Best Baldur’s Gate 3 Barbarian Wildheart Build

This guide focuses on the best Barbarian build in Baldur’s Gate 3, the Wildheart subclass, and includes all components to create a powerful character.

This build page has been updated for thePatch 8 versionof Baldur’s Gate 3.

Everything About the Wildheart Barbarian in BG3

In this build, we will be focusing on the Wildheart subclass for the Barbarian class, which gives an added animal spirit. Consequently, this gives you extra ability and passive effects. Unlike the Berserker, we won’t have two additional abilities for bonus actions, but we will supplement that with a feat at level four. This subclass is straightforward with both passive and active benefits. You want to play this build, if you want a simple Barbarian that you can customize with an animal spirit.

Barbarians are the ultimate melee warriors, relying on their raw strength and ferocity to tear through their enemies. They can enter a state of rage, which increases their damage output and durability. Barbarians are also proficient with all weapons and armor, making them versatile combatants.

Wildheart Barbarian Changes in Patch 8 for BG3

Patch 8 introduces a major shift for Barbarians with the arrival of the Giant subclass, offering a completely new way to approach combat. Unlike the traditional up-close-and-personal Barbarian style, the Giant subclass specializes in throwing weapons, and even enemies, turning the battlefield into a chaotic display of strength and precision. It’s an interesting departure that opens up a powerful ranged-playstyle option for a class typically locked into melee.

Alongside class changes, Patch 8 also expands the arsenal of available spells and cantrips. One standout isBooming Blade, a melee cantrip that adds bonus thunder damage, especially effective when enemies move after being hit. While Barbarians can’t normally access spells, there’s a clever workaround: selecting the High Elf race grants you a free cantrip at character creation, allowing you to pick up Booming Blade early on. It won’t be the optimal path for raw damage output because Half-Orc still dominates in terms of pure burst potential. But for players looking to experiment or add a magical twist to their Barbarian,High Elfopens an interesting door.

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Barbarian Class Features & Mechanics

The following list presents all the essential Barbarian Class Mechanics and Features in Baldur’s Gate 3:

The Wildheart Barbarian is a powerful class that can be a lot of fun to play. The class depends on the understanding of the Rage mechanic. Put simply, activate this mechanic on turn one, and stay aggressive making sure to attack or be hit each turn.

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Barbarian Best Subclass – Wildheart

Here are all the Baldur’s Gate 3 Barbarian subclasses:

TheWildheartsubclass is a great subclass for people who want a simple Barbarian that can pick animal influences giving passive and active benefits. At level 3, when picking Wildheart subclass your Rage will activate a different animal ability depending on your selection.

Baldur’s Gate 3 Wildheart Barbarian Features & Progression

The Berserker Barbarian subclass unlocks the following features and spells:

Character Creation for Barbarian Wildheart Build

Recommended Backgrounds Barbarian Wildheart in Baldur’s Gate 3

The bestBackgroundfor a Wildheart Barbarian isSoldierbecause it has proficiency inAthleticsandIntimidation. Backgrounds in Baldur’s Gate 3 are a way to represent your character’s backstory and give them some starting skills and abilities. Athletics scales in effectiveness with your main class‘s primary statistic, Strength.

Race Choice for Baldur’s Gate 3 Wildheart Barbarian Build

Half-Orcis the BestRaceChoice for a Wildheart Barbarian because the Relentless Endurance racial feature can also save you from dropping to 0 hit points. The Half-Orc’s savage attack allows for extra damage and Darkvision is vital playing in the Underdark. A secondary option isZariel Tieflingwhich offers Hellish Resistance and Rebuke along with Darkvision. This is a great race for filtering with fire and makes a great melee race choice option.

Here is the best race choice for a Wildheart Barbarian build in Baldur’s Gate 3.

Best Baldur’s Gate 3 Barbarian Wildheart Build

The Barbarian’s racial choice will not influence ability score, but everyone should get a +2 and +1 to spend regardless. This frees your race choice up to not completely hinder yourself based on ability score, but race features. Each of these races offers unique advantages that can enhance your combat prowess, survivability, or utility. Additionally, consider the roleplaying opportunities and character concepts that resonate with you.

Recommended Skills for Barbarian Wildheart Build

PerceptionandSurvivalare the best skills for the Best Baldur’s Gate 3 Barbarian Wildheart Build because they complement your class abilities and enhance your effectiveness in various situations. In Baldur’s Gate 3, skills represent the abilities and proficiencies of your character that allow them to perform various actions and interact with the game world. Skills are associated with specific attributes and are used to determine the success or effectiveness of certain actions or abilities.

Here are the bestskillsfor a Wildheart Barbarian in Baldur’s Gate 3:

Best Wildheart Barbarian Ability Score

Below is the bestability scoreto unlock the full potential of the Best Baldur’s Gate 3 Barbarian Wildheart Build:

The Best Baldur’s Gate 3 Barbarian Wildheart Build Ability Score hits 16 strength, 16 constitution, and 14 Dexterity. Strength will influence your damage, Dexterity will help with Armour Class (AC) and Constitution determines your health pool which is high by default. you’re able to increase your Strength to 20 via feat improvements at levels 8 and 12 and reach 20 by a max level of 12.

You can increase your ability score via a quest in Act 1, Act 2, and Act 3. Make sure to check out ourPermanent bonus guideon how you can boost your ability score through quests.

Also Check:-BG3 Interactive Map

Best Companions for Wildheart Barbarian Build

For the Wildheart Build, we do not recommend additional front-line fighters and damage dealers. The idea is, that your character charges in melee range with support, range damage, or even stealth attacks. If you have multiple melee characters, 2-3, it can be troublesome in close-quarters combat.

When putting your party together, considercompanionsfor not only their combat prowess but also their outside abilities and skills that can influence storytelling, dialogue, and exploration. A balanced party will fit the traditional RPG ‘holy trinity’: Tank, Healer, and DPS. Ideally, in Baldur’s Gate 3, you are going to want one tank, one healer, one melee DPS, and one range DPS. Some classes/subclasses can cover both roles, so feel free to experiment and find out what works best for you.

Wildheart Barbarian Illithid Powers

Illithid Powersare unlocked later in the game when you learn more about the Mind Flayers and Tadpoles. You can gain jars ofMind FlayerParasite Specimens, and consume them to gain one point. This is essentially another skill tree advancement with some very strong powers.

Here are the best Illithid Powers for the Wildheart Barbarian Build:

WIldheart Barbarian Bestial Hearts

Starting at Level 3 when you unlock the WildheartSubclass, you will get a choice in a specific Bestial Heart. Below is a list of all the Bestial Hearts in Baldur’s Gate 3:

Wildheart Animal Aspect

At Level 6, the Wildheart Barbarian will get to choose an Aspect of the Beast. Selecting one passive benefit to you and possibly your team. Here’s a list of all the Wildheart Animal Aspects in Baldur’s Gate 3:

Wildheart Barbarian Level Progression

Alternative Wildheart Barbarian Build

If you’re looking for a powerful alternative to the Wildheart Barbarian, consider the Throw build with the Giant subclass. This build trades the all-in melee style for a more versatile, ranged-focused approach, giving you the tools to deal heavy damage from a safer distance.

The core of the build comes online at Barbarian level 6, when you unlock Elemental Cleaver, a feature that allows you to throw nearly any weapon with elemental bonuses. Combine this with theTavern Brawlerfeat, and you can dish out massive damage while keeping your distance from the front lines.

Compared to our standard Wildheart build, the Giant subclass offers a more consistent and survivable option across all three Acts. While you lose some melee burst potential, the added range, control, and reliability make this build especially effective if you’re finding close-quarters combat too punishing.

At Level one follow our character creator to pick all correct background, race, skills, and ability distribution focusing on Strength and Constitution. You will select subclass at level 3. Use the character creation steps above and hit the appropriate ability score and race. You want to either use medium armor or clothing, and a two-handed weapon preferred a Greatsword. You can get a super powerful one in the tutorial called theEverburn Blade.

At Level 1 you will unlock two mechanics as a Barbarian:

Unarmored Defense Explained

Unarmored Defense helps if you don’t plan on wearing medium armor. There isn’t a benefit to doing this, you can simply take Lae’zal’s armor and equip it with high dexterity for a higher Armour Class (AC).

Rage is the bread-and-butter component of The Barbarian. In combat you’ll want to use this on your first time with a bonus action and charge in. Make sure to equip a ranged weapon so you may always attack once per turn to keep it active.

Gameplay essentially is using your bonus action on your first turn to go into Rage, charging ahead and attacking either with a bow or melee weapon two-handed Greatsword preferred.

Wildheart Barbarian Gameplay & Priorities

The Wildheart Barbarian is a powerful melee subclass that should equip a Two-Handed Greatsword. First, your primary goal is to find a back-bar ranged weapon at the start of the game. You will have limited mobility, and the Heavy Crossbow or Longbow is great until you reach higher levels and access movement-enhancing armor. Moreover, look to acquire Elixir of Hill Giant Strength, Potion of Speed, and Oil of Accuracy consumables. These three consumables “stack” allowing for massive damage.

Your overall priority with the Wildheart Barbarian build is the following:

Following these steps ensures a strong foundation, especially if you plan on playingsoloor onHonour Modedifficulty.

At level two you will unlock Reckless Attack and Dangerous Sense. Here’s what they do:

Reckless Attack is your main skill for damage. When you gain Advantage, you’re able to expect two dice rolls rather than one giving you a higher chance to land the attack. Be aware, that the enemy will have the same against you too. At this stage of the game, your goal is to simply use Rage as your bonus action on your first turn in charge into combat. Your goal is to get hit or hit someone back to extend the Rage effect. Make sure to equip a bow in case you cannot reach a target on your first turn.

Gameplay with our Best Baldur’s Gate 3 Barbarian Wildheart Build at this level is using Rage as your bonus action first turn and charging into battle. If you are in melee range, hit with Reckless Attack as your main damage dealer. Also, keep moving forward and use ranged attacks if necessary to keep rage active.

At level three you will finally get to pick a subclass and we recommend Wildheart. This lets you maintain a simple, durable build with additional animal hearts, which are essential abilities. Here’s what you should do at level 3 with a Barbarian Build:

Now you unlocked Wildheart and selected a Bestial Heart (Elk Heart), and the gameplay changes a bit. When you activate Rage with a bonus action on your first turn, you will then unlock the Primal Stampede ability.

This is a great ability that provides mobility, and slight damage but massive crowd control. The benefit of this ability is you can charge up to 9 meters! See the picture below, you can often ram through 2-to 3 enemies knocking them down in prone and crowd control them. This isn’t a meta damage ability, but it serves the purpose of closing the distance, area damage, and a stun.

The gameplay now is Rage on the first turn with a bonus action, then Reckless Attack if in melee range. If you need a stun or are unable to get in range, use Primal Stampede. On your second turn, focus on attacks. You won’t have much of a use for your bonus action besides potions at this level. At level 4 we will take a feat that helps with this and makes the build more action efficient.

At level 4 our Best Baldur’s Gate 3 Barbarian Wildheart Build picks afeatto unlock. We suggest Great Weapon Master at this level, due to the additional bonus attack utility.

GreatWeapon Masterfeat: When a melee attack scores a critical hit or kills a creature, you can make another melee attack as a bonus action. When attacking with Heavy Weapons you are proficient with, attack rolls take a -5 penalty, but their damage increases by 10.

Great Weapon Master Explained

The Great Weapon Master feat does two things for you. One, it has a high risk high reward ability to add 10 damage BUT -5 attack roll penalty. As shown in the picture above, this simply reduces your chance to hit the percentage significantly. You can turn this off in the Passive section on your toolbar, which will give you the normal percentage. The higher your strength goes, the more percentage chance to hit. As you hit 8 and 12 with further Ability Improvements or gear to increase strength expect a higher chance to hit.

Secondly, this feat gives you another chance to hit on a kill or critical hit using a bonus action. This is the real reason the feat is so strong, multiple attacks in a turn, and with this build, you will be getting a lot of critical hits and kills. Combat should therefore be initiated using your action first, saving your bonus action for a Great Weapons Master attack.

Gameplay: look to kill lower health targets to take advantage of Great Weapon Master. Also, look for support classes that have Bless, this will increase your chance of landing. And if the percentage is too low, toggle off Great Weapons Master in your passive section on the toolbar. This will turn off the -5 negative, but lower damage. Turn back on when enemies are around 50% or higher to hit.

At level five the Barbarian gains extra attack and Fast Movement.

At level 5 the Barbarian becomes amazing with Extra Attack paired with Great Weapon Master. This will allow you to attack multiple times with your actions and another with a bonus action. you’re able to consume a Potion of Speed for a further effect and do a lot of damage in one turn.

This is where the Barbarian starts to dominate. Your first turn is the standard, bonus action to activate Rage and charge in with Reckless Attack. If you land the attack you get an additional one. Usually, you want to use your secondary weapon-based skill like Lacerate to cause some bleeding damage. On the second turn, you will have a bonus action free, so you can do 2x attacks, the first being Reckless then use a bonus action strike depending on your proc Great Weapon Master with a kill or a critical strike. That’s three attacks per turn. If you are doing a hard fight, use a Potion of Speed and you add another 2 to that!

At level 6 our Best Baldur’s Gate 3 Barbarian Wildheart Build unlocks an Animal Aspect and an additional Rage Charge. We suggest taking Elk here as well.

This movement speed can be activated out of combat and remains on you and or allies near you. With my Haste Helm at level 6, I had a 14m movement speed. At level 7, you get a +3 bonus to Initiative. You then have a high initiative and high movement speed, which allows you to start combat first, second, or third mostly and almost always reach melee range. Very helpful passive benefit that keeps us on target in melee.

Ending Act 1 with a Wildheart Barbarian

Around Level 6 you should be close to completing Act 1. Make sure to visit traders and stock up on camp and alchemy supplies. Moreover, look over thebest Act 1 items. There are alsopermanent bonusesyou don’t want to miss in Act 1. Lastly,Grymforgehas powerful armor and weapons (Adamantine) that can aid you well into Act 3. Consider taking the time to collect the Mithral, Mould, and Craft items before transitioning to Act 2, where you won’t be able to return them.

At level 7 the Wildheart Barbarian can change bestial heart and receives a very powerful passive, Feral Instinct.

While this doesn’t seem big, it’s vital to the build. You will have a high Initiative and skip Surprised which eliminates your first turn. This means you are guaranteed to go during the first round of combat and will be one of the first to start. you’re able to then focus on stunning or eliminating the highest priority target and reduce damage for you and your team.

The gameplay remains the same at this point. If you have aGloom Stalker Rangeror aRogue Assassinin your group, try to open up the fight with their attack to proc surprise status effect. This will give you a free turn and help melt the team in one or two turns.

At level 8 our Best Baldur’s Gate 3 Barbarian Wildheart Build gets to pick a feat. We will go with Ability Improvement and add +2 to Strength to reach 18. We can select another one at level 12 to reach a total of 20. This will help us land more attacks and do more damage. The premise of the build is to constantly critical strike or land killing blows to proc Great Weapon Master secondary effect using bonus action for attacks.

Anything that boosts your chance to land attacks (Bless), gain advantage (True Strike), or increase the likelihood of a kill or critical strike will increase your efficiency. The goal for you is to use two attacks, get a kill, and then Great Weapon Master Bonus action. There will be times when you need to use consumables and defensive bonus action skills. But the overall premise remains, keep it simple, and aggressive and enjoy the randomness of the Wildheart subclass.

At level 9 the Barbarian unlocks a class feature Brutal Critical.Brutal Critical: When you land a Critical Hit, you roll an extra damage die as well as the normal additional critical dice. You can change your Bestial Heart selection if you wish, but this is optional and I recommend sticking with Elk Heart.

The gameplay is very simple beyond this level and not much changes besides passive benefits like Brutal Critical. As you can imagine, this gives us even more damage and isn’t something we have to activate, it’s a passive feature. Making the Barbarian ultra-simple and powerful.

At level 10 our Best Baldur’s Gate 3 Barbarian Wildheart Build unlocks another Animal Aspect. I suggest going with the Tiger.

Aspect of the Beast Tiger (subclass feature):You add a Strength Modifier to Attack Rolls against Bleeding or Poisoned targets, and gain Proficiency in Survival. We will mostly be using a Two-Handed Greatsword for the entirety of the game. The Greatsword has the skill Lacerate which can proc the Bleeding status effect, essentially feeding into our damage from this passive feature.

you may also use poison consumables on your weapons. Drow Poison lasts 10 turns, it uses a bonus action and can trigger poisoned and asleep if the enemy fails a saving throw. This gives you a couple of advantages and will allow a lot more damage making the Tiger a great selection.

From level 11 to 12 the Barbarian doesn’t get much. I recommend spending the last two levels multi-classing to theFighter. At level 11 the Barbarian gets Relentless Rage which mimics the Half-Orc passive Relentless Endurance. If you drop to 0 health, you have 1 health instead of being Downed. At level 12 you will miss a feat in which you can take +2 Strength which admittedly is nice. But you can consume Hill Giant potions and reach 21 or 27 strength for a brief time.

The reason I suggest Barbarian multi-classing is purely for Action Surge. A resourceless once-per-short-rest ability that gives you another action in combat. Given the Barbarian already has an extra attack, those extra two attacks combined with Great Weapon Master are worth sacrificing Relentless Rage and +2 Strength. If you do not wish to do that, continue and take the Ability Improvement +2 Strength at level 12 with the Barbarian.

Great Weapon Fighting Style: When you roll a 1 or 2 on a damage die for an attack with a two-handed melee weapon, that die is rerolled once. This is an amazing benefit onlyPaladinsand Fighters have. You get a reroll low damage die increasing your output potential significantly.

Second Wind: this skill is unlocked at level one Fighter and is a mediocre heal that is useful during the start of the game. you may use a bonus action, though most potions outperform it.

If you multi-class, this level will feel uneventful, but trust me it’ll be worth it.

With two levels into Fighter, you get access to the awe-inspiring Action Surge. You get an extra action, but the biggest strength is, that it doesn’t require any resources to use it. Action Surge is a once-per-fight usage, but it allows you to cast and recharge on short rest.

Take your Barbarian with Great Weapon Master feat, Extra Attack, and give it Action Surge for 2x more attacks. You can take this a step further by using either a Potion of Haste or casting Haste on yourself. Then you get another action! If you did the math on that:

With our Best Baldur’s Gate 3 Barbarian Wildheart Build, the Barbarian at level 12 with this setup has so much firepower it’s remarkable. Again, if you wanted a traditional Barbarian for all 12 levels, take Ability Improvement +2 Strength or the Alert feat which helps with going early. We hope you enjoyed this build and check out the gear section for more!

Best Gear for Baldur’s Gate 3 Barbarian Wildheart Build

In Games like Baldur’s Gate 3, you’ll explore the world, loot chests and your enemies’ dead bodies, and complete quests, and all those activities can reward you with useful items, potions,armor,weapons, scrolls, and much more. There are three Acts in BG3, and we’ve updated this guide to include suggested sets and alternatives for Act 1 and Act 3. Look to progress and alternative selections if you don’t have the recommended item.

Armour vs Clothing for Barbarian

In the below sections, way may give alternative suggestions that include armour, not clothing. This may change the entire setup, and or lower or heighten your armour class. Meaning, in Act 1 if you use the Bracers of Defence with Adamantine Scale Mail (medium armour) you won’t receive the benefit of it. Therefore, make sure you understand that either you need to use a setup with zero armour and clothing or mix and match.

In addition, do not use any heavy armour. It will ruin the build and specifically Rage mechanics.

Beginner: Starting the Game

Here’s the best beginner gear for Barbarian Wildheart Build in Baldur’s Gate 3:

Below is the best Act 1 Armor, Weapons, and Equipment for Wildheart Barbarian in BG3:

Advanced: End-Game

This table presents the best advanced and end-game gear for Wildheart Barbarian Build in Baldur’s Gate 3:

Below is the best Act 3 Armor, Weapons, and Equipment for Wildheart Barbarian in BG3:

Best Barbarian Consumables, Potions, and Items

The following list represents the best individual useconsumableitems that will aid in the Best Baldur’s Gate 3 Barbarian Wildheart Build:

Permanent Bonuses for Barbarian Wildheart BG3

Throughout Baldur’s Gate 3, you will have the ability to gain permanent bonuses to your character. These can grant additional spells, ability scores, and other bonuses. Permanent Bonuses are not displayed throughout the campaign but are vital to increase overall combat performance. We have all permanent bonuses here in a guide, but the most important ones for you to collect are listed below.

Best Permanent Bonuses for Wildheart Barbarian in Baldur’s Gate 3

Combat, Gameplay Tips, and Tricks in Baldur’s Gate 3

The Best Baldur’s Gate 3 Barbarian Wildheart Build uses a combination of aggression, damage, and movement speed to survive and fight. You will need to play aggressively but also use terrain, consumables, and companions to help you in combat.

Here are 10 gameplay tips specifically for playing a Barbarian in Baldur’s Gate 3:

Remember, this build guide serves as a foundation, and you’re able to always adapt it to suit your preferences and the needs of your campaign. Enjoy playing as a Best Wildheart Barbarian!

Wildheart Barbarian Changes in Patch 7 for BG3

The release of Patch 7 for BG3 brought with it no significant combat, gameplay, or build-related change for the Wildheart Barbarian. The main focus of this update was the final narrative additions mostly centered around evil endings, along with official modding tools and adjustments to honour mode.

Furthermore, the game now features amodding toolkitand anin-game mod manager, allowing players to create and install mods directly within the game. It enables players to produce unique content and continue the story in new ways.