There are a huge amount of choices when making a Baldur’s Gate 3 custom character. This includes class, race, ability scores, skills, and background. All of these help a character perform in battle and fit better on a team.

Baldur’s Gate 3 features the ability to respec the main character. This means that a build isn’t set in stone and can be quickly changed. Players can try out a character, change them as they play, and have no commitments for the full game.

Party Role and Origin

Players will want to decide what their main character focuses on. This includes contributions during combat, exploring, and social interactions. This could be functions like maintaining battlefield control, assisting or healing allies, dealing high damage, having access to strong skills and magic, or quickly traversing the terrain. A suitable character can likely take on two or three of these responsibilities. But trying to do everything will just lead to a watered-down main protagonist.

The main character is always in the party and normally can’t be removed. One should consider which of the three companions they want to take along during the majority of Baldur’s Gate 3’s main campaign. Try to avoid redundancies with too many frontline fighters, or not enough casters.

If players wish to, they can use a prebuilt Origin. This is essentially one of Baldur’s Gate 3 companions turned into a main hero. They can also be tweaked, using the Origin as an edible template for other character ideas. While they aren’t as verbose as the main character, these Origins have a predefined focus:

• Astrarion: Rogue class. Close-range skirmisher, skill expertise.
• Lae’zel: Fighter Class. Close-range sturdy warrior.
• Gale: Wizard Class. Long-range spell caster.
• Shadowheart: Cleric Class. Team , backup melee.
• Wyll: Warlock Class. Short to mid-range magic .
• Karlach: Barbarian Class. High risk, but high-reward melee fighter.

Character Class

A character’s class in Baldur’s Gate 3 dictates the majority of what they can do both in a fight and while roaming. It also helps determine what equipment they best suited to use. A class determines someone’s Proficiency distribution. The base Proficiency score is identical for every one of the same level, but a class will use this bonus on different calculations. For example, most melee fighters will get their Proficiency bonus applied to all attacks, while some specific casters might be deprived of the boost when trying to use a weapon.

• Barbarian: High hitpoints, increased armor class when not wearing armor; proficient with martial weapons, medium armor, and shields.
• Bard: Charisma-based spell caster, aids the team; proficient with dexterity saving throws, light armor, and specific melee weapons like swords.
• Cleric: Wisdom-based spell caster, heals the party, can provide some melee damage; proficient with simple weapons, medium armor, and Wisdom saving throws.
• Druid: Wisdom-based spell caster, heals or provides decoys; proficient with medium armor, shields, and certain weapons like the quarterstaff and dagger.
• Fighter: Frontline or ranged combatant that picks a fighting style; proficient with heavy armor, shields, martial weapons, and Constitution.
• Monk: Fast moving, deals higher unarmed damage when leveling up; proficient with unarmed strikes, exploration skills, and both Wisdom and Dexterity.
• Paladin: Holy warrior imbued with radiance, but most follow a strict roleplaying code; proficient with martial weapons, heavy armor, and shields.
• Ranger: Skirmisher that gains limited Wisdom magic; proficient with martial weapons, medium armor, and shields.
• Rogue: Highly skill-based skirmisher by adding their proficiency twice. Proficient with light armor, most skills, and smaller weapons like daggers and crossbows.
• Sorcerer: Baldur's Gate 3's Charisma-based spell caster, but low hitpoints; not proficient with armor and most weapons.
• Warlock: Charisma-based spell caster, but slower spell progression than a Sorcerer; proficient with light armor and simple weapons.
• Wizard: Intelligence-based spell caster and can study new spells, but low hitpoints; not proficient with armor and most weapons.

Ability Scores and Skills

After picking a class, players will want to now choose stats that further help those features. For example, all mages have a specific spell casting stat that helps with their accuracy and overcoming resistance known as Saving Throws. Other non-spell casters will want to choose stats that contribute to their various roll calculations.

• Strength: Influences damage and accuracy of melee attacks, carrying capacity, and the Athletics skill used to climb and swim.
• Dexterity: Influences damage and accuracy of ranged weapons and “finesse” melee weapons (including unarmed strikes), additional armor class when lightly armored, initiative in battle; the Acrobatics, Stealth, and Sleight of Hand skills used for subterfuge.
• Constitution: Grants more hitpoints per level up in Baldur’s Gate 3, and helps prevent magic from being interrupted.
• Intelligence: Improves the Arcana, History, Nature, Religion, and Instigation skills. These can help identify enemy weaknesses and other secrets.
• Wisdom: Helps with exploration by improving Perception and Survival skills. Can also help stabilize dying teammates with Medicine and calm animals with Animal Handling.
• Charisma: Improves conversational skills with Deception, Intimidation, and Persuasion.

As a rule of thumb, players will want to have their “main stat” as close to 20 as possible. This may be their attack or spell-casting ability score, depending on the class. If they have a secondary attack - common for Paladins, Rangers, and Monks - set that to 14 or 16 as well. Constitution should be at a comfortable amount - either 18 for front liners, 14 for all-rounders, and 12 for archers. All other stats can be “dumped” to low scores like 8.

Race and Background

Finally, the character’s race and background can be used to add final touches. This includes minor stat adjustments, added proficiency, and inspirational goals during the storyline. Even if a Baldur’s Gate 3 race favors a class, players are still free to choose any pairing.

Races

• Dragonborn: Gains an elemental breath attack.
• Drow: Increased dark vision, gains free cantrips.
• Dwarf: Slow moving, extra hitpoints, proficient with hammers and axes regardless of class.
• Elf: Free cantrips, increased speed, proficient with bows and swords in any class.
• Githyanki: Free psionic cantrips and spells, medium armor, and greatsword proficiency.
• Gnome: Slow moving, improved dark vision, an advantage with mental saving throws.
• Halfling: Can reroll “1” outcomes, but must take the new result.
• Half-Elf: Access to Elf or Drow cantrips, basic dark vision.
• Half-Orc: Dark vision, can remain at a single hitpoint instead of fainting, higher damage on critical attacks, Intimidate proficiency.
• Human: Always proficient with polearms and spears, can carry more weight.
• Tiefling: Take half damage from fire, bonus cantrips, and spells at various levels.

Backgrounds

• Acolyte: Insight and Religion, faith inspiration goals.
• Charlatan: Deception and Sleight of Hand, betrayal goals.
• Criminal: Deception and Stealth, theft, and murder goals.
• Entertainer: Performance and Acrobatics, dance, and music goals.
• Folk Hero: Survival and Animal Handling, rescue goals.
• Guild Artisan: Insight and Persuasion, crafting goals.
• Noble: History and Persuasion, knowledge goals.
• Hermit: Medicine and Religion, wilderness goals.
• Outlander: Athletics and Survival, defeat monster goals.
• Sage: Arcana and History, reading, and discovery goals.
• Soldier: Athletics and Intimidate, battle and destruction goals.
• Urchin: Sleight of Hand and Stealth, theft and protection goals.