Baldur’s Gate 3 races guide
A simple overview of the Baldur’s Gate 3 races, their ability bonuses, features, and subraces.
When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
Which of the 11 Baldur’s Gate 3 races you pick is one of the most important decisions you’ll make in Larian’s RPG. While your class determines how you fight, your race determines how you fit into the various civilizations of the Forgotten Realms.
Baldur’s Gate 3 tips: Start smartBaldur’s Gate 3 classes: Find your perfect professionBaldur’s Gate 3 companions: Learn who’s whoBaldur’s Gate 3 builds:Optimise your class
Choosing your character’s race shapes so much about who you are, where you’re from, and how others perceive you. And, just like in Dungeons and Dragons, your Baldur’s Gate 3 race also grants you some nifty perks that’ll give you an edge in your adventures.Elves, for example, have the perk Fey Ancestry that gives them extra defense against being charmed and are impervious to spells that might put them to sleep, while the Keen Senses racial feature gives them an automatic proficiency in Perception.That’s just one ability of one specific race, though. With 11 races and 33 subraces between them, there’s a lot to take in. With Baldur’s Gate 3 leaving Early Access in August, it’s worth spending some time familiarizing yourself with the different perks of each so you have a good idea of what kind of character to play. Here’s a quick overview of the Baldur’s Gate 3 races.
Baldur’s Gate 3 races
At full release, Baldur’s Gate 3 will have 11 races to choose from—each having their own subraces that sometimes offer even more options to customize your character. Many of the non-human races are all divided into further subraces, each with their own cultural contexts and histories. Your subrace choice will influence dialogue options, and how NPCs will react to you.Additionally, each race has an associated ability bonus, and many have additional racial features as well—like nightvision, or additional proficiencies.
Baldur’s Gate 3 races: Human
Human
Unless you’re reading this article from an intergalactic spaceship, you’re probably pretty familiar with the human race. They’re the most common race in the land of Faerûn and are known for being clever, tenacious, and adaptable. They’re also a jack of all trades because instead of favoring certain ability scores or having special racial perks, humans simply get a small bonus to all of their ability scores.
Ability bonus:+1 to any ability
Baldur’s Gate 3 races: Githyanki
Githyanki
One of the cooler D&D-specific races, githyanki are a proud martial race who were long ago enslaved by mind flayers, the chief villain of Baldur’s Gate 3. Those that escaped were often reduced to pillaging and raiding to survive, relying on their unparalleled skill with weapons. Githyanki originate from the Astral Plane, one of the many planes of existence in the Forgotten Realms setting.
Ability bonus:Intelligence +1, Strength +2Racial features:
The biggest gaming news, reviews and hardware deals
Keep up to date with the most important stories and the best deals, as picked by the PC Gamer team.
Baldur’s Gate 3 races: Half-orc
Half-orc
Half-orcs are pretty self-explanatory: Their tusks are a clear indicator of orcish parentage. Half-orcs are also, as Larian describes them, “generally more inclined to act before they think,” being “creatures of intense emotion who are propelled by that inner fire.” D&D’s ideas of race remain as fraught as ever.Ability bonus:Strength +2, Constitution +1Racial features:
Baldur’s Gate 3 races: Tiefling
Tiefling
Tieflings are often the victims of violence and prejudice thanks to their red skin and imposing horns—the result of an ancient pact that infused their bloodline with the essence of a god called Asmodeus, the overlord of the Nine Hells. Though that pact means tieflings are often outcasts and pariahs in civilization, it does afford them some powerful abilities.
Ability bonus:Charisma +2Racial Features:
Tiefling subraces
Asmodeus Tiefling
Mephistopheles Tiefling
Zariel Tiefling
Baldur’s Gate 3 races: Dwarf
Dwarf
I don’t think dwarves need much introduction because they’re pretty much what you’d expect them to be in any fantasy setting. They’re boisterous, greedy, deeply protective of their traditions, and always eager to chop a goblin or orc in two.
Ability bonus:+2 Constitution
Racial features:
Dwarf subraces
Gold Dwarf
Shield Dwarf
Duergar
Baldur’s Gate 3 races: Elf
Elf
Like dwarves, elves in Baldur’s Gate 3 pretty much live up to all the stereotypes. Living for thousands of years, elves have an acute interest and understanding of magic in all its forms and adore artistic pursuits, nature, and being mildly condescending.
Ability bonus:Dexterity +2
Racial features:
Elf subraces
High Elf
Wood Elf
Baldur’s Gate 3 races: Half-elf
Half-elf
Caught between two very different worlds, half-elves are versatile and ambitious and often excel at whatever they decide to pursue. But their split heritage creates a lot of tension for them as they struggle to fit into either human or elven society, forcing half-elves into the periphery of both.
Ability bonus:Charisma +2; 2 extra ability points to spend on any other abilitiesRacial Features:
Half-elf subraces
High Half-elf
Wood Half-elf
Drow Half-elf
Baldur’s Gate 3 races: Drow
Drow
Like tieflings, drow are another race of Faerûn that are widely despised. They live deep underground in a brutal society ruled by treacherous matriarchs, but some drow forsake that life and venture to the surface—which rarely ends up being much of an escape since most surface dwelling races actively hate drow. Their subraces have the same bonuses, but represent a cultural schism.
Ability bonus:Charisma +1, Dexterity +2
Racial Features:
Drow subraces
Lolth Drow
Seldarine Drow
Baldur’s Gate 3 races: Halfling
Halfling
You’ve seen Lord of the Rings, right? Well then, you’re already well acquainted with halflings and their inclination toward good drink and better company. Because they’re so nimble, halflings are natural thieves, but they are also surprisingly tough to break in a fight.
Ability bonus:Dexterity +2Racial Features:
Halfling subraces
Lightfoot Halfling
Strongheart Halfling
Baldur’s Gate 3 races: Gnome
Gnome
Though never the most popular option, when Dungeons & Dragons left out gnomes in its fourth edition there was an outcry from the wee folk’s ardent defenders. Curious, inventive, and magical, gnomes were the first race added to Baldur’s Gate 3 after it entered Early Access.
Ability bonus:Intelligence +2Racial Features:
Gnome subraces
Deep Gnome
Forest Gnome
Rock Gnome
Baldur’s Gate 3 races: Dragonborn
Dragonborn
Dragonborn hail from another world in the Forgotten Realms setting, and as you’d expect from the name, share a lineage with dragons. The family relations aren’t warm, however: on their homeworld, Dragonborn spent millennia in servitude to dragons. Understandably, they don’t tend to think fondly of the larger draconic varieties.The 10 different dragonborn subraces reflect their draconic lineage, which affects their elemental resistances and the damage of their breath weapon.Ability bonus:Strength +2, Charisma +1Racial Features:
Dragonborn subraces
There’s a Dragonborn subrace for each draconic lineage: Black, Blue, Brass, Bronze, Copper, Green, Silver, Gold, Red, and White. Each subrace and lineage is resistant to an associated damage type, and grants unique effects to the Dragonborn’s breath weapon.
With over 7 years of experience with in-depth feature reporting, Steven’s mission is to chronicle the fascinating ways that games intersect our lives. Whether it’s colossal in-game wars in an MMO, or long-haul truckers who turn to games to protect them from the loneliness of the open road, Steven tries to unearth PC gaming’s greatest untold stories. His love of PC gaming started extremely early. Without money to spend, he spent an entire day watching the progress bar on a 25mb download of the Heroes of Might and Magic 2 demo that he then played for at least a hundred hours. It was a good demo.
Baldur’s Gate 3’s offscreen secrets include an ‘asylum’ for plot-critical NPCs and a ‘magical teleporting death journal’ to help particularly murderous players find Act 2
Baldur’s Gate 3 players have downloaded 50 million mods since official support was added, and Larian is ‘glad [it] could facilitate’ 10,000 players renaming Withers to Bone Daddy
The messy queer representation of Dragon Age: Origins was commendable for 2009—and I even miss some of its thorns
