All playable Baldur’s Gate 3 races

Everything about all the Baldur’s Gate 3 races, from sub-races and base stats to starting perks and cantrips to help you survive the Forgotten Realms

Shadowheart from Baldur's Gate 3 looking agitated
Dave Irwin

Updated:

Baldur's Gate 3

Looking for the latest info on all the Baldur’s Gate 3 races? With the latest announcements from Larian this year, we got news of a new Bard class and race you can play right now in the Early Access RPG game. We’re seemingly no closer to the official Baldur’s Gate 3 release date, but at least we have new character archetypes to explore the Forgotten Realms.

No matter which one of the nine confirmed Baldurs Gate 3 races you choose, the opening cinematic shows our player character becoming an unwilling host to a toothy little eyeball tadpole. It threatens to transform us into a Mind Flayer – an evil Eldrich creature with powerful magical abilities. Of course, you won’t have any control over the presence of your parasite pal wriggling around your insides, but you can at least customise your character’s appearance.

If you create your character, you’ll be able to select your class and character background in addition to your race. Alternatively, much like Divinity Original Sin 2, you can choose to play as one of a selection of potential Baldur’s Gate 3 companions, each with their own story, abilities, and unique quirks. For example, Astarion is a vampire spawn who can give his travel buddies’ tasty necks a nasty nip so he can feed while they slumber.

Baldur’s Gate 3 race list

So far, there are nine Baldur’s Gate 3 races, with the Gnome being the latest addition to the roster. Larian will likely announce more races and classes in the future as the game progresses through its Early Access period. It’s also worth bearing in mind that these statistics and bonuses are subject to change throughout Early Access.

Here are all of the Baldur’s Gate races:

  • Drow
  • Dwarf
  • Elf
  • Gnome
  • Githyanki
  • Half-Elf
  • Halfling
  • Human
  • Tiefling

Baldur's Gate 3 races - a Drow, who is an Elf with dark skin and white hair, wearing a lightly coloured jacket and brown trousers in the character creation screen.

Drow

Subraces

  • Seldarine Drow
  • Lolth-Sworn Drow

Bonus stats

  • Base speed – 9 metres per turn
  • Charisma +1
  • Dexterity +2

Perks

  • Fey Ancestry – you have Advantage on saving throws against being charmed, and magic can’t put you to sleep.
  • Drow weapon proficiencies – add your proficiency bonus to attack rolls (your chance to hit a target) with a rapier and shortsword.
  • Superior Darkvision – you can now see in the dark out to a range of 24 metres.

Spells and cantrips

  • Dancing Lights (learn at level 1) – create wisps of light that illuminate a 12-metre radius. (cantrip)
  • Faerie Fire (learn at level 3) – encases multiple targets in a colourful light, making the targets visible. Any attack rolls against them have Advantage. This ignores allies with the Sculpt Spells feature.
  • Darkness (learn at level 5) – creates a cloud of magical darkness to heavily obscure and blind creatures within. Creatures can’t make ranged attacks into or out of this dark cloud.

Baldur's Gate 3 races - a youthful Dwarf with red hair wearing lightly coloured armour and dark pants in the character creation screen.

Dwarf

Subraces

  • Gold Dwarf
  • Shield Dwarf

Bonus stats

  • Base speed – 7.5 metres per turn
  • Constitution +2
  • Wisdom +1 (Gold Dwarf only)
  • Strength +2 (Shield Dwarf only)

Perks

  • Dwarven weapon proficiencies – add your proficiency bonus to attack rolls (your chance to hit a target) with battleaxe, handaxe, light hammer, and Warhammer.
  • Dwarven armour proficiencies – wearing light or medium armour will not impose Disadvantage on your attacks or prevent the casting of spells. (Shield Dwarf only)
  • Dwarven Toughness – your Hit Point maximum increases by one, and it increases by one again every time you gain a level. (Gold Dwarf only)
  • Dwarven Resilience – you have Advantage on saving throws against poison and resistance against poison damage.
  • Darkvision – you can now see in the dark out to a range of 18 metres.

Baldur's Gate 3 races - an Elf wearing lightly coloured armour and dark pants in the character creation screen.

Elf

Subraces

  • High Elf
  • Wood Elf

Bonus stats

  • Base speed – 9 metres per turn
  • Dexterity +2
  • Intelligence +1 (High Elf only)
  • Wisdom +1 (Wood Elf only)

Perks

  • Elf weapon proficiency – add your proficiency bonus to attack rolls (your chance to hit a target) with a longsword, shortsword, longbow, and shortbow.
  • Keen Senses – you have proficiency in the Perception skill.
  • Fey Ancestry – you have Advantage on saving throws against being charmed, and magic can’t put you to sleep.
  • Darkvision – you can now see in the dark out to a range of 12 metres.
  • Fleet of Foot – base speed is 10.5 metres per turn. (Wood Elf only)
  • Mask of the Wild – grants stealth proficiency. (Wood Elf only)

Spells and cantrips

  • One cantrip of your choice from the Wizard spell list (learn at level 1) – uses intelligence in spellcasting ability for it. (High Elf only)

Baldur's Gate 3 races - a Githyanki wearing a lightly coloured armour and dark pants. She has green skin and a recessed nose, but is otherwise not too dissimilar to an Elf.

Githyanki

Subraces

  • None

Bonus stats

  • Base speed – 9 metres per turn
  • Intelligence +1
  • Strength +2

Perks

  • Githyanki weapon proficiencies – add your proficiency bonus to attack rolls (your chance to hit a target) with a longsword, shortsword, and greatsword.
  • Githyanki armour proficiencies – wearing light or medium armour will not impose Disadvantage on your attacks or prevent the casting of spells.

Spells and cantrips

  • Mage Hand (learn at level 1) – creates an invisible spectral hand that manipulates and interacts with objects. (cantrip)
  • Jump (learn at level 3) – touch a creature to triple its jumping distance. (level 1 Transmutation spell)

Baldur's Gate 3 races - a greying Rock Gnome in the character creation screen wearing a teal sash and leather armour. He has an axe strapped to his back.

Gnome

Subraces

  • Deep Gnome
  • Forest Gnome
  • Rock Gnome

Bonus stats

  • Base speed – 9 metres per turn
  • Intelligence +2
  • Dexterity +1 (Deep Gnome and Forest Gnome only)
  • Constitution +1 (Rock Gnome only)

Perks

  • Gnome Cunning – you have Advantage on intelligence, wisdom, and constitution saving throws.
  • Superior Darkvision – you can now see in the dark out to a range of 24 metres. (Deep Gnome only)
  • Stone Camoflague – you have Advantage on stealth checks (Deep Gnome only)
  • Darkvision – you can now see in the dark out to a range of 12 metres. (Forest Gnome and Rock Gnome only)
  • Artificer’s Lore – adds twice your proficiency bonus to History checks (Rock Gnome only)

Spells and cantrips

  • Speak with Animals (learn at level 1) – gain the ability to comprehend and verbally communicate with beasts. (level 1 Divination spell) (Forest Gnome only)

Baldur's Gate 3 races - a Drow Half-Elf wearing a shiny jacket and dark brown pants and boots in the characer creation screen.

Half-Elf

Subraces

  • High Half-Elf
  • Wood Half-Elf
  • Drow Half-Elf

Bonus stats

  • Base speed – 9 metres per turn
  • Charisma +2
  • Two other ability scores +1 each (Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Intelligence, or Wisdom)

Perks

  • Fey Ancestry – you have Advantage on saving throws against being charmed, and magic can’t put you to sleep.
  • Darkvision – you can now see in the dark out to a range of 12 metres.
  • Fleet of Foot – base speed is 10.5 metres per turn. (Wood Half-Elf only)
  • Mask of the Wild – grants stealth proficiency. (Wood Half-Elf only)

Spells and cantrips

  • One cantrip of your choice from the Wizard spell list (learn at level 1) – uses intelligence in spellcasting ability for it. (High Elf only)
  • Dancing Lights (learn at level 1) – create wisps of light that illuminate a 12-metre radius. (cantrip) (Drow Half-Elf only)

Baldur's Gate 3 races - a Strongheart Halfling wearing a grey jacket and brown pants on the character creation screen.

Halfling

Subraces

  • Lightfoot Halfling
  • Strongheart Halfling

Bonus stats

  • Base speed – 7.5 metres per turn
  • Dexterity +2
  • Charisma +1 (Lightfoot Halfling only)
  • Constitution +1 (Strongheart Halfling only)

Perks

  • Lucky – when you roll a one on the d20 for an attack roll, ability check, or saving throw, you can reroll the die and must use the new roll.
  • Naturally Stealthy – your nimble nature makes you skilled at concealment. You have proficiency in stealth checks. (Lightfoot Halfling only)
  • Strongheart Resilience – you have Advantage on saving throws against poison and resistance to poison damage (Strongheart Halfling only)

Baldur's Gate 3 races - a Human wearing a grey jacket and brown pants on the character creation screen.

Human

Subraces

  • None

Bonus stats

  • Strength +1
  • Dexterity +1
  • Constitution +1
  • Intelligence +1
  • Wisdom +1
  • Charisma +1

Baldur's Gate 3 races - a Zariel Tiefling with yellow skin and big horns wearing a silvery jacket and brown pants in the character creation screen.

Tiefling

Subraces

  • Asmodeus Tiefling
  • Mephistopheles Tiefling
  • Zariel Tiefling

Bonus stats

  • Base speed – 9 metres per turn
  • Charisma +2
  • Intelligence +1 (Asmodeus Tiefling and Mephistopheles Tiefling only)
  • Strength +1 (Zariel Tiefling only)

Perks

  • Hellish Resistance – you have resistance to fire and only take half damage from it.
  • Darkvision – you can see in the dark out to a range of 12 metres.

Spells and cantrips

  • Thaumaturgy (learn at level 1) – manifests a sign of supernatural power to grand you Advantage on Intimidation and Performance checks. (cantrip) (Asmodeus Tiefling and Zariel Tiefling only)
  • Mage Hand (learn at level 1) – creates an invisible spectral hand that manipulates and interacts with objects. (cantrip) (Mephistopheles Tiefling only)
  • Burning Hands (learn at level 3) – fire shoots from outstretched fingers, igniting anything flammable to deal 3D6 damage. On a successful Dexterity save, targets only take half this damage. (level 2 Evocation spell) (Mephistopheles Tiefling only)

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Those are all of the Baldur’s Gate 3 races currently in the game, though Larian has already said more are on the way for the full release. On your adventure through the Forgotten Realms, a handful of Baldur’s Gate 3 companions can join you, such as the High-Elf Rogue Astarion and High Half-Elf Cleric Shadowheart. If you’d rather wait for the full release before playing Baldur’s Gate 3, there are plenty of other Dungeons and Dragons games on PC to play. Oh and check this full guide to all the DnD races in 5e.

Dave is partial to a bit of Dark Souls or Monster Hunter Rise, and if he's not playing fighting games like Street Fighter 6, you'll find him taking out enemies with his beloved pets in Diablo 4 or guiding Honkai Star Rail.

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