Welcome to our best BG3 Giant Barbarian Build. For this BG3 Barbarian Build we will be making use of the Path of Giants subclass, a powerful melee fighter who can use their Giant’s Rage ability to increase their own size and strength, enjoying increased carrying capacity and the ability to Throw objects and enemies further and harder.

Please visit our Best BG3 Builds overview page for more builds. We also have an optimized Barbarian companion BG3 Karlach Build. If you are interested in more Barbarian subclasses, see our Barbarian Builds category page. To get an overview of all classes, please visit the BG3 Classes overview page.

This BG3 Barbarian Build was last updated in November 2025. It works for both PC and Console (PS5 and Xbox Series X/S).


Table of Contents for the BG3 Path of Giants Barbarian Build:

  1. Introduction to the Giant Barbarian Build
    1. BG3 Path of Giants Barbarian Overview
  2. Giant Barbarian Build Leveling Progression
    1. Barbarian Character Creation (Level 1)
    2. Early-Game Level 2-4
    3. Mid-Game Level 5-8
    4. Late-Game Level 9-12
  3. Giant Barbarian Equipment
    1. Early-Game Giant Barbarian Gear
    2. Best Giant Barbarian Gear (Late-Game)
  4. Giant Barbarian Build Extras and Tips & Tricks
    1. Giant Barbarian Tips & Tricks
    2. OP Potions for the Giant Barbarian
    3. Ideal Party Composition
    4. Illithid Powers

Here are the main strengths and weaknesses of the Path of Giants Barbarian in BG3:

Giant Barbarian Strengths

  • POWERFUL MELEE ATTACKS
  • MULTIPLE ATTACKS PER TURN
  • INFUSE YOUR WEAPON WITH ELEMENTAL DAMAGE
  • RAGE MAKES YOU BIGGER AND STRONGER
  • EASY TO PLAY

Giant Barbarian Weaknesses

  • NO SPELLCASTING
  • LINEAR PROGRESSION, FEW CHOICES

BG3 Best Giant Barbarian Build


BG3 Path of Giants Barbarian Overview

Here is a quick overview of the most important parts of the Barbarian class and Path of Giants subclass. If you’re already familiar with how they work, please skip this section.

Barbarian Class Summary

The Barbarian is the most aggressive melee damage dealer in Baldur’s Gate 3. It focuses on brute strength, enhanced by the Barbarian’s deadly rage.

Barbarian Benefits

  • Rage – Deal 2 extra damage with melee weapons, and by throwing. You gain Resistance to Physical Damage and Advantage on Strength Checks and Saving Throws.
    • Using Rage expends a Rage Charge. Rage Charges are replenished by Long Rests. As you level up, you can store more Rage Charges.
  • Reckless Attack (Unlocked at Level 2) – Throw all caution to the wind. You gain Advantage on all melee Attack Rolls until the start of your next turn, but enemies will also have Advantage on their Attack Rolls against you!
  • Danger Sense (Unlocked at Level 2) – You have  Advantage on Dexterity Saving Throws, unless you are Blinded or Incapacitated.
  • Extra Attack (Unlocked at Level 5) – Each Action now yields two weapon attacks, instead of one.
  • Brutal Critical (Unlocked at Level 9) – When you land a Critical Hit, roll an extra damage die (in addition to the extra dice that are always rolled when you land a Critical Hit).

Path of Giants Subclass Summary

The Path of Giants subclass invokes the elemental might of giants. You grow in size when you are enraged, further boosting your brute strength.

Path of Giants Benefits

  • Giant’s Rage – Replaces Rage. When activated, you grow in size. Your Rage damage bonus on Throw attacks is doubled. The original effects of Rage still apply – this is an extra boost, not a replacement.
  • Vaprak’s Greed – Increases your Carrying Capacity by 25%.
  • Boot of the Giants (Unlocked at Level 5) – Use an Athletics Roll to attempt to kick a target away. More likely to succeed if you are Hidden or Invisible.
  • Elemental Cleaver (Unlocked at Level 6) – Until the end of your Rage, you infuse additional Acid, Cold, Fire, Lightning or Thunder damage into your weapon strikes. If thrown, your melee weapon will automatically return to your hand.
  • Mighty Impel (Unlocked at Level 10) – You can now throw all enemies who are size Medium or smaller.

BG3 Giant Barbarian Build Guide


Level 1 – BG3 Path of Giants Barbarian Build Character Creation

In this section, we will go over the basic Character Creation options for our Best BG3 Barbarian Build, namely Background, Race, Skills and Abilities.

Top 5 Races for the BG3 Giant Barbarian

While you can use any race you want for this build, a handful will perform a little better due to features that synergise nicely. For best results, choose one of these top five Giant Barbarian races.

Race Strengths Info
half orc icon bg3

Half Orc

Half-Orcs are some of the best melee damage dealers in BG3, thanks to the Savage Attacks passive feature. This passive doubles up with the Barbarian’s innate Brutal Critical Passive, resulting in devastating Critical Hits.
duergar icon bg3

Duergar

With their wide choice of armour and weapon proficiencies, and resistances to poison, charm, and paralysis, Duergar are one of the strongest races in BG3.

The only downside of Duergar is their small stature – this reduces their base Movement Speed to 7.5 metres per turn (most races get 9 metres).

wood elf icon bg3

Wood Elf

  • Proficiency in Stealth and Perception
  • Extra Weapon Proficiencies:
    • Shortswords
    • Longswords
    • Shortbows
    • Longbows
  • Fey Ancestry
    • Advantage against Charmed
    • Immune to Magical Sleep
  • Darkvision
  • Fleet of Foot – 1.5 metres of extra Movement Speed
Wood Elves are a great choice for most build types in BG3, thanks to their superior movement speed. Natural Proficency in Perception is always useful, and immunity to magical Sleep will help you out a lot, especially in the early game where enemy mages love to spam this spell.

Githyanki

  • Can wear Light Armour & Medium Armour
  • Extra Weapon Proficiencies:
    • Shortswords
    • Longswords
    • Greatswords
  • Astral Knowledge
    • Gain Proficiency with all Skills belonging to a selected ability, once per Long Rest.
  • Githyanki Psionics
While their additional weapon and armour Proficiencies are made redundant by the Barbarian class’ innate Proficiencies, the Githyanki is still an excellent choice for the Barbarian, thanks to its access to Enhance Leap and Misty Step, which give you excellent mobility. However, remember that you cannot use these spells when Enraged; always plan your moves!

Additionally, Githyanki get the full benefits from equipping various Githyanki weapons, sometimes granting additional Psychic Damage or special features.

Human

  • Can wear Light Armour and Shields
  • Extra Weapon Proficiencies:
    • Spears
    • Pikes
    • Halberds
    • Glaives
  • Human Versatility
    • One unrestricted Skill choice
    • Increases Carrying Capacity by 25%
Humans are useful for their unrestricted Skill choice. Used wisely, this allows your character to be proficient with a useful Skill that wouldn’t normally be available for your Class.

In addition, Human’s extra 25% Carrying Capacity stacks with the 25% boost provided by the Path of Giants subclass, giving you a huge inventory space.

Background & Skills

This Giant Barbarian Build will focus on the Strength, Constitution and Dexterity Abilities, so we want to choose skills that align with those. There are no Constitution Skills in BG3, so we’ll be looking out for Strength and Dexterity.

Our chosen Background for the Giant Barbarian is the Soldier, which gives you the following two Skill Proficiencies:

  • Athletics (STR) – Makes you better at pushing and throwing enemies or objects and standing your ground when they try to push you.
  • Intimidation (CHA) – While it doesn’t fit with the criteria we mentioned above, no Background in BG3 lines up perfectly with a focus on Strength and Dexterity. Intimidation Proficiency will still help you in some dialogue checks, even though we’re not focusing on Charisma.

Alternatively, you can choose Outlander to get Athletics and Survival Proficiency. Or, if you want to use your Barbarian for lockpicking without needing to switch to another character, you can use the Urchin Background, which will give you a boost to Stealth and Sleight of Hand.

For your manual skill choices, you can pick what you want. Just ensure you have the Athletics Skill covered by either your Background or your manual Skill choice, as it’s by far the most important one for us.

Abilities

It’s important for the efficacy of the BG3 Barbarian Build that you have Strength and Constitution as high as possible at Level 1, and put 14 points into Dexterity to improve your Armour Class and Initiative. We’re going to be wearing Medium Armour, so there’s no point in putting any more than 14 points into Dexterity.

With the remaining points, allocate them based on the Skills you chose to have Proficiency in. This is most likely to be Wisdom and/or Charisma.

Go for an Ability allocation that looks something like:

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

Bold Abilities are essential for the build. The others can be tweaked if you want.

BG3 Giant Barbarian Abilities and Skills


Early-Game Levelling Guide for the Giant Barbarian Build

We’ll start by going through the early-game levels, 2-4.

Level 2 – Path of Giants Build for Baldur’s Gate 3

At Level 2, your Barbarian gains a couple of new abilities that are great for combat in Baldur’s Gate 3.

First of all, you unlock a new Action called Reckless Attack. This is a melee attack that will also give you Advantage on all subsequent attacks on the same turn. This isn’t an amazing ability right now, but as you level up and unlock the ability to make multiple attacks per turn, you’re going to get increasingly high value out of it because your hit chance will stay higher for the rest of your turn. Please note the following important details about Reckless Attack:

  • When your attack is about to miss, the game will ask you if you want to activate Reckless Attack and roll another die to attempt to land a hit (assuming you have default Reaction settings).
  • Once activated, you will have Advantage on all attacks for the rest of your turn. However, enemies will also have Advantage when they attack you, until the start of your next turn. So while this is very useful, try not to abandon all caution if you are severely outnumbered or near a strong enemy.

Danger Sense is a passive ability gained by Level 2 Barbarians. It gives you an Advantage on Dexterity Saving Throws against traps, spells and surfaces. Since we put 14 points into Dexterity, this will be particularly useful for us. You should find yourself reliably succeeding on Dexterity Saving Throws. Note that Danger Sense will not work if your senses are impaired, i.e. you are Blinded or Incapacitated.


Level 3 for BG3 Path of Giants Barbarian Build

At Level 3, your Barbarian unlocks an extra Rage charge, meaning you can now enter a Rage three times before you must replenish the charges with a Long Rest.

It is also time to choose your Barbarian Subclass. As mentioned above, we’ll be going with the Path of Giants for this BG3 Barbarian Build. The Path of Giants further builds upon the Barbarian’s Rage mechanic, allowing your Rage to also make your character larger and stronger.

The Path of Giants Barbarian replaces Rage with Giant’s Rage, making your character bigger, stronger and allowing you to throw objects and enemies further and harder, dealing more damage when they land.

When activated, you get the following benefits:

  • You increase in size by one class
  • Resistance to Physical Damage (usually including and limited to Bludgeoning, Piercing and Slashing)
  • Advantage on Strength Checks and Strength Saving Throws

You also get the Vaprak’s Greed passive at all times, which increases your Carrying Capacity by 25%. Finally, you get access to the Thaumaturgy Cantrip, which can be used to boost Performance and Intimidation checks. This is a bit of a strange inclusion, and I’m not entirely sure why Larian put this on a Barbarian subclass. But maybe it’ll come in handy.


Level 4 for the Path of Giants Barbarian Build BG3 for PC/PS5

As with all other classes in Baldur’s Gate 3, at Level 4, it’s time to choose a Feat for the Giant Barbarian Build.

Feats are extra passive buffs for your character, which can help make your build more defined or push up your Ability Stats.

Here we’ll go with the Ability Improvement Feat, which gives you 2 extra points to distribute between your Abilities. We recommend putting both of the points into StrengthThis should give you 18 Strength in total, improving your weapon Attack Rolls.

There’s not much else to say here; the Path of Giants doesn’t gain anything else at Level 4 besides standard stuff like an increase in HP.


Mid-Game Levelling Guide for the BG3 Giant Barbarian Build

We’ll now go through the mid-game levels for your Giant Barbarian, levels 5-8.

Level 5 – BG3 Path of Giants Barbarian Build

At Level 5, our BG3 Barbarian Build gets another huge step up in terms of how powerful it is. While there aren’t any options to choose from at this level, you do gain a bunch of new abilities that ramp up your power:

You will now get a +3 bonus to Skills you are Proficient at, rather than +2. Not huge, but a nice all-around buff.

You can now make an Extra Attack with each Action, pretty much doubling your damage potential. Combine it with a Potion of Speed (combine Ashes of Hyena Ear with any Salt) for mega bursts of damage!

As another bonus, you also gain an extra 1.5 metres per turn of Movement Speed. If you chose the Dwarf (or another race with small stature), you’ll now be able to keep up with taller friends and foes.

Your Giant Barbarian Subclass also gives you the Boot of the Giants Bonus Action, which allows you to attempt to kick a target away from you. Kicking can move targets up to double the weight that shoving would allow.


Level 6

At Level 6, you’ll gain an extra Rage charge, which will give you four in total.

You also unlock Elemental Cleaver, a special Giant Barbarian feature that allows you to infuse your weapon with elemental damage until the end of your Rage. You can choose to infuse 1d6 Acid, Cold, Fire, Lightning or Thunder damage into your weapon. As a bonus, when this is active, you can throw the weapon, and it will immediately reappear in your hand.


Level 7

Barbarians at Level 7 can no longer be Surprised by enemy ambushes, and will gain a +3 bonus to their Initiative, meaning they’ll get to take their turn before most enemies.


Level 8

At Level 8 you must select another Feat for your Path of Giants Build.

Here, I recommend choosing Ability Improvement again and putting the points into Strength, taking your total to 20.


Late-Game Giant Barbarian Build Levelling Guide

Now, we’ll cover the late-game levels for your Baldur’s Gate 3 Giant Barbarian Build Guide, levels 9-12.

Level 9

At Level 9, your Proficiency bonus is improved to +4, meaning you’ll now get a +4 bonus to all dice rolls with skills and weapons that you are Proficient with.

You also unlock the Brutal Critical passive, which will roll an extra damage dice when you score a Critical Hit. This will stack with the bonus granted by the Half-Orc Race that already does the same thing. So if you chose to be a Half-Orc, you’ll have very powerful Critical Hits from this point onwards.


Level 10

At Level 10, your Giant Barbarian will unlock the  Mighty Impel Bonus Action. When Enraged, you can use this to throw an enemy of size Medium or smaller.

You’ve now fully unlocked everything that the Giant Barbarian subclass has to offer. The final two levels will provide a couple of standard Barbarian unlocks, and some standard level-up bonuses like the increased HP.


Level 11

At Level 11 of your BG3 Giant Barbarian Build you’ll unlock the Relentless Rage feature, which makes your Barbarian harder to bring down.

Upon reaching 0 HP, you’ll heal to 1 HP instead of being Downed. This can only happen once per Short Rest.


Level 12

If you reached this point, then you have finished levelling up your Path of Giants Barbarian Build. Congratulations!

At Level 12 you’ll need to choose one more Feat for your character.

I recommend the Savage Attacker Feat. This basically works in the same way as the Advantage mechanic but for Damage Rolls instead. Every time you Attack, all of your Damage dice roll twice, and you’ll use the highest result for all of them. This makes you much less likely to get poor damage rolls and should help ensure that your Barbarian is a consistent damage dealer in the endgame in Baldur’s Gate 3.

BG3 Barbarian Build Max Level stats


Equipment for the BG3 Path of Giants Barbarian Build

In this section, we will list the best equipment for the build. We have provided both an early-game and a late-game version of the list, so you can begin using the build early in the game instead of having to wait until Act III.

Don’t worry if your set-up is not exactly the same as one of those outlined below – the build will still work fine if you’re missing some of the items. Also, don’t be afraid to experiment with new items if you find something else that you like.

Early Game Equipment

Early-game equipment is found in either Act I or the earlier parts of Act II.

Slot Icon Item Effects Location
Head cap of wrath icon bg3 Cap of Wrath
  • Gain 2 turns of Wrath if you start your turn with less than 50% HP
  • Each turn of Wrath increases your Weapon Damage by 1
Dropped by Thudd in the Grymforge
Cloak cloak of protection Icon BG3 Cloak of Protection
  • +1 to Armour Class and Saving Throws
Purchased from Quartermaster Talli in Last Light Inn
Chest adamantine scale mail icon bg3 Adamantine Scale Mail
  • Reduces all incoming damage by 1
  • Melee attackers are sent Reeling, reducing their Attack Rolls by 1
Must be crafted at the Adamantine Forge.
Gloves BG3 Gloves of the Growling Underdog icon Gloves of the Growling Underdog
  • Gives you Advantage on Attack Rolls when surrounded by 2 or more foes
Looted from Dror Ragzlin’s treasure crates in the Shattered Sanctum.
Boots boots of genial striding icon BG3 Boots of Genial Striding
  • Difficult Terrain cannot reduce your Movement Speed.
  • Other effects, like slipping on Grease or damage from Spikes still apply!
Purchased from Blurg in the Myconid Colony, in the Underdark
Necklace amulet of misty step Icon BG3 Amulet of Misty Step
  • Lets you use the Misty Step spell to teleport to a valid location within line of sight.
Located in a chest in the Defiled Temple, near the Ogre called Polma.
Ring 1 ring of protection Icon BG3 Ring of Protection
  • +1 to Armour Class and Saving Throws
Steal the Sacred Idol in Druid Grove (quest)
Ring 2 the whispering promise Icon BG3 Crusher’s Ring
  • Increases Movement Speed by 3 metres per turn
  • Especially important if you chose a small race like a Dwarf
Looted from Crusher in the Goblin Camp.
Main Weapon blooded greataxe icon BG3 Blooded Greataxe
  • One of the best melee weapons in Act I for pure damage output
  • Deals 1d4 bonus damage if your HP is below 50%.
Purchased from either Grat the Trader in the Goblin Camp or Roah Moonglow in Shattered Sanctum
Second Weapon Any Ranged Weapon
  • We aren’t focusing on ranged combat much, so you can use whatever you find here.
  • Heavy Crossbows and Longbows tend to be the highest damage options.
N/A

Cap of Wrath

When you start your turn with less than 50% HP remaining, you gain 2 turns of Wrath. Each remaining turn of Wrath increases your weapon damage by 1. Maximum 7 turns. The Cap of Wrath is dropped by Thudd in the Grymforge.

Cloak of Protection

The Cloak of Protection is one of the earliest cloaks available in the game, and provides a modest defensive buff – you gain a +1 bonus to your Armour Class and Saving Throws when wearing it. It can be purchased from Quartermaster Talli in Last Light Inn.

Adamantine Scale Mail

The Adamantine Scale Mail is a powerful piece of medium armour that can be obtained fairly early in the game. It reduces all incoming damage by 1 point, makes you immune to critical hits and inflicts an Attack Roll penalty to any enemies who hit you.

It is crafted in the Adamantine Forge in the Grymforge area of Act I. You need to find the Scale Mail Mould and some Mithral Ore in the vicinity of the forge in order to craft the Adamantine Scale Mail.

Gloves of the Growling Underdog

The Gloves of the Growling Underdog give you Advantage on your Attack Rolls when you are surrounded by 2 or more foes. Advantage means that you will roll 2 dice for your Attack Roll and use the one that rolled with the highest number, considerably improving your chances of a good roll. You also get a +1 bonus to Strength Saving Throws. These gloves can be looted from Dror Ragzlin’s treasure crates in the Shattered Sanctum.

Boots of Genial Striding

The Boots of Genial Striding prevent difficult terrain (such as spikes, mud and grease) from reducing your Movement Speed. However, beware that these boots will not negate any other harmful effects from a surface, such as damage from spikes or the chance to slip over when walking on ice. They can be purchased from Blurg in the Myconid Colony, in the Underdark (Act I).

Amulet of Misty Step

The Amulet of Misty Step grants you access to the Misty Step spell, which allows you to teleport to a visible location within 18 metres, for a Bonus Action. This is great for quickly closing the gap to an enemy so you can get into melee where this build is at its strongest, or for escaping from a bad situation. The Amulet is located in a chest in the Defiled Temple, near the Ogre called Polma.

Crusher’s Ring

Crusher’s Ring simply increases your Movement Speed by 3 metres per turn. This is another useful item for closing the gap to enemies quickly so that you can spend your turns dealing melee damage instead of running between targets. The ring is looted from Crusher in the Goblin Camp.

Ring of Protection

The Ring of Protection has the same effect as the Cloak of Protection – it improves your Armour Class and Saving Throws by +1. It is awarded to you by Mol for completing the quest to steal the Sacred Idol in the Druid’s Grove.

Blooded Greataxe

We recommend the Blooded Greataxe because it is a highly damaging weapon that can be obtained very early in the game. Greataxes in general are excellent DPS weapons since they come with a 1d12 die, the largest damage die in the game for weapons. The Blooded Greataxe grants your melee weapon attacks an extra 1d4 Slashing Damage whenever you are below 50% Health. In the hands of a strong melee class like the Barbarian, this weapon will carry you well into Act II even if you’re a complete beginner at the game.

This weapon can be purchased from either Grat the Trader in the Goblin Camp or Roah Moonglow in Shattered Sanctum. If the weapon does not appear in their wares, try Long Resting which will reshuffle the vendor items. You don’t need to spend any camp supplies on a Long Rest for this purpose.

Late Game Equipment

Late Game equipment can be found in the latter parts of Act II, and Act III. This is the most powerful version of the build, with access to the best items in the game.

Slot Icon Item Effects Location
Head helm of balduran Icon BG3 Helm of Balduran
  • You cannot be Stunned
  • Enemies cannot land Critical Hits on you
  • Heals you for 2HP every turn
  • +1 to Armour Class and Saving Throws
Defeat Ansur the dragon below Wyrm’s Crossing. See below for more details.
Cloak cloak of elemental absorption icon bg3 Cloak of Elemental Absorption
  • Once per Short Rest, absorb elemental damage and infuse your next attack with 1d6 of that damage type
Looted from an Opulent Chest inside Ketheric Thorm’s Chambers
Chest adamantine scale mail icon bg3 Adamantine Scale Mail
  • Reduces all incoming damage by 1
  • Melee attackers are sent Reeling, reducing their Attack Rolls by 1
Must be crafted at the Adamantine Forge.
Gloves gauntlets of hill giant strength Icon BG3 Gauntlets of Hill Giant Strength
  • Increase your Strength to 23
  • +1 to Strength Saving Throws
Taken from a pedestal in the archive of the House of Hope.
Boots boots of persistence icon bg3 Boots of Persistence
  • You get Freedom of Movement and Longstrider at all times
  • This gives you a massive boost to your mobility and immunity to some restraining debuffs
Buy from Dammon in the Forge of the Nine
Necklace amulet of greater health Icon BG3 Amulet of Greater Health
  • Increases your Constitution to 23
  • Advantage on Constitution Saving Throws
Can be taken from a pedestal in the archive of the House of Hope.
Ring 1 ring of protection Icon BG3 Ring of Protection
  • +1 to Armour Class and Saving Throws
Steal the Sacred Idol in Druid Grove (quest)
Ring 2 killer's sweetheart Icon BG3 Killer’s Sweetheart
  • Grants a guaranteed Critical Hit after killing an enemy
  • Once per Long Rest
Found inside the Self-Same Trial in the Gauntlet of Shar.
Main Weapon baldurans giantslayer icon bg3 Balduran’s Giantslayer
  • Good base damage
  • Doubles the damage bonus from your Strength Modifier
  • Advantage when attacking foes who are Large or above
  • Use Enlarge once per Short Rest, making your character bigger and stronger
Looted from Ansur in the Dragon’s Sanctum
Second Weapon Any Ranged Weapon
  • We aren’t focusing on ranged combat much, so you can use whatever you find here.
  • Heavy Crossbows and Longbows tend to be the highest damage options.
N/A

Helm of Balduran

The strongest helmet in BG3, the Helm of Balduran prevents enemies from landing Critical Hits on you, prevents you from being Stunned, heals you for 2 HP per turn, and gives a +1 bonus to Armour Class and Saving Throws. Obtaining this item is a multi-stage process – we wrote a detailed guide on how to find it.

Cloak of Elemental Absorption

Once per Short Rest, the Cloak of Elemental Absorption will absorb elemental damage, and infuse your next attack with 1d6 of that damage type. This is a fairly minor effect, but it can still generate a nice damage boost. It can be looted from an Opulent Chest inside Ketheric Thorm’s Chambers in Moonrise Towers.

Gauntlets of Hill Giant Strength

The Gauntlets of Hill Giant Strength increase your Strength to 23, and give you a +1 bonus to Strength Saving Throws. This will increase your damage and accuracy with Strength-based attacks, most notably your melee weapon. The gloves can be taken from a pedestal in the archive of the House of Hope.

Boots of Persistence

The Boots of Persistence permanently grant the wearer Freedom of Movement and Longstrider, improving your movement speed and preventing you from being slowed by difficult terrain, entangled, paralysed or magically restrained. This reduces the amount of ways that enemies can try to stun or immobilise your Barbarian. These boots can be purchased from Dammon in the Forge of the Nine in the Lower City, Act III.

Amulet of Greater Health

The Amulet of Greater Health sets your Constitution to 23 and gives Advantage on Constitution Saving Throws. A higher Constitution means more HP. Can be taken from a pedestal in the archive of the House of Hope.

Killer’s Sweetheart

With the Killer’s Sweetheart ring equipped, once per Long Rest, you gain a guaranteed Critical Hit on your next attack after killing an enemy. This item would be better if it could be triggered more frequently, but it’s still a useful effect. It is found inside the Self-Same Trial in the Gauntlet of Shar.

Balduran’s Giantslayer

A Legendary Greatsword, Balduran’s Giantslayer is arguably the strongest melee weapon in the game. It doubles the damage bonus from your Strength Modifier when attacking (if you have the Gauntlets of Hill Giant Strength, this improves a +6 modifier to +12). It grants you Advantage when attacking large, huge or gargantuan enemies, and once per Short Rest allows you to enlarge yourself, gaining extra damage, Temporary HP and Advantage on Strength checks.

Balduran’s Giantslayer is looted from Ansur in the Dragon’s Sanctum. To find out how to access the Dragon’s Sanctum, follow this guide on How to find the Helm of Balduran – both items are located in the same room.

BG3 Giant Barbarian Build Guide (1)


How to Play the Giant Barbarian Build

In this section, we will explain how to get the most out of this Giant Barbarian Build.

Managing Rage

  • Your Rage boosts your damage output and Physical Resistance, so you should activate it in most combat scenarios. But keep the following limitations in mind:
    • When Enraged, your Barbarian cannot activate any Spells (including spells that come from your Race or equipped items). If you plan to cast a Spell during combat, you should not use your Rage.
    • Rage is cancelled if you do not take or deal damage for a full turn. Don’t activate it if you have no enemies nearby, because the Rage Charge will probably be wasted. Always enrage and attack on the same turn.
    • If you forget to activate Rage at the start of the turn, it’s normally better to wait until the beginning of the next turn before activating it, just in case you get stunned or immobilised in the meantime.

This takes us to the next important consideration you should have when playing a Barbarian.

Plan Your Moves!

Once you know how Rage works and have a basic grasp of the combat rules of Baldur’s Gate 3, the next most important thing to learn about the Barbarian is that you need to plan your moves before you make them. In truth, this applies to any class in the game, but it’s especially important for Barbarians because of the aforementioned Rage limitations.

At the beginning of combat, decide if you will use your Barbarian’s Rage immediately or if you want them to cast a spell first. Have an idea of which enemy your Barbarian will attack first, and decide when you will activate your Rage. You may need to change your plan because of how combat evolves, but making a quick mental plan for all four of your party members will make battles significantly less challenging. You’ll get better at this with experience, but you can begin doing it even as a beginner.

Don’t Be Careless

The Barbarian’s physical damage resistance when enraged makes them one of the most durable classes in the game, and their huge melee damage potential and aggressive nature make it easy to get carried away and charge straight into the fray.

While it is ideal for the Barbarian to choose a target and close to melee range as fast as possible, you should still exercise a bit of caution. No matter how good your build is and how much endgame equipment you give a character, they will be rapidly cut down if you carelessly get them surrounded by multiple enemies, particularly if one of them is a boss (this is doubly true if you play on Tactician or Honour mode). This ties into the planning mentioned above: always try to gauge the strength of each enemy, and don’t send your Barbarian to fight four guys at the same time without any help.

In short, the Barbarian should be aggressive but not foolhardy.


Overpowered Potion Combo for BG3 Giant Barbarian Build

Potion of Speed Crafting for BG3 Fighter Build

The Potion of Speed is arguably the most powerful potion in Baldur’s Gate 3. It doubles your Movement Speed and gives you an extra Action each turn.

One drawback of this potion is that when it expires, your character will be Lethargic for one turn, unable to move or take any Actions. So you should be careful not to have your character stranded in a dangerous position when the potion runs out!

You can craft the Potion of Speed in the alchemy menu by combining Ashes of Hyena Ear with any Salt. Create ashes, salts and other alchemy concentrates by combining three of the same ingredients together – for example, combining three Hyena Ears will create Ashes of Hyena Ear.

Hyena Ears can normally be looted from either Hyenas or Gnolls – you can find a lot of them around the Risen Road in Act I, for a good supply of them, which should last you a while.

You can combine this with the Elixir of Bloodlust. Elixirs and Potions can be stacked with each other, but you can only have one Elixir active at a time. Potions tend to expire after a few turns, whereas Elixirs last until your next Long Rest, unless you drink a different Elixir in the meantime.

The Elixir of Bloodlust grants your character another Action when you kill an enemy. This effect can only trigger once per turn. Combined with the Potion of Speed, this gives you two additional attacks if you defeat an enemy on your turn.

It can be crafted by combining Ashes of Worg Fang with any Salt. Worg Fangs are looted from Worgs, the beasts usually kept by Goblins.

This is an OP alchemy combo that you can use to turbocharge the Giant Barbarian’s mobility and damage output in tough fights!


Giant Barbarian Best Party Composition

Your BG3 character will always perform better when they are in a party that synergises together nicely and works well as a team.

There are lots of awesome party compositions in BG3, with so many classes and subclasses, the possible combinations are almost limitless.

Here is a combo that works great for the Giant Barbarian:

If you prefer, you can ditch one of the spellcasters for another melee build, like a Fighter or a Rogue.


Barbarian Build Illithid Powers (optional)

BG3 Illithid Powers Skill tree

Illithid Powers are unlocked later in BG3 when you learn more about Mind Flayers and Tadpoles. By eating Jars of Mind Flayer Parasites you gain one point. This is another optional skill tree that you can get access to if you want. Here are some of the best Illithid Powers for the BG3 Barbarian Build with the Path of Giants subclass:

  • Mind Blast: A conal blast of Psychic Damage that can also stun several targets at once. If you are outnumbered by several advancing enemies, then Mind Blast can help to swing things back in your favour.
  • Cull the Weak: When you reduce a creature’s hit points below a certain threshold, this power instantly kills it and deals 1-4 Psychic Damage to nearby enemies. This is particularly effective when engaging groups of weaker foes, enabling you to thin their numbers rapidly.
  • Fly: This can be used to reach hard to get to places or change positions in combat.
  • Mind Sanctuary: This creates an area that allows all within to use Actions and Bonus Actions interchangeably. This typically means you can deal more damage, since you can use your Bonus Action as a normal Action. However, enemies who are inside the area will also enjoy its benefits. Be careful with your placement so that your party gets buffed by the Mind Sanctuary and not the enemies!
  • Psionic Backlash: This is a top-tier Reaction from the Illithid Powers skill tree in BG3. It allows you to deal Psychic Damage when a nearby enemy casts a spell. This is especially useful if the target is casting a Concentration Spell. The damage from Psionic Backlash can immediately break their Concentration, ending the spell’s effects.

Remember that some Illithid Powers won’t work when your Barbarian is Enraged!


Other Baldur’s Gate 3 Builds