Who are the Baldur’s Gate 3 Githyanki? Enslaved by the Mind Flayers for millennia, the Githyanki hail from the Astral Zone and are unparalleled warriors known for their silver blades and the red dragons they ride into battle. Their goal now is the complete destruction of the Mind Flayers. While they are humanoids, a Githyanki stands out due to their mottled yellow and green skin, long, pointed ears, and small noses.
Even if you didn’t choose them as your starting Baldur’s Gate 3 race, there is a Githyanki companion who you encounter very early on in the Baldur’s Gate 3 story, entering the fray in a way we all hope to one day; soaring through the air, huge sword in hand. With that in mind, you’ll want to know everything about this race before you build your character as there are notable subtleties. However, their stats mean you can turn your hand to many of the Baldur’s Gate 3 classes if you choose.
Githyanki racial features
Here are the Githyanki racial features:
- Base speed – 9 meters per turn
- Intelligence +1
- Strength +2
Baldur’s Gate 3 Githyanki subraces
The Githyanki do not have any subraces.
Githyanki abilities
Here are the Githyanki abilities:
- Githyanki weapon proficiencies – add your proficiency bonus to attack rolls (your chance to hit a target) with a longsword, shortsword, and greatsword.
- Githyanki armor proficiencies – wearing light or medium armor will not impose a disadvantage roll on your attacks or prevent the casting of spells.
Githyanki spells and cantrips
Here are the Githyanki spells and cantrips:
- Mage Hand (level 1) – creates an invisible spectral hand that manipulates and interacts with objects.
- Jump (level 3) – touch a creature to triple its jumping distance.
- Misty Step (level 5) – Surrounded by silver mist, you teleport to an unoccupied space you can see.
Best class for Baldur’s Gate 3 Githyanki
The best class for the Githyanki is:
- Fighter
- Barbarian
- Wizard
Githyanki’s natural Strength and Intelligence modifiers and their affinity for spells make them a natural fit for the Fighter class, particularly the Eldritch Knight subclass, which takes advantage of both.
If the fighter class isn’t your thing, Githyanki can also work as Barbarians due to their high Strength or Wizards because of their Intelligence, though neither fits the race as well as Fighter.
Best Baldur’s Gate 3 Githyanki backgrounds
Since your character’s strength and intelligence are the two buffed stats, the best Githyanki backgrounds are Sage, Noble, Outlander, and Soldier.
If you decide to go down the Wizard class route, the Sage is the best background for a Githyanki, as their intelligence boosts both Arcana and History checks. Noble is a less good choice as it only takes advantage of the History intelligence boost but gives you some persuasion stats to help with those dice rolls.
Either one of the other two choices will do for melee-focused classes, such as the Fighter or Barbarian. Both Outlander and Soldiers give an extra Athletics boost, stacking with the strength stat, but Outlander gives bonus points in Survival to increase knowledge of their surroundings, while Soldiers can bully their way through social situations with buffed Intimidation checks.
Well, by now, you should know if you want to smash the world in the face as a Githyanki, but just in case you aren’t yet convinced, check out every other Baldur’s Gate 3 race, including the stout, wonderful BG3 Gnomes, and the everyman (or woman) Human race – although aren’t we all a bit bored of being human by now?