There are 11 different races in Baldur’s Gate 3, all with their own unique racial traits and subclasses. The race players choose is one of the most important early game decisions, as unlike their appearance or class, this cannot be changed throughout their campaign. Though they are all solid choices, some races seem to have received a lot more love than others.

It’s old news by now that the Githyanki are one of the most underrated races in BG3, but since release, they have gradually become a lot more popular. This is likely because a large portion of the main plot surrounds them, which has exposed more players to the race, making the choice more appealing. However, one race seems to have been barely utilized at all.

Larian Barely Used The Dragonborn Race In Baldur’s Gate 3

Dragonborn Are Rare In BG3’s Time Period, But Their Absence Is Very Notable

On record, I’m just shy of 400 hours in the game, but I recently realized that I could not think of any Dragonborn characters who have genuine plot significance—not counting dragons in Dragonborn disguises.

I’m hesitant to count the Dark Urge, since they’re fully customizable and only a Dragonborn by default. The only NPC who came to mind was Quil Grootslang, but she is simply a fail-safe if the player is in the uncommon scenario of playing as the Dark Urge and found a way to save Alfira in BG3.

A mod is available that will always replace Alfira with Quil in Baldur’s Gate 3, which saves players the need to knock Alfira out if they want to keep her alive.

It would be unfair not to acknowledge that there is likely a reason for the Dragonborn not being very present in the game until Act Three, and that is how they don’t populate the areas in the first two-thirds of the game. Baldur’s Gate 3 occurs shortly after the Dragonborn show up in Toril, so it makes sense that they would be a little rarer. However, Quil proves that Larian could make an early Dragonborn NPC work but never took this route. This is a shame, considering how enjoyable the Dragonborn lore is.

Fans Have Found That Playing As A Dragonborn Is Unrewarding

The Lack Of Content Alongside Mediocre Racial Bonuses Doesn’t Make Dragonborn Appealing

The Dragonborn race was the last added in development, which is evident in some areas of the game. You can’t choose a Dragonborn as your dream guardian because the taking animations haven’t been fully rigged—a video by PhillModder on YouTube showcases what would happen if you were to mod one in. However, you don’t even need mods to see this—you’ll get a similar glitch if you talk to a companion whilst they’re disguised as a Dragonborn. I tested this in one of my current campaigns, which still isn’t fixed whilst we’re close to patch 8.

It’s not just the animations of the Dragonborn that feel unpolished. In terms of racial features and in-game content, it becomes more evident that the Dragonborn was a later addition to the game. This can partly be blamed on 5e Dungeons & Dragons’ version of their race not being particularly generous—the Dragonborn’s situational elemental resistance and breath attacks aren’t very useful in the long run, as discussed by players on a Reddit post by trekfan103. A similarly neglected race is the half-orc, but they at least have one of the most useful racial features in the game—Relentless Endurance.

Understandably, the Dragonborn race is a little underdeveloped—Larian decided to spare their animators the responsibility of rigging and animating completely different models where their inclusion wasn’t necessary. However, it’s also fair that many fans have become disappointed with the final result—Baldur’s Gate 3 is a roleplay game, so players shouldn’t be blamed for wanting more roleplay-centric features. The unique interactions Dragonborn have are extremely limited, and the race doesn’t have the same capacity as drow or tieflings for immersion.

How Could Larian Have Approached The Dragonborn Differently?

At Least One Major Character Could’ve Made A Big Difference

I do think that Larian making the default Dark Urge a Dragonborn was the right move. Though the race has dropped slightly in popularity, going from being the fourth most popular race to sixth according to Larian on X, it’s still a more popular choice compared to the Githyanki and shorter races. This may be due to the number of people interested in doing a lore-accurate playthrough, so don’t change anything about the Dark Urge’s appearance. It makes me wonder if the halfling race could’ve been more popular if the scrapped origin character Helia ever became an option.

⚔️ Since our launch in August, over 1.3 million players have completed Baldur’s Gate 3. 🧀 A number almost equaled by those of you transformed into a wheel of cheese. 📈 All this, and more in our latest thread of amazing stats! pic.twitter.com/38hSZw1wPk — Larian Studios (@larianstudios) December 5, 2023

Baldur’s Gate 3 is the first exposure many players had to tabletop RPG content, and thus wouldn’t have known an awful lot about the Dragonborn and their history. As previously mentioned, the NPC players can learn the most from Quil, who rarely appears in campaigns. The race as a whole could’ve been a lot more interesting for players if there had been at least one relevant character players could discuss the origins of the Dragonborn with. With lots of dialogue around Tieflings originating from Elturel, it feels odd that nobody mentions Toril’s sister planet.

Some simple additions to the Dragonborn with mods could go a long way for the race. It already has some fantastic options for customization compared to other races, but could benefit from some upgrades to their breath attacks and elemental abilities. Some more unique items could also make the race feel more exclusive—there is currently one item only usable by Dragonborn, the Drakethroat Glaive . Though not every playable race needs a large focus, it would have been great to see more Dragonborn content in Baldur’s Gate 3.