This guide covers the key elements of a Giant Barbarian build in Baldur’s Gate 3 (BG3) and how to maximize its strengths.
The Giant is a brand new subclass for the Barbarian added to Baldur’s Gate 3 by the developers at Larian Studios in Patch 8. As the name suggests, this subclass will utilize the same primal forces that the Giants draw upon. A special Rage ability will allow you to grow in size and strength to crush your enemies. Furthermore, this playstyle lends itself very well to a build that prioritizes high damage dealt by Thrown weapons and objects.
In our Best Baldur’s Gate 3 Barbarian Giants Build guide for Baldur’s Gate 3, we will take you step-by-step through picking the best classes/subclasses, the ability score, complete level progression, the best companions to pick, weapons, armor, and consumables.
This build page has been updated for thePatch 8 versionof Baldur’s Gate 3.
Everything About the Giant Barbarian in Baldur’s Gate 3
The Giant Barbarian’s enhanced damage to thrown weapons and items makes it unique. Moreover, it has a built-in mechanism to return an item to you when thrown, and it adds elemental damage to that item. Therefore, it’s the ultimatethrow buildand the Barbarian gains more range and damage than a normal subclass setup.
Overall, this build is capable of soloing Honour Mode due to its damage, range, and survivability. The only downsides are no spellcasting, low movement, and vulnerability to magic. However, with improved range, more damage, and bonus action utility, Giant is one of the best builds and subclasses in all of BG3.
Below, we walk you through everything you need to know about this new subclass in Patch 8 and how to play it effectively.
Barbarian Changes in Patch 8 for BG3
The biggest changes to the Barbarian in Patch 8 is the addition of the Giant subclass. This subclass is all about throw damage with an entire subclass dedicated to throw weapons. Other changes in the patch are related to new spells and cantrips. One that’s useful isBooming Blade. you’re able to add extra thunder damage each action, giving you even more melee burst. One way to obtain this cantrip as a Barbarian is using the High Elf race where you select one cantrip at character creation. However, Half-Orc is still better overall for pure burst, but it can be helpful if you want the new cantrip.
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Features and Mechanics of Giants Barbarian
The following list presents all the essential Giant Barbarian Build Mechanics and Features in Baldur’s Gate 3:
How to Play Giant Barbarian
The best way to play the Giant Barbarian is by throwing weapons and items once you enter Giant’s Rage. With this subclass’s rage active, you double the damage of thrown objects. You then want to pick up the featTavern Brawler, which doubles your thrown weapon strength modifier to attack rolls. Therefore, on turn one, when combat intiates, use your Bonus Action to trigger Giant’s Rage. Then throw a weapon or item for massive damage.
Once you reach level 6, the Giant Barbarian can add an elemental effect and get the item to return automatically viaElemental Cleaver. At this point, you can throw any weapon you choose, depending on the damage type (piercing is best at the end of the game).
Below are some general tips on how to play the best Giant Barbarian build in BG3:
Character Creation for Barbarian Giant Build
Race Choice for Giants Barbarian
Duergar Dwarf is the best choice for a Giant Barbarian Build because it grants superior dark vision, Enlarage, and Invisibility spells.Enlarge specifically increases damage from weapon attacks by 1d4, and the Duergar has protections against being charmed. The downside is limited mobility, but that’s okay when you can throw weapons!
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The second best race is Half-Orc, which has relentless endurance, savage attack, and intimidation. The final choice is Zariel Tiefling, which grants Thaumaturgy cantrip, darvision, fire resistance, and two smite spells. However, we highly suggest taking the Duergar Dwarf because of their additional resistance and survivability, which is helpful early in Act 1.
Here is the bestracechoice for a Path of the Giant Barbarian build in Baldur’s Gate 3:
Barbarian Subclass – Path of Giants
TheGiantsubclass is the best Barbarian subclass in Baldur’s Gate 3 because you gain Giant’s Rage class action. When in Rage, you double your throw damage, which is considered one of the strongest builds in all of BG3. At level 3, when picking the Giants subclass, your Rage fuels an increase in your size, and your Rage damage bonus is doubled for Throw attacks.
Below are the Giant Barbarian subclass features that become available while leveling up in Baldur’s Gate 3:
Recommended Background for Giants Barbarian
The bestBackgroundfor a Giant Barbarian isSoldierbecause it has proficiency inAthleticsandIntimidation. Athletics is critical for a Giant Barbarain because your Boot of the Giants passive depends on your athletics. This increases your chance to kick a target using a bonus action and acts as an overpowered stun and knockdown. Regardless of your background, you must increase athletics to get the most out of the Giant Build.
Below are our recommended backgrounds for the Giant Barbarian:
Ability Score
17 Strength, 16 Dexterity, and 15 Constitution are the best ability scores for a Giant Barbarian build because they influence your damage, survivability, and health. Your thrown damage comes from your strength and you can increase this to 22 by getting Auntie Ethel’s Hair in Act 1 (18), a Drink in Act 2 (+2 need Astarion), and Mirror of the Loss in Act 3 (need Shadowheart verify to check out ourPermanent bonus guide).
Dexterity and Constitution contribute to yourArmour Classthanks to Unarmoued Defence (you cannot wear armour). Therefore, increases in these will help your overall survivability. Also, you typically don’t want to have an odd number in character creation for the ability score. However, with Auntie Ethel in Act 1 and Tavern Brawler feat, you can get two +1 ability scores permanent by level 4. Therefore, we suggest this odd number.
Below is the best ability score for a Giant Barbarian in Baldur’s Gate 3:
Recommended Skills for Giants Barbarian
Athletics is the most critical skill for a Giant Barbarian because the effectiveness of the Boot of the Giants depends on your athletics. Therefore, look to take a background like a soldier to gain proficiency, and with Rogue Multiclass, you can further increase this. Moreover, athletics scales in effectiveness based on your strength. Another reason to max out the strength on this build.
Illithid Powers For Giants Barbarian
The bestIllithid Powersfor a Giant’s Barbarian build are Favourable Beginnings, Luck of the Far Realms, and Cull of the Weak. Favoruable Beginnings is a nice passive that will help boost your damage based on your level. Luck of the Far Realms helps with critical hits and burst damage and, combined with Cull of the Weak, can triggerAOEdamage passively. Below are the best Illithid Tadpole Powers for the Giants Barbarian build in Baldur’s Gate 3:
Best Companions for Giant Barbarian
Shadowheart,Gale, andAstarionmake the bestcompanionsfor the Giant Barbarian because you need a spellcaster for AOE damage, a healer, and a thief to lockpick. Below are our recommendations:
Best Giant Barbarian Build – Level Progression in Baldur’s Gate 3
At level one, you should follow our character creator to pick all the correct backgrounds, races, and skills in the abilities distribution, focusing on Strength and Constitution. You want to use either medium armor or clothing and a two-handed weapon, preferably a Greatsword. You can get a powerful one in the tutorialEverburn Blade.
At level one you will unlock two mechanics as a Barbarian:
Barbarian Gameplay & Priorities
Barbarian is a fun class in Baldur’s Gate 3, as it is a powerful melee class that allows you to deal decent damage right from the start. For now, use the Melee and Range weapons at the start. Furthermore, on level 2, you will unlock the Reckless Attack, granting you an advantage on attacks. You will mainly use this action until Level 4, so try not to sleep on melee attacks and use them in your early game encounters.
Your overall priority with the Giant Barbarian build is the following:
Following these steps ensures a strong foundation, especially if you plan on playingsolo.
When you reach level two you will unlock Reckless Attack and Dangerous Sense. Here’s what they do:
From now until Level 4, 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.
Gameplay: At this stage, your goal is to use Rage as your bonus action on your first turn in charge into combat. You aim to get hit or hit someone and extend the Rage effect. If you cannot reach a target on your first turn, verify to equip a bow. Use Reckless for the majority of your attacks.
Upon reaching Level 3, you will get to choose a subclass, which will be Giant. Here’s what you should do at level 3 with a Giant Barbarian Build:
With Giant’s Rage acquired, you want to start throwing heavy items like extra weapons and spears. They won’t return to you until you get a specific Act 1 weapon or reach level 6 as a Barbarian. Therefore, save a bunch of random spears and junk because it will deal great ranged damage.
At level 5, you gain a kick as a bonus action, which can knock enemies off ledges and kill them.
At Level 4, you will get to take your first Feat and we recommend picking up the Tavern Brawler. It will add yourStrength modifier twice to the damage and Attack Rolls whenever you throw a weapon. This Feat is perfect for this build early on, especially with high Strength due to the bonus effect. Increase your strength to reach an even number with this pick (18 str). Furthermore, you should kill Auntie Ethel in Act 1 to gain another +1 to your Constitution, making it another even number. Also, you’re able to use Elxiir of Hill Giant Strength after each long rest and forgo strength ability score entirely.
The gameplay is still the same at this stage. Activate Giant’s Rage on turn one, throw stuff with action. Use elixir of blood lust and potion of speed to gain more actions.
At level five the Giant Barbarian gains Extra Attack and Fast Movement.
With Extra Attack, you can now attack twice per action. Therefore, you can stack multiple actions with haste, elixir of blood lust, or potion of speed. Later on we can take two levels in Fighter and get yet another action. At the next level, you gain a specific subclass feature that will return items to your hand, thus forgoing the need to collect 100 spears per battle.
Use the Boot of the Giants with your bonus action on turn two or beyond. Look for ways to knock enemies of ledges and cliffs for free damage and kills.
At level 6, the Giant Barbarian gains Elemental Cleaver: Channel primordial might into your weapon. Until the end of your Rage Rage, your weapon will deal additional Acid, Cold, Fire, Lightning, or Thunder damage and gain the Thrown property. If thrown, it will immediately reappear in your hand.
This bonus now grants the thrown property to any weapon, opening up a lot of combinations. Remember that enemies sometimes have vulnerabilities or resistance to certain damage types (piercing, bludgeoning, etc). Therefore, you want to bring along multiple damage types to throw.
Moreover, you can add elemental damage and lean into a specific boss’s weaknesses. And you can attack in melee or at range from here on out.
At this stage, it’s recommended that the Barbarian be multiclassed. You only gain one more specific subclass bonus, which isn’t as powerful. A favorite choice is the Rogue with the Thief subclass because you gain an extra bonus action per turn. This allows you a lot of utility in combat and helps execute multiple Boot of the Giants kicks per turn. However, if you forgo this, the Barbarian will still be powerful from 1-12.
At level 7, we suggest switching to theRogueclass. To do this, simply click the + sign with two access formulticlass. Select your class then a popup will appear on what you can select. The reason we want to use the Rogue is mainly for theThiefsubclass and an additional feat with a four-level investment. Below is what you unlock at level 1:
After choosing the Rogue class, navigate to the Reactions tab and set it to “Ask” for Sneak Attack. This ensures the attack triggers automatically when applicable. Like a Paladin’s Divine Smite, Sneak Attack adds extra damage when striking from stealth or with advantage. Watch for the Advantage indicator near your mouse when preparing to attack. Since Sneak Attack’s damage scales with level, mastering positioning is key to maximizing your effectiveness.
With a second-level investment into the Rogue, you unlock additional bonus action utility skills below:
These additional bonus action utility items are incredibly useful for mobility and hiding. Next level, the Rogue (Thief) will get another bonus action per turn making it much more likely to use these frequently.
With a third-level investment into Rogue, we unlock a subclass selection. The Thief is the best due to gaining a bonus action. Below is what you unlock with this selection:
The Fast Hands feature further strengthens this build as you can make an additional kick in your initial turn. With multiple attacks in one turn, you can damage the enemies a lot. Aim to utilize your and bonus actions at every turn for potential damage dealing.
On our fourth-level investment into Rogue, we will get to choose our second Feat. Here are a couple of good options you can choose depending on how you want to play. The Feat we recommend isAlertas it grants a +5 bonus toInitiative, making your character to be not Surprised. It is one of the best Feats in Baldur’s Gate 3 and as we are focused on dealing potential damage on our initial turn, choosing it will ensure that you take the first turn and do multiple throws in the starting turn.
Alternatively, you may use an ability score improvement if you don’t have all of the permanent bonuses.
At level 11, taking two levels in Fighter is recommended to gain Action Surge. Therefore, select the + sign in the upper right of the leveling screen to add a third class. Switching to Fighter Class will also require you to select a Fighting Style. Great Weapon Fighting is best if you use melee attacks vs. throws, or Defence Style to gain a +1 bonus to Armour Class (AC) only if using armour.
With second-level investment into the Fighter class, gives you one new skill, Action Surge.
With Action Surge, your overall attacks increase, allowing you to deal more damage in a single turn. However, you have to do short rest constantly to reach your full potential.
Best Gear for the Giant Barbarian Build
Here’s the best beginner gear, items, and equipment for Giant Barbarian Build in Baldur’s Gate 3:
List of best the Giant Barbarian Baldur’s Gate 3 Equipment in Act 1:
NOTE: you can use any thrown weapon after level 6. Therefore, you can go with Balduran’s Giant Slayer instead of Nyrulna. However, the combo with Bhaalist Armour is still one of the best.
Below is the best Act 3 Armor, Weapons, and Equipment for Giant Barbarian build in BG3:
Best Consumables, Potions, Ammunition, and Items
The following list is the bestconsumableitems that will aid in our Best Baldur’s Gate 3 Giant Barbarian Build Guide:
Permanent Bonuses for Barbarian Giant BG3
Throughout Baldur’s Gate 3, you will have the ability to gain permanent bonuses to your character. These can grant additional spells, ability scores, and other bonuses. Permanent Bonuses are not displayed throughout the campaign but are vital to increase overall combat performance. We have all permanent bonuses here in a guide, but the most important ones for you to collect are listed below.
Giant Barbarian Changes in Patch 8 for BG3
Patch 8 marks the final major content update for Baldur’s Gate 3, and Larian Studios has gone all out to deliver something special for fans. This update introduces 12 new subclasses—one for each core class. Among the highlights is the Giant, a fresh Barbarian subclass that offers a unique playstyle with a foundation built on wielding the strength of a giant.
In addition to the new subclasses, Patch 8 brings several exciting changes, including crossplay support, allowing players across different platforms to team up. A new Photomode feature also adds a fun touch for capturing moments in-game. While this update focuses on new content and improvements, no significant rebalancing or gameplay adjustments exist for existing classes or subclasses.
Build Summary – Best Baldur’s Gate 3 Giant Barbarian
FAQs about the Giant Barbarian build in Baldur’s Gate 3
What abilities should the Giant Barbarian prioritize for my class?
The most important ability score is Strength which increases your thrown damage for the Giant Barbarian.
What are the best feats for Giant Barbarian builds?
Tavern Brawler is the best feat for the Giant Barbarian because it stacks double throw damage with Giant’s Rage.
What are the best multiclass combos?
The best multiclass combo for a Giant Barbarin is 6 Barbarain, 4 Rouge Thief, and 2 Fighter. With this setup, you gain an extra bonus action every turn and Action Surge.
Are there “must-have” items for Giant Barbarian builds?
Nyrulna Trident, Bhaalist Armour, and Ring of Flinging are the best items for a Giant Barbarian build. Also, acquire the Resonance Stone in Act 2 to increase psychic damage.
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