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In the wild world of 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Baldur's Gate 3, the Barbarian class offers one of the most straightforward a💛nd powerful roles on the battlefield. Tailor-made fo💫r those who enjoy a direct and forceful approach to combat, the Barbarian are unparalleled juggernauts that excel as sturdy frontline strikers.
The core feature of the Barbarian is their Rage, a formidable ability that imbues the Barbarian with amplified d🌊amage output and potent resistance to physical damage. If the complexity of spells and convoluted strategies aren't your style, the simple and robust Barbarian class might provide the perfect experience for you.
Updated August 23, 2023: We've gone ahead and updated this guide to fill in all the information we were missing during the Early Access period. Happy raging!
Barbarian: An Overview
The stron🔜g embrace the wild that hides inside - keen instincts, primal physicality, and most of all, an unbridled, unquenchable rag🗹e.
The Barbarian is an extremely 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:resilient frontline striker, excelling in taking massive amounts of damage and dealing it back in turn. Bolstered by their wide range in martial proficiencies, the Barbarian is unrivaled in its simplicity and brute force. Barbarians, if built correctly and given the right supports, can become one of the best melee brawlers of the game.
Though few can hold a candle to the Barbarian's ability to hold their ground and soak up damage, the Barbarian's scope is considerably lower when it comes to versatility—with the class largely focusing on being an unyielding force on the battlefield. If you're planning on running a Barbarian, it could be helpful to keep around a party member with proficiencies that can make up for the Barbarian's social and utility shortcomings.
The Barbarian subclasses can greatly vary, and several can change their whole playstyle!
Make sure to read the tooltips carefully before you choose.
Starting Out As A Barbarian
Ability Scores
Strength |
The Barbarian's most important score is Strength—this is what your weapon attacks will scale with, and should be the first one that you max out. |
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Constitution |
Close behind in importance is Constitution, which will bolster your durability. It's hard to brutally tear through your foes when you're♕ bleeding out on the ground, after all! |
Dexterity |
Dexterity influences your Armor Class through Unarmored Defense, which in turn directly influences your durability. It is also possible to build a Dexterity—instead of Strength—Barbarian, but it's much mo🗹re unconventional and may not be as effective. |
Intelligence, Wisdom & Charisma |
Though Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma have less influence on mechanical benefits, they still impact skill checks, making them worth considering, depending on the typeꦅ of character you are trying t🐓o build. |
Skills Proficiencies
Barbarians start out with the standard two skill proficiencies, available in skills related to the natural world and physical strength.
Saving Throw Proficiencies |
Strength and Constitution |
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Skill Proficiencies |
Choose two from the following: Animal Handling, Athletics, Intimidation, Nature, Perception, and Survival |
Equipment Proficiencies |
Light Arm🔯or, Medium Armoꦿr, Shields, Simple Weapons, Martial Weapons |
Hit Dice |
1d12 |
Starting Equipment |
(10 AC), , 1x , 2x , 2x , 1x , 1x |
Class Features
In this section, we'll go over each Barbarian class feature, what they mean, and how to use them effectively.
Unarmored Defense (Level 1)
Unarmored Defense |
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This feature essentially allows you to add your Constitution modifier to the standard 10 + DEX mod Armor Class of other classes. In the early game, this gives you roughly the equivalent of Medium armor, making it a solid, but not outstanding, feature.
Further investment in Constitution will, ꦐof course, boost the usefulness of Unarmored Defense.
Rage (Level 1)
Rage |
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Casting Time: 1 Bonus Action |
Range: Self |
Replenishes On: Long Rest |
Duration: 10 Turns |
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Rage is the bread and butter of the Barbarian class.
Though it locks the Barbarian entirely out of spellcasting, it offers the Barbarian a ton of features that perfectly complement its role on the battlefield—extra damage, extra durability, and the ability to fling enemies around like ragdolls.
No, really—with the abundant verticality of combat in Baldur's Gate 3, shoving goblins off of cliffs with that huge boost to Strength checks can be a very effective strategy.
Although the Barbarian's resistances during Rage only apply to physical damage (bludgeoning, slashing and piercing), those are by far the most common damage types of the early game and among humanoids, monstrosities, beasts, and other common enem𝄹ies.
Unlike in tabletop, the extra damage from Rage does work with Dexterity-based attacks, making a Dexterity-based Barbarian feasible, though unconventio🥂nal.
Danger Sense (Level 2)
Danger Sense |
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Known as the "Big Three" Saves, the three most common Saving Throws by far among spellcasters and traps are Dexterity, Constitution and Wisdom.
Danger Sense, combined with the Barbarian's innate proficiency in Constitution saves, gives the Barbarian significant coverage against all traps and 🃏spellcasters, further enhancing 🌠their durability.
Reckless Attack (Level 2)
Reckless Attack |
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Casting Time: 1 Action |
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Until y💞our next turn, you have Advantage on Attack Rolls, but enemies also have Advantage against you. |
Use this whenever you can. Though it might seem like a risky and even trade of damage, it's important to consider that the Barbarian has the highest hit dice in the game, is probably capable of doing more damage due to Rage and Extra Attacks, gains resistance to physical (or more) damages when raging, and also likely has access to healing that the computer-controlled enemies might not.
More likely than not, you'll come out on top when trading blows with advantage.
Extra Attack (Level 5)
Extra Attack |
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This is another simple but staggeringly effective passive ability that'll effectively double your damage as soon as you hit level 5.
Fast Movement (Level 5)
Fast Movement |
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Since you have Unarmored Defense, it's unlikely that your Barbarian would be wearing Heavy Armor—or any form of armor at all, really.
This is an especially helpful feature as the base Barbarian class lacks range, and this will help you position yourself better in combat.
Feral Instincts (Level 7)
Feral Instincts |
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Yet another great passive ability that'll automatically work for all rolls going forward—hey, we said the Barbarian was a straightforward class, didn't we?
Because Initiative rolls in Baldur's Gate 3 work off a smaller scale than the tabletop—a 1d4 instead of 1d20—a flat increase to Initiative is a massive boost.
Brutal Critical (Level 9)
Brutal Critical |
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Though this is a solid damage boost—especially if you're using a two-handed weapon—critical hits are not guaranteed, so this ability may get less use than the other generally very reliable Barbarian featu💎res.
Note that you roll a single extra damage die. This means greataxes (with their 1d12 damage die) are better than nearly any other weapon in terms of utilizing Brutal Critical.
Relentless Rage (Level 11)
Relentless Rage |
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Cooldown: Short Rest |
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Once again, this is a rather situational feature for such a high level—and if your Barbarian frontliner is dropping to 0 HP, you might be in more trouble t🍷han one additionﷺal hit point can salvage.
Still, this could mean the difference between life and death in certain fights.
Barbarian Subclasses
As you reach your third level in Barbarian, it's time for you to choose what aspects of battle you'd like to specialize in.
Subclass |
Overview |
Combat Role |
Other Focuses |
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Berserker |
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Striker |
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Wildheart |
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Striker |
Mobility, Support |
Wild Magic |
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Striker, Utility, Support |
Summons, Mobility (Random) |
Berserker (Subclass)
Violence is both a means and an end. You follow a path of untrammeled fury, slick with blood, as you thrill in the chaos of battle, heedless of your o✨wn well-being.
Frenzy (Level 2, Berserker)
Frenzy |
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Frenzied Strike |
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Frenzied Throw |
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The Berserker subclass capitalizes on the Barbarian's brute strength by giving them an additional Bonus Action attack.
When used in combination with Reckless Attack and future core Barbarian features, this feature skyrockets the Barbarian's damage output—to almost unrivaled levels among the other martials, especially if combined with a feat such as Great Weapons Master.
Mindless Rage (Level 6, Berserker)
Mindless Rage |
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Though situational, this feature comes into play much more in later parts of the game, where enemies begin to use crowd-control debuffs such as Charmed and Frightened much more liberally.
Intimidating Presence (Level 10, Berserker)
Intimidating Presence |
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Cost: Action |
WIS Save |
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Because it costs an action to use, this feature is pretty lackluster, especially for such a high-level feature. An action spent multi-attacking will almost always be significantly more effective in a fight when you're a level 10 Berserker.
Wildheart (Subclass)
Your attunement wi꧅th nature and its beasts inspires your rage, empowering you with supernatur📖al might.
Speak With Animals (Level 2, Wildheart)
Speak With Animals |
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This is a pretty straightforward feature—though it adds little to combat ability, it's a nice boost to the very lacking roleplay capabilities of the Barbarian.
Bestial Heart (Level 2, Wildheart)
Bestial Heart |
Rage Effects |
Action |
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Bear Heart |
Rage: Bear Heart
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Unrelenting Ferocity
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Eagle Heart |
Rage: Eagle Heart
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Diving Strike:
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Elk Heart |
Rage: Elk Heart
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Primal Stampede:
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Tiger Heart |
Rage: Tiger Heart
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Tiger's Bloodlust
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Wolf Heart |
Rage: Wolf Heart
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Inciting Howl
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Each animal totem that the Wildheart Barbarian receives grants them a passive and active ability, ranging from increased mobility, damage, healing, jump distance, utility support and area-of-effect damage. Naturally, which of these you pick depends on your preferred playstyle and part𝔉y composition—and they all greatly increase the Barbarian's versatili𒈔ty.
The Wolf Heart is especially excellent for a party with lots of melee martials, such as Fighters, Rangers, Paladins and Rogues.
Animal Aspect (Level 6 / 10, Berserker)
Animal Aspects |
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Bear |
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Chimpanzee |
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Crocodile |
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Eagle |
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Elk |
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Honey Badger |
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Stallion |
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Tiger |
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Wolf |
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Wolverine |
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These are all relatively small additions to the class, but you'll get two of them—at level 6 and 10. We'll always recommend picking features that fit your playstyle and roleplay goals more, rather than mechanically strong ones, as Baldur's Gate 3 is a well-balanced game that you can get through without optimizing.
That said, consider your party composition while picking your Animal Aspects! Several of these work well with certain features and spells from other classes, or can be used to fill in gaps in your party composition.
Land's Stride: Difficult Terrain (Level 8, Wildheart)
Land's Stride: Difficult Terrain |
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Though situational, this feature can come in handy during fights—especially in the wilderness of Act 2 and the sewers of Act 3, as the Barbarian generally lacks the mobility and instant-displacement of high-level casters.
Wild Magic (Subclass)
The wild influence of magic has transformed you, suffusing you with an arcane power that churns within you, waiting to be 💟relea𒈔sed.
Rage: Wild Magic Surge (Level 2, Wild Magic)
When you enter Rage, you gain a random magical effec༒t.
Rage: Wild Magic Surges |
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Wild Magic: Weapon Infusion |
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Wild Magic: Magic Retribution |
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Wild Magic: Protective Lights |
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Wild Magic: Intangible Spirit |
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Wild Magic: Bolt of Light |
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Wild Magic: Vine Growth |
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Wild Magic: Teleport |
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Wild Magic: Dark Tendrils |
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Unlike the 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Wild Magic Sorcerer, all of these features are largely positive, and none are especially disruptive to gameplay.
That said, several of the Area of Effect effects can damage teammates (such as Intangible Spirit, Bolt of Light, and Dark Tendrils) so be careful of your positioning.
This is a really fun feature, especially if you like a bit of randomness in your gameplay. The effects of your Wild Magic Surges are also very useful and largely Bonus-Action oriented, which is good for action economy.
However, it's worth noting that this also makes your features very situational. Only y🍨ou can decide if the usefulness of these features are worth the inconsistency!
Magical Awareness (Level 3, Wild Magic)
Magical Awareness |
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Cost: Bonus Action |
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This adds a nice bit of supportive capability to the Barbar𒈔ian, which otherwise gets little to none📖.
At higher levels, Proficiency Bonuses grow, making this a feature that scales well into the late game.
Bolstering Magic: Boon (Level 6, Wild Magic)
Bolstering Magic: Boon |
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Cost: Action |
Duration: 10 turns |
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Though the Ability Check boost can be outclassed by the Cleric cantrip, Guidance, a 1d4 boost to Attack Rolls is significant.
Due to its sizable duration, you can also cast this before a fight to ensure your valuable Actions are freed up during the heat of battle.
Bolstering Magic: Spell Slots (Level 6/9, Wild Magic)
Bolstering Magic: Spell Slots |
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Cost: Action |
Range: Touch |
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This is, again, an excellent supportive ability for your caster party members.
An extra spell slot can go a long way in combat or dire situations, especially in areas where you are unable to long rest or teleport, such as the 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Necrotic Laboratory of Act 2 or 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Cazador's Dungeon of Act 3.
Unstable Backlash (Level 10, Wild Magic)
Unstable Backlash |
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Considering that:
- By level 10, you should have plenty of rages for each combat.
- You'll be consistently taking damage as your party's front-line.
- All of the Wild Magic rages are positive effects, provided that you don't catch your allies in the area effects.
This is an absolutely fantastic feature that sh🧸ould be getting lots of use in the late game.
Barbarian Companions
A reluctant soldier trying desperately to escape her past, Karlach is a feisty Barbarian whom you can meet early on in the game, shortly after the Nautiloid crash.
You can find her by the Risen Road (X:111, Y:503), where you'll be able to ask her to join you on your travels.