Quick Links
A pure Fighter is one of the most powerful damage-dealing classes inBaldur’s Gate 3. It’s not easy to find a Fighter multiclass that can beat three attacks per turn in terms of pure damage. However, players who multiclass their Fighter will benefit from improved versatility and a more tacticalBaldur’s Gate 3experience, making it a viable choice with the right build.
One of the best Fighter multiclasses combines8 levels of Fighter with 4 of Barbarian, enhancing the Fighter’s abilities withpowerful features like Rage, Reckless Attack, and Danger Sense. This combo allows players to take full advantage of build-defining Feats like the Great Weapon Master, using Reckless Attack to negate the Feat’s penalties, and the damage resistance granted by Rage to limit the risks of Reckless Attack.
Updated June 06, 2025, by Aldous Foster:Baldurs Gate 3 allows players to play through the game in any way they please. There are a ridiculous number of builds the player can choose from, all of which can be fun and powerful with the right set-up. This means that players wanting to create a Fighter-based character may want to learn which other classes combine best with a Fighter, especially if they are hoping to take on the hardest difficulties the game has to offer. With the right gear, items, subclasses, and abilities this Fighter multiclass can easily become extremely resilient and powerful.
The Battlemaster/Wildheart: Levels 1-6
Control The Battlefield With Deadly Attacks
Players who want to build a Fighter/Barbarian character shouldstart off with Fighter at level 1forHeavy Armor Proficiencyand Second Wind. Any race can work with this build, but Half-Orcs are particularly good due to the synergy between Reckless Attack and their Savage Attacks feature. The Duergar Dwarf subrace is also a strong choice due to its improvedDarkvisionand useful racial spells.
Players should make sure to set theirStrength to 17during character creation and then prioritizeConstitutionafter that. Although Dexterity won’t affect AC while wearing Heavy Armor, it is still useful for boosting Initiative. On top of this, the build will need to change to Medium Armor after gaining its first level of Barbarian, as Heavy Armor prevents Raging. Therefore, players can either begin with a Dexterity score of 14 or use Withers to raise their Dexterity to 14 when they take their first level of Barbarian.
Players shouldpick the Great Weapon Fighting Styleto maximize their damage, although its effect is minor enough that Defense can also be a good choice to boost toughness. At level 3, players will get tochoose their Fighter Subclass.Battle Masteris recommended due to its superior versatility. It can control enemies with high-damage attacks such as Push Attack and Riposte. At level 4, players should take Great Weapon Master for a huge boost to their damage output. They can also take theAthlete Featto round Strength up to 18 if they have not used Auntie Ethel’s hair.
The Battlemaster/Wildheart: Levels 7-12
The Added Power Of Rage
Once players have reached theirsecond Feat at Fighter level 6, it’s a good time to make the transition from leveling Fighter to leveling Barbarian. At this point, the character will have18 Strength, Great Weapon Master, Extra Attack,and strong features from their Fighter subclass. This helps to ensure that they remain competitive while taking the early levels of Barbarian.
After taking their first level of Barbarian,make the switch from Heavy to Medium Armor. This shouldn’t come with a serious loss of AC, provided the character’s Dexterity is at 14. Barbarian level 2 comes with Reckless Attack, which can easily compensate for the accuracy penalty of Great Weapon Master, as well as double the character’schance of scoring a critical hit.
When it comes to picking a Barbarian subclass,Wildheartis the recommended choicefor this build due to its versatility. Players can select any of the Bestial Heart features they like, althoughBear, Eagle, and Tigerare particularly recommended. Bear provides an incredible boost to survivability by making the character resistant to everything but psychic damage while Raging. Meanwhile, Eagle and Tiger both come with unique attacks that can benefit from Great Weapon Master. Tiger is especially strong as it can attack multiple enemies at once.
After reaching Barbarian 4 at level 10, return to Fighter for your final 2 levels. This will grant an extra subclass feature and a fourth Feat. At this late stage of the game, players should have reached the maximumbase Strength of 20and can take a utility Feat to boost their damage. Thebest of these Feats isAlert, which provides an incredible bonus to Initiative. This bonus will all but guarantee that the player always gets to take the first turn in combat. The extra damage that players can gain fromSavage Attackeris also a strong choice.
The Champion Alternative Build
Even More Attacks And Critical Hits
For players looking to deal more damage and are not as interested in crowd control, there is another version of this build that takes theChampionsubclass instead of Battlemaster. This increases one’s critical chance, which works extremely well with Reckless Attack to make Critical Hits much more common. Adding in anElixir of Viciousness,Sarevok’s Horned Helmet, and theUnseen Menaceallows players to Critically Hit on about half their attacks.
In addition to a different subclass, this build shines brightest whenthe player multiclasseswith only 3 levels of barbarian and then takes 3 levels of the Thief subclass. This gives the player 2 bonus actions per turn, which is incredibly useful for closing the gap and dealing more damage. With Great Weapon Master, landing a critical hit allows the player to make an extra attack as a bonus action. This means that this build can attack twice and then has two bonus attacks if it gets kills or critical hits. With Luck of the Far Realms,Killer’s Sweetheart, and Hold Spells, there are lots of ways to guarantee critical hits, meaning this build can pump out massive amounts of damage to bosses.
Buffs, Abilities, And Items For The Fighter Multiclass Build
The Extra Bits And Pieces Players Will Want To Look Out For
There are several items and abilities that can massively improve the power of this build, taking it from being just strong to being one of the best melee builds in the game. Although there might be alternatives for some of the items listed below, these are the best options that the player can find.
