Baldur’s Gate 3 needs to improve playable race like D&D did

Baldur’s Gate 3 can be a little too accurate to D&D at times, as it used an inferior version of one of the main races, despite it receiving official updates before the video game’s launch.

The version of the Dragonborn race that appeared in D&D’s 2014 Player’s Handbook is often considered to be one of the weakest choices in the game. This is due to its breath weapon attack not scaling with level and requiring an Action to use, as well as its elemental damage resistance being highly situational.

In fact, the Dragonborn received a much-needed update in a book called Fizban’s Treasury of Dragons. Not only did this boost the Chromatic and Metallic Dragonborn with extra powers and updates to existing abilities, but it also added the neutral-aligned Gem Dragonborn, giving players even more options.

Unfortunately, the version of the Dragonborn that appears in Baldur’s Gate 3 is based on the underwhelming version of the race from 2014. This has resulted in users of the Baldur’s Gate 3 Reddit asking for it to be updated or for mods to improve the existing Dragonborn.

“This is what mods were made for… Because you’re absolutely right that the racial benefits for Dragonborn are hot garbage,” one user wrote, while another said, “Something even as simple as more unique attacks would be nice like a bite attack or extra unarmed damage. I really just wanna be able to bite heads off mid-fight.”

One player suggested the easiest way to improve the scaly sorcerers: “I wish that the damage of Dragonborn’s breath scaled with level. And also that the attack was a bonus action.”

“You and everyone else,” another fan wrote, “They gave the ugly ass Gith everything else but Darkvision.”

While the Dragonborn might lack the firepower of their later D&D equivalents, that hasn’t made them unpopular with the community. According to Larian’s 1st year anniversary Baldur’s Gate 3 stats, Dragonborn is the 6th most popular race, beating out the far better Githyanki and Half-Orc.

The Dragonborn’s popularity was likely helped by its role as the face of the Dark Urge storyline. That and the fact that dragon people are just cool to play, even if they’re not as strong as their wyrm cousins or their tabletop iteration.

Still, with the Dragonborn receiving another update in D&D’s 2024 Player’s Handbook, there’s a chance Baldur’s Gate 3 might improve them in a future patch, giving everyone the mighty draconic protagonist that they deserve.