Best race for every class is sylvan elf?

[Mike]

This seemed to be true in BG3 and Solasta.

18 dex, longbow, highest move speed.

Obviously this is amazing for Rangers and Rogues since they gain AC, Att, Dam from dex. And really need move speed to get flanks or high ground etc.

But I find the dex fighter with high move speed is also better than the str fighter. Especially since there is no +2 str race. Same for paladin. I tried a dwarf paladin but he is so slow compared to sylvan elf.

Dex weapons means you can wield a scimitar and short sword, or Rapier and shield. Depending if you want more DPS or more AC. (Elf gives proficiency in short sword and longbow which is huge for some classes).

My Wizard was using cantrips that deal 1d10+0, but it turn out with 18 dex a longbow does 1d8+4 which is a lot better. I also have 2 short swords on my wizard as a weapon swap and that means he can off hand attack as a free action after casting burning hands or something. And if he is out of spells, 2 short swords far out damages cantrips before level 5. At level 5 it is less clear.

Cleric, obviously 18 dex is best, use short sword and shield, swap to longbow for ranged. Much better than cantrips. Use spells to bless, buff, heal. More movement is great for positioning and tanking and healing.

As far as I can tell only warlocks don't want to be Sylvan elves.
Oh and if you want to play some other race for fun/roleplay that works also. I may have a strength guy so I can use magic heavy armor/str weapons that I find. But with crafting I can just avoid those.

Thoughts? What am I missing?

[Korzald]

Elves are good for a lot of classes. But you want str for the armor. Armor will keep your cleric on their feet. And yes longbow + high dex will beat cantrips till level 5 and above. Also if you do point buy rather then rolling getting an 18 dex is not that easy. Also your bow is pretty much capped from the start unless your going to add to the dex with your points every 4 levels and then you will only get one increase for +1. So it does top out. As for the movement going all sylvan will give you that movement. But good setup before the fight can mean you don't need that movement at all.

[ChristopherN4G]

Dwarves make better fighters, IMHO. More hit points (+1/level and +2 con) and resistances. That's +20 hit points at level 10 with that alone. Add the toughness feat, +30.

With no barbarian, Dwarves kind of take the mantle for meat shields here and work well as sword & shield combatants in heavy armor who impose disadvantage and try their best to be the choke point holder.

[Something completely different]

I had a half elf paladin for the cha bonus.

[Indure]

I think part of the problem you are seeing is due to being low level.

Your wizard is doing 1d10 with firebolt vs 1d8+4 with longbow at level 1, but at level 5 your int is going to raise before your dex, so your chance to hit is better with firebolt and it goes to a 2d10 while longbows damage never changes.

Clerics have the same thing happen with their sacred flame becoming a 2d8. Also unlike wizard their defenses cap at 14 dex, since medium armor can only get +2 AC from dex. Dexterity's contribution to the class falters at later levels, when the cleric can be using guiding bolt or inflict wounds (both needing high wisdom to hit) to land 6d6 or 4d10 worth of damage, which is miles above a longbow's or shortsword's damage potential.

In terms of fighters the bonus movement is incredibly strong, but at later levels you will have -2AC compared to a warrior focused on strength and I've found that if you can get Expeditious Retreat on your fighter they generally have enough movement to get into melee range every round.

[Mike]

Some people are saying light armor/dex is not as good AC but studded leather +20 dex = 17 ac. Same as Half-plate +14 dex. So I think the defenses are pretty similar. Not sure if you can go to 22 dex, but if you can then dex will be better at level 8 (assuming rogue/ranger/fighter etc that puts points into dex).


I also had +1 shield, ring of protection (attuned) (this seemed buggy)

My dwarf was so slow that he often wasn't able to get melee swings off. Especially on back row casters and archers. On top of that he couldn't swap to bow since he was Strength based and javelins are very short range so he got disadvantage on throws a lot. If he had a longbow and 20 dex then his movement wouldn't be as bad. Maybe a dex/con dwarf so I have tons of HP and good ranged options for when my movement speed hurts me.

[Indure]

Originally posted by Mike D:

Some people are saying light armor/dex is not as good AC but studded leather +20 dex = 17 ac. Same as Half-plate +14 dex. So I think the defenses are pretty similar. Not sure if you can go to 22 dex, but if you can then dex will be better at level 8 (assuming rogue/ranger/fighter etc that puts points into dex).


I also had +1 shield, ring of protection (attuned) (this seemed buggy)

My dwarf was so slow that he often wasn't able to get melee swings off. Especially on back row casters and archers. On top of that he couldn't swap to bow since he was Strength based and javelins are very short range so he got disadvantage on throws a lot. If he had a longbow and 20 dex then his movement wouldn't be as bad. Maybe a dex/con dwarf so I have tons of HP and good ranged options for when my movement speed hurts me.

The stats are max at 20 unless you have a magic item that specifically allows it to go over 20. Light armor with max dex is equivalent to medium armor and less than heavy armor. But in order to get max dex you have to be minimum of level 8 and spend all your ASI to get it, which is fine for rogues, rangers, warriors and maybe paladin (all of which except for rogue can use medium or heavy armor), but seriously gimps any class that uses spells like wizards and clerics.

[RJM]

The principle of 5e was bounded accuracy, which means the numbers stay relatively close together unlike previous iterations of D&D where one character's AC could be 20 points higher than the next. Even so, the classic plate + shield tank will have a better AC than the alternatives. That's why the barbarian gets more hit points and damage reduction to compensate. At low level having your high AC character stand in the doorway and dodging while the rest of the party destroys the monsters from behind in almost complete safety is a strong tactic.

[Silverquick]

Yeah this doesn't quite work that way.

The problem with running all Dex Fighters also becomes carrying capacity and Athletics for jumping. Those are all heavily STR reliant, and you need the carrying weight in this game due to the Rations to travel back and forth between destinations.

While a Dex fighter or two are highly effective when combined with Dual Wield, the STR fighters are just as effective and grant you the carry capacity you need to hold enough food to make the journeys. Also for carrying back loot and treasure... so it does matter.

I make sure to at least make ONE STR related character.

If you don't you'll hose yourself.

[Blackmage]

The problem is not elves. The problem is 5e made Dexterity the god attribute.

[Mr Fred]

The game was already super easy with the buying point system and not having 18 everywhere like you seem to promote OP.

You also seem to lack basic knowledge of the game that make you look for a way to "beat" it in a pure zoomer fashion.

[Frederik]

Originally posted by Mike D:

(Elf gives proficiency in short sword and longbow which is huge for some classes)

i think it's worth mentioning that there is a background that gives medium armor proficiency, and another that gives martial weapons proficiency, so the proficiencies you get from elves aren't all that incredible.

[Mike]

Originally posted by Indure:

The stats are max at 20 unless you have a magic item that specifically allows it to go over 20. Light armor with max dex is equivalent to medium armor and less than heavy armor. But in order to get max dex you have to be minimum of level 8 and spend all your ASI to get it, which is fine for rogues, rangers, warriors and maybe paladin (all of which except for rogue can use medium or heavy armor), but seriously gimps any class that uses spells like wizards and clerics.

I think you can get 20 dex at level 1 fairly easily if you decide to use the dice rolling system and is it your most important stat. But I agree, if you are using point buy then medium and heavy armor are a lot better because you have lower dex.

That is probably a deciding factor. If you are rolling stats and have 20 dex, then studded leather + shield is excellent for AC and movement and combat stats and ranged weapon swap.

I do agree with silverquick's point that carrying capacity sucks with 10 str. Maybe they change how that works in the final version though, they talked about having a guild that loots after you leave and gives you the money. If you are rolling stats you might be able to put 12-14 into str on several characters, but point buy you really want 8 or 10 in str.

Does heavy armor reduce movement speed? I couldn't find any rules on that. Does it hurt athletics or acrobatics? I saw that it gives -4 stealth usually, but is that it?

[Frederik]

Originally posted by Mike D:

Does heavy armor reduce movement speed? I couldn't find any rules on that. Does it hurt athletics or acrobatics? I saw that it gives -4 stealth usually, but is that it?

it doesn't give -4 stealth, it gives stealth disadvantage, so does half plate, scale mail, and padded armor. unless this game has changed those rules

[RJM]

Officially almost all armours have no stat requirement. The two best heavy armours have a requirement of Str 14 and 15, but not having the stat only reduces your movement by 5 feet and dwarves ignore that. However the weight of it means you'll quickly be hitting the carry limit and slowing down by 10 feet anyway if you don't have much strength when using the optional encumbrance rules that Solasta does. With the basic rules of 15 x Str limit, it's less important.

It does not affect any skill other than stealth.

The optional encumbrance limit is the overriding reason why I will probably ignore point buy and stick to rolling stats in this game. Slowing down at light encumbrance limit is just too brutal when you have to measure out every point you spend on strength. Even wizards can find a use for 14 strength if they have to carry rations because they can't buy a mule or find a bag of holding.

[Mike]

Yeah I completed the game with 20 str dwarf paladin with magic backpack and still my whole party was at least light encumbrance at the end.

My 20 str paladin was literally maxed out on weight and when a fight started I would open up inventory and drop all the armor he was carrying as a free action, get down to no encumbrance and then pick it back up after. It is just annoying honestly.

I think I will roll stats too so I can give everyone high str to minimize the boring part of the game.