Best Feats for Barbarians in Baldur’s Gate 3

Barbarians, typically the tank or bruiser of a party, can gain some serious benefits from the right feat. There’s a total of 41 feats adapted from Dungeons and Dragons Fifth Edition available in Baldur’s Gate 3, but picking the right one can be a feat in itself. Whilst some feats benefit stealth and covert builds, some reward the untethered rage that a Barbarian can unleash on an unsuspecting foe.

Barbarians will learn a new feat at levels four, eight, and twelve, providing a total of three opportunities to take a Barbarian to the next level over the course of the game. Whether playing as Karlach or Tav, here are the best feats available to Barbarians in Baldur’s Gate 3.

Updated October 20, 2024, by Hamza Haq: Despite their apparent straightforward nature and one-track mindset, building the perfect Barbarian is anything but simple. Taking into consideration the many different ways a pure Barbarian can be customized, the many multiclass options available to them, the number of weapons they can use, and the armor they can wear, decision paralysis is very common. One of the key aspects that define a build in this game is which feat players pick for their character. With only three opportunities to pick and so many options to choose from, knowing what’s best for the type of Barbarian a player wants to make is key.

10 Alert

Stay On Top Of Initiative

• Unlocks At Level 4 For All Classes
• Initiative +5
• Prevents Surprised

Alert is a fantastic feat that works well on pretty much any character in Baldur’s Gate 3, though Barbarians will especially benefit from the massive +5 bonus to initiative rolls, which, especially in the early game, can ensure a Barbarian is acting first in combat. This can be crucial as a Barbarian to ensure they are able to quickly dispatch of a key enemy or enter a rage and reduce incoming damage, acting as a tank for the party.

Initiative works a little differently in Baldur’s Gate 3 than it does in the table-top game, rolling only a d4 instead of a d20, making this feat all the more valuable. What’s more, this feat prevents enemies from surprising the character, meaning that sneaky foes won’t be able to get a devastating surprise round off before the Barbarian can intervene.

Going first becomes even more valuable against enemies like the Mud Mephits, who can summon more of their brethren if given half the chance. Additionally, since Barbarians typically like to live on the edge between life and death, they’re often prone to being at low health, more so than other classes. High Initiative means that they’re less likely to die prematurely.

9 Martial Adept

Increase Flexibility In Combat

• Unlocks At Level 4 For All Classes
• Grants One Superiority Die
• Pick From 2 Maneuvers From Battle Master Subclass

Martial Adept is an excellent feat for any character that’s getting up close and personal with their enemies. A Barbarian will typically be aiming to dish out as much damage and disrupt as many enemies as possible, making this feat a great choice to add to a repertoire of options available in combat. Martial Adept allows a Barbarian to learn two maneuvers from the Battle Master subclass and provides one Superiority Die that is replenished on either a short or long rest.

These maneuvers allow Barbarians extra options in combat not typically available to them, such as Distracting Strike, granting allies advantage on their next attack roll, which can be used to allow the party Rogue to follow up with a deadly Sneak Attack or Sweeping Attack to finish off multiple enemies at once.

Commander’s Strike is useful for situations where the Barbarian himself has no answer to any enemy, but another party member does. And Evasion Footwork becomes a lifesaver by imposing a disadvantage on melee attacks for a round, allowing the Barbarian to live just a little bit longer.

8 Resilient (Wisdom)

Become Adept At Handling Spellcasters

• Unlocks At Level 4 For All Classes
• Increases Wisdom by 1
• Grants Proficiency in WIS saving throws

Due to the way their optimal stats are spread, Barbarians usually have innately low WIS. Since it is not one of the preferred stats, it’s almost always going to be hovering somewhere around 10. Coincidentally, almost all control spells in the game require a WIS saving throw to survive, making it an easy way to lead a Barbarian around by the nose during a combat encounter without having to chew through their high durability.

While this doesn’t happen too often during Act 1, starting from Act 2 and leading up to Act 3, more and more spellcasters start appearing among enemy ranks, making a Barbarian’s worst nightmares come true. To counteract this, the Resilient (Wisdom) feat increases WIS by 1 and, more importantly, allows Barbarians to add their proficiency bonus to their WIS saving throws, giving them a fighting chance against control spells.

7 Tavern Brawler

Benefit From The Surrounding Environment

• Unlocks At Level 4 For All Classes
• Improves Strength Or Constitution
• Strength Modifier Is Added Twice To Damage And Attack Rolls

Barbarians are typically strong, hulking beings who can physically shape their environment to suit them, making the Tavern Brawler feat a fantastic choice for any player who wants to really embrace the raging Barbarian archetype. This feat allows a Barbarian to use improvised weapons, exploding barrels, or whatever they find within reach during combat. Their strength modifier is doubled and then added to both damage and attack rolls.

This makes Barbarians who are prone to throwing a large object into a crowd of enemies as a means to knock them down a force to be reckoned with. Not only will their attacks hit more frequently, but they’ll also be dishing out much more damage. Additionally, this feat grants a +1 bonus to either Strength or Constitution, which gives an in-built opportunity to buff damage output with this feat even more.

Combined with Barbarian’s inherent Rage, players can opt to fully lean into throwing things as their primary damage source, creating a behemoth that rampages through the battlefield, flinging anything and everything that catches their eye. In later Acts, powerful throwing weapons like Dwarven Thrower become available, bringing this build fully online.

6 Savage Attacker

Get The Most Out Of Frenzied Attacks

• Unlocks At Level 4 For All Classes
• Allows Players To Roll Damage Twice And Use The Higher Roll

Savage Attacker is a very simple feat that provides an extremely powerful bonus that can really start to rack up over the course of a Baldur’s Gate 3 playthrough. This feat rolls damage dice twice for every attack and uses the higher roll, effectively granting advantage on every damage roll. This is a ridiculously powerful feat that really starts to pay off as characters level up and gain additional attacks.

A Barbarian will usually be able to make around three attacks in every round of combat, twice with their action (after level 5) and once with their bonus action (if they are in a rage in the Berserker subclass), and gaining advantage on each of these damage rolls will ensure that when enemies get hit, they stay down.

If a Barbarian has a Wizard or Sorcerer with Haste in their party, they can increase the effectiveness of this already broken feat even further by gaining an extra Action on top of everything else. It’s a truly broken combo that can be exploited to make some of the hardest fights in Baldur’s Gate 3 a cakewalk.

5 Mage Slayer

• Unlocks At Level 4 For All Classes
• Advantage On Saving Throws From Spells Cast Within Melee Range
• Cast An Opportunity Spell Instead Of An Opportunity Attack

Barbarians are tough enough to stand up to nearly any type of physical punishment, especially with their ability that grants resistance to physical damage when raging, though one area where they tend to lack a little firepower is against spellcasters. Control and AOE spells are big problems for Barbarians, especially if they’re the target of debuffs or damage-dealing spells. This is where the Mage Slayer feat excels, allowing Barbarians to put up a fight against even the most formidable spellcasters.

This feat grants advantage on the saving throw of any spell that is cast within melee range of a Barbarian, and they can also spend their reaction to make a melee attack. This is fantastic as it provides an early opportunity to break the concentration of any spell that could be a problem for the party. Combined with the ability from this feat to impose disadvantage on concentration saving throws when a spellcaster is hit, Mage Slayer becomes a no-brainer.

Barbarians who are still struggling against spellcasters, even with Mage Slayer, can invest in the Resilient (Wisdom) feat mentioned above to go the full counter-control spell build.

4 Athlete

Boost Stats And Maximize Movement

• Unlocks At Level 4 For All Classes
• Increases Jump Distance
• Improves Strength or Dexterity Score

Barbarians will benefit greatly from the Athlete feat, which allows players to increase their Strength or Dexterity by one. Whilst increasing Strength may seem the natural choice for Barbarians, this feat would definitely not go to waste if the Dexterity bonus was selected instead.

It also reduces the amount of movement that a player needs to recover from the prone position to just 1.5 meters, leaving a lot of movement speed left to attack enemies, and increases their jump distance by a whopping 50%. This allows a Barbarian far more maneuverability in combat, ensuring they are able to stand between a powerful enemy and their squishy allies with ease.

For melee fighters like Barbarians, who don’t typically have access to spells like Misty Step, jumping is the main way they have to close the distance between themselves and their target.

3 Polearm Master

New Weapon Choices

• Unlocks At Level 4 For All Classes
• Grants Opportunity Attack When Wielding Polearms
• Grants Unique Bonus Action When Wielding Polearms

One of the things Baldur’s Gate 3 does extremely well is the variety and uniqueness of its weapons. From Rapiers to Longswords, to Flails, to Warhammers, there is a ton of variety and powerful options to choose from.

The natural downside of this is players finding a cool new weapon only to find out none of their characters have the necessary proficiency to use it effectively. This is where Polearm Master comes in. This allows Barbarians to use their high Strength modifiers to take full advantage of five new weapon types: Glaive, Pike, Quarterstaff, Halberd, and Spear. Not only that, but this feat gives the character the option to use their Bonus action to attack with the blunt side of their polearm.

There are some incredible weapons that fall into this category and are extremely suitable for Barbarians. Of special note is The Dancing Breeze, a glaive that can be purchased in Act 3 that gives the character that wields it the ability to use Whirlwind, the iconic Barbarian ability.

2 Ability Score Improvement

Improve Core Skills

• Unlocks At Level 4 For All Classes
• Improve A Barbarian’s Strength Score

A Barbarian is nothing without strength, and as such, it’s one of the most important skills that should be addressed sooner rather than later. The Ability Score improvement feat allows a player to improve one of their core skills by two points or two of the skills by one point. It’s absolutely essential that a Barbarian gets their 20 strength stat to give the +5 modifier that will be crucial to attack rolls as soon as possible, making this feat an excellent means to achieving that goal.

What’s more, Barbarians benefit from the unarmored defense feature, which adds their constitution bonus to their armor class and their dexterity. This is a great feat to potentially increase the modifier for each of those skills by one, granting a neat +2 AC bonus in the early game. Despite being one of the most commonly taken and perhaps most accessible feats, the Ability Score Improvement option is severely underrated.

1 Great Weapon Master

Attack Even More

• Unlocks At Level 4 For All Classes
• Grants An Additional Attack As Bonus Action On Critical Hit
• +10 Damage On All Attack Rolls (With -5 Penalty)

Great Weapon Master is a feat that is second to none for Barbarians and pairs beautifully with other feats like Savage Attacker. This feat allows a Barbarian who hits a critical hit or finishes off a target with a melee weapon to make an additional attack during the same turn as a bonus action. This is particularly useful for Wildheart and Wild Magic Barbarians, who won’t be able to typically use their bonus action to attack on a regular basis.

Barbarians will often find themselves delivering killing blows in combat, so to be able to capitalize on this and string together multiple attacks in just one turn is a feat that can turn a Barbarian into a force of nature. It also comes with a feature that can be toggled on and off, which gives a -5 penalty to attack rolls but deals an extra 10 damage instead, which is a great feature to have to ensure players are able to finish off low health enemies.

Great Weapon Master: All In only works with all Two-handed and Versatile weapons. Luckily, this means that Great Weapon Master can be combined with Polearm Master to great effect.