Best BG3 Martial Bruiser Build – Barbarian Rogue Mutliclass Build

MARTIAL BRUISER PROS

MARTIAL BRUISER CONS

BG3 Multiclass Explainer:

• How it works: New classes can be added as you level up. They are added on a level-by-level basis.
• Example: If you are a level 6 Barbarian and decide to add 1 Rogue level, you will only get the features of Rogue level 1.
• Example 2: If you want the features of a level 6 Barbarian and Rogue, you need to be max level and add 6 levels of each class. (We’re not using this class distribution for our build; this is only an example!)

Pro Tip: It’s usually best to choose classes that work together easily. For example, the Barbarian and Fighter go well together because they both use Strength as their attacking attribute. But sometimes it pays to dip into other classes for various features they offer.

Barbarian

• Rapidly gains power as you level – great for the early-game.
• With the Berserker subclass, you can enter a Frenzy and attack or throw with your Bonus Action.
• We’ll take nine Barbarian levels, just enough to unlock the Brutal Critical feature.

Rogue

• With the Thief subclass, you get an extra Bonus Action. This is a great combo with the Berserker’s Frenzy.
• We take three Rogue levels, which is just enough to unlock the Thief subclass.

Martial Bruiser Levelling Progress Overview

• Level 1: Barbarian 1
• Level 2: Barbarian 2
• Level 3: Barbarian 3 (Berserker subclass)
• Level 4: Barbarian 4
• Level 5: Barbarian 5
• Level 6: Rogue 1
• Level 7: Rogue 2
• Level 8: Rogue 3 (Thief subclass)
• Level 9: Barbarian 6
• Level 10: Barbarian 7
• Level 11: Barbarian 8
• Level 12: Barbarian 9

Core Barbarian Features

• Item Proficiency – Martial Weapons, Light Armour, Medium Armour, Shields
•  Rage
  • Gain resistance to physical damage and Advantage on Strength checks and saves.
  • Deal 2 extra damage with melee and improvised weapons, and when throwing.
  • You get 2 Rage charges per Long Rest (more as you level up).
•  Unarmoured Defence
  • If you’re not wearing armour, you add your Constitution Modifier to your Armour Class.
  • We won’t be utilising this feature in our build, however.

We’ll explain what to choose for these options below.

Soldier Background

Athletics (STR) – Makes you better at pushing and throwing enemies or objects and standing your ground when they try to push you.

Intimidation (CHA) – As a Charisma Skill, this doesn’t line up perfectly with our ability distribution, but it will still help you in some dialogue checks.

Important Tips:

• The “Even Number” Rule: In Baldur’s Gate 3, only even numbers (12, 14, 16) increase your ability modifier. This means an 11 is functionally the same as a 10, so we aim for even numbers to maximise efficiency.

New Barbarian Features

Reckless Attack

• Gain Advantage on attack rolls until your next turn. Enemies will also have Advantage on attacks against you.
• The default setup of this action should prompt you to activate it if your attack is about to miss.

Danger Sense

• You get Advantage on Dexterity Saving Throws against hazards like traps and surfaces.

Barbarian Subclass – Berserker Features

Frenzy

• An upgrade to your Rage.
• You now get Resistance to all damage, except for Psychic Damage.
• When active, you can use  Frenzied Strike and  Enraged Throw.

 Frenzied Strike

• Use your Bonus Action to deal an additional attack with your melee weapon.
• Using this applies a stack of Frenzied Strain, subtracting 1 from your Attack Rolls for each stack.
• You can combine it with Reckless Attack when needed to offset the Frenzied Strain debuff.

 Enraged Throw 

• Use your Bonus Action to throw an object, enemy or weapon.

New Feat – Great Weapon Master

• The effects of this Feat can be toggled on or off at will.
• When activated, you get a +10 bonus to damage with great weapons, but a -5 penalty to Attack Rolls.
• You can use Reckless Attack to mostly negate this penalty. Just be careful about doing it when there are lots of enemies poised to attack you, because they’ll all have Advantage against you for the next turn.

New Barbarian Features

Extra Attack

• Each Action now yields two attacks, rather than one.

Fast Movement

• You get an additional 3m of Movement Speed per turn.
• Won’t work when wearing Heavy Armour.

New Rogue Features

 Expertise

• Choose a Skill with Proficiency to gain Expertise in that skill.
• Doubles your Proficiency Bonus when rolling for that skill.
• We recommend choosing Athletics, which will make you better at pushing enemies around.

 Sneak Attack

• Deal 1d6 extra damage to an enemy you have Advantage against.
• Has both a melee and a ranged version.
• This isn’t the focus of our build, but you can still look out for chances to use it.
• For example, Reckless Attack gives you Advantage against enemies, so it should work with sneak attacks.
• You don’t necessarily have to be stealthed to use sneak attacks – any method of gaining Advantage works.

New Rogue Features – Cunning Actions

 Cunning Action: Dash

• Dash using a Bonus Action.
• If you need lots of Movement in one turn, you can dash twice by using both the standard and cunning versions.

 Cunning Action: Disengage

• Disengage using a Bonus Action.

 Cunning Action: Hide

• Enter or leave stealth using a Bonus Action.
• Sneaking isn’t the main focus of this build, so you probably won’t use this much.

Rogue Subclass – Thief Features

 Fast Hands

• You gain an additional Bonus Action.
• This synergises very well with our build:
  • You can use Cunning Actions twice per turn.
  • You can use Enraged Throw or Frenzied Strike twice per turn.

 Second-Story Work

• You have resistance to falling damage.

New Berserker Feature

 Mindless Rage

• Gives you immunity to Charmed, Frightened and Calm Emotions while you are raging.
•  Frightened is a very common debuff in BG3; it hinders your movement and makes your attacks less accurate, so this is a useful defensive feature.

New Barbarian Feature

 Feral Instinct

• You are no longer Surprised by enemy ambushes.
• You gain a +3 bonus to your Initiative, so you are more likely to have your turn before others.

New Feat – Savage Attacker

• Rolls all weapon damage dice twice and picks the highest result.
• Significantly boosts your average attack damage.

New Barbarian Feature

Brutal Critical

• Rolls an extra damage dice when you score a Critical Hit.
• This will stack with the Half-Orc bonus, which already does the same thing.

Attacking Items:

• Bhaalist Armour – Effectively doubles your Piercing Damage against enemies within 3 metres of you. Extremely strong item, if you can get it in your playthrough.
• Gauntlets of Hill Giant Strength – Boosts your Strength score, making your attacks more accurate and deadly.
• Killer’s Sweetheart – Gives you one guaranteed crit per Long Rest. Truth be told, this item isn’t important and be changed if you want.
• Caustic Band – Adds 2 extra damage to your attacks.
• Nyrulna – A strong weapon that deals Piercing Damage, so it works with the Bhaalist Armour. It’s also really good for throwing, dealing AoE damage where it lands and will automatically return to your hand.
• The Dead Shot – Increases your Critical Hit chance so you get more out of the Barbarian’s Brutal Critical feature.

Defensive Items:

• Cloak of Displacement – You are displaced at the start of every turn, giving enemies Disadvantage when they try to attack you. This makes you very hard to hit.
• Amulet of Greater Health – Significantly increases your Constitution and HP.

Mobility & Utility:

• Helmet of Grit – Gives you an extra Bonus Action when below half health. Vital for getting the most out of the build, but a bit risky.
• Boots of Persistence – Boosts your Movement Speed and protects you from a range of immobilising effects.

• Your Frenzy boosts your damage output and gives you damage resistance, so you should activate it in most combat scenarios. But keep the following limitations in mind:
  • When Frenzied, 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.

• 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.

• While your damage resistance makes your character seem very durable, don’t get carried away and jump into a bad situation.
• 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).
• In short, the Martial Bruiser should be aggressive but not foolhardy.

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

• 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 within the area will also benefit from its effects.

 Psionic Backlash

• This is a top-tier reaction from the Illithid Powers skill tree in BG3.
• This 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.