BG3 Dragonborn Handbook: Baldur’s Gate 3 Race Guide – RPGBOT

Introduction

Dragonborn are (cosmetically at least) one of the coolest race options, offering all of the scaly, toothy goodness of a dragon while still offering opposable thumbs and the ability to breath fire (or acid, etc.).

The “Dark Urge” origin is a white dragonborn by default. If you’re here thinking “I don’t want that, but how do I make the best of it?”, rest assured: you can change your race and class and still play the Dark Urge.

Table of Contents

• Introduction
• Disclaimer
• Dragonborn Traits
• Classes
  • Barbarian
  • Bard
  • Cleric
  • Druid
  • Fighter
  • Monk
  • Paladin
  • Ranger
  • Rogue
  • Sorcerer
  • Warlock
  • Wizard

Disclaimer

RPGBOT uses a color coding scheme to rate individual character options.

• Red: Bad, useless options, or options which are extremely situational. Nearly never useful.
• Orange: OK options, or useful options that only apply in rare circumstances. Useful sometimes.
• Green: Good options. Useful often.
• Blue: Fantastic options, often essential to the function of your character. Useful very frequently.

RPGBOT is fan content published under Larian’s Fan Content Policy. This is not official content, and RPGBOT has no official relationship with Larian.

Dragonborn Traits

Very thin on traits. You’re almost certainly here for the breath weapon, which provides an AOE damage option which is often useful for classes that otherwise don’t get any.

During character creation, your breath weapon and damage resistance on listed on the right panel, which might give you the mistaken impression that your race doesn’t grant traits.

• Base Racial Speed: 9 m / 30 ft: Standard.
• Breath Weapon: A fine way to handle crowds, but the damage is small, it scales slowly, and you can only use it as an Action once per short rest. Beyond very low levels, every character will have a better use for their Action.
• Damage Resistance: Permanent damage resistance is excellent. You can get it from items or from spells, but both options are often expensive.

In addition, you must select a subrace which grants additional traits. For the Dragonborn, this is your breath weapon and damage resistance, both of which are determined by the variety of dragon which you resemble.

In tabletop DnD, cones are a better AOE because it’s easier to catch multiple foes in a cone, and that factor makes a huge difference in selecting your type of dragonborn. In Baldur’s Gate 3, all dragonborn breath weapons are cones except for the Brass Dragonborn, which is a line of the same length as everyone else’s cone, which seems like an arbitrary way to decide who gets to be the worst dragonborn.

Subrace	Damage Type	Shape	Save
Black	Acid	Cone	Dex	Acid resistance isn’t common, but neither is acid damage.
Blue	Lightning	Cone	Dex	The ability to double the damage by making enemies Wet makes lightning very appealing, but lightning damage to the players isn’t especially common so your damage resistance won’t apply frequently.
Brass	Fire	Line	Dex	The only one saddled with a line instead of a cone. Play Gold or Red instead.
Bronze	Lightning	Cone	Dex	The ability to double the damage by making enemies Wet makes lightning very appealing, but lightning damage to the players isn’t especially common, so your damage resistance won’t apply frequently.
Copper	Acid	Cone	Dex	Acid resistance isn’t common, but neither is acid damage.
Gold	Fire	Cone	Dex	Fire damage is common, and while many enemies have resistance, it isn’t ubiquitous. But if you’re just here for the damage resistance, consider playing a tiefling instead.
Green	Poison	Cone	Con	Poison damage is common, so resistance is nice, but you can get it from the spell Poison Resistance via Camp Casting. The breath weapon calls for Constitution saves, which tend to be high, so expect enemies to pass the save consistently.
Red	Fire	Cone	Dex	Fire damage is common, and while many enemies have resistance, it isn’t ubiquitous. But if you’re just here for the damage resistance, consider playing a tiefling instead.
Silver	Cold	Cone	Dex	The ability to double the cold by making enemies Wet makes cold very appealing, but cold damage to the players isn’t especially common, so your damage resistance won’t apply frequently. The breath weapon calls for Constitution saves, which tend to be high, so expect enemies to pass the save consistently.
White	Cold	Cone	Dex	The ability to double the cold by making enemies Wet makes cold very appealing, but cold damage to the players isn’t especially common, so your damage resistance won’t apply frequently. The breath weapon calls for Constitution saves, which tend to be high, so expect enemies to pass the save consistently.

Classes

Barbarian

Most barbarians don’t have a way to handle crowds, and additional damage resistances complement Rage nicely because non-weapon damage types often present a problem for barbarians despite their large number of hit points.

Bard

If you need area damage, cast Shatter.

Cleric

If you need area damage, cast Spirit Guardians.

Druid

If you need area damage, cast Call Lightning or something.

Fighter

Most fighters don’t have a great way to handle crowds (eldritch knights may be an exception), and damage resistances will help to stretch your hit points through the day.

Monk

Most monks don’t have a great way to handle crowds (four elements is an exception), and damage resistances will help to stretch your hit points through the day.

Paladin

Most paladins don’t have a great way to handle crowds, and damage resistances will help to stretch your hit points long enough to use Lay on Hands.

Ranger

Rangers do get a few options which make the Dragonborn’s breath weapon redundant, but rangers get spells very slowly, so a breath weapon complements those capabilities nicely.

Rogue

Since rogues mostly specialize in single-target damage, most don’t have a great way to handle crowds, and damage resistances will help to stretch your hit points through the day.

Sorcerer

If you need area damage, cast Burning Hands. The 1st-level damage will outdo the Dragonborn’s breath weapon until level 10. If you need damage resistance, cast Protection from Energy or take Draconic Bloodline.

Warlock

If you need area damage, cast Hunger of Hadar.

Wizard

If you need area damage, cast Burning Hands. The 1st-level damage will outdo the Dragonborn’s breath weapon until level 10. If you need damage resistance, cast Protection from Energy.