Baldur's Gate 3 races guide

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.

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 +2

Racial features:

• Decadent Mastery: Learn an extra language and become proficient with an extra set of tools.
• Martial Prodigy: Proficient with light and medium armor, shortswords, longswords, and greatswords.
• Mage Hand cantrip
• At level 3: One use of Jump spell per long rest
• At level 5: One use of Misty Step spell per long rest

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 +1

Racial features:

• Savage Attacks: When you score a critical hit with a melee weapon, you can roll an additional damage die and add it to the critical hit's extra damage.
• Relentless Endurance: Once a day, when you're reduced to 0 hit points, you can drop to 1 hit point instead.

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 +2

Racial Features:

• Darkvision: You can see in dim light within 60 feet as if it were bright light and in darkness as if it were dim light, but you can't see color.
• Hellish Resistance: You have resistance to fire damage.

Tiefling subraces

Asmodeus Tiefling

• Intelligence +1
• Thaumaturgy cantrip
• At level 3: One use of Hellish Rebuke spell per long rest
• At level 5: One use of Darkness spell per long rest

Mephistopheles Tiefling

• Intelligence +1
• Mage Hand cantrip
• At level 3: One use of Burning Hands spell per long rest
• At level 5: One use of Flame Blade spell per long rest

Zariel Tiefling

• Strength +1
• Thaumaturgy cantrip
• At level 3: One use of Searing Smite spell per long rest
• At level 5: One use of Branding Smite spell per long rest

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:

• Dwarven Weapon Training: Proficient with handaxes, battleaxes, light hammers, and warhammers.
• Dwarven Resilience: Advantage on saving throws against poison and resistance to poison damage.

Dwarf subraces

Gold Dwarf

• Wisdom +1
• Dwarven Toughness: Your hit point maximum is increased by 1, and increases by another 1 hit point with every level gained.

Shield Dwarf

• Strength +2
• Light and medium armor proficiencies

Duergar

• Larian announced the Duergar subrace in the June 2023 community update, but hasn't yet confirmed its features

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:

• Keen Senses: Proficient with the Perception skill.
• Fey Ancestry: Advantage on saving throws against being charmed, magic can't put you to sleep.
• Elven Weapon Training: Proficient with longswords, shortswords, shortbows, and longbows.
• Darkvision: You can see in dim light within 60 feet as if it were bright light and in darkness as if it were dim light, but you can't see color.

Elf subraces

High Elf

• Intelligence +1
• Can choose 1 of 13 available cantrips

Wood Elf

• Wisdom +1
• Fleet of Foot: Higher base walking speed
• Mask of the Wild: Proficiency in Stealth

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 abilities

Racial Features:

• Fey Ancestry: Advantage on saving throws against being charmed, magic can't put you to sleep.
• Darkvision: You can see in dim light within 60 feet as if it were bright light and in darkness as if it were dim light, but you can't see color.

Half-elf subraces

High Half-elf

• One bonus cantrip from 13 vailable cantrips

Wood Half-elf

• Fleet of Foot: Higher base walking speed
• Mask of the Wild: Proficiency in Stealth

Drow Half-elf

• Dancing Lights cantrip
• At level 3: One use of Faerie Fire spell per long rest
• At level 5: One use of Darkness spell per long rest

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:

• Superior Darkvision: You can see in the dark within 24m
• Drow Weapon Training: Proficiency with rapiers, shortswords, and hand crossbows.
• Fey Ancestry: Advantage on saving throws against being charmed, magic can't put you to sleep.

Drow subraces

Lolth Drow

• Dancing Lights cantrip
• At level 3: One use of Faerie Fire spell per long rest
• At level 5: One use of Darkness spell per long rest

Seldarine Drow

• Dancing Lights cantrip
• At level 3: One use of Faerie Fire spell per long rest
• At level 5: One use of Darkness spell per long rest

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 +2

Racial Features:

• Lucky: If you roll a 1 on a d20 for an attack, ability check, or saving throw you can reroll once and must use the value of the second roll.

Halfling subraces

Lightfoot Halfling

• Charisma +1
• Naturally Stealthy: Proficient in the Stealth skill.

Strongheart Halfling

• Constitution +1
• Strongheart Resilience: Advantage on saving throws against Poison, resistance to Poison damage.

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 +2

Racial Features:

• Gnome Cunning: Advantage on all intelligence, wisdom, and charisma-based saving throws against magic.

Gnome subraces

Deep Gnome

• Dexterity +1
• Superior Darkvision: Can see in the dark within 24m
• Stone Camouflage: Advantage on Stealth checks

Forest Gnome

• Dexterity +1
• Darkvision: You can see in dim light within 60 feet as if it were bright light and in darkness as if it were dim light, but you can't see color.
• Speak with Animals spell

Rock Gnome

• Constitution +1
• Darkvision: You can see in dim light within 60 feet as if it were bright light and in darkness as if it were dim light, but you can't see color.
• Artificer's Lore: Add 2x proficiency bonus to History checks.

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 +1

Racial Features:

• Breath Weapon: You can exhale destructive energy, with the damage type and area of effect determined by your subrace. The damage increases as your level increases.

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.