The Barbarian class is one of the best combat classes in Baldur's Gate 3 and can make for an amazing melee front-liner. At Barbarian level three, you choose a subclass to unlock new abilities at certain levels. All three Barbarian subclasses are great options, but building a powerful Wild Magic Barbarian can make for a very fun and entertaining playthrough.
I found many times that a Wild Magic surge can be very helpful in the front lines of battle, giving great incentive to play Wild Magic Barbarian. If you're wondering how to build one, read on for our Wild Magic Barbarian build guide.
Best stats and feats for Wild Magic Barbarian - Baldur's Gate 3
When first creating your Barbarian, you will only need to set your ability scores and worry about subclasses, feats, and possible multiclassing later. You will want to max out your Strength and have a high Constitution; you can dump stats like Charisma, Intelligence, and Wisdom, but you may struggle with saving throws for those stats (this can be okay, as your focus will be on getting up close and doing a lot of damage).
Here are the best stats for your Wild Magic Barbarian:
- Strength: 17
- Dexterity: 14
- Constitution: 16
- Intelligence: 8
- Wisdom: 10
- Charisma: 8
Best feats for Wild Magic Barbarian in BG3
You will get the option of choosing feats at Levels 4, 8, and 12. At each of these levels, you can grab an ability score improvement or get a great feat. Early on, it may be a good idea to improve your Strength and Constitution, but a feat can be very helpful too. Here are some feats that will help with your Wild Magic Barbarian:
| Feat | Description |
| Ability Score Improvement | You increase one Ability by 2, or two Abilities by 1, to a maximum of 20. |
| Athlete | Strength or Dexterity increases by 1, to a maximum of 20. When you are Prone, standing up uses significantly less movement. Your jump distance also increases by 50%. |
| Great Weapon Master | When you land a Critical Hit or kill a target with a melee weapon attack, you can make another melee weapon attack as a bonus action that turn. Attacks with Heavy melee weapons you are Proficient with, can deal an additional 10 damage at the cost of a -5 Attack Roll penalty. (You can toggle this on and off.) |
| Savage Attacker | When making weapon attacks, you roll your damage dice twice and use the highest result. |
| Sentinel | When an enemy within melee range attacks an ally, you can use a reaction to make a weapon attack against that enemy. Target ally must not have the Sentinel Feat. You gain Advantage on Opportunity Attacks, and when you hit a creature with an Opportunity Attack, it can no longer move for the rest of its turn. |
| Tough | Your hit point maximum increases by 2 for every level you have gained. |
These feats pair very well with the Wild Magic Barbarian subclass and can improve your combat strategy. Whichever feat you choose can either grant you more health or improve your ability to attack and hit enemies. The Athlete feat can also boost your Strength up to 18, and the extra jump distance can be very helpful in combat. Great Weapon Master is one of the best feats you can get to increase your damage output. As a Wild Magic Barbarian, you may have Wild Magic surges that can be used with bonus actions, but with the Great Weapon Master feat, you can just take another attack for even more damage.
Wild Magic Barbarian leveling guide
Wild Magic Barbarians can act as amazing damage dealers and support for spellcasters at later levels. Here are the abilities you can unlock at each Wild Magic Barbarian level in BG3:
| Level | Abilities |
| 1 | Unarmored Defence (Passive) Rage (Bonus Action) |
| 2 | Danger Sense (Passive) Reckless Attack (Action) |
| 3 | Extra Rage Charge Rage: Wild Magic (Action) Magic Awareness (Action) |
| 4 | Feat |
| 5 | Extra Attack Fast Movement (Passive) |
| 6 | Extra Rage Charge Bolstering Magic: Boon (Action) Bolstering Magic: Level 1 Spell Slot Bolstering Magic: Level 2 Spell Slot |
| 7 | Feral Instinct (Passive) |
| 8 | Feat |
| 9 | Brutal Critical (Passive) Bolstering Magic: Level 3 Spell Slot |
| 10 | Unstable Backlash |
| 11 | Relentless Rage (Passive) |
| 12 | Extra Rage Charge Feat |
Wild Magic Barbarian tips in BG3
There are a few things to keep in mind when playing a Wild Magic Barbarian. Since you have access to Wild Magic, every Rage will come with a magical effect. While most are beneficial, some can hurt your allies or yourself. The best option for Raging and triggering your magical effect is to get close to enemies before Raging while keeping your allies at a safe distance.
Wild Magic Barbarians can be perfect for a party with a lot of casters. At Level 6 you unlock Bolstering Magic, which is an action that can either grant you or an ally a Level 1 or Level 2 spell slot, or a +1d4 bonus to Attack Rolls and Ability Checks.
Wild Magic Barbarians also have the option of multiclassing into Fighter to unlock Action Surge. You only have to take two levels of Fighter to unlock Action Surge, which is a Bonus Action that can grant another Action on that turn. Barbarians can benefit from Action Surge by using it the turn after they Rage (as their bonus action to get an extra attack or utility action).
For more on Baldur's Gate, check out Baldur’s Gate 3 Wyll Build Guide – Best Stats and Spells here on Pro Game Guides.
Published: Sep 27, 2023 06:46 am