Summary

  • Increase Strength by +2 with the Potion of Everlasting Vigour.
  • The Mighty Cloth provides +2 Strength and special abilities.
  • Ability Score Improvement lets players customize stat increases.

Strength is one of the ability scores that many RPGs use to determine weapon damage, carrying capacity, and other details, and it's more important to some classes than others. Baldur's Gate 3 includes several different ways to improve this important stat, such as Feats, special objects, and valuable gear.

Classes that use Strength as one of their core ability scores include Paladins, Fighters, and Barbarians. It's also connected to the Athletics skill, which governs how far a character can jump, climb, shove, and how well they can recover from conditions like Prone. For characters who need an extra Strength boost, check out the items and other buffs below.

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7 Potion of Everlasting Vigour

Prepared By Araj Oblodra In Moonrise Towers

Baldurs Gate 3 Araj Astarion Bite
  • Permanent +2 Strength increase.

When the protagonist infiltrates Moonrise Towers and encounters the Drow Araj Oblodra, she has an exciting offer for them. If Astarion gives her the pleasure of experiencing a vampire bite, she'll reward the party with a potion that permanently raises the character's Strength by +2.

The catch is that Astarion doesn't want to do this, but he will if Tav orders him. Receiving this order deprives him of his own agency and reminds him of his life as a spawn of Cazador. He feels violated, and if he's romancing the main character at the time, he'll break up with them over it.

6 The Mighty Cloth

Purchase From Quartermaster Talli At Last Light Inn

Baldur's Gate 3 The Mighty Cloth
  • +2 Strength
  • Grants the skill Bull Rush and the condition Unwavering Bull.

This cloth armor could have been made for Barbarians, who use Strength as their most important stat, but it also works well for Monks or Rogues. It's a Rare quality item that players can find at Last Light Inn, a location that appears early in Act 2.

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All the special abilities that The Mighty Cloth grants the wearer are connected to Strength. Bull's Rush gives them the ability to knock a target back 10 feet, and Bull's Strength adds yet another +2 to Strength up to 20. Finally, the Unwavering Bull condition ensures the character can't be pushed and has Advantage on saving throws against being Restrained.

5 Feat: Ability Score Improvement

Buff Scores Depending On The Build

ability score improvement feat in baldurs gate 3
  • Increase ability scores.

Ability Score Improvement is unlike other Feats that improve base stats, because it gives the player a choice about how to use the extra points, as opposed to assigning them automatically. Not every character build prioritizes Strength alone, so for multiclassed or combination characters, this is a better choice than one of the Resilient options, for example.

Adding two points to Strength is a good idea for a Barbarian because it's their most important attribute, but for Fighters who use ranged or finesse weapons, Dexterity is also a good option. For tanky Paladins, some extra Constitution for a few extra hit points is also helpful.

4 Club Of Hill Giant Strength

Break The Stool Of Hill Giant Strength In The Arcane Tower

Club of Hill Giant Strength from Baldur's Gate 3
  • Sets the user's Strength to 19.

The Arcane Tower in the Underdark is full of mystery, riddles, and strange objects like the Stool of Hill Giant Strength on the top floor. Should this still break somehow, perhaps by being smashed by some wayward adventurer, its legs will break off, and one of them is the Club Of Hill Giant Strength.

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A club is a simple melee weapon, so virtually every class has Proficiency in them, which is another nice feature of this weird club. If the character already has a Strength score of 19 or higher, this weapon won't be very beneficial, but it helps that the player can find it early in the game.

3 Auntie Ethel's Hair

Spare Auntie Ethel And Let Her Keep Mayrina

baldurs-gate-3-auntie-ethel-romance-larian-response
  • Permanent +1 to any ability score the player chooses.

Auntie Ethel's Hair is an easy buff that players can get early in the game, provided they don't mind giving up Mayrina and her related quests in exchange. When the player ventures below the Tea House into the Hag's lair, they can fight Ethel to the death, or wait until she gets to 20% health and tries to make a deal.

She asks the player to let her live and keep Mayrina in exchange for a magical lock of her hair, which the player can use to buff their Strength by +1. Auntie Ethel comes back either way, but Mayrina doesn't, so players have to decide if it's worth the change of storyline.

2 Gauntlets of Hill Giant Strength

Steal Them From The House Of Hope

gaunlets of hill giant strength
  • Raises the wearer's Strength to 23.

In Act 3, Tav enters the House of Hope to steal a hammer anyway. No matter what, Raphael attacks when the party tries to leave, so the player might as well fill their pockets while they have the chance. The Gauntlets of Hill Giant Strength are located on one of the pedestals in Raphael's Archive, easily grabbed along with the Orphic Hammer and the Amulet of Greater Health.

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Making use of one of the Patch 8 classes, this multiclass build turns players into a damage-dealing tank.

There's a lot of Very Rare stuff to grab here, but the gloves are some of the best and most worthwhile. Setting any ability score at 23 is impressive, even for Act 3, so if the player can't get into the Vault because of Haarlep, they could at least clean out the Archive.

1 Harmonium Halberd

Buy From Dammon At Last Light Inn

dammon-1
  • +1 Strength; -1 Wisdom and Intelligence.

This weapon is connected to the lore of Harmonium, a Dungeons & Dragons faction from the planar city of Sigil, and this halbred was crafted based on their philosophy of strict balance and karmic alignment. To equip the Harmonium Halbred means to gain +1 to Strength up to a limit of 23, but lose -1 to Wisdom and Intelligence.

Everything has a price, and there are plenty of classes that value Strength, and couldn't care less about the loss of Intelligence or Wisdom. This halbred would appeal to a Fighter or Barbarian, but less to a Ranger or Monk, who both use Wisdom as their spellcasting modifier.

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Baldur's Gate 3 Tag Page Cover Art
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Top Critic Avg: 96 /100 Critics Rec: 97%
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Released
August 3, 2023
ESRB
M for Mature: Blood and Gore, Partial Nudity, Sexual Content, Strong Language, Violence
Developer(s)
Larian Studios
Publisher(s)
Larian Studios
Engine
Divinity 4.0
Multiplayer
Online Co-Op, Local Co-Op
Cross-Platform Play
Full cross-platform play.
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WHERE TO PLAY

DIGITAL
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Genre(s)
RPG