Baldur’s Gate 3 never quite got Dragonborn helmets right
Larian Studios/Lionheart AdventuresThe Dragonborn playable race in Baldur’s Gate 3 is easily the most fantastical of the bunch, which might be why their helmets don’t always fit properly and can look funny when seen in action.
In real life, items are made for people of specific sizes. In D&D 5e, when you find a magic item, it just works. If anyone asks why, just say “magic.” It’s a lot easier than keeping track of measurements for every piece of loot the party finds on the overworld.
That works in the theater of the mind, with an explanation that the magic causes items to fit the wielder, kind of like how the One Ring shrinks or grows to match its wearer. It’s a bit trickier in a visual medium, such as a video game.
Users on the BaldursGate3 subreddit have pointed out how silly some of the helmets look on Dragonborn characters, notably the leather helmet you find during the early hours of the game. This is because they have to work around the horns that Dragonborn have on the back or side of their head.
“From the front, it almost looks like a strange, elaborate headdress. From the side, it looks like a bra,” one user wrote.
Another said, “I like the implication of this style of helmet. You just found it off someone or in a chest, right? And it just so happens to be tailored to your gigantic head.”
The strange thing is, developer Larian Studios has experience with this matter. As one user pointed out, “It’s crazy because Larian gave lizards the best-looking armour in Divinity Original Sin 2, but in Baldur’s Gate 3…”
The Dragonborn were one of the last races added to Baldur’s Gate 3. This, coupled with their unusual head design, means that some of the equipment is going to look strange, especially when the rest of it is designed for generic humanoid shapes.
It’s easy to see why better clothing options are among the most popular Baldur’s Gate 3 mods, as the Dragonborn badly need gear that evokes the might of their draconic bloodline rather than looking like they have a piece of leather strapped to their forehead.