The Baldur’s Gate 3 team has decided to celebrate the game’s incredible launch by releasing a series of statistics that detail players’ progress and choices so far. While those infographics are filled with genuinely interesting pieces of data, the most surprising information is related to Baldur’s Gate 3‘s most popular race and class choices.
According to developer Larian Studios, the Half-Elf is the most popular race in Baldur’s Gate 3. The Half-Elf is followed closely by Humans and Elves (all of which were picked by nearly 250,000 players). On the other end of things, the Githyanki are the least popular race in Baldur’s Gate 3 by a seemingly considerable distance. They’re followed closely by Halflings, Gnomes, and Dwarves. The Githyanki are likely in last place due to their relative lack of defining traits compared to some other race options (though they are born Fighters), and those other bottom-place race choices are obviously united by their…err…smaller statures.
Why are those rankings surprising? Well, to be honest, I just assumed that Humans would be the most popular race choice in the game. They were a popular race during Baldur’s Gate 3‘s Early Access period, and they tend to be one of the most popular races in many editions of D&D. They’re not only a versatile race, but they allow…you know…us humans to project ourselves into a fantasy game.
Then again, maybe it shouldn’t be so surprising that Elves are quite this popular. Not only are they fantasy genre mainstays, but Baldur’s Gate 3‘s various Elves come equipped with a variety of useful abilities and other attributes that make them the perfect choices for some of the best classes in the game.
Here’s a complete breakdown of the race choices in the game so far for those who are interested in the full data:
Speaking of classes, it seems that Paladins are the most popular class in Baldur’s Gate 3. In fact, they’re the most popular class in the game by a fairly respectable distance. That’s again quite surprising given that D&D data suggests that Paladins are not generally seen as the most popular choice in these kinds of role-playing games. Then again, Paladins are not only quite powerful in Baldur’s Gate 3 but allow players to explore some fascinating role-playing options (especially if they go the “Oathbreaker” route).
Interestingly, it seems that Clerics are by far the least popular class in the game at the moment. While that may seem odd given that Clerics and Paladins actually have quite a few things in common (at least early on), I think those similarities may have ultimately resulted in one class canceling the other out to some degree. Besides, one of the first companions you get in Baldur’s Gate 3 is a Cleric, so I imagine many players didn’t feel the need to roll one for themselves. Hey, at least Druids were spared from another last-place finish.
Also of note is the somewhat surprising revelation that Sorcerers and Warlocks seem to be much more popular than Wizards. Again, that could be attributed to the fact that you acquire a Wizard as a companion early on, or it could have something to do with the increasingly popular suggestion that Sorcerers have the potential to become more powerful than Wizards over the course of the game. Even still, I’m a little surprised that Sorcerers are this much more popular than Wizards given the fantasy genre name value of the latter class. As for Warlocks…well, I suspect that people just love playing as dark magic users in fantasy titles (as they should).
If you’re wondering how the rest of the classes in Baldur’s Gate 3 fare, here’s the full breakdown that Larian recently shared:
What class/race combo have you picked (or intend to pick) in Baldur’s Gate 3? Let us know in the comments below.