Best Baldur’s Gate 3 Barbarian build: Race, subclass, skills, more

Barbarians are one of the simplest classes in Baldur’s Gate 3, and their primary ability is Rage, which increases their attack and defense considerably. Here’s a build you could try out to get the best out of the Barbarian class in BG3.

Baldur’s Gate 3 offers tons of customization when creating your character. You get to pick from multiple races, classes and subclasses, backgrounds, skills, and more from Dungeons & Dragons.

During character creation, if you’re looking for a purely melee-based fighter who prefers offense over defense, the Barbarian is the best class. As with any other class in Baldur’s Gate 3, an optimized build is one that considers all its aspects.

So, here’s the best Barbarian build in Baldur’s Gate 3 that takes into account the race, subclass, skills, and more.

• Best race for Barbarian in Baldur’s Gate 3
• Best subclass for Barbarian in Baldur’s Gate 3
• Best skills for Barbarian in Baldur’s Gate 3
• Best build for Barbarian in Baldur’s Gate 3

Best race for Barbarian in Baldur’s Gate 3

The Half-Orc is a great race to choose for a Barbarian in Baldur’s Gate 3 thanks to its Savage Attacks and Relentless Endurance racial features. You also get Darkvision, which is great to have in every character.

Half-Orc

• Savage Attacks: On a critical hit with a melee weapon, you can roll one of the weapon’s damage dice again and add the extra damage to the critical hit.
• Menacing: You gain Proficiency in Intimidation.
• Darkvision: You can see in the dark up to 12m.
• Relentless Endurance: When you get down to 0 HP but survive, you get rerolled to 1 HP instead.

The Ability Score allocation points should be set to +2 to strength and +1 to Constitution. Remember that Baldur’s Gate 3 allows you to re-locate Race Ability Score bonuses as you see fit.

Best subclass for Barbarian in Baldur’s Gate 3

We recommend picking Berserker subclass for your Barbarian build in Baldur’s Gate 3 since it deals the highest amount of damage.

This subclass will let you use Frenzied Rage, Frenzied Strike, and Enraged Throw, which increases your damage and gives you more attacks, which are very important for this class.

Best skills for Barbarian in Baldur’s Gate 3

As a Barbarian in Baldur’s Gate 3, you’ll want to focus on these skills that use Strength:

• Survival
• Perception

Choosing a background that gives you proficiency in skills like Athletics and Intimidation, like Soldier, will help you later on.

Best build for Barbarian in Baldur’s Gate 3

Keeping all the above in mind, here’s the best build for a Barbarian in Baldur’s Gate 3. You will need the Multiclass feature for this build as we recommend getting two levels of Fighter near the end.

• Race: Half-Orc
• Background: Soldier
• Skills: Perception, Survival
• Ability Score: STR: 16, DEX: 14, CON: 16, INT: 8, WIS: 12, CHA: 8

LEVEL	FEATURE
Barbarian 1	Class Features: Unarmored Defense, Rage
Barbarian 2	Class Features: Reckless Attack, Danger Sense
Barbarian 3	Subclass: Berserker — Class Features: Extra Rage Charge, Frenzy, Frenzied Strike, Enraged Throw
Barbarian 4	Ability Improvement: Strength +2
Barbarian 5	Class Features: Extra Attack, Fast Movement
Barbarian 6	Subclass Feature: Mindless Rage
Barbarian 7	Class Feature: Feral Instinct
Barbarian 8	Feat: Great Weapon Master
Barbarian 9	Class Feature: Brutal Critical
Barbarian 10	Class Feature: Intimidating Presence
Fighter 1	Fighting Style: Great Weapon Fighting — Class Feature: Second Wind
Fighter 2	Class Feature: Action Surge

And that was all about the best build for Barbarian in Baldur’s Gate 3. In the meantime, check out our other Baldur’s Gate 3 guides:

Baldur’s Gate 3 best companions | Soul Coins in Baldur’s Gate 3 | How to beat the Phase Spider Matriarch in Baldur’s Gate 3 | Baldur’s Gate 3 PC system requirements | Who are the Mind Flayers in Baldur’s Gate 3 | Baldur’s Gate 3 Feats list | Baldur’s Gate 3 companions list