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Building for crits is risky in Baldur's Gate 3 because no matter what you do, the actual crit chance will seldom go over 15 per cent in raw numbers but there are a few ways to bend the rules to your advantage.
Then, a Barbarian can utilise the advantage to the maximum with critical hits that hit extremely hard, without requiring a spell slot like the Paladins.
Here is how to get the most out of a crit build on a Barbarian.
Leveling up a crit hit Barbarian
Leveling up is fairly straightforward with this build but you will need to multiclass after level five.
Starting stats
- Strength - 17
- Dexterity - 14
- Constitution - 16
- Intelligence - 8
- Wisdom - 8
- Charisma - 10
Level two
You will get Reckless Attack here. Use it at all times to gain advantage so you roll twice, meaning you will technically double the chance to crit.
Level three
At level three, you will get a choice between three subclasses. Choose Wildheart if you want to be tankier or Berserker for additional attacks even if you don't crit.
If you go with Wildheart, Bear Heart is the choice you want. It provides a 50 per cent damage reduction against all damage except psychic.
Level four
Your first feat will be a choice between Great Weapon Master and increasing stats. I would suggest going for Great Weapon Master first because it will give you an additional attack as a bonus action when you crit. This is useful even if you went with Berserker since you won't impose Attack debuff on yourself with it.
Level five
You get the Extra Attack and additional movement when not wearing heavy armour and it is time to start getting those Fighter points.
Level six
The first level in your Fighter class. To multiclass from Barbarian, choose the small icon in the top right of the level-up screen and go for Fighter. You will get Second Wind and pick the Great Weapon Fighting style. It will allow you to generally deal more damage with two-handed weapons.
Level seven
The second level in your Fighter class, it will give you Action Surge, effectively giving you two extra attacks once per short rest.
Level eight
Finally, the third level in Fighter will allow you to pick the Champion subclass, increasing your crit chance.
Level nine
Back to leveling the Barbarian part, it will give you an additional Rage charge and if you are Wildheart, pick the Aspect of Elk to grant yourself and allies more movement speed.
Level 10
With another point in Barbarian, you passively get more Initiative, meaning you will mostly get to obliterate enemies before they get a turn in combat.
Level 11
This brings you to Barbarian level eight, meaning you get another Feat. Choose Resilient and put a point in Strength. To get it to 18, or 20 if you managed to get Astarion to bite a vendor in Act 2.
Level 12
Finally, at this level you will get your Barbarian to level nine, giving it a better critical hit multiplier. With the other parts of the guide used for your advantages, you will be critting frequently at this point which will allow you to just roll over anything in your path with triple damage per hit.
Feats
Just in case you missed them previously, you will only have two Feats with this build. The first one should be Great Weapon Master and the second one is Resilient, with a point in Strength. Make sure you turn the passive part of Great Weapon Master off if your hit chance gets too low. Alternatively, you can counter it with Advantage.
Abilities
Your own abilities are not that crucial for critting, other than Reckless Attack to gain Advantage. Always use it so you get two dice rolls, increasing the chance of getting a 19 or 20 for the crit.
When you don't want to give enemies Advantage over you, and therefore don't want to use the ability, you can opt for another character casting Fog or Blindness to give you Advantage.
The single most powerful option to get crits is to paralyze enemies. Hold Person can be used for any enemies in the playable races while Hold Creature can be used for almost anything else. When an enemy is paralyzed, you will have guaranteed crits on them. I would highly suggest you respec someone into Sorcerer and use Heightened Spell Metamagic on these Hold abilities for enemies that are good at saving throws.
Having another Sorcerer or a Wizard or Druid at level five will give you access to Haste to make the Barbarian a true wrecking ball. The reason I said "another Sorcerer" is that Hold spells, as well as Fog, require Concentration just like Haste does so you need two characters if you want multiple Concentration spells at the same time.
Weapons, armour and trinkets
Initially, you won't need any armour because the Dexterity and Constitution modifiers already give you +5 AC. When you get Breastplate +1, it is time to switch to that piece. Switch it out for Adamantine Scale Mail when you craft it in Grymforge.
Covert Cowl is obtained in Last Light Inn in Act 2. It will increase your crit chance when you are not in full light. Switch it out for Sarevok's Horned Helm in Act 3.
Unseen Menace can be obtained in the first Act in Creche Y'llek and it increases critical chance as well. However, the low damage output makes its usefulness for Barbarians somewhat dubious. Just make sure you get Everburn Blade from Zhalk in the tutorial and you will likely not need a new weapon until Act 3.
Alternatively, you can get The Skinburster in Act 1 in the Inquisitor's room in Creche Y'llek. It doesn't deal as much damage as the Everburn Blade but it has a longer reach and makes you almost unkillable when using the Bear Heart Rage.
