 3

The best subclass for the barbarian in Baldur's Gate 3 is the Berserker. Unlocked at level 3, the Berserker deals the most damage out of all of the barbarian sublasses – at the cost of versatility.

But who needs to think about tactics when your sword goes bonk and all your problems go away?

The Berserker subclass does away with Rage and makes use of Frenzy instead, though the properties of Rage are still present too.

"Your Rage turns into a frenzy! You gain Frenzied Strike and Enraged Throw. You can also make an Improvised Weapon Attack as a bonus action. You have Resistance to physical damage, and Advantage on Strength Checks and Saving Throws."

The Improvised Weapon Attack lets you pick up objects and use them as makeshift weapons, handy if you are caught off-guard without your weapon or are disarmed. The details of the other features are as follows.

• Frenzied Strike – As a bonus action, make a melee attack with your equipped weapon.
• Enraged Throw – Pick up an item or creature and throws it at a target, dealing Bludgeoning damage and knocking it Prone.

Best race and subrace for barbarian in Baldur’s Gate 3

The best race and subrace for the barbarian in Baldur’s Gate 3 is a Shield Dwarf. This allows you to have multiple weapon proficiencies and gives you +2 Strength and +2 Constitution, both of which are very important for a strong and resilient barbarian.

Darkvision, which is inherent to all dwarves, lets you see better in areas with poor lighting - so you can still bring the hurt no matter where you are.

Dwarven Resilience means you can handle Poison Damage quite a bit better, and considering there is an achievement called "Bottoms Up", with the description "Long Rest using only alcohol – a time-honoured Dwarfish tradition", this adds up.

The only downside is dwarves' limited movement in combat. We’d highly recommend finding equipment that lets you use Misty Step or having your cleric teleport you.

Best abilities for barbarian in Baldur’s Gate 3

• Strength – 17
• Dexterity – 13
• Constitution – 17
• Intelligence – 8
• Wisdom – 12
• Charisma – 8

Barbarians need to focus on Strength and Constitution, and as you deduce from the above, our Berserker Barbarian build has this in spades.

This affects how much damage you can dish out and how much you can take. Dexterity is also an important skill to dump points into as it improves how well your character will handle weapons.

Intelligence and Charisma are quite low, but if you need to pass an Ability Check, you can always use another character, potions to temporarily buff stats or equipment that improves them when worn.

Best barbarian background in Baldur’s Gate 3

The best background for the barbarian in Baldur’s Gate 3 is the Soldier. Perhaps unsurprising, but we’ll still explain why.

For a barbarian, you want to be honing your Athletics and Intimidation skills and the Soldier gains you more proficiency on this front.

Athletics will improve your ability to Shove (which never gets old) and Jump. The latter is very important for a Shield Dwarf as they have limited movement and being able to jump further is paramount.

Best Levelling Up guide for barbarian in Baldur’s Gate 3

The barbarian isn’t too complicated to level up as you only have access to a certain number of Feats. We’ve listed the best Feats to take to ensure your Shield Dwarf can keep up with their more vertical companions and demolish any who dare to mock your height.

Level 3

• Berserker

Level 4

• Savage Attacker

Level 8

• Tough

Level 12

• Mobile

As you can see, pretty easy! All you need to worry about is how much ouchy the enemy feels. The barbarian is best shaped by their Illithid Powers, equipment and weapons they wield - but we’ll be covering that further along.

Best Illithid Powers for barbarian in Baldur’s Gate 3

For those who like to get cosier with the tadpole, below are the best Illithid Powers to pair with your Berserker Barbarian.

• Luck of the Far Realms – When you make a successful Attack Roll against a foe, you can change that hit into a Critical Hit.
• Cull of the Weak – When you bring a creature down to fewer hit points than your number of evolved Illithid Powers, it dies and all nearby creatures take 1-4 Psychic damage.
• Psionic Backlash – When an enemy within 9m casts a spell, you can use your reaction to inflict 1d4 Psychic damage to the caster per the spell's level.
• Ability Drain – Once per turn, when you make an Attack Roll, the attack reduces that target's corresponding Ability by 1.
• Repulsor – Unleash the Absolute's power. All nearby creatures and objects take 2d6 Force damage and are pushed back 6m.

Best equipment for barbarian in Baldur’s Gate 3

As we said earlier, good equipment is what makes the barbarian sing (scream, roar?). Below are our best picks.

Bonespike Helmet (Helmet)

Fury in the Marrow – When you Rage, hostile creatures in a 3m radius must succeed Wisdom Saving Throw or take 2~8 Psychic Damage. The targets receive half damage on a save.

Grants +2 Intimidation and Menacing Attack (Melee).

Armour of Agility (Armour)

Exotic Material – Add your Dexterity Modifier to your Armour Class. Additionally, this armour does not impose Disadvantage on Stealth Ability Checks.

Grants +2 Saving Throw and adds your Dexterity Modifier to the level 17 Armour Class.

Gloves of Dexterity (Gloves)

“The point at which the gloves meet the wrist is form-fitting and very snug, almost a hint at the supple quickness and skill these gloves permit the wearer.”

Increases your Dexterity score to 18 and grants +1 Attack.

Sword of Chaos (Sword)

Chaos – On a hit, regain 1 ~ 6 hit points.

Damage – 2D6+2 Slashing, +1D4 Necrotic

You can find the Sword of Chaos during Act 3 so you unfortunately won’t have it for quite some time.

Everburn Blade (Sword)

The Everburn Blade is carried by Commander Zhalik on board the Nautiloid Ship and it’s a great weapon that will serve you very well until you find the Sword of Chaos later on.

Damage – 2D6 Slashing, +1D4 Fire

Amulet of Bhaal (Amulet)

First Blood – On a hit, inflict Bleeding upon targets that have maximum Hit Points.

Disintegrating Night Walkers (Boots)

Night Walker – Can't be Enwebbed, Entangled, or Ensnared and can't slip on grease or ice.

Misty Step – Surrounded by silver mist, you teleport to an unoccupied space you can see.

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