Baron

Baron gives X1.5 Mult for every King you are holding in hand when you score, so the bonus multiplies with each King you keep back.

Effect: Each King held in hand gives X1.5 Mult

BalatroBuddy tier: S (Our opinion)

Baron gives X1.5 Mult for each King held in hand in Balatro. Rare, $8, no unlock needed. Why Mime makes it explode, plus other Baron combos.

Cost: $8

Rarity: Rare

Category: Multiplicative Mult Jokers

Unlock requirement: Available from start.

Verdict

Anchors the highest-ceiling reproducible deck in the game. Baron plus Mime plus Steel Kings is the combo that carries runs into the deep antes.

Why it works

X1.5 per King HELD, not played. That decouples your multiplier from your scoring hand entirely — you can score a junk Pair and still be at X7.6.
Because it evaluates per held King, everything that adds a trigger raises the exponent. Five Kings alone is 1.5^5 = X7.6.
Mime retriggers held-in-hand abilities, and Baron is one, so Mime makes each King worth 1.5^2 = X2.25. Five Kings becomes 1.5^10 = X57.7.
Steel cards also pay X1.5 while held and are also retriggered by Mime. Five Steel Kings under Baron and Mime is 1.5^4 per King, or 1.5^20 = X3,325.
Hand size is therefore a direct multiplier. Every +1 hand size is potentially another King, worth another X1.5 at minimum.

Joker placement

Right of your additive jokers. Baron itself is order-agnostic against other X Mult jokers, since multiplication commutes.

How to play

Never play your Kings. Score with Pairs or Three of a Kind built from everything else while four or five Kings sit untouched in hand.
Convert the deck with Death, pointing junk cards at a King. Aim for at least five Kings before you count on Baron as your main multiplier.
Use The Chariot to make those Kings Steel. A Steel King held is X1.5 from Steel and X1.5 from Baron, or X2.25 each before retriggers.
Buy hand size aggressively — Juggler, Turtle Bean, Troubadour, and the Palette voucher each add roughly another King of ceiling.
Pick up Mime early even though it looks weak. It is the single largest multiplier available to this build.

Combos

Mime + The Chariot

Five Steel Kings held: 1.5^20 = X3,325 Mult from two Uncommon jokers and one Rare.

Each King contributes X1.5 from Baron and X1.5 from Steel, and Mime retriggers both, giving 1.5^4 per King.

Mime + Blueprint

Point Blueprint at Mime for a third trigger on every held ability: 1.5^30 = X191,751 with five Steel Kings.

Blueprint copying Mime adds another retrigger to every held-in-hand ability simultaneously, so Baron and Steel each fire three times per King.

Traps

Baron with two Kings is X2.25, which is worse than a $4 Cavendish. It does not justify a Rare slot until you have converted the deck.
Kings that are debuffed by a boss blind do not trigger Baron at all. A boss that debuffs your Kings' suit turns the whole build off for that fight, so keep Kings across more than one suit where you can.
The Manacle costs you a hand size, which against Baron means directly deleting a King and a X1.5 from your board.
Baron pulls in the opposite direction from Triboulet, Sock and Buskin, and every other play-your-faces payoff. Commit to holding or to playing, not both.

Benchmarks

Ante 8

X57.7 from Baron and Mime alone clears the 100,000 Ante 8 boss comfortably on a levelled Pair.

Endless

With Steel Kings and a copy joker attached this is one of the few builds that genuinely reaches Ante 12 and its 600,000,000 boss.

How it works

Baron gives X1.5 Mult for every King you are holding in hand when you score, so the bonus multiplies with each King you keep back. It is Rare, costs $8, available from the start, and Blueprint and Brainstorm can copy it.

How to unlock

Available from the start.

Copyable by Blueprint/Brainstorm

yes

Best combos

Mime: Retriggers held-in-hand effects, so every held King applies Baron's X1.5 twice.
Blueprint: Copies Baron for another X1.5 per held King.
Brainstorm: Copies Baron from the far left of your jokers.
Triboulet: Rewards playing Kings and Queens while Baron rewards holding Kings.

Frequently asked questions

What does Baron do in Balatro?

Each King held in hand gives X1.5 Mult

Is Baron good in Balatro?

Baron is S-tier (9.4/10). Anchors the highest-ceiling reproducible deck in the game. Baron plus Mime plus Steel Kings is the combo that carries runs into the deep antes.

What is the best Baron combo?

Baron with Mime and The Chariot: Five Steel Kings held: 1.5^20 = X3,325 Mult from two Uncommon jokers and one Rare. Each King contributes X1.5 from Baron and X1.5 from Steel, and Mime retriggers both, giving 1.5^4 per King.

When is Baron a bad pick?

Baron with two Kings is X2.25, which is worse than a $4 Cavendish. It does not justify a Rare slot until you have converted the deck.

Where should Baron go in the joker order?