Introduction
Orcs are a fantasy race dating back to Tolkien’s works, and since then theyhave served as a generic, barbaric, evil humanoid in countless works offiction. However, official DnD lore also inludes occasional examples ofplaying against type, including theMany-Arrows Clanin the Forgotten Realms. Whether you want to play to the trope or play againsttype, the Orc is an iconic fantasy race worth playing.
Mechanically, the original version of the Orc is a solid melee monster with afew unique traits. The Orc’s ability score increases, coupled with Aggressive,make it easy to get into melee and move between targets. Darkvision and someextra skills are great, too, frequently giving martial classes like theBarbarian and the Fighter something to do outside of combat. Unfortunately,the custom origin rules essentially made the Orc a worse tabaxi.
The updated version of the Orc published in Monsters of the Multiverse is allabout durability. Between Relentless Endurance and Adrenaline Rush, it’s veryhard to bring an orc down with hit point damage. Of course, the ability towithstand a lot of damage doesn’t help you actively accomplish many things, sothe Orc is once again pigeon-holed into a front-line martial role where theirtraits are consistently put to use. Borrowing Relentless Endurance from theHalf-Orc also means that Adrenaline Rush needs to be better than SavageCritical and a free skill proficiency, which is a hard trade.
Disclaimer
RPGBOT uses the color coding scheme which has become common among Pathfinder build handbooks, which is simple to understand and easy to read at a glance.
- Red: Bad, useless options, or options whichare extremely situational. Nearly never useful.
- Orange: OK options, or useful optionsthat only apply in rare circ*mstances. Useful sometimes.
- Green: Good options. Useful often.
- Blue: Fantastic options, often essentialto the function of your character. Useful very frequently.
We will not include 3rd-party content, including content from DMs Guild, in handbooks for official content because we can’t assume that your game will allow 3rd-party content or homebrew. We also won’t cover Unearthed Arcana content because it’s not finalized, and we can’t guarantee that it will be available to you in your games.
The advice offered below is based on the current State of the Character Optimization Meta as of when the article was last updated. Keep in mind that the state of the meta periodically changes as new source materials are released, and the article will be updated accordingly as time allows.
Orc Versions
There are effectively 5 versions of the Orc. While that gives them as manyversions as the Aasimar and the Eladrin, the Orc’s version history is lesscomplex because it flows in a single line rather than having parallelversions.
Version one of the Orc was published in Volo’s Guide to Monsters. It, alongwith the Kobold, were the only races in 5th edition to ever include an abilityscore decrease as part of their traits. This decrease was later removed inerrata. We’ll call the errata version 1.1.
The Orc later appeared in both Eberron: Rising From the Last War and inExplorer’s Guide to Wildemount. This version replaced the Menacing trait withPrimal Intuition, which allowed players to select two skills from a fixed listrather than only getting Intimidation.
The release of Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything gave us the custom originrules, giving us the next version of the Orc. This added some flexibility tothe Orc, but their signature trait, Aggressive, still pigeon-holes them intomelee roles.
Most recently, Monsters of the Multiverse fully rewrote the Orc. Their skillproficiencies were removed entirely, Aggressive was replaced with the muchmore useful Adrenaline Rush, and the Orc gained the Half-Orcs RelentlessEndurance.
Orc Classes
Artificer
Adrenaline Rush will help compensate for the Artificer’s d8 hit dice, butmost artificers use their Bonus Action heavily so it’s hard to keep itavailable for Adrenaline Rush. Relentless Endurance is useful if you’re yourparty’s primary Defender.
Barbarian
Adrenaline Rush may be useful late into combat if you need to switch targets,but in most combats they’ll be within range of your 40 ft. speed. Manybarbarian subclasses also have a consistent use for your Bonus Action, sousing Adrenaline Rush is often difficult even in situations where it might beuseful.
Bard
Adrenaline Rush provides both a helpful source of temporary hit points and a way to put extra distance between you and your enemies. Relentless Endurance might save your life from time to time. Neither will make bards good in melee, but extra durability is always nice.
Cleric
Adrenaline Rush is a great way to rush to an allies aid or to get out of adangerous spot. You don’t need to keep it available every round, but it’s goodwhen you desperately need to get into or out of melee, and you can sacrificeone round of Spiritual Weapon attacks. Relentless Endurance can keep yourparty’s primary healer conscious.
Druid
Adrenaline Rush is a great way to rush to an allies aid or to get out of a dangerous spot, and Relentless Endurance can keep your party’s primary healer conscious. I think both Adrenaline Rush and Relentless Endurance work while in Wild Shape, too, so Circle of the Moon is a great combination.
Fighter
Between Adrenaline Rush, Relentless Endurance, Second Wind, and decent armor,it’s very difficult to bring down an orc fighter. Grab a two-handed weapon andgo looking for trouble.
Monk
Adrenaline Rush is somewhat redundant with Step of the Wind, but AdrenalineRush both gives you temporary hit points and doesn’t consume Ki, so there issome benefit there. Relentless Endurance is good insurance, especially at lowlevels before your AC scales with your Ability Score Increases.
Paladin
Adrenaline Rush is a great way for the Paladin to start combat. Whilepaladins have more uses for their Bonus Action than fighters, you still don’talways need them on turn 1 of combat. Relentless Endurance adds to thePaladin’s already impressive durability, giving you a good opportunity to dumpall of your Lay on Hands point into healing yourself in a hurry.
Ranger
Rangers lean heavily on their Bonus Action, so using Adrenaline Rush presentsa significant reduction to your damage output which is often hard tojustify.
Rogue
Adrenaline Rush is partially redundant with Cunning Action, and usingRelentless Endurance should be an extreme rarity for the Rogue. Between theease of getting out of melee and Uncanny Dodge, rogues are already plentydurable.
Sorcerer
Adrenaline Rush and Relentless Endurance provide some helpful insurance on a frail class, but they won’t make you better as a sorcerer. If you’re worried about being out of range, use a long-range spell or make enemies come to you.
Warlock
Adrenaline Rush and Relentless Endurance provide some helpful insurance on afrail class, but they won’t make you better as a warlock. If you’re worriedabout being out of range, use a long-range spell or make enemies come toyou.
Wizard
Adrenaline Rush and Relentless Endurance provide some helpful insurance on afrail class, but they won’t make you better as a wizard. If you’re worriedabout being out of range, use a long-range spell or make enemies come toyou.
Classes (Customizable Origins)
This section assumes that you’re using the option “Customizing Your Origin” rules presented in Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything. If you’re not using those rules, scroll down to the next section.
Artificer
Aggressive is passable for melee armorer builds, but other artificers willfrequently use their Bonus Action every turn.
Barbarian
Rage also uses your Bonus Action, and many barbarian subclasses have a BonusAction option which you’ll use repeatedly, so it’s hard to use Aggressive onturn 1 when it really matters, and most barbarians won’t want to use it oncethey’re raging.
Bard
If you are far enough away that Aggressive seems like a good idea, you shouldbe casting spells.
Cleric
Use Aggressive to charge into melee before activating Spirit Guardians, thenuse Aggressive to chase your enemies when they try to escape your magicalradiant damage blender. Probably best for cleric domains with heavy armor.
Druid
Many druid subclasses don’t use their Bonus Action, but druids also typicallydon’t want to be in melee. Circle of the Moon is your best bet, but onlybecause Aggressive should work while using Wild Shape. Just remember thatusing Wild Shape will also use your Bonus Action, so you can’t do both in thesame turn.
Fighter
Fighters have few uses for their Bonus Action, so Aggressive works great formelee builds. Two skills also help you do something useful outside ofcombat.
Monk
Aggressive is redundant with Step of the Wind, and monks get a scaling speedbonus that should make Aggressive unnecessary in almost any fight beyond lowlevels.
Paladin
Paladins are almost exclusively build for melee, so Aggressive works great aslong as you’re not using your Bonus Action for spells or Channel Divinity. Twoskills will also help you expand beyond Face skills.
Ranger
The Ranger already relies heavily on their Bonus Action, so Aggressive ishard to use, especially early in combat where Aggressive is most useful.
Rogue
Agressive is redundant with Cunning Action. Play a tabaxi if you desperatelywant more movement.
Sorcerer
If you’re out of range to cast every one of your spells, your enemies arealmost certainly out of range to hurt you, too. Use that time to give yourselfand advantage rather than running screaming into their attack range withAggressive. The extra skills are great, but two skills and Darkvision isavailable from numerous races.
Warlock
If you’re out of range to cast every one of your spells, your enemies arealmost certainly out of range to hurt you, too. Use that time to give yourselfand advantage rather than running screaming into their attack range withAggressive. The extra skills are great, but two skills and Darkvision isavailable from numerous races.
Wizard
If you’re out of range to cast every one of your spells, your enemies arealmost certainly out of range to hurt you, too. Use that time to give yourselfand advantage rather than running screaming into their attack range withAggressive. The extra skills are great, but two skills and Darkvision isavailable from numerous races.
Classes (Classic Rules)
This section assumes that you’re not using the option “Customizing Your Origin” rules presented in Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything or the updated version of the race published in Mordenkainen’s Monsters of the Multiverse. If you are using those rules, scroll up to the previous section.
Artificer
No Intelligence increase.
Barbarian
The Orc is tailor-made to be a barbarian. Strength, Constitution, Aggressive,and Intimidate.
Bard
The Bard is likely the Orc’s nest option or arcane spellcasting, but I wouldstick to Valor so that you don’t need to invest heavily in Dexterity. Eventhen, it’s not a great choice.
Cleric
The Cleric is the Orc’s best option for divine spellcasting, and if you stickto domains which provide proficiency in heavy armor you should be okay.
Druid
You might be able to use Aggressive during Wild Shape, but that’s not nearlyenough to make the Orc a decent druid.
Fighter
For a Strength-based build, it’s hard to go wrong with the Orc. Strength,Constitution, and Aggressive make it easy to get into melee and move betweentargets, and the extra skill proficiency is always nice.
Monk
Strength-based monks don’t work.
Paladin
The paladin isn’t as straightforward as the Barbarian or the Fighter, but theOrc still makes a fine paladin. Proficiency in Intimidation gives you a freeface skill, so if you can manage decent Charisma the Paladin can be reallygreat.
Ranger
A Strength-based ranger build is difficult, but doable.
Rogue
No Dexterity increase.
Sorcerer
No Charisma increase.
Warlock
No Charisma increase.
Wizard
No Intelligence increase.
