Each ofBaldur’s Gate 3’s classes offers different abilities and utility to a character in combat, dialog, and exploration. Each class has something different to offer the player and the party, and theBarbarianis no different in that regard.
Baldur’s Gate 3’s Barbarian Class is focused on strength and durability first and foremost, with access to the highest base HP of any class alongside abilities like Rage to allow them to withstand incoming damage and dish out a ton of damage themselves. Each of the Barbarian’s subclasses are focused on how they fight and any additional power sources that fuel their rage. The Berserker replaces Rage with Frenzy for greater offensive benefits, the Wildheart takes primal animal aspects to gain additional powers while raging, and the Wild Magic Barbarian wields chaotic magic to strengthen their rage and fortify their body. Barbarians choose their subclass when they reach level three.
Updated on the 25th of April, 2024, by Thomas Hawkins:With the release of Baldur’s Gate 3’s long-awaited Patch 8, every class has gained a new subclass. In the case of the Barbarian class, they may now choose the Path of Giants subclass, allowing them to channel the elemental strength of giants to grow in size and throw their enemies around in various ways. They may also empower their weapons with elemental damage and the thrown property, allowing them to easily hurl greatswords and other two-handed weapons. This guide has been updated to discuss the new subclass, multiclassing options that pair well with it, and equipment that works particularly well with this subclass.
Berserker
The Berserker Subclass replaces the normal Barbarian Rage with an improved version called “Frenzy.” This has all the benefits of a standard Rage but also grants access to the abilities “Frenzied Strike” and “Enraged Throw.”
Theseallow the Berserker to perform an additional attackor Throw a nearby object/creature, respectively, and each only uses a Bonus Action. This allows the Berserker to dish out extra damage on every turn while raging, making them an excellent choice for players who want to prioritize damage output.
At level Six, Berserkers gain the “Mindless Rage” ability, which grants them immunity to the Charmed and Frightened status effects while raging. It also prevents the “Calm Emotions” spell from ending their rage. At level 10, they gain “Intimidating Presence,” allowing them to inflict fear on a target as an action. This can be useful for neutralizing foes and rendering them more vulnerable to attacks.
The Berserker Subclass pairs exceptionally well with the “Gloves of Uninhibited Kushigo”, which boost the damage dealt by improvised and thrown weapons. Used in conjunction with Enraged Throw, this can allow the Berserker to further dish out damage using whatever’s close to hand. All Barbarian Subclasses will also get plenty of use out of the “Wrath” magic items, which allows them to build up a stacking damage bonus by taking damage and raging. These consist of the “Linebreaker Boots”, “Bloodguzzler Garb”, “Enraging Heart Garb”, and “Cap Of Wrath.”
Players looking to strengthen their defenses further should instead grab the Bonespike set, consisting of the “Bonespike Helmet”, “Bonespike Garb”, “Bonespike Gloves”, and “Bonespike Boots.” These generate temporary hit points, boost AC, allow attacks to ignore physical resistances, and add a chance for raging to cause psychic damage to nearby foes.
Of course, since the Berserker subclass is more offensively focused, players will likely want to grab the Wrath gear to further enhance that damage.
Wildheart
The Wildheart Subclass, likely a reimagining of the Totem Warrior from D&D 5e Tabletop, chooses a Bestial Heart at level three. Each Bestial Heart offers different bonus effects while the Barbarian is raging, along with access to a special action while raging, as the table below shows:
Unrelenting Ferocity:Healing as an Action.
Eagle Heart
Foes have disadvantage on opportunity attacks against the character and the ability to dash as a bonus action.
Diving Strike:Leap onto a foe below the character to knock them prone and deal damage.
Primal Stampede:Charge Forward dealing Bludgeoning Damage and knocking foes Prone).
Tiger Heart
Jump distance increased by 4.5m.
Tiger’s Bloodlust:Lash out to hit up to three enemies with an attack that causes bleeding.
Wolf Heart
Gain advantage on attack rolls on targets within 2m.
Inciting Howl:Howl to boost the movement of all allies in range by 3m for one turn.
As an additional benefit, Wild Heart Barbarians are able to cast “Speak with Animals,” which can be very useful when not in combat.
Wildheart Barbarians choose an Animal Aspect from the table below at level six, gaining permanent benefits.
Double Carrying Capacity, Advantage on Strength Checks.
Chimpanzee
Resistance to Falling Damage, Throw Camp Supplies (Food Items) to Blind Targets.
Crocodile
3m Movement Speed boost when standing on water-based surfaces, Advantage on Saving Throws against being knocked Prone when on slippery surfaces.
Eagle
See in the dark up to 12m, Advantage on Perception Checks.
Boost Movement speed for self and all nearby allies.
Honey Badger
50% chance of automatically raging without spending a Rage Charge when starting a turn Poisoned, Frightened, or Charmed.
Stallion
Dashing grants temporary hit points equal to twice the Barbarian’s level.
Tiger
Add strength a second time to all attack rolls against Bleeding or Poisoned targets, Proficiency in Survival skill.
Wolf
Proficiency in Stealth, Spend an Action to add Barbarian’s Dexterity modifier as a bonus to all stealth checks for self and allies.
Wolverine
When attacking a Bleeding or Poisoned target, it is also maimed for one turn.
At level 8, the Wildheart gains “Land’s Stride: Difficult Terrain.” This prevents difficult terrain from reducing their movement speed. They gain a second Animal Aspect at level 10, choosing from the same list.
Wildheart Barbarians can use their choice of Bestial Heart and Animal Aspects to specialize in a variety of different ways. A Bear Heart is well suited to tanking and can make good use of the Bonespike set, further enhancing their own defenses while gaining some offensive utility. Elk and Tiger Heart are more suited to dishing out damage and can make good use of the Wrath set.
Giant
The path of Giants allows a Barbarian to channel the primal might of giants, growing in size and amplifying their strength.Initially, at third level,the Barbarian’s rage becomes “Giant’s Rage.” This increases their size by one category when entering rage and doubles their rage bonus on throwing attacks (though a bug currently locks this bonus at +4, even at level 9 when it should be +6). They also gain the Thaumaturgy Cantrip, and the ability “Vaprak’s Greed.” Vaprak’s Greed will increase the Barbarian’s carrying capacity by a quarter.
At fifth level,Giant Barbarians gain access to Boot of the Giants, allowing them to spend a bonus action to kick a target away. This is a contested Athletics check, just like the shove action, but you can use Boot of the Giants to push enemies that are up to twice the weight you’d be able to shove. You’ll also deal your unarmed damage to the target when using Boot of the Giants, which can be enhanced by Tavern Brawler, Martial Arts from Monk, anditems like the Gloves of Crushing.
At sixth level,Giant Barbarians gain Elemental Cleaver. This allows them to add acid, cold, fire, lightning, or thunder damage to their weapon while raging, and also adds the Thrown property to their weapon when used. Additionally, weapons under the effect of Elemental Cleaver will be returned to your hand immediately after being thrown, allowing for greater flexibility in throwing weapon builds. The elemental damage behaves like a damage rider when throwing the weapon, meaning the elemental damage is boosted independently by things like the Rage buff, Tavern Brawler, or the Ring of Flinging. This allows you to achieve much higher damage than expected with weapons enhanced using Elemental Cleaver.
Finally, at tenth level,Giant Barbarians gain access to Mighty Impel.This allows them to throw any creature that is medium-sized or smaller,regardless of their weight, as a bonus action while enraged. The throw range is fixed at 9m/30ft, which usually results in better range when throwing heavy creatures (unless your character has used an Elixir of Cloud Giant Strength to reach 27 Strength).
Multiclassing and Equipment
For greatly improved melee range, you can utilize weapons like the Monster Slayer Glaive,Drakethroat Glaive, or Sorrow, all of which are accessible during Acts 1 and 2. You could also pick up the Halberd of Vigilance during Act 2. Alternatively, you could select a Greataxe for better potential damage, such as the Very Heavy Greataxe, Blooded Greataxe. Later in the game, during Act 3, you can swap these for Sethan or the Hellfire Greataxe.
Players looking for more consistent damage, as opposed to the extreme highs and lows of Glaives and Greataxes, should pick up a greatsword. Excellent options in Act 1 are the Everburn Blade, Svartlebee’s Woundseeker, and Jorgoral’s Greatsword. The Soulbreaker Greatsword and Sussur Greatsword are also decent picks, with the former being especially valuable if playing a Githyanki. During Act 3, non-gith characters should grab the Sword of Chaos or Balduran’s Giantslayer for best results, while Githyanki should instead obtain the Silver Sword of the Astral Plane.
Naturally, the Giant Barbarian can make great use of the two equipment sets that were clearly designed with Barbarians in mind,the Wrath Set and the Bonespike Set.Picking up the Enraging Heart Garb at Moonrise, for example, is a great way to get extra Constitution and (If the bug with Ruintamer Heart gets fixed) get the Wrath buff by raging.
Elemental Damage sets are also quite effective on a Giant Barbarian due to their Elemental Cleaver ability, with the Gloves of Belligerent Skies and/or Boots of Stormy Clamour being a particularly valuable option if you favor thunder or lightning damage. You could also equip Winter’s Clutches, the Snowburst Ring, and/or the Coldbrim Hat to freeze your foes solid. Another option is to utilize the Thermoarcanic Gloves, Cinder Shoes, and Ring of Self Immolation in a heat setup, and throw on the Cindermoth Cloak to burn enemies that damage you.
Wild Magic
Wild Magic Barbarians channel Wild Magic when they enter a rage, causing a Wild Magic surgesimilar to the one some Sorcerers can cause when casting spells.They also get the ability “Magic Awareness,” which lets them use a bonus action to allow themselves and allies within 3m to add their proficiency bonus to saving throws against spells.
At level Six, Wild Magic Barbarians gain three “Bolstering Magic” abilities, which allow them to provide a bonus to themselves or an ally in melee range. They can use “Bolstering Magic: Boon” to add a 1d4 bonus to attack rolls and ability checks or use their Bolstering Boon to restore a single level one, two, or three spell slot.
This can make them a valuable addition to caster-heavy teams. At level 10, a Wild Magic Barbarian gets the ability “Unstable Backlash.” This allows them to create a new Wild Magic surge (replacing the old one) whenever they take damage or fail a saving throw while raging. This helps to increase the chaos they cause in battle.
The Wild Magic Barbarian rolls on a different Wild Magic Table to the Sorcerer, with a different set of effects that are, as a whole, consistently beneficial to the Barbarian and their allies. Here’s a complete list of Wild Magic effects available to the Barbarian:
Effect
Weapon Infusion
Magic infuses your weapon. It deals an additional 1d6 force damage and gains the light and thrown properties. If thrown, it reappears in your hand at the end of your turn.
Magic Retribution
You are protected by wild, vengeful, magic. Enemies that hit you take 1d6 force damage in retaliation.
Protective Lights
You, and any allies within 3m/10ft of you, have a +1 bonus to Armor Class.
Intangible Spirits
Each turn, as a bonus action, choose to summon a spectral flumph within 10m/30ft of you. The flumph explodes at the end of your turn, dealing 1d6 force damage to anyone within 4.5m/15ft on a failed dexterity saving throw.
Bolt of Light
Each turn, as a Bonus Action, choose to shoot a bolt of light from your chest at a target within 10m/30ft of you. Wild Magic: Bolt of Light deals 1d6 radiant damage and blinds the target on a failed constitution saving throw for one turn.
Vine Growth
Flowers and vines spread outward from you in a radius of 4.5m/15ft creating difficult terrain for everyone other than you.
Teleport
Each turn, as a bonus action, choose to Teleport to an unoccupied space you can see within 18m/60ft.
Dark Tendrils
Shadowy tendrils lash outwards from you. Each creature within 9m/30ft of you must succeed a constitution saving throw or take 1d12 necrotic damage. Additionally, you gain 1d12 temporary hit points.
