But it didn't start out that way, as the cleric was a Johny-come-lately, so excluding them wouldn't be a problem.
Tank, healer, DPS.
And honestly, I'd like to figure out a way to drop Tank and Healer.
Actually, the cleric was one of the three classes available in the original set--it's the thief that's the latecomer, introduced in Greyhawk.
I'd love to have seen the cleric lost like they were thinking about in 2E--it requires too much hardcoding of certain assumptions about gods, magic and the like--but at this point, it's too iconic to D&D as D&D. Of course, I don't much like D&D as D&D.
This was my first thought.Yeah, I'd say you need Fighter, Rogue and Spellcaster. Everything beyond that would be flavor/kit/subclass.