The Larian RPG Baldur's Gate 3 offers players many interesting options to intensely customize their style of play. From choosing your character’s background to many other details, this is one RPG that has a lot of interesting options. But which race to pick? We are here to help with our Baldur’s Gate 3 races guide and tier list, so you have all the information you need.
With many of the classes inspired by Dungeon & Dragons, you might be familiar with some of them. But the RPG developed by Larian adds many subclasses which might indeed change things. Baldur’s Gate 3 also allows detailed character creation, along with exciting co-op multiplayer.
But what if you are unsure on which race to pick? You will find all the information you need in our Baldur’s Gate 3 races guide and tier list to find what you need to know.
Baldur’s Gate 3 races guide and tier list
Follow our Baldur's Gate 3 races tier list to find out which race, along with subrace, might be better for you in four different tiers:
S-tier
- Dwarf (shield subclass)
- Githyanki
A-tier
- Dragonborn (any subclass is fine)
- Elf (Wood subclass)
- Drow
B-tier
- Human
- Half-elf (High subclass)
- Half-orc
C-tier
- Halfling
- Gnome
- Tiefling
Baldur’s Gate 3 offers eleven different races, along with 33 subraces to choose from. Each one features a different background and will grant the player specific bonuses and perks. Larian went to great lengths to make sure that players can have a different experience with each one. While no race is superior to others, some of them might indeed grant you an easier time getting through the obstacles in Baldur’s Gate 3.
There are definitely better options if you want to make an all-around flexible character, a tanky fighter or a nimble wizard. But, naturally, choosing a race is also about customizing your character to the look you might want. We would also recommend choosing your race based on what looks best for you. Then, by reading up each race’s details, you might uncover additional information to better suit your play style.
We will look at each race in detail below.
Dwarf
- Tier ranking: S (with subclass Shield)
- Bonuses: +2 STR, +2 CON
- Weapon proficiencies: Handaxe, battle axe, light hammer, warhammer, light armor, medium armor
The Dwarf is an exceptional fighter, starting with a bonus on some of the more important features in the game. With great health and strength, this is one fighter that can be dressed with medium armor and bring a battle axe to each fight.
Their other weapon proficiencies are also great if you are looking to build a tanky fighter who won’t go down at the first battle. The Shield Dwarf subclass allows you to build even stronger characters, thanks to the +2 Constitution bonus.
Dragonborn
- Tier ranking: A
- Bonuses: +2 STR, +1 CHA
- Weapon proficiencies: Breath weapon
Dragonborn are quite a unique specimen, as they descend from dragons, as the name implies. Their attack is all about their breath weapon and the type of damage you choose while creating the character. Their breath action can exhale destructive energy which might make swift work of all enemies. It deals damage in an area according to your ancestry chosen. Each subrace has a different kind of elemental energy and a type of breath damage.
Drow
- Tier ranking: A
- Bonuses: +2 DEX, +1 CHA
- Weapon proficiencies: Rapiers, shortswords, hand crossbows
Thanks to their superior Darkvision, this race is great for those shifty little characters that you might want to create. Their Fey Ancestry racial bonus gives you advantage on charm effects and immunity to sleep effects, as well. Thanks to the advanced Darkness spell, you can easily negate ranged attacks from enemies. If you want a more flexible character, going for a Half-drow might be a good idea as they get a bonus on any abilities of your choice.
Elf
- Tier ranking: A
- Bonuses: +2 DEX
- Weapon proficiencies: longswords, shortswords, short bows, and longbows.
Elf is a great choice if you are looking to build a ranged character. One that you can keep in the second line of fire and make arrows rain on your enemies. Thanks to the Keen Senses skill, they are great at perception and can spot interesting things around them. They also have Darkvision, which is a skill useful to build stealthy characters.
The best subclass for Elves is definitely the Dark Elf which gets a nice Charisma bonus and can be made to wear medium armor for better protection. The Wood Elf subrace gets a bonus to wisdom and also a great extra action point.
Githyanki
- Tier ranking: S
- Bonuses: +1 INT, +2 STR
- Weapon proficiencies: shortsword, longsword, greatsword, light armor, medium armor.
If you are looking for someone to be your fighter, then the Githyanki is definitely the one to go for. They have great mobility thanks to specific racial bonuses, such as Martial Prodigy. They are also a great choice if you want a very strong wizard, with bonus spells like Mage Hand.
Finally, the Githyanki can be a good thief as they have a Jump bonus spell (one use at level 3 per long rest) which allows them to quickly get out of most situations.
Gnome
- Tier ranking: C
- Bonuses: +2 INT
- Weapon proficiencies: none
Gnome is a race all about intelligence and wisdom. They have an advantage on Intelligence, Wisdom and Charisma saving throws. Their base speed is also quite higher than most other characters. They can easily be made into a strong tank character, but don’t really have any melee weapons proficiencies.
The best subrace for Gnome is definitely the Rock, as that grants a bonus Constitution point. It also grants the Darkvision skill and even has the Speak with Animals spell.
Halfling
- Tier ranking: C
- Bonuses: +2 DEX
- Weapon proficiencies: none
If you are a fan of Tolkien, you will definitely recognize this race. They can be made to be great thieves, thanks to their great mobility. They have some interesting bonus race traits, such as Lucky which allows them, if they roll a 1 on a d20 for an attack, ability check, or saving throw, to reroll once.
The Strongheart subclass is a great choice if you want a strong Halfling that can be made into a decent melee fighter, thanks to the Strongheart Resilience and Fearless attributes.
Half-elf
- Tier ranking: B
- Bonuses: +2 CHA, +2 to an ability of your choice
- Weapon proficiencies: none
This is quite the versatile race, as they can be a great way to access most classes that you might want to choose. Using the Fey Ancestry, you get access to a bonus on any ability of your choice, which is a great way to build a flexible character. Darkvision is also a nice bonus that comes with the race.
The Drow Half-elf subrace is a great choice if you want a character with a high base speed (9 m) and the Dancing Lights Cantrip as a bonus too. With high Constitution points, you are able to swiftly build a strong character.
Half-orc
- Tier ranking: B
- Bonuses: +2 STR, +1 CON
- Weapon proficiencies: none
If you want to be sure your enemies are afraid of you, then definitely this is the right choice for you. With the base Menacing skill, you have a bonus in Intimidation. They also come with Darkvision, allowing them to see in the dark pretty well. They are also difficult to knock down, as, thanks to the Relentless Endurance skill, they can get back up even at 0 HP. They don’t have any subrace.
Human
- Tier ranking: B
- Bonuses: +1 to all six different abilities
- Weapon proficiencies: none
Overall, Humans are a pretty strong race in Baldur’s Gate 3 which can be made to be quite flexible thanks to the six bonus points. They probably won’t be the strongest fighter around or the most dangerous wizard, but choosing them for a class that depends on multiple abilities is quite the good option, for sure. Humans have no subraces, nor any particular proficiencies in spells.
Tiefling
- Tier ranking: C
- Bonuses: +2 CHA, +1 INT
- Weapon proficiencies: none
With base skills such as Darkvision, Hellish Resistance and Infernal Legacy, tieflings are quite the demonic little race. But with no bonuses to Constitution or Strength, that also means they might go down quite easily. They do have quite high resistance to fire, but that’s about it. Their subclasses are interesting, especially the Zariel Tiefling. That subclass gets a 1+ STR bonus, along with Thaumaturgy which grants you advantage on Intimidation and Performance checks.
That’s all we have for you in our Baldur’s Gate 3 races tier list. If you want more information on the game, do check out our other guides such as how to change name.