Orc Soulknife Rogue Build Guide
Unleash mind-blades from the shadows with the Orc's relentless physical power and the Soulknife's deadly psionic adaptability.
Free — no signup needed for the free tier.
Why Soulknife?
The Orc Soulknife Rogue is a terrifyingly efficient phantom on the battlefield, blending raw physical survival with refined mental weaponry. As a Soulknife, you don't need to carry physical weapons; your Psychic Blades manifest out of thin air whenever you attack, dealing psychic damage and leaving no trace. This synergizes perfectly with the Orc's natural scouting potential, allowing you to bypass guards completely unarmed before unleashing deadly psionic strikes.
Your Orc heritage provides incredible survivability when you are operating deep behind enemy lines. While Rogues are typically fragile "strikers" who want to avoid direct hits, your Relentless Endurance trait lets you survive a lethal blow once per long rest, dropping to 1 hit point instead of falling unconscious. This gives you the confidence to play aggressively, knowing your mental blades can still turn the tide of battle even when cornered.
Additionally, your high Dexterity of 15 and the Orc's Adrenaline Rush allow you to dash across the battlefield as a bonus action while gaining temporary hit points. This incredible mobility ensures you can always position yourself for a Sneak Attack, throw your mind-blades, and slip back into the darkness.
Soulknife Features
Psionic Power
Level 3You have a pool of psionic energy represented by Psionic Energy dice. You have a number of these dice equal to twice your proficiency bonus, and they are d6s. You can use them to power psi abilities: Psi-Bolstered Knack (add die to a failed ability check) and Psychic Whispers (establish telepathic communication). You regain all expended dice after a long rest, or one die as a bonus action.
Psychic Blades
Level 3You can manifest blades of psychic energy. When you take the Attack action, you can create a psychic blade that deals 1d6 psychic damage. The blade vanishes after hitting or missing. It has the finesse and thrown (60 ft) properties. After attacking with the blade, you can make a bonus action attack with a second psychic blade that deals 1d4 psychic damage.
Soul Blades
Level 9Your Psychic Blades gain additional abilities. Homing Strikes: when you miss with your psychic blade, you can expend a Psionic Energy die and add it to the attack roll, potentially turning a miss into a hit. Psychic Teleportation: as a bonus action, you can expend a Psionic Energy die, roll it, and throw a psychic blade to an unoccupied space you can see up to 10 times the number rolled feet away, teleporting to that space.
Psychic Veil
Level 13As an action, you can become invisible for 1 hour or until you dismiss this effect (no action required). You also end the invisibility early if you deal damage to a creature or force a creature to make a saving throw. Once you use this feature, you can't do so again until you finish a long rest, unless you expend a Psionic Energy die to use it again.
Rend Mind
Level 17When you deal Sneak Attack damage with your Psychic Blades, you can force the target to make a Wisdom saving throw (DC 8 + your Dexterity modifier + your proficiency bonus). On a failure, the target is stunned for 1 minute. The target can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on a success. Once you use this feature, you can't do so again until you finish a long rest, unless you expend three Psionic Energy dice to use it again.
Recommended Ability Scores
Orc Traits That Benefit Soulknife Rogue
Darkvision
Orc Darkvision helps Rogues scout ahead and fight in darkness without needing a torch.
Adrenaline Rush
Bonus action Dash with temp HP gives the Rogue both mobility and survivability.
Relentless Endurance
Dropping to 1 HP instead of 0 once per rest is a powerful survival tool for frontline Rogues.
Combat Effectiveness
| Level | HP | Melee DPR | Ranged DPR |
|---|---|---|---|
| Level 5 | 33 | 20.4 | 20.4 |
| Level 11 | 69 | 30.25 | 30.25 |
| Level 17 | 105 | 41.8 | 41.8 |
👉 Stop reading. Start playing.
Strengths & Weaknesses
Strengths
- ♦ Soulknife grants Psionic Power at level 3
- ♦ Darkvision for dungeon exploration
- ♦ Good armor class and initiative
- ♦ Excellent skill versatility and Sneak Attack damage
Weaknesses
- ♦ Low Wisdom — vulnerable to common saving throws
- ♦ Low Charisma limits social interactions
- ♦ Limited ranged and magical options without multiclassing
Pro Tips
Use Adrenaline Rush to close the distance or escape, saving your bonus action attack from Psychic Blades for when you are already safely positioned.
Leverage your Darkvision to scout ahead in pitch blackness, launching surprise Psychic Blades attacks without revealing your position with torches.
If an enemy bypasses your defenses, let Relentless Endurance keep you standing so you can retaliate with a deadly Sneak Attack on your turn.
Boost failed ability checks with your Psionic Power dice, keeping your high Dexterity skills like Stealth and Sleight of Hand nearly flawless.
Other Rogue Subclasses for Orc
Other Races for Soulknife Rogue
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Soulknife a good subclass for Orc Rogue?
What makes Soulknife different from other Rogue subclasses?
Create Your Orc Soulknife Rogue
Use Dice Will Decide's free character builder with optimized stats, spells, and equipment.
Create This Character