Baldur’s Gate 3: Wildheart Barbarian [Subclass & Progression]

The Baldur's Gate 3 Wildheart Barbarian guide will showcase the playstyle, level progression, and Bestial Hearts for the Wildheart subclass.

Baldur’s Gate 3 has tons of classes that players can choose from, which can allow them to play the ones that they want, and one of the classes has to be a Barbarian. Players might want to choose the Baldur’s Gate 3 Wildheart Barbarian class; therefore, players might want to know its features, playstyle, piercings, bestial hearts, as well as actions! 

Important: While choosing the Barbarian, players will also need to choose between the Wildheart or Berserker subclass!
Key Takeaways
  • The Baldur’s Gate 3 Wildheart is a subclass of the Barbarian that focuses mostly on a support-based subclass, while the Berserker offers a damage-based subclass option. 
  • The Wildheart subclass will offer players the Beastial Heart with five options and the Speak With Animals at level 3. 
  • Level 3: Upon this progression, players obtain Speak With Animals, as well as needing to choose from one of the 5 Bestial Hearts, such as the Bear, Elk, Eagle, Wolf, and Tiger Heart. 
  • Level 4: At this level, you can change your Bestial Hearts and also need to pick from a selection of feats
  • Level 5: It offers players Extra Attack and Fast Movement as features and also being able to change their Bestial Heart. 

Baldur’s Gate 3 Wildheart Barbarian Subclass Overview 

Wildheart Overview
Wildheart Overview (Image Credits Exputer)
  • The Barbarian class itself is centric mostly around being able to take in melee damage that has been launched out from the opponent’s end, as well as being able to deal damage. 
  • The Berserker subclass is one that mainly focuses on being able to focus on Strength, which allows them to deal increased damage against enemies. 

In my experience, the Wildheart subclass is mostly a support-based subclass with the ability to converse with animals.

Wildheart Features 

Whenever you end up choosing the Wildheart subclass, you will gain access to a few initial features that I have listed below:

Features Wildheart
Features Wildheart (Image Credits Exputer)
  • The Bestial Heart will grant players the ability to choose between 5 options that will all be based on animals.
  • Speak With Animals is granted at level 3 which gives you one Divination Spell.
Barbarian Features
Barbarian Features (Image Credits Exputer)

Apart from that, the Barbarian class itself will also have a few initial features that are concise in the table below. 

Baldur's Gate 3 Barbarian Initial FeaturesDetails
Constitution Saving Throw ProficiencyPlayers will be able to add their Proficiency Bonus to their Constitution saving throws.
Strength Saving Throw ProficiencyGo ahead and add your Proficiency Bonus to the Strength Saving Throws.
Unarmored DefensePlayers will be able to have their bodies be extremely resilient.
Light Armor ProficiencyIf you are wearing Light Armor, then it doesn't affect your attacks or spell-casting.
Medium Armor ProficiencyIf you wear any medium armor, then it also won't affect your overall attacks and spell-casting.
Simple Weapon ProficiencyIf you carry out attacks with Simple Weapons, then you can add your proficiency bonus to it.
Martial Weapon ProficiencyYou can add your proficiency bonus to attacks that are carried out by Martial Weapons.
Shield ProficiencyIf you wear a shield, it won't hinder your attacks or the spell-casting.

Level 3 Progression 

At level 3, players can obtain, which in my opinion, is one of the best features of BG3, that is the ability to converse with Animals. Alongside that, players will be asked to pick one of the Baldur’s Gate 3 Wildheart Bestial Hearts made available to them, as listed below. 

Level 3 Bestial Heart Options
Level 3 Bestial Heart Options (Image Credits Exputer)
Bestial HeartsEffectsSpecial Effects
Bear HeartWhile being able to rage, you can also make use of Unrelenting Ferocity, and gain resistance to all damage except for Psychic damage. Unrelenting Ferocity: Players can heal themselves.
Elk HeartWhile you are raging, you can make use of Primal Stampede and the overall movement speed is enhanced by 4.5m. Primal Stampede: Charge forth, and you can attack all creatures that are hostile, and deal Bludgeoning damage.
Eagle HeartMake use of Diving Strike, and enemies gain a disadvantage on attacks that are carried out against you, and you can also use Dash. Diving Strike: Leap towards an opponent that is below you, knocking them down.
Wolf HeartWhile you rage, you make use of Inciting Howl, and your allies will gain an advantage on melee attack-based rolls against opponents that are within a 2m radius of you. Inciting Howl: Stir up the fervor for your allies and they can move an extra 3m.
Tiger HeartWhile you rage, use Tiger's Bloodlust, and and the jump distance gets enhanced by 4.5.Tiger's Bloodlust: Go ahead and lash out against the opponents and cause them to bleed.

There are also a plethora of Bestial Heart actions or actions that will be included in each of the Bestial Hearts that players can see as follows. 

Bestial Heart ActionsEffects
Rage (Bear Heart)Enter a stage of rage that is able to make you resilient enough to hold off against any punishment.
Unrelenting Ferocity Provides healing.
Rage (Elk Heart)Go into rage mode that is able to grant the player ultimate swiftness.
Primal StampedeDeal bludgeoning damage while charging forth.
Rage (Eagle Heart)Enter a state that makes you practically untouchable.
Diving StrikeHead down to attack enemies, and you won't take any fall damage.
Rage (Tiger Heart)Enter a state of rage that will instantly boost up your leaps.
Tiger's Bloodlust Make upto 3 enemies bleed.
Rage (Wolf Heart)Enter a rage mode that can affect allies too.
Inciting HowlPlayers can stir the allies' fervor.

Level 4 Progression 

Level 4 Change Bestial Heart
Level 4 Change Bestial Heart (Image Credits Exputer)

While being at level 4, players will be able to change their Bestial Hearts and pick one feat from a few options that I have listed as follows. 

FeatsEffects
Ability Improvements+2 Ability points are granted to players between Strength, Constitution, Dexterity, Intelligence, Wisdom as well as Charisma.
AthleteThe overall Dexterity or Strength gets boosted up by 1 to a max of 20.
Dual Wielder+1 Bonus is granted to Armor Class whenever you are wielding a melee weapon in each of your hands.
Defensive DuelistIf you end up being attacked with a melee attack, then your reaction can be used to enhance your Armor Class by 2.
Great Weapon MasterIf a melee attack lands a crit hit or murders a creature, then you carry out another melee attack as a bonus.
Lightly Armored Your proficiency with Light Armor is gained by you and your Dexterity or Strength gets increased by 1-20.
Druid Magic InitiatePlayers can learn 2 cantrips and a spell from the Druid spell list.
Bard Magic Initiate2 Cantrips and one 1-level spell can be learned from the spell list.
Cleric Magic InitiateGet a level 1 spell slot that gets restored after resting for a while.
Sorcerer Magic InitiateLearn 2 cantrips and a spell from the list.
Warlock Magic InitiateGet a level 1 spell slot that gets restored.
Wizard Magic InitiateA level 1 spell slot can be obtained.
Martial Adept Players are able to learn two manuevers that are from the Battle Master archetype.
Moderately ArmoredYou get proficiency using Medium Armor as well as shields, and the overall Dexterity and Strength ends up increasing by 1-20.
MobileYour overall speed will end up being enhanced.
SkilledGain proficiency in a total of 3 skills of your choice.
Shield MasterGet a +2 bonus to Dexterity saving throws whenever you are using a shield.
ToughYour hit points get enhanced by 2 for each of your level.
Weapon MasterEnhance your Dexterity or your Strength from 1-20.

Level 5 Progression 

As far as the Level 5 progression is concerned, players will be able to have two extra class features: 

  • Extra Attack: You can make an extra free attack after you make a weapon attack. 
  • Fast Movement: The overall movement speed is enhanced by five anytime you are not wearing heavy armor. 

You will also be able to change your Bestial Heart.

My Tips On Using The Barbarian Subclass

The Barbarian Class is one of the most fun classes to play. In the many weeks I’ve spent grinding brainlessly in Baldurs Gate 3, the most fun ones were spent playing as a barbarian. The ability to talk to animals is more fun than one would think it to be.

bg3 time played
My personal experience with BG3 [Image by eXputer]
However, I am a reckless player so choosing the Bear Heart is the obvious choice. The ability to heal myself opens up the window for Shadowheart to heal Gale so he can keep putting enemies to sleep. That’s where I and Karlach come in and wake them up using the swift ends of our blades.

And that’s just about it! All that players need to know about the Baldur’s Gate 3 Wildheart Barbarian guide, and with that, let’s wrap up this guide! While you’re here, why not read up on the Baldur’s Gate 3 Bear Scene guide, which goes into (rather interesting details) about a romantic encounter with.. a bear. 

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Mina is a Senior Guides Writer and a fanatic who’s obsessed with playing games and writing about them. She’s invested more than 2,500 hours in games like Genshin Impact and Honkai Star Rail. With a Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism, she loves to write detailed guides for beginners and pros in the Gacha Games world. You can follow Mina's gaming activity on her Steam and PSN Profiles.

Experience: 3+ Years

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