STARFINDER CLASSES
If you have been looking at Starfinder for a change of pace from your usual role-playing game experience, you may have been wondering what class you should play. I'm going to tell you about each of the 12 classes currently playable in Starfinder. There are a few more coming down the line, but they will not be covered in this post as they are not playable yet. I'm also going to give my hot takes on the difficulty of each class to play so you can make an informed decision.
BIOHACKER
Kasathan Biohacker
Starting us off is going to be the Biohacker. The Biohacker is a support class. If you’re into medicine, mad science and funky drugs, then you are going to enjoy the Biohacker. The Biohacker uses their skills to buff up your players, your party members and to debuff enemies. And of course they specialize in science and medicine skills. They're not huge damage dealers when it comes to combat, but they're not useless either. I would give them a medium level of difficulty. The class itself is not incredibly complicated, they do have their abilities and such to keep track of, but it is the buffs and debuffs, and knowing when and how to use them in tactical combat that can be a bit of a challenge. Are you a detail oriented person? This is the class for you.
ENVOY
Human Envoy
If you're a talker or you like to play someone who is a talker, you're probably going to enjoy the Envoy class. The Envoy is the charismatic face of your party. Their class abilities specialize around lifting up and inspiring your party members and demoralizing your enemies. When it comes to starship combat, having an envoy on your side who can help boost your skill checks and other class abilities is valuable. Envoys will also become something of a skill monkey. Even with a moderate intelligence modifier, the envoys get a lot of skill points and many of their class abilities are specifically geared around increasing their skill checks. The Envoy is the closest thing to a space bard as you’re going to get. This class is very easy to play, so if you’re new to roleplaying games or new to Starfinder, the Envoy will be a perfect choice.
MECHANIC
Ysoki Mechanic
Now the next class is the Mechanic, and the Mechanic is by far the most complicated class in Starfinder. There are some really fun and cool builds that you can do with the Mechanic, but you have to keep in mind that you won’t only be managing your character sheet, but that of your custom vehicle as well. There are some builds that don’t require the use of two character sheets, but they are just as complicated. And besides, half the fun of the Mechanic is making your own spy or attack drone! With a Mechanic, you will have custom weapons, custom hacking rigs, explosives, power armor… the list goes on. Mechanics can put out some decent damage when it comes to combat, and they are great at fixing things, so they do make amazing ship engineers. And they can also specialize in computers! If you like to min-max your characters, or you really enjoy customizing your character, this might be an amazing class for you to delve into.
MYSTIC
Vlaka Mystic
The Mystic is a solid spellcaster class, unmatched when it comes to the occult. If you want to sling magic spells, throw around some fancy fireballs, the Mystic is what you want to be. There are currently four caster classes within Starfinder, but this one is specifically tailored to magic and mysticism. They are not nearly as weak as wizards in some games. The Mystic is fully capable of going into battle on their own as long as you have equipped them with the right gear and given them some weapons, and with the adjustment of a feat or two, they can be decent damage dealers in combat without slinging spells. Though, if you’re not shooting fireballs out of your derriere, why are you playing a Mystic? I would rank the mystic on the medium side of difficulty for players. There are some unique spells in the game, and the Mystic has access to most of them. The only trick with the mystic is managing all your spells, knowing what page they're on, and pulling them from different resources or different books. There's there's a lot of places to get magic spells from. Outside of that it's not a particularly difficult class. There are so many mystic connections that you can choose from which will flavor the style of magic user that you are, and there's more coming out with every single release.
NANOCYTE
Spathinae Nanocyte
Now with the Nanocyte class, they are capable of using weapons in the traditional sense, however they mostly choose not to because the Nanocyte is the weapon. Your body is full of microscopic robots that alter your physiology depending on what your needs are. Need your arm to turn into a sword? That's something that can happen. Maybe you need to harden your skin for some extra damage reduction? Yeah, that too. If the concept of being filled with thousands or millions of nanobots excites you, then this is going to be the class for you. As far as utility goes, the Nanocyte fits into a couple of roles. I would classify them as a support role or a support class, however they can also be built for a solid combat option. These support builds will use a lot of crowd control and battlefield manipulation, while the combat builds can do some pretty decent damage output. The Nanocytes chosen faculty is what's going to give the class its flavor. When it comes to the difficulty, I would say this one would be a little bit on the easier side. There is a tiny bit of tracking that you may need to do for your own buffs or debuffs, some of the abilities and how they manipulate the battlefield, but it's not a spellcaster class. If you are familiar with role-playing games already, then this is not going to be a challenge to pick up.
OPERATIVE
The Operative is the space rogue, and it is the only class in the game that is almost overpowered. They don't have sneak attack like rogues in other systems, but they do get a unique ability called Trick Attack. When you are using Trick Attack, and if it's successful, you will deal extra damage to your target. When it comes to skills, Operatives are absolute beasts. They have so many class skills and so many ranks to apply to those skills, it is a bit ridiculous. At early levels, they get speed bonuses, which help them move around the battlefield quickly. The Operative is a easy class to pick up if you are new to the game, this is a great class to start with. There are a lot of different ways you can flavor your Operative, and even the most creative player will have a blast.
(Pahtra Operative)
PRECOG
Elf Precog
The Precog is another one of the four spellcaster classes within Starfinder, and it is also one of the newest. The whole concept of the Precog resides around the thought of time manipulation. There aren’t as many builds or options for the Precog as it is a new class for the system, but they are by no stretch of the imagination limited and even a moderately creative player can come up with a pretty decent and engaging back story for these characters. Mechanically, the Precog manipulates the dice. This can help out with skill checks or with combat. While they are a spell caster and they are capable of doing damage this way, they are also a pretty decent utility class as well. Since there is quite a bit of tracking for your die rolls and knowing when and how to apply them, they are not the most beginner friendly class, but they are certainly a lot of fun.
SOLARIAN
The Solarian is the closest thing to a space Jedi you are going to see in Starfinder. They don't use The Force to power their abilities, but they do use gravity and the sun. The Solarian is absolutely a combat class. They are designed for fighting in a unique way where you have to balance their abilities. If you take too many abilities from the gravity side or the photon side, then you're going to have some penalties on your abilities. If Starfinder had martial classes, this would be the closest thing to it. They can use traditional weapons and traditional armors and they can even enhance them with their class abilities, but they can also form their own weapons out of energy that is specific to the Solarian. They hit hard and they can get hit hard. When I first saw the Solarian, I had not seen anything like it in any other roleplaying system. It took me a little bit to wrap my head around the class and how their abilities worked, but once I did the class became very easy to understand. Are they a great beginner class? No. Do you need to be super advanced to play this class? Also no. I’d suggest this class to anyone that has played Starfinder before, and they’re looking for something a little more complicated.
(Lashunta Solarian)
Vesk Soldier
SOLDIER
If you wanted to play a simple and effective killing machine, then the Soldier is your class. At level 1 they start off able to use nearly all the weapons. They're tied for the highest hit points and stamina points in the game, and what the Soldier lacks in class abilities, they make up for in weapon usage and firepower. If you want to hit things up close, use the Soldier. If you want to shoot things from far away, use a Soldier. Explosives are also an option. The Soldier is a simple class to pick up and it is beginner friendly. If you're new to Starfinder or roleplaying games in general, then the Soldier is a great option. The way you flavor and specialize your Soldier is through their fighting styles. And for those that are more comfortable with roleplaying games, don’t think that the Soldier is not a deep class, there are absolutely some advanced builds for your Soldier.
TECHNOMANCER
Shirren Techomancer
The Technomancer is the third spellcaster class. If you like blending magic and technology into one, then you're going to love the Technomancer. They are very cyberpunk. The Technomancer is one of the original caster classes from the game, and as such there are so many variations and options available to you for your Technomancer. They are effective spell casters, they can deal damage, but they're not very good at healing. Like the Mystic, if you give your Technomancer a feat or two and some proper equipment, they can hold their own in combat. You don't want them to be on the front line, though. As far as difficulty goes, I would put this one at the medium level. You are going to be managing some spells, so you have to know what your spells and your abilities can do. Because you deal with computers and engineering, you're also very effective on a starship.
VANGUARD
If you like being a brick wall, able to take a lot of damage and turn that damage back onto your foes, you are going to love the Vanguard. The Vanguard are not rage machines, but they are masters of turning the kinetic energy of attacks back on other targets, and they do this through their entropic strike with a melee weapon. They can use this energy to create their own shield, or body armor, if you will. This is a class that is tied with the soldier for the most hit and stamina points. Their main ability score is constitution, so the more health they have, the harder they can hit. As far as difficulty goes for playing a Vanguard, it's a very easy class to figure out, and a lot of fun to play. I would absolutely recommend this for someone who is starting Starfinder for the first time, and who would like to hit hard.
Lashunta Vanguard defending battle allies
WITCHWARPER
The Witchwarper is the fourth and final caster class, as well as the final class available to you in Starfinder. They are a very unique caster class as they are a charisma based caster, so if you're someone who likes magic and talking, or being the party face, a Witchwarper will be a perfect option for you. The main inspiration for the Witchwarper was around Marvels Doctor Strange, so their abilities are geared towards bending reality, pulling objects or sending things away to alternate universes. I haven’t seen a caster class like this in any other game, especially when it was first released in the Character Operations Manual. I don't believe that everyone can pull it off the class. While they are a caster class, I would put them in the higher degree of difficulty to use effectively, so they are certainly for more advanced players.
If you're interested hearing a more in-depth dive into any of the classes that I have talked about, go ahead and click on the playlist to take you to my channel. And while you’re there, I would love to hear what your favorite class that we talked about today was! As always, I would like to thank my patrons and my subscribers to my channel. If you would like to get access to my homebrew content, then please consider joining me on Patreon. All of your support is greatly appreciated. My name is Nathaniel, you’ve had a dose of Maple, and I welcome you back to the Table next week!
