Best Baldur’s Gate 3 Solo Barbarian Build

The critical aspect of playing Barbarian solo build in Baldur’s Gate 3 is proper gear combined with powerful abilities, feats, and consumables.

This build page has been updated for the patch 6 version of Baldur’s Gate 3.

Best Solo Barbarian Build Guide

The Barbarian class in Baldur’s Gate 3 is one of the best for solo play due to its damage, damage reduction, and massive health pool.

The Barbarian is an aggressive melee class and build that emphasizes close-quarters combat. You have the option of using just clothing and gaining damage reduction through your class passives. This way, you can focus on all-out aggressive combat, with a large health pool, and high damage reduction. The Barbarian is also one of the simplest builds to play and is great for beginners wanting a powerful build.

In the solo Barbarian build, we emphasize actions and bonus action utility. The name of the game in terms of combat performance is how many actions or bonus actions you can take. Therefore, we are going to multiclass into the Rogue Thief, along with the Fighter Champion. This build is designed to do the most damage possible on turn one, eliminating targets, and lowering overall incoming damage substantially. Keep reading the guide, Best Baldur’s Gate 3 Solo Barbarian Build, for more tips and tricks on how you can dominate solo even on Tactician difficulty.

Solo Barbarian Build Features

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

• Primary Ability: Strength
• Saving Throws: Strength and Constitution
• Armour Proficiency: Light Armour, Medium Armour, Shield
• Weapon Proficiency: Simple Weapon, Martial Weapons
• Rage: Gain two extra damage with melee and have increased damage resistance.
• Unarmoured Defence: Adds your Constitution modifier to your Armour Class and your Dexterity modifier when not wearing armour.
• Extra Attack: allows two attacks with one action.
• Thief Subclass: Gain four Superiority Dice, which are d8s, obtained at level 3.
• Sneak Attack: Deal additional damage while having an Advantage.
• Bonus Actions: Rogues can use bonus actions for multiple attacks per turn.
• Cunning Action: Hide, Dash and Disengage
• Fast Hands: Additional Bonus Action
• Action Surge: Immediately gain an extra Action to use this turn. Recharges on a Short Rest.
• Great Weapon Fighting: 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.
• Champion Subclass: Gains increased critical damage
• Improved Critical Hit: The number you need to roll a Critical Hit while attacking is reduced by 1.

How to Play the Barbarian Solo in Baldur’s Gate 3

Baldur’s Gate 3 can be played solo by either opting to disregard companions or recruiting them and later dismissing them to your camp. Although playing a Barbarian build solo can be challenging, it is possible to complete the entire game solo on Tactician difficulty.

The biggest tip and consideration for solo play in BG3 is action/bonus action utility. You want to use multiple classes, consumables, and tricks to increase your actions or bonus action per turn. Preferably, you want combat to take one turn. Frontloading all of your damage into one turn kills an entire group of enemies. The above illustrations show key components of the build and what you can do at max level. That’s four actions, two bonus actions during one turn, and with optimal gear, insane damage.

Solo Gameplay Tips

Below are some general tips on how to play the best Barbarian build in BG3 Solo:

• Loot Everything: You will need a lot of gold to buy consumables, potions, and ammunition so loot and sell constantly.
• Crafting: Elixirs and potions are vital, and you need to purchase materials when trading for crafting.
• Reach Level 5: Spend the early part of the game completing every quest to reach level 5 where your power dramatically increases.
• Sell Often: Your carrying capacity will be limited so sell often, and store excessive items in your traveler’s chest.
• Stealth: Start combat in stealth if at all possible to trigger the Surprise status effect.
• Consider Illithid Powers: While it can come with an altered appearance, the powers are powerful and can help you.
• Oils + Elixiris: Combine both oils/coatings and Elixir during combat for a dual benefit.
• Potion of Speed + Bloodlust: These two stack, so you can essentially get two additional actions per turn if you kill a target.
• Persuasion: Try to avoid combat through dialogue if possible.

Character Creation

Race

The Half-Orc is best because of increased critical damage, survivability, and intimidation skills. Second is the Duergar Dwarf because they get Enlarge Spell and Invisibility.

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

1. Half-Orc
2. Duergar

Background & Skills

The best Background for a solo Barbarian is a soldier because you gain proficiency in athletics and intimidation. Backgrounds in Baldur’s Gate 3 are a way to represent your character’s backstory and give them some starting skills and abilities.

The best skills are Survival and Perception because they help while exploring the environment in BG3.

Ability Score

The Best Ability Score for solo Barbarian Build is 16 Strength, 14 Dexterity, and 16 Constitution.  This gives you a well-balanced ability score that can aid in damage and survivability.

Below is the best ability score for a solo Barbarian in Baldur’s Gate 3:

• Strength – 16
• Dexterity – 14
• Constitution – 16
• Intelligence – 8
• Wisdom – 10
• Charisma – 10

Alternatively, you can go with 17 Strength and 8 Charisma. This requires you to gain two Permanent bonuses to reach 20 Strength. Act 1 Auntie Ethal and Act 3 Mirror with Shadowheart side quest. Moreover, with Guantlets of Strength, you can achieve 23 strength without a potion, or early in the game, use Elixir of Hill Giant Strength. The above ability score is easier to manage and if you miss a step is less punishing.

Best Solo Barbarian Build – Level Progression in Baldur’s Gate 3

Level 1

Level one follow our character creator to pick all correct background, race, skills, and ability distribution, focusing on Strength and Constitution. Use the character creation steps above and hit the appropriate ability score and race. You want to either use clothing ideally, and a two-handed weapon preferred a Greatsword. You can get a super powerful one in the tutorial Everburn Blade.

This is a solo build, and we will use the Barbarian from levels 1 to 5. At level 4 you can select a feat, and at level 5 you earn an Extra Attack. Once that’s acquired, we will switch to the Rogue for 4 levels to get an additional bonus action and a feat. Once that is completed, swap to Fighter to gain action surge and more critical damage.

Below are the Barbarians level 1 class features and unlocks:

• Unarmored Defense: While you are not wearing any armor, your Armor Class equals 10 + your Dexterity modifier + your Constitution modifier. You can use a shield and still gain this benefit.
• Rage: While raging, you deal 2 extra damage with melee and improvised weapons, and when throwing objects. You also have Resistance to physical damage and Advantage on Strength checks and Saving Throws. Rage ends early if you don’t attack an enemy or take damage each turn. You can’t cast or concentrate on spells while raging.

Barbarian Gameplay

Unarmored Defense proves beneficial for those opting not to don medium armor. You can enhance your Armor Class (AC) by disrobing Lae’zal, equipping her armor, and focusing on high dexterity. Opting for “clothing” over traditional armor offers the advantage of accessing gear sets. As your character develops, the game will encourage you with clothing-based gear sets that bestow the Wrath status effect, thereby amplifying melee damage. However, this choice involves risk and reward. While lower AC increases your vulnerability to hits, some gear sets wield exceptionally potent damage. The Barbarian’s substantial damage reduction further justifies maintaining a lower AC, especially when progressing through Act 1 and acquiring formidable sets.

The gameplay for the Barbarian is very simple, especially at the start. Simply use your bonus action to turn Rage on your first turn. Then, use your action to attack. On the second turn, you can use your bonus action for potions, jump, or shove. Your bonus action utility will go up with subclass and feat, and multiple attacks are coming as early as level four. 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! Stay aggressive, and play as the Best Baldur’s Gate 3 Solo Barbarian Build Guide.

Barbarian Priorities

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

• Complete Prologue
• Recruit Companions
• Unlock Withers, respec companions to proper class/ability score
• Collect the Necromancy of Thay (important in Act 3)
• Reached Hollowed City/Druid Grove
• Sell, Stock up, complete quests
• Unlock summons, Scratch, Shovel
• Progress to level 5
• Reach Underdark and Grymforge
• Check all Permanent Bonuses in Act 1 and the best Gear
• Act 1 Checklist for step-by-step completion

Level 2

At level two, the Barbarian will unlock Reckless Attack and Dangerous Sense:

• Reckless Attack:  Reckless Attack feature, which allows you to gain Advantage on melee weapon attack rolls in exchange for granting advantage to enemies attacking you until your next turn. This should be used against an enemy you will either kill or won’t target your next turn.
• Dangerous Sense: You have an Advantage on Dexterity Saving Throws against traps, spells, and surfaces. This is just passively applied to your character.

Reckless Attack is your main skill for damage. When you gain advantage, you can roll two dice rolls rather than one and the game selects the highest. This increases damage significantly. Be aware that the enemy will have the same advantage against you too. You can turn this on or off in the reactions tab of your character’s spellbook. This will automatically prompt you if you want to do the attack vs. a main hand.

Level 3

At level three, you will get to pick a subclass, and we recommend Berserker. It takes advantage of your bonus action and gives a great ranged damage ability. Here’s what you should do at level 3 with a multiclass Barbarian Build:

• Extra Rage Charge
• Frenzied Strike: As a bonus action, make a melee attack with your equipped weapon.
• Enraged Throw: Pick up an item or creature and throw it at a target, dealing Bludgeoning damage and knocking it Prone. Your Strength affects how much weight you can throw. Heavier items deal more damage. The damage of Thrown Weapons is the same as the Weapon’s melee damage. You also deal additional damage based on your Strength
• Frenzy: grants you the ability to enter a frenzied rage as a bonus action, allowing you to make an additional melee weapon attack on each turn. Note that this feature also incurs one level of exhaustion once your rage ends.

Berserker Gameplay

In this scenario, utilize your bonus actions for a Frenzied Strike and an Enraged Throw. Ideally, initiate Frenzy (formerly Rage) on your first turn and dive into combat, delivering either melee or ranged strikes. With Frenzy still active on your second turn, take advantage of both your action and bonus action for two attacks. As you progress to levels 4 and 5, you unlock even more attack opportunities.

Our preferred skill between the two is Enraged Throw due to its potential to stun or knock enemies prone. Addressing the Barbarian’s weakness in crowd control rather than damage, this skill becomes crucial. It allows the utilization of the primary damage-dealing Reckless Attack with the action, while simultaneously stunning opponents at range with Enraged Throw. Carrying an array of daggers and spears enables throwing and retrieval post-battle.

Exercise caution in using both Enraged Throw and Frenzied Strike to avoid triggering Frenzied Strain, which incurs a -1 penalty on attack rolls and accumulates. To mitigate this penalty, employ bonus actions judiciously. The recommended gameplay involves initiating Frenzy with a bonus action on the first turn, charging in for a Reckless Attack. On the second turn, execute the action first (Reckless), followed by a bonus action attack such as a Frenzied Strike or an Enraged Throw.

Level 4

Upon reaching level four, the option to choose a Feat or ability improvement becomes available. For this Barbarian solo build, we recommend opting for the Great Weapon Master Feat. While it enhances your damage output, it comes with the trade-off of reducing your chance to hit. The increased damage and higher chance of missing can be toggled off through the passives section on your toolbar. Reserve this option for instances where your percentage to hit falls below 50%, and you urgently need to land a crucial attack. However, you can improve your hit probability, and leverage spells like Blessed or a potion of Heriosim.

The Great Weapon Master Feat also grants an additional bonus action attack if you slay an enemy or are critically hit. This additional attack serves as a valuable tool for your bonus action, allowing you to circumvent Frenzied Strain by opting for Frenzied Strike repeatedly. Upon reaching level 5 and gaining an Extra Attack, your overall attacks are doubled, increasing the likelihood of triggering Great Weapon Master bonus action attacks. Consequently, it is advisable to commence combat by using your action first, reserving your bonus action for a Great Weapons Master attack. Enraged Throw remains a go-to option for ranged crowd control, while Frenzied Strike is employed when a bonus action attack is unavailable.

Level 5

Upon reaching level five, the Barbarian acquires the Extra Attack feature, a passive ability enabling the execution of an additional attack when initiating an Attack Action. Simultaneously, the Fast Movement trait amplifies your speed by +5, excluding heavy armor. At this juncture, the Barbarian achieves an impressive synergy with Extra Attack, Frenzied Strike, and Great Weapon Master, facilitating multiple attacks with both actions and bonus actions. To further augment your effectiveness, consider consuming a Potion of Speed, intensifying your damage output within a single turn.

This marks the turning point where Barbarians truly assert their dominance. The inaugural turn follows the customary bonus action to activate Rage/Frenzy, charging in with a Reckless Attack that, upon successful landing, earns you an additional strike. Typically, leveraging a secondary weapon-based skill like Lacerate inflicts bleeding damage. On the subsequent turn, a free bonus action permits two attacks—initially, a Reckless one, followed by a bonus action strike depending on the range. This translates to three attacks per turn. In more challenging encounters, the inclusion of a Potion of Speed introduces an additional two attacks, elevating your offensive capabilities even further.

Level 6

At this stage, we want to transition to the Rogue class to gain an additional bonus action. Hit the small icon in the top right of your leveling, and select the Rogue. At this level, you gain Sneak Attack. Consider this a passive additional damage source that you can enable in your reactions menu. Moreover, you want to select this automatically so it consistently does damage for you.

Reckless Attacks can give you an advantage and you might see some extra damage coming from attacking with this or from stealth. Stealth and invisibility potions are also helpful to initiate combat and trigger the surprise status effect. This essentially skips the turn of one enemy and is helpful when playing solo.

Ending Act 1 as a Solo Barbarian

Approaching Level 6, you should be close to transitioning out of Act 1. Be sure to visit traders and stock up on camp and alchemy supplies. Additionally, make sure to find the best Act 1 items. Furthermore, there are also permanent bonuses you should find in Act 1. Finally, the Grymforge has powerful armor and weapons (Adamantine) that can be used well into Act 3. Consider taking the time to collect the crafting items before moving on to Act 2, where you won’t be able to return.

Level 7

With a second level into the Rogue, you gain Cunning Actions. This allows your solo build to use bonus action for Hide, Dash, and Disengage. The most helpful of these is Hide. You can escape some difficult combat situations simply by traveling behind an object, out of line of sight, and then hiding. While not the typical Barbarian playstyle, your only heal will come from potions, making Bonus Actions even more valuable.

Moreover, Dash can be helpful as well since the Barbarian doesn’t learn the Fly spell. Fly potions, and illithid power can grant this to you as well and is a valuable tool for mobility.

Level 8

With a third-level investment into Rogue, we unlock a subclass selection. The Thief is the best due to a bonus action. Below is what you unlock with this selection:

• Fast Hands (Level 3): Gain an additional bonus action.
• Second-Story Work (Level 3): You’ve mastered the art of falling and gaining Resistance to Falling damage.

The Fast Hands passives ensure that bonus actions like Rage, Frenzy, and Potion Usage don’t deplete this resource. You can now use a bonus action to Frenzy on turn one, then a bonus of Speed or Oil in the same turn for a massive combat advantage. Additionally, you can hide and use a healing potion for survival which is critical for solo play in BG3.

Level 9

With one more level of investment into Rogue, we gain a feat. For this feat, we want to select Savage Attacker. This allows you to roll your damage dice twice and pick the highest result. This feat makes your build more bursty, especially if you critical strike.

You can also select the Tavern Brawler feat at this level. That essentially adds your Strength modifier twice when you throw a weapon. In Act 3, you can gain the Nyrulna legendary Trident and repeatedly throw it. This gives you great damage even at range and is helpful if you struggle with reaching targets on turn one.

Lastly, you can take strength +2 at this point depending on your preferred gear choice at the end of the game. We find it easier to use armour and potions to increase this solo Barbarian strength or permanent bonuses, but it’s an option.

Level 10

At level 10, we will take a third class and that’s the Fighter. The Fighter immediately gives you the Great Weapon Fighting passive feature, which is missing from the Barbarian class. This helps you do consistent damage and pairs very well with Savage Attacker for reliable damage.

Level 11

With a level investment into Fighter, you gain Action Surge. This additional action stacks with Bloodlust (another action on a kill) and Potion of Speed. Thus, you can get 3 additional actions if you kill a target. This combination so far is what makes the build deadly on turn one. Ideally, you want to use Action Surge turn one assuming you can reach a target, and a secondary target if Great Weapon Master triggers due to a kill.

Level 12

You’ve reached the final level with the Best Baldur’s Gate 3 Solo Barbarian Build! You want to choose the Champion Subclass for Improved Critical Hit—the number you need to roll a Critical Hit while attacking is reduced by 1. Battle Master has more crowd control but we are concerned with total overall damage.

The improved Critical Hit passive synergizes well with the Half-Orc Race due to Savage Attacks. When you score a Critical Hit with a melee Weapon attack, an additional Damage Dice is added to your total damage. This gives the Barbarian Solo build some of the best burst damage in the entirety of Baldur’s Gate 3!

Best Gear for Baldur’s Gate 3 Solo Barbarian 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 Best Baldur’s Gate 3 solo Barbarian Build Guide includes suggested sets and alternatives for Act 1 and Act 3.

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, items, and equipment for solo Barbarian Build in Baldur’s Gate 3:

Gear Slot	Best Gear Item	Effect
Head	Haste Helm	Increase Movement
Cape	–
Chest	Bloodguzzler Garb	Extra Damage
Gloves	Bracers of Defence	+2 AC
Boots	Linebreaker Boots	Wrath when Dash
Necklace	Amulet of Misty Step	Free Spell
Ring	Crusher’s Ring	Increased Movement
Ring	Caustic Band	Poison Damage
Weapon 1 Main Hand	Everburn Blade	Starter Weapon
Weapon 2 Ranged	Titanstring Bow	Add STR Modifier

• Haste Helm: Chest in the Blighted Village X 32, Y 403 (Alternative Cap of Wrath).
• Bloodguzzler Garb: Loot it from Bulette’s body in the Underdark (Alternatives Adamantine Scale Mail)
• Bracers of Defence: In the Apothecary’s Cellar beneath the Blighted Village(X: -656 Y: -370 (Alternatives Gloves of Missile Snaring, Reason’s Grasp, Gloves of the Growling Underdog).
• Linebreaker Boots: Loot it from Beastmaster Zurk’s body in the Worg Pens (Alternatives Boots of Genial Striding, Boots of Striding, or Disintegrating Night Walkers)
• Amulet of Misty Step: Chest behind the ogre Polma in the Defiled Temple within the Goblin Camp (Alternatives Moondrop Pendant, Amulet of Branding, or Amulet of Restoration).
• Crusher’s Ring: Can be looted or stolen from Crusher in the Goblin camp in Act 1 (Alternatives Ring of Flinging, or Fetish of Callarduran Smoothhands).
• Caustic Band: Merchant Derryth Bonecloak in the Myconid Colony in the Underdark  (Alternatives Ring of Absolute Force, or The Sparkswall).
• Everburn Blade: Can be looted from Commander Zhalk during the prologue (Alternative  Silver Sword of the Astral Plane or Sword of Justice).
• Titanstring Bow: Brem in Zhentarim Hideout Act 1 (Alternatives Hunting Shortbow, or Giantbreaker).

Advanced: Endgame

The following table presents the best gear, items, and equipment for the solo Barbarian Build in Baldur’s Gate 3:

Gear Slot	Best Gear Item	Effect
Head	Bonespike Helmet	Damage on Rage
Cape	Fleshmelter Cloak	Acid Damage
Chest	Bonespike Garb	Damage Reduction
Gloves	Gauntlets of Hill Giant Strength	23 Strength
Boots	Helldusk Boots	Mobility Skill
Necklace	Amulet of Greater Health	23 Constitution
Ring	Killer’s Sweetheart	Automatic Critical
Ring	Ring Of Regeneration	Self-healing
Weapon 1 Main Hand	Balduran’s Giantslayer	Best Greatsword
Weapon 2 Ranged	Darkfire Shortbow	Fire & Cold Resist
Throwable	Nyrulna	Throwable Object

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

• Bonespike Helmet: Obtained from Voiceless Penitent Bareki Merchant in Lower City Sewers Baldur’s Gate (Alternatives Helldusk Helmet, Mask of Soul Perception, or Helm of Balduran).
• Fleshmelter: Found in Chest in House of Healing Morgue (Alternative Cloak of Protection).
• Bonespike Garb: Purchased from Exxvikyap at The Rivington General in Act 3 (Alternatives Enraging Heart Garb, The Mighty Cloth or Bhaalist Armour).
• Gauntlets of Hill Giant Strength: Obtained in Archive of the House of Hope (Alternatives Helldusk Gloves, Legacy of the Masters, or Gloves of Soul Catching).
• Helldusk Boots: Obtained in a locked chest, Wyrm’s Rock Fortress X: -32 Y: 219 (Alternatives Bonespike Boots, or Disintegrating Night Walkers).
• Amulet of Greater Health: Obtained in Archive of the House of Hope (Alternative Surgeon’s Subjugation Amulet).
• Killer’s Sweetheart: Obtained from the Self-Same Trial in the Gauntlet of Shar in Act 2 (Alternative Ring of Protection).
• Ring Of Regeneration: Sold by Rolan at Sorcerous Sundries (Alternative Ring of Free Action).
• Balduran’s Giantslayer: Obtained as a reward for completing the Wyrmway trials (Alternatives Sword of Chaos, or Silver Sword of the Astral Plane).
• Darkfire Shortbow: Sold by trader Damon Act 2 Last Light Inn X: -35 Y: 169 (Alternative Fabricated Arbalest).
• Nyrulna: Stole from Akabi in Circus of the Last Days in Rivington Act 3.

Best Consumables, Potions, and Items

The following list is the best consumable items that will aid in our Best Baldur’s Gate 3 solo Barbarian Build Guide:

• Elixir of Bloodlust: Once per turn when you kill a foe, you gain HP 5 temporary hit points and an additional action.
• Elixir of Hill Giant Strength: Increases Strength ability score to 21 until Long Rest.
• Potion of Speed: Gain extra action, +2 AC, Advantage on Dexterity Saving Throws, and double movement speed.
• Drow Poison: Weapon poison that adds Constitution Saving Throw or becomes Poisoned and falls Asleep.
• Potion of Flying: Drink to gain a flying speed of 60ft for one hour.
• Elixir of Heroism: Gain 10 temp HP and become Blessed until a long rest.
• Potion of Greater Healing: 4d4 + 4 hit points restored.
• Oil of Accuracy: Coat Weapon. Bonus of +2 in Attack Rolls.
• Elixir of Vigilance: Drink to gain a +5 bonus to Initiative and you can’t be Surprised.
• Elixir of Darkvision: (only non-Darkvision race): Drink to gain the ability to see in the dark up to 12m.

Best Baldur’s Gate 3 Solo Barbarian Build Summary

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