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Barbarians inBaldur’s Gate 3are powerful tanks that excel at both dealing and taking damage on the front lines of combat. While they’re great at what they do on their own, there’s also room to get creative with multiclassing.
Any good Barbarianmulticlass needs to take their Rage ability into account, since it’s such a crucial part of Barbarian combat. With that in mind, any spell-casting class won’t mesh well with Barbarians sinceyou can’t cast or concentrate on spells while raging. Other martial classes are your best bet.
Fighter
Fighters are a reliable class on their own, and when it comes to a Fighter multiclass with a Barbarian, you can’t go wrong. Both classes have compatible fighting styles, basically allowing you to hit whatever’s in front of you as much as you can, as hard as you can.
One of the perks of multiclassing as a Fighter is that they get many useful features early on. With only two levels as a Fighter, you gainSecond Wind, Action Surge,and you’re able to select aFighting Style. As a Barbarian, two good options areDefenseorGreat Weapon Fighting.
Fighter Subclass
At level three, you can select a Fighter subclass. While you should avoidEldritch Knightsince you will be unable to cast or concentrate on spells while Raging, bothBattle MasterandChampionare good choices for a Barbarian multiclass.
If you go the Champion Fighter route toboost your critical hit chance, there’s not a ton of benefit beyond level three. It does mean that you would be able to reach level nine as a Barbarian, which conveniently grants you theBrutal Criticalpassive. The extra damage dice for critical hits go hand in hand with a Champion’s higher critical chance.
Both classes get an Extra Attack at level five, but this featuredoes not stack. If you invest five levels in Barbarian and five in Fighter, you will still only haveone Extra Attack.
A Battle Master Fighter benefits from reaching level seven, which gives you a total offive Battle Maneuversandfour Superiority Dice. This would limit your Rage charges to three instead of four and prevent you from gaining some Barbarian subclass features.
Still,Battle Maneuvers are powerful abilities that are worth the sacrifice. Seven levels as a Battle Master Fighter and five levels as a Barbarian is the best combination for this subclass.
Rogue
Barbarians and Rogues might seem like polar opposites, but this combination can be surprisingly heavy-hitting.Since Rogues rely primarily on getting Advantage to deal deadly damage, any class that can increase their chance of getting Advantage will mesh well.
A Barbarian’sReckless Attackis an attack thatgrants the user Advantage on all attack rollsuntil their next turn. It also grants enemies Advantage on attack rolls against you, so use this ability with caution, but this would give aRogue multiclassasneak attack against any targeton their next turn.
Remember that both Reckless Attack and Sneak Attack cost an action, so you’ll need yourExtra Attack from Barbarian level fiveto take advantage of this strategy.
To sneak attack with melee weapons, you must have finesse weapons equipped. Good options for Barbarians are short swords, scimitars, and some long swords (such asPhalar Aluve).
Thief
A subclass combination that has the potential to shine is aThief Rogueand aBerserker Barbarian, both available at level three of their class. Thieves getan extra bonus actionwith Fast Hands, and Berserkers havetwo additional bonus actions while Raging: Frenzied Strike and Enraged Throw.
Frenzied Strike will give youFrenzied Strainfor one turn, which is-1 to attack rolls. This effectcan stack.
Supposing you had at least five Barbarian levels to getExtra Attack, you could makefour attacks each turnwhile Raging.
Monk
A Barbarian and Monk multiclass—sometimes appropriately called a Bonk—is a combination that can deal impressive damage. While using Ki Points is technically considered spell casting, these abilities are still available while Raging.
Monks are able to attack with Dexterity instead of Strength, but a Strength-focused Monk is still an option. This works well for a Barbarian multiclass, since some Barbarian abilities depend on Strength alone.
Both classes can also benefit from not wearing armor as well, but if your Dexterity—or AC in general—is lacking, there’s also no harm in wearing medium armor to protect yourself from enemy hits.
TheUnarmored Defenseof Monks and Barbarians cannot combine. you may only use one at a time.
If you’re more focused on Strength as a Barbarian, your best bet will be the Unarmored Defense of Barbarians since the Monk ability uses your Wisdom modifier instead.
One unique part of this class combination is the effectiveness of unarmed combat. Monks deal increased damage with unarmed attacks, and they can also deal another unarmed attack as a bonus action. They also have the bonus actionFlurry of Blows, which is equivalent to two unarmed attacks.
The Monk ability,Deflect Missiles,is pretty handy, as it canreduce damage from ranged weapons to zeroat the cost of a reaction.
Way Of The Open Hand
For a Barbarian andMonk multiclassplanning to be unarmed,Berserkeris the best Barbarian subclass. While Raging, you’ll be able to useEnraged Throw, which is a ranged attack that requires no equipped weapon. You can pick your Barbarian subclass at level three, butyou should get to level five as a Barbarianbefore multiclassing to get yourExtra Attack.
TheTavern Brawlerfeat is an excellent option for this multiclass. Not only does it increase your Strength or Constitution by one, itadds your Strength modifier twiceto unarmed attacks, improvised weapons, and throw attacks.
Because you’ll want to avoid spell casting,Way of the Open Handis the best Monk subclass for Barbarians. When you select this subclass at level three, you’ll have access to three more variants ofFlurry of Blows. At level six, you can toggle the ability to deal eitherNecrotic, Psychic, or Radiantdamage with unarmed strikes.
Baldur’s Gate 3
WHERE TO PLAY
Baldur’s Gate 3 is the long-awaited next chapter in the Dungeons & Dragons-based series of RPGs. Developed by Divinity creator Larian Studios, it puts you in the middle of a mind flayer invasion of Faerûn, over a century after the events of its predecessor.
