Half-Elves walk in two worlds, cast between the paths of Humans as skilled Fighters, intelligent Wizards, or chaotic Warlocks, and those of Elves as nature-bound Druids, stealthy Rogues, or harmonious Bards.
Half-Elves have ample choices, being able to draw from both their Human and Elf blood to find the perfect class.
Best Classes for Half-Elves
5. Paladin
Primary Ability Scores – Charisma and Strength
Secondary Ability Score – Constitution
Spellcasting Ability – Charisma
Armor Proficiencies – Light, Medium, Heavy, Shields
Weapons Proficiencies – Simple, Martial
Why the Paladin?
Paladins need three ability scores to function well: Charisma, Strength, and Constitution. With the Half-Elf, they’ll be able to gain bonuses to all three (2 in Charisma and 1 in Strength and Constitution).
With the wide range of free ability scores you gain, you can easily become more than your party’s Defender, even becoming a durable Face or instead opting in for powerful Half-Elf traits.
Recommended Subclasses
- Oath of Conquest is the perfect mix of offensive options and crowd control.
- Oath of Redemption is a good option for more passive Half-Elves, shining with more Elvish heritage.
4. Rogue
Primary Ability Score – Dexterity
Secondary Ability Scores – Constitution, Intelligence (For Arcane Tricksters)
Armor Proficiencies – Light
Weapons Proficiencies – Simple, Shortswords, Rapiers, Longswords, Hand Crossbows
Why the Rogue?
If you want your character to have not just a few skills but ALL of them, you should play as a Half-Elf Rogue.
Half-Elf Rogues can easily start with 8 skill proficiencies, and if you wanted to, you could invest in Feats like Skill Expert or Prodigy for even more skills, but at this point, it’ll be overkill.
You should also take advantage of Elven Accuracy, as a Rogue can easily combine it with their Sneak Attack, which is incredibly powerful and even more so when you roll a critical hit.
Recommended Subclasses
- Arcane Trickster uses the magical knowledge of your Elvish heritage.
- Mastermind sets your Human intellect and tactics free.
3. Sorcerer
Primary Ability Score – Charisma
Secondary Ability Scores – Constitution, Dexterity
Spellcasting Ability – Charisma
Armor Proficiencies – None
Weapons Proficiencies – Daggers, Quarterstaffs, Light Crossbows, Darts, Slings
Why the Sorcerer?
Once again, because the Half-Elf can obtain three different ability scores, those being the most important for the Sorcerer being Constitution, Dexterity, and Charisma, it’s no wonder Half-Elves are perfect Sorcerers.
With the free skills you gain, it’ll be easy to become your party’s Rogue or just their Face since you’ll have high Charisma and decent Dexterity for Stealth.
Mark of Storm Half-Elves also fits well with the theme and powers of Storm Sorcery, so if you’re interested in it, consider playing a Mark of Storm Half-Elf.
Recommended Subclasses
- Storm Sorcery fits well with the Mark of Storm Half-Elves.
- Divine Soul combines many of the better spells in D&D and creates the perfect spellcasting build aided by the Half-Elf’s Charisma increase.
2. Warlock
Primary Ability Score – Charisma
Secondary Ability Scores – Constitution, Dexterity
Spellcasting Ability – Charisma
Armor Proficiencies – Light
Weapons Proficiencies – Simple
Why the Warlock?
Warlocks are a perfect fit for Half-Elves, using their three different ability scores the same as Sorcerers would in the above-mentioned piece.
You can use the extra skills to increase your efficiency outside of spellcasting, or you can combine the Warlock’s powers with that of the Half-Elf’s variants, as they have magic that could be useful.
The Elven Accuracy Feat can also work quite well as a Warlock since they have many ways to give themselves an advantage on attacks.
Recommended Subclasses
- Hexblade perfectly utilizes both the Charisma and Dexterity Half-Elves have.
- The Genie isn’t the easiest subclass to play, requiring a lot of thought, but because of your Elvish knack for magic and Human intelligence, this subclass fits perfectly with a Half-Elf.
1. Bard
Primary Ability Score – Charisma
Secondary Ability Scores – Constitution, Dexterity
Spellcasting Ability – Charisma
Armor Proficiencies – Light
Weapons Proficiencies – Simple, Shortswords, Rapiers, Longswords, Hand Crossbow
Why the Bard?
Half-Elves were meant to become Bards, one of the best races to play if you wanted to play as a Bard.
The Half-Elf’s wide range of ability scores complement players who want to play jack-of-all-trades Bards, as well as those who want to focus on the Bard’s three most important ability scores.
You can also choose to gain even more skills on top of your insane number of skills as a Bard or become a Half-Elf variant to gain access to more Cantrips like Firebolt or Booming Blade.
Recommended Subclasses
- College of Eloquence focuses purely on what core features Bards have, making it perfect for newer players and those who want to have an authentic Bard experience.
- College of Swords can work quite well with your increased Dexterity, but because it’s so weak on its own, I’d recommend multiclassing into a Hexblade to unlock some more effective features.
Final Thoughts
The classes above will give you, as a Half-Elf, the most optimal pathways through the world of D&D.
All you need to do now is fashion your character into a beast capable of doing whatever you want it to do!