Larian Studios Forums Baldur's Gate III Baldur's Gate III - General High elf class option

What exactly classes are fit wih high elves? Last time I asked about eldritch knight and everybody tell me that i must pick another race. But i dont want playing races that i don't like
So high elves have +2 to dexterity and +1 to intellect, so it's only wizard and arcane trickster rogue?
Why they have longsword bonus if they STR maximum is 15? This is ridiculous
Also i don't want to play as high half elf beause this race is extremelly boring, and i can't find any good presets for high elfs, even with mods (i mean with half elf ears), so i don't want pick it either. What you would recommend? Wizard looks cool but i have mephistophele's tiefling walkthrough and it was horrible, it's just the second Gale at the party, and also wizard got the most poor dialogue sections, sorcerers and warlocks are much more interesting. Wizard even can't recoqnize Aunty Etel as mystic creature...
And what about Arcane trickster it's look like a second Astarion at the party, i havent tried but its looks pretty the same.

There’s no “must” about it. You can play a DEX-based high elf Eldritch Knight if you want. Or pump strength to 15 and then 16 at level 4 (or boost strength with potions) and use a long sword. It may not be the most optimised build when it comes to damage or defence, but should be perfectly adequate and if that’s the race you enjoy playing you should go for it.

You could even go for a ranger: though wood elf is more obvious because of the wisdom boost and stereotypes, rangers don’t actually need high wisdom if they pick spells that don’t use it and, while you don’t need to boost intelligence to 14 just because you can, if you do then it’s useful for ability checks and thematically will give you higher Nature. If you’re going to use a bow and keep at range, you can live with lower constitution than a frontline fighter to give you more flexibility to boost wisdom too.

If you’re willing to branch out into other kinds of elves, wood elves can make decent druids and drow decent bards, sorcerers or warlocks. Or I’ve started a run with a drow DEX-based paladin.

But as long as you’re not fussed about having the best possible version of a class, then you can use a high elf for anything. You’ll probably just need to have lower dump stats than you’d otherwise get, and reconcile yourself to living with +2/+3 rather than +3/+4 bonuses to primary attributes other than DEX or INT for EA, but that’s not the end of the world.

If you want a class that uses the same primary stats as the high elf racials, yes, wizard, arcane trickster rogue, eldritch knight will work, although it's not optimal. We don't have artificer, so that's out. Don't neglect other classes that love DEX, like ranger, just because your +1 Int isn't immediately useful.

Or you could just play whatever class you like without worrying too much about racial ASI. Picking the most optimal class/race combo is certainly a thing you can do, but it's not necessary.

After launch we'll have access to stat rolling, and you likely won't need to worry about picking the most optimal combo at all then.

So if i want to play any not DEX classes i must go only with 15 of main stat? My character will be very weak

I would say that high elves can play anything in EA if it is not necessary to take a feat at lvl 4 that does not allow to increase at least on attribute. Speaking from my perspective, I only like wood elf and wood half elf, I wanted wood elf for my Barbarian (because he runs around in a loincloth and I don't like breast hair, simply as that) but that's a bad option as you only get to 15 Str and 15 Con with him, and cannot change at lvl 4 if you would want Great Weapon Master (which fits the Barbarian extremely well). Same if you wanted the Battlemaster feat at lvl 4. So wood half elf it is who can start with 16/16.

Why not high elf for Eldritch Knight? You could let Dex at 10 and increase the relevant stats to 16 at lvl 4, I presume (did not try it). It is not such a catastrophy to have 15 Str and use a longsword till lvl 4. In the release version you also should be able to give points again at lvl 8 and 12.

You can complete all of the EA area with a non-optimised build, and we currently have no reason to believe that this will be different for the rest of the game. You can't get all your stats above 15 anyway (at least right now), so some part of your character is always going to be "weak".

You can make a fine High Elf-anything character. The big mental stumbling block is having a starting highest stat of 'only 15' with a +2 bonus.

(People who complain monster CR, aka 'level', is set too easy seem to forget/don't know the original playtest characters were average. If you match a class with its optimal race, e.g. ranger with wood elf, and follow stat allocation advice, you automatically win; your character is a bump higher - all without effort. And this was intended design because 5E designers wanted to downplay system mastery.)

4E gave us a starting 16. But without a stat limit and unbounded accuracy, your stats were never high enough.

Back in 3E 15 was considered the normal starting number and became almost secondary in importance to the stat boosting spells and items that proliferated that edition.

Going waaay back to 1E-2E, we just blatantly cheated and started with 18s because what you rolled at first level never changed. Later on we figured out we were well over the baseline and naturally moderated ourselves.

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This is all why 6E is having all races have floating stat buffs, so every single character will start with a 16 or 17; the new baseline.

I recall some 5E designers half-arguing to cut-out-the-middleman and remove ability score bonuses because of this homogenizing trend, but it wasn't a serious goer.

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Regarding fighter class, they get a stat bump at level 6. Human fighters and rogues have overall the best stats.

I tried be dex eldritch warrior and it seems very veak, my melee attack even with +3 bonus and +1 bonus of rapier +1 do very low damage and crits and all my spells at lvl 3 is first leveled like burning hands or magic bolt. Will my character be stronger on 4 and 5 levels? Right now im with 20 AC and low offencive skills feeling like pretty mid tank

How about this?

High-Elf Eldritch knight

Str12, Dex16, Con13, Int16, Wis10, Cha8

L1: Dueling fighting style
L2: Action surge
L3: 2 cantrips (Firebolt, Ray of frost, Dancing lights-Elf), 3 spells (Jump, Magic missile, Thunderwave)
L4: +2 Dex
L5: 4th spell (Chromatic orb)
L6: +2 Int...

Larian, please add the melee attack cantrips already!!

Yes, at level 4 you’ll be able to get your Dex to 18 using the ASI option (or one of the feats that lets you raise Dex by 1 if you started with 17) and at level 5 you’ll get an extra weapon attack each turn (note that you can only attack twice with your weapon and can’t use a spell and also weapon attack). Like the Arcane Trickster, you won’t get beyond level 1 spells in EA, and I think you max out at 3 spell slots so won’t be using them every turn, plus your spell attack/DC won’t be as high as a wizard who will prioritise INT, so you may want to swap in spells that don’t use your INT and/or buff your mobility (like Jump) or are of situational use like Magic Missile for a ranged attack against hard to hit enemies or Thunderwave (which does have a save but can push back enemies to help you reposition without AoO if you get swarmed or have multiple enemies near a big drop). You’ll also get more equipment as you progress that will boost your character in different ways.

But if you want to be a damage powerhouse then Eldritch Knight probably isn’t the class for you, and it comes back to the question someone asked earlier about what you’re trying to achieve with your character. An EK as a hybrid fighter/caster (and more of the former than the latter) is going to lose out to characters who focus on one skill set, particularly at lower levels. I confess I’ve never tried a Dex battle master, but it might be worth considering if you are not finding the spell casting elements of the EK that appealing (and admittedly they are underwhelming in EA, due to not all spells being implemented as well as your low level).

as an example
my high elf Cleric of Light [all rounder]

my stats:
Str 10 (increases to 15 with club of str)
Dex 15 (increases to 16 at level 4 or takes dual wield)
Con 12
Int 13 (decreased to 12 at druid grove and firebolt)
Wis 14 (main spells and perception skill to find items)
Cha 13 (increases to 14 at druid grove)

at levels 1&2 she fights as melee with 2 shortswords or shortsword and shield... also attacks against her get disadvantage because of her aurora
at level 3 her offensive fire spells made me want to fight at range and i gave her the special bow the hag sells to reset a spell
around here i got the club of str in the off hand and a nice free longsword
at level 4 she was going to take an extra Dex and pick "Weapon Master" but i changed my mind and went with dual wield feat so she could equip the longsword in her main hand \ swapping out the short sword


i didn't reach level 5 before ending the run

understand that taking a negative charisma will really hurt you post patch 9 because most talks auto default to the player character now as Larian really has little clue what D&D is about... i like to do the talking but you could take Wyll and at least cha 10 which would then allow you to take an even Dex, regardless this character has strong spells, good melee or range (spells) and excellent defence

p.s, i see Larian managed to break selfhosted profile images again... fixed {sorry if it took me a while to notice}

I linked this already in the other thread you made about the Eldritch Knight, read it: https://rpgbot.net/dnd5/characters/classes/fighter/subclasses/eldritch-knight/
In it is also a link with a comparison of raw weapon damage vs. weapon damage with cantrips, https://rpgbot.net/dnd5/characters/melee_cantrips/. The Eldritch Knight seemingly gets stronger in higher levels, especially from lvl 7 onwards. I find that much more promising than playing as Ranger or Monk, thinking, wow, it's great (at low levels), and then later on suffering from a stalemate. In my opinion you don't need to make a Dex based Fighter just because you are playing as high elf.

In release there also will be difficulty settings (I presume). If the current difficulty will be Normal (as most fights are quite easy but not that boring, and some are a bit more demanding), in the worst case you could lower the difficulty to play the class and race with the equipment you like.


Edit: i made me a high elf Fighter to try, with 15 Str, 10 Dex, 15 Con, 14 Int, 10 Wis, 10 Cha, origin is with Acrobat, cantrip would be Shocking Grasp. I don't like the low Wis because that's the saving throw against very unpleasant stuff, but as elf you have the big advantage of proficiency against charm spells and immunity to sleep. I would not like such a char as Barbarian or as Fighter if I would go Battlemaster, but for Eldritch Kinght it seems totally ok, as you can take two points at lvl 4 and don't need a feat.

On the other hand, with the appropiate weapon a Dex build will not have lower damage (longsword and rapier are both 1d8), if you are not satisfied with your damage with 17 Dex and a finesse weapon, you will also not with 16 Str and a strength weapon. As Eldritch Knight you need magic to your weapons. Advantage of the Dex fighter is the better ranged weapon damage.

If I were making a High Elf E.knt, I'd probably go generalist great weapon route:

Str14, Dex16, Con12, Int14, Wis10, Cha10

Mechanically, you're better off 14/16 than 15/15, although the latter allows full speed in plate armour (in TT plate requires minimum 15 Str otherwise -10 speed.)

I'd go great weapon fighting because of the difficulty in switching hands for spell casting (in TT, but not in BG3). Note that this style applies to versatile weapons in two-hands as well as dedicated two handed weapons. That's a lot of magical weapons he could wield well.

High Dex means you're a good archer from the get-go, and your missile attacks will be better than ranged cantrips pretty much always. You could swap Dex for Int and be a pretty reliable spellcaster at not much loss.

Int14 means I'd go for spells not reliant on save DCs like; Jump, Shield, Magic missile, False life, Blur, Mirror image; or AoE where someone will fail their save and half damage is okay anyway, e.g. Burning hands or Cloud of daggers. Con is a bit modest, so defensive spells are more valuable.

I'd bump Str at 4th and 6th level, and Int at 8th. I'm not keen on feats, but I could sneak one in at 6th or 8th I guess.

I agree we should be able to swap who is talking in conversations, but nevertheless wouldn’t agree high charisma is necessary for a PC. Yes, there are checks that are going to be harder to pass with lower charisma characters, but I find it boring to take the same path every time and don’t think it’s a bad thing to be pushed to solve problems in different ways. It’s still often (not always) possible to achieve similar outcomes by using other non-charisma dialogue checks, detect thoughts, or sneaking or thieving, or just fighting if it comes to that. Of course, if you prefer to solve problems by means of persuasion, deception or intimidation then you’re better off with a higher charisma character, but Larian have generally done a good job of making sure there are other satisfying approaches for characters who have different skill sets.


Yep, agreed (at least if we’re talking weapon and shield or dual weapon), which is why when playing elves I prefer to lean into their dexterity advantage and play finesse fighters. Though I do agree you don’t need to, and can get satisfactory strength as long as you’re willing to take lower values on non-essential stats or chug strength potions on the regular. Or if you’re lucky on stat rolling when we get that option.

EDIT: In the full release, a College of Valour bard might be a viable option for a high elf combo magic user and fighter, though they’ll take longer to pump their charisma up, but I wouldn’t recommend for EA as their combat inspiration is currently bugged at level 5 and they don’t get extra attack until level 6. Or we might eventually be able to go for a multiclass Wizard/Fighter.