Baldur’s Gate 3 allows players to either select a default character and start playing the game straight away or create a custom character. A default character might not fit your game style, hence, you might want to build a custom character in Baldur’s Gate 3. In this Baldur’s Gate 3 character creation guide, we will walk you through every process that will help you build the best characters in the game.
Origin
Origin in the character creation screen is like the background of your character. Here you will give a name to your character. Then you need to choose a background for the character. Depending on the background you choose, your character will get two proficiency bonuses.
Proficiency in other words means skills. Every background in the game is associated with two different proficiencies. Hence, you need to choose the background based on what skill you think will work well with your game style.
Each skill is beneficial in some way or the other, hence, there is no correct choice here. For instance, the athletic skill gives your character a bonus in running, jumping, and climbing. Similarly, investigation skill gives the bonus of finding clues and putting them together efficiently. Below is the list of backgrounds and the skills that get proficiency with those backgrounds.
| Background | Proficiencies (Skills) |
| Acolyte | Insight, Religion |
| Charlatan | Deception, Sleight of Hand |
| Criminal | Deception, Stealth |
| Entertainer | Acrobatics, Performance |
| Folk Hero | Animal Handling, Survival |
| Guild Artisan | Insight, Persuasion |
| Noble | History, Persuasion |
| Hermit | Medicine, Religion |
| Outlander | Athletics, Survival |
| Sage | Arcana, History |
| Sailor | Athletics, Perception |
| Soldier | Athletics, Intimidation |
| Urchin | Sleight of Hand, Stealth |
Class
Classes in Baldur’s Gate 3 customizes your character for combat skills and tools. There are a total of 6 classes in the game and every class gives a proficiency bonus. The six classes are Cleric, Fighter, Ranger, Rogue, Warlock, and Wizard. The proficiency bonus can be for weapons, armors, and shields.
The class you select defines what weapons and other combat tools your character will have access to. For instance, wizards will have access to magic spells, and the fighter class will have access to powerful melee attacks. Below is the list of all the classes along with the sub-classes that you can choose from.
| Class | Subclass | Max Hit Points | Class Features | Class Proficiencies | Subclass Features | Subclass Proficiencies |
| Cleric | Life Domain | 10 | Spell slots (magic-user) | Wisdom Saving Throws, Charisma Saving Throws, Light Armor, Medium Armor, Shield, Simple Weapon | Additional healing from spells, Domain spells | Heavy Armor |
| Cleric | Light Domain | 10 | Spell slots (magic-user) | Wisdom Saving Throws, Charisma Saving Throws, Light Armor, Medium Armor, Shield, Simple Weapon | Warding Flare (reaction), Domain spells | – |
| Cleric | Trickery Domain | 10 | Spell slots (magic-user) | Wisdom Saving Throws, Charisma Saving Throws, Light Armor, Medium Armor, Shield, Simple Weapon | Domain spells | – |
| Fighter | – | 12 | Regain HP once per day | Strength Saving Throws, Constitution Saving Throws, Light Armor, Medium Armor, Heavy Armor, Shield, Simple Weapon, Martial Weapon | – | – |
| Ranger | – | 12 | Favored Enemy, Natural Explorer | Strength Saving Throws, Dexterity Saving Throws, Light Armor, Medium Armor, Shield, Simple Weapon, Martial Weapon | – | – |
| Rogue | – | 10 | Sneak Attack (Melee), Sneak Attack (Ranged) | Dexterity Saving Throws, Intelligence Saving Throws, Light Armor, Simple Weapon, Hand Crossbow, Longsword, Rapier, Shortsword | – | – |
| Warlock | The Fiend | 10 | Spell slots (magic-user) | Wisdom Saving Throws, Charisma Saving Throws, Light Armor, Simple Weapon | Healing when you reduce an enemy to 0 hp | – |
| Warlock | The Great Old One | 10 | Spell slots (magic-user) | Wisdom Saving Throws, Charisma Saving Throws, Light Armor, Simple Weapon | – | – |
| Wizard | – | 8 | Spell slots (magic-user), Regain spell slots once/day | Intelligence Saving Throws, Wisdom Saving Throws, Dagger, Dart, Sling, Quarterstaff, Light Crossbow | – | – |
Race
The race is an important aspect in Baldur’s Gate 3 character creation. Everything right from your character’s base stats to the weapons they can use to their speed and agility depends on what race you choose.
No race is above or beyond any other as each of them has their own upsides and downsides in the game. While one class will perform better in one part, the other race will perform better in some other part. Below is the list of all the races available in Baldur’s Gate 3. The list also mentions the subrace, features, and proficiency bonus that each one of them brings to your character.
| Race | Subrace | Race Features | Race Proficiencies | Subrace Traits | Subrace Proficiencies |
| Drow | Lolth-Sworn | Dexterity +2, Charisma +1, Advantage on Saving Throws against Charmed, Cannot be magically put to sleep, Superior Darkvision, Dancing Lights cantrip (spell), 30ft. speed | Rapier, Shortsword, Hand Crossbow | – | – |
| Drow | Seldarine | Dexterity +2, Charisma +1, Advantage on Saving Throws against Charmed, Cannot be magically put to sleep, Superior Darkvision, Dancing Lights cantrip (spell), 30ft. speed | Rapier, Shortsword, Hand Crossbow | – | – |
| Dwarf | Gold | Constitution +2, Advantage on Saving Throws against Poison, Resistance to Poison (half damage), Darkvision | Battleaxe, Handaxe, Light Hammer, Warhammer | Wisdom +1, HP Max +1 (per level), 25ft. speed | – |
| Dwarf | Shield | Constitution +2, Advantage on Saving Throws against Poison, Resistance to Poison (half damage), Darkvision | Battleaxe, Handaxe, Light Hammer, Warhammer | Strength +2, 25ft. speed | Light Armor, Medium Armor |
| Elf | Wood | Dexterity +2, Advantage on Saving Throws against Charmed, Cannot be magically put to sleep, Darkvision | Perception, Longsword, Shortsword, Longbow, Shortbow | Wisdom +1, 35ft. speed | Stealth |
| Elf | High | Dexterity +2, Advantage on Saving Throws against Charmed, Cannot be magically put to sleep, Darkvision | Perception, Longsword, Shortsword, Longbow, Shortbow | Intelligence +1, 1 Wizard cantrip (spell), 30ft. speed | – |
| Githyanki | – | Strength +2, Intelligence +1, 30ft. speed, Mage Hand cantrip (spell) | Light Armor, Medium Armor, Shortsword, Longsword, Greatsword | – | – |
| Half-Elf | High | Charisma +2, Two Abilities +1, Advantage on Saving Throws against Charmed, Cannot be magically put to sleep, Darkvision | – | 1 Wizard cantrip, 30ft. speed | – |
| Half-Elf | Wood | Charisma +2, Two Abilities +1, Advantage on Saving Throws against Charmed, Cannot be magically put to sleep, Darkvision | – | Stealth | |
| Half-Elf | Drow | Charisma +2, Two Abilities +1, Advantage on Saving Throws against Charmed, Cannot be magically put to sleep, Darkvision | – | Dancing Lights cantrip (spell), 30ft. speed | – |
| Halfling | Lightfoot | Dexterity +2, Reroll 1s on Attacks, Checks, or Saving Throws | – | Charisma +1, 25ft. speed | Stealth |
| Halfling | Strongheart | Dexterity +2, Reroll 1s on Attacks, Checks, or Saving Throws | – | Constitution +1, Advantage on Saving Throws against Poison, Resistance to Poison (half damage), 25ft. speed | – |
| Human | – | Strength +1, Dexterity +1, Constitution +1, Intelligence +1, Wisdom +1, Charisma +1, 30ft. speed | – | – | – |
| Tiefling | Asmodeus | Resistance to Fire (half damage), Darkvision | – | Charisma +2, Intelligence +1, Thaumaturgy cantrip (spell), 30ft. speed | – |
| Tiefling | Mephistopheles | Resistance to Fire (half damage), Darkvision | – | Charisma +2, Intelligence +1, Mage Hand cantrip (spell), 30ft. speed | – |
| Tiefling | Zariel | Resistance to Fire (half damage), Darkvision | – | Charisma +2, Strength +1, Thaumaturgy cantrip (spell), 30ft. speed | – |
Skills
The gameplay of Baldur’s Gate 3 does not revolve around combat. The skills determine how well your character gets along with the world of Baldur’s Gate 3. The available skill set is the same for all the characters. However, some classes, races, and origins give you proficiency for certain skills. When you get the proficiency your stat is already +2 than the normal and you can easily build upon that skill.
The use and need of skill solely depend on the situations you encounter in the game. Hence, again there is no right or wrong skill to choose here. For instance, animal handling skills can help you avoid fights with animals like Owlbear. On the other hand, intimidation skill can help you prevent fight against dangerous goblins. Below is the entire list of skill sets available. You can choose any skill set according to your preference to customize your character in Baldur’s Gate 3.
- Acrobatics: Better in balancing and acrobatic stunts
- Athletic: Great athletic skills like jumping, running, and climbing
- Arcana: Best with spells and magical knowledge
- Animal Handling: Can easily soothe and control animals
- Deception: Better at speaking lies
- History: Great knowledge of historical and monumental knowledge
- Insight: Skilled in reading other’s intensions
- Intimidation: Best interrogation skills
- Investigation: Easily find and put together different clues
- Medicine: Good medicinal knowledge
- Nature: Determine weather quickly
- Perception: Wisdom of detecting and hearing things
- Performance: Easily entertain the audience with various performances including acting, music, and dancing
- Persuasion: Better at persuading and influencing others
- Religion: Religious and have faiths and holy symbols
- Sleight of Hand: Concealing items and planting evidence
- Stealth: Great with hiding and sneaking
- Survival: Easily avoid natural hazards and knowledge of reading tracks for survival
Abilities
Ability scores are a kind of your character’s grasp on certain skills and abilities. The higher the ability score, the better your character is in performing those skills. Each ability can only be at most at 17 levels during the character creation in Baldur’s Gate 3. Increasing the ability for one skill will reduce the scores for others. Hence, you need to choose wisely here. Below is the list of 5 abilities that are available in the game.
- Strength: Increases overall strength of your character and chances of hitting targets while using Strength weapons.
- Dexterity: Increases armor value and chances of hitting targets while using Dexterity weapons.
- Constitution: Amount of hitpoints you can have.
- Intelligence: Determines magical spells hit chance.
- Wisdom: Determines hit chance for Clerics, Rangers, and Druids
- Charisma: Determines magic spell hit chance for Sorcerers, Bards, Warlocks, and Paladins
Appearance
The game also allows you to tweak the appearance of your character. This part of character creation does not have any impact on the gameplay or the strength of your character. Here’s what all you can change in the appearance section.
- Voice
- Face
- Skin color
- Eye color
- Hairstyle
- Stubble
- Tattoos
- Make-up
That’s our Baldur’s Gate 3 character creation guide for you. I hope this guide will help you build the best of characters in the game and rock the world of Baldur’s Gate 3.
