The Barbarian is a diverse class that primarily focuses on strength and Constitution. This class will smash everything in its path with rage and force. You can choose any race you like for the barbarian class in Baldur’s Gate 3, but some races have an advantage over others because their stats match the Barbarian class.
You can use many races with this class, but races with a bonus to strength and resilience to damage should be picked. This leaves you with about four options to choose from. These are.
- Half-Orc
- Shield Dwarf
- Zariel Tiefling
Half-Orc
The Half-Orc race is a match made in heaven for the Barbarian class. We have chosen this race for all three Barbarian sub-class builds. Not only does this race provide bonuses that match the Barbarian stats and skills, but its appearance is also a perfect match for an intimidating Barbarian.
The bonuses that you get from selecting the Half-Orc race are.
- Darkvision: You can see up to 12m in the dark. A feature necessary to survive the Underdark region of Baldur’s Gate 3.
- Savage Attacks: Upon landing a successful critical hit with a melee weapon, you get a chance to roll the damage dice again. The additional damage is then added to the critical damage.
- Relentless Endurance: Once your HP hits 0 during the combat, instead of dying, you survive with 1HP. This feature is only available once per long rest.
- Menacing: You gain proficiency in Intimidation, an important Strength skill.
While it is difficult to restrict this race to one sub-class, we recommend using it with your Berserker Barbarian build.
Shield Dwarf
Shield Dwarf is a sub-race of the Dwarf. Due to their proficiency with various armor, shields, and weapons that suit a Barbarian, Shield Dwarf is a perfect little match for Wildheart Barbarian build.
Not only does this sub-class have a unique bonus of its own, but it also inherits its parent class’ bonuses.
- Dwarven Armor Training: You gain proficiency with both Light and Medium armor.
- Your movement speed increases up to 7.5m per turn.
- Dwarven Combat Training: You become proficient with weapons like Battleaxe, Handaxe, Light Hammer, and Warhammer.
- Darkvision: You can see up to 12m in the darkness.
- Dwarven Resilience: You get resistance against poison damage and gain an advantage on saving throws against poison attacks.
Zariel Tiefling
Zariel Tiefling is a sub-race of Tiefling race. This is the best race for your Wild Magic Barbarian build, as this grants you access to a bonus cantrip at level 1 and two spells at levels 3 and 5, respectively.
Zariel Tiefling gets all the bonuses from its parent race in addition to its own.
- Increases movement speed up to 9m per turn.
- Darkvision: Can see up to 12m in the darkness.
- Hellish Resistance: You gain resistance to fire damage.
- Legacy of Avernus: You gain Thaumaturgy cantrip at level 1, Searing Smite spell at level 3, and Branding Smite spell at level 5.
As the Wild Magic Barbarian is the only sub-class that can use magic, Legacy of Avernus is a godsend for our build.
