D&D 5E Most powerful class in 5e

I've spent a lot of time toying with the various 5e classes. For a while, I was convinced druids were the most powerful class in the game. They get way more HP than any other class that refreshes on short rests. They have consistent power spikes in their shape change and spell list (giant ape at level 7 is bananas), and at level 20 the druid can become refresh a massive health pool every turn with only a bonus action.

After that I discovered the power of multiclassing Cleric/Wizard. Due to the combination of: how wizards learn spells, how clerics gain heavy armor proficiency, and how 5e calculates multiclass spell slot progression, you can be a wizard wearing heavy armor who loses none of their spell progression. There is also a RAW interpretation that allows gives you access to every cleric spell with only 1 level of the class, but it seems clear that was not the intention.

Eventually I began to examine the Bard. At first I wasn't impressed, with a somewhat lackluster spell list I initially assumed it was simple an inferior Wizard. However, there are two class features that pushes the Bard, in my opinion, past the other classes. The first is the Bard's ability to cherry pick spells from other class's spell lists at level 6(lore college), 10, 14, and 18. This gives the Bard the most flexibility of any spell caster. The other incredibly powerful Bard feature is bardic inspiration. This allows the bard to either make themselves more likely to hit, or their enemy more likely to miss. The end result is a full caster that has easy access to eldritch blast for consistent damage, and access to every powerful spell in the book.

What do you guys think? I'm still looking through the book and I'd love to hear what powerful combos other people have found.

What do I think? Don't do theorycrafting when trying to find an answer. Actually play the classes in typical adventures. 5e has a way of turning assumptions on their head. And honestly, I don't think there is any one most powerful class. I've seen:

*the barbarian dominate with massive HP, huge damage, and significant damage reduction, keeping her in the fight FOREVER
* the halfling battlemaster fighter absolutely shine against the battle with a white dragon
* the paladin shine with repeated divine smite during combat, and excel out of combat with spell functionality
* the rogue single handily take out a boss fight when everyone else was struggling to just get a hit in.
* the empowered sorcerer blow the living sh*t out of an entire encounter

What I have found is, that there aren't a single class in 5e that can be considered the most powerful. While some classes seems very powerful on paper, the way that the DM runs his/her games, is the deciding factor, so the most powerful class will be different from table to table. For example the number of encounters per day, the ease of getting short and long rests, how certain rules are interpreted (like hiding), and how easy access the players have to spell scrolls/NPC spell sellers, will be a big factor in how a class plays at a given table, not to mention whether or not you use optional rules like multiclassing and feats.

^ truth.

S_Dalsgaard nails it. Further: It doesn't matter.

If you're playing more powerful characters, the DM ups the challenges. If you're playing less powerful characters, the DM makes it a bit easier. The real impact is that playing PCs outside the expected range of power intended by the designers tends to result in more PC deaths. If you're playing PCs that are too weak, some unlucky rolls can put you behind the 8-ball more easily. If you're overpowered and the DM adjusts to account for it, you're likely to find that your PC is only overpowered in some ways - which means the DM ramping up enemies will expose glass jaws in your party, and once you lose a PC to a glass jaw element the amped power levels of the monsters tends to really bring the pain.

pancakemaster808 said:

What do you guys think? I'm still looking through the book and I'd love to hear what powerful combos other people have found.

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My impulse is to deny the question: 5e is based around the roving-spotlight style of balance. No class is 'most powerful,' in every circumstance, each will shine some fraction of the time. When you need to beat down a magic-immune golem, the fighter will shine, when you need to bring back a dead comrade, the Cleric will shine, when you need to steel a sacred scroll, the Rogue will shine, and so forth.

If you want raw, quantitative, easily measured power, look at DPR. You have a crowded field: the Fighter leads the pack in the simplest analyses due to multiple attacks, while the Barbarian, Paladin, and Warlock can all rival it - and so can most other classes in just the right situation, or by a metric that favors them (adding up all the damage done to each of many enemies in an AE, for instance).

If you want to shake the classes out into Tiers (which, more than anything, were a ranking of versatility), the usual suspects - Wizard, Druid, Cleric - bubble to the top (and, together, they represent 17 of 38 possible sub-classes, so in a sense, that's half the potential PCs in Tier 1, making it a lot less meaningful). The Bard can't be far behind them, while Warlocks and Sorcerers are solidly Tier 2. Tiers 3 & 4 would be inhabited by the half-casters (Paladin, Ranger, Eldritch Knight, Arcane Trickster), Monks, Barbarians, and the Assassin, Thief, and perhaps even Battlemaster, with the Champion bringing up the rear, but hardly bad enough at his specialty to rate Tier 5. A bimodal distribution, really, with Tier's 1 & 4 predominant.

Still doesn't give you a clear answer to the question, though. ;P I mean, think about it, you've got two plausible rankings, and the guy arguably in the lead of the one, is right at the bottom of the other. It's not a tight, robust, or predictable sort of balance - but it's not entirely unlike the volatile balance of the classic game - which, is, afterall, the feel 5e was aiming for.

...

And, don't forget the other major goal of 5e: DM empowerment.

How powerful the class is in the standard game is just a starting point. The DM could take a lowly class and elevate it, or cut an 'overpowered' one down to size, either by modding them, or by manipulating the situations in his campaign, or by simply ruling consistently to (dis)favor one or the other.

Forgot to quote.

Sacrosanct said:

What do I think? Don't do theorycrafting when trying to find an answer. Actually play the classes in typical adventures. 5e has a way of turning assumptions on their head. And honestly, I don't think there is any one most powerful class. I've seen:

*the barbarian dominate with massive HP, huge damage, and significant damage reduction, keeping her in the fight FOREVER
* the halfling battlemaster fighter absolutely shine against the battle with a white dragon
* the paladin shine with repeated divine smite during combat, and excel out of combat with spell functionality
* the rogue single handily take out a boss fight when everyone else was struggling to just get a hit in.
* the empowered sorcerer blow the living sh*t out of an entire encounter

Click to expand...

I do play classes in typical adventures, I've played in 4 or 5 different games so far and I am not always going for the optimal builds for my characters, but in this post I'm very much interested in theorycraft. DnD has one of the more detailed combat systems I've played in and I like see how powerful you can make a character. I'll probably never play the 19Wizard/1cleric, the 18Bard/2Warlock, or the 20 Druid, but I do like thinking about this stuff.

S_Dalsgaard said:

What I have found is, that there aren't a single class in 5e that can be considered the most powerful. While some classes seems very powerful on paper, the way that the DM runs his/her games, is the deciding factor, so the most powerful class will be different from table to table. For example the number of encounters per day, the ease of getting short and long rests, how certain rules are interpreted (like hiding), and how easy access the players have to spell scrolls/NPC spell sellers, will be a big factor in how a class plays at a given table, not to mention whether or not you use optional rules like multiclassing and feats.

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I certainly agree that the GM's style of play can influence the power of various classes. My friends and I have spent a while debating how many encounters to have per short/long rest to help maintain party balance.

However, one of the things that I was thinking about with the builds I listed above was staying power, particularly with the Bard. I still feel that there are definitely more powerful builds across the board, baring something like a campaign full of things that are immune to magic to try and shut down a powerful caster.

jgsugden said:

S_Dalsgaard nails it. Further: It doesn't matter.

If you're playing more powerful characters, the DM ups the challenges. If you're playing less powerful characters, the DM makes it a bit easier. The real impact is that playing PCs outside the expected range of power intended by the designers tends to result in more PC deaths. If you're playing PCs that are too weak, some unlucky rolls can put you behind the 8-ball more easily. If you're overpowered and the DM adjusts to account for it, you're likely to find that your PC is only overpowered in some ways - which means the DM ramping up enemies will expose glass jaws in your party, and once you lose a PC to a glass jaw element the amped power levels of the monsters tends to really bring the pain.

Click to expand...

It's true, you can't beat the GM, and that wasn't my point here. I like looking at how you can push the mechanics to their fullest in order to get the most of your character. I'm not trying to make myself unstoppable by the GM, because there is no point and the GM can always beat any character if they need to. What I'm trying to do is figure out who is overall the most powerful, because I think that is something that can be measured.