over powered classes

[guardianfallenangel]

what classes do you think are over powered, and why? mostly i'm wondering becuase my dm thinks that dragon shaman and dragonfire adept are overpowered. i think in the hands of any imaginative player, any class could become overpowered.

 

[Stalker0]

If a player has found a way to make the dragon shaman look overpowered, I tip my hat to that man

I think many classes have the potential for abuse, but its the players that make it so. To me abuse only starts when one character starts outshining other characters more and more of the time.

A fighter is going to be good in a fight, that's how it should be. But if he's so good, the rest of the party doesnt' even need to be there, that's a problem.

Overpowered also has a lot to do with how dms run encounters. Often times very powerful characters are specialized, meaning they have weaknesses. If the dm isn't ever creating situations where that character isn't as optimized, its easy to see how it can look "broken"

 

[MoogleEmpMog]

Single-classed only?

Pre-polymorph-nerf-druid
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Cleric
Post-polymorph-nerf Druid
Wizard at very high levels (15+)

I think a case could be made for the Warblade from ToB:Bo9S, simply in that, on paper, he's a fighter-type who's actually competitive with casters at higher levels. I haven't seen one in play yet, though. I'm also not sure if that makes him overpowered or appropriately powered - it depends on whether you think fighter or wizard is the right power level at level 18. That's the only WotC non-core base class I've seen that seems on the high end.

Obviously, some classes are considerably better when combined synergistically...

 

[fusangite]

Healing is a task that does not get a lot of narrative fanfare. You basically give up chances to kill monsters and cast cool spells and take on a narratively subordinate role of keeping your party alive. As a result, I think the major divine casters need to be overpowered relative to other classes in order to provide that extra incentive/reward players deserve for taking on this task.

 

[Particle_Man]

Prestige Classes: Radiant Servant of Pelor, Frenzied Berserker.

Base Classes: Depends on the DM, but Barbarian can be pretty tough for low to mid levels.

 

[ValhallaGH]

Healing is a task that does not get a lot of narrative fanfare. You basically give up chances to kill monsters and cast cool spells and take on a narratively subordinate role of keeping your party alive. As a result, I think the major divine casters need to be overpowered relative to other classes in order to provide that extra incentive/reward players deserve for taking on this task.

And yet, all that healing is awesome for pwning undead.

"Here, Mr. Dracolich, take 220 points of positive energy. Oh, you're hurt still? Take another 220 positive energy."

 

[guardianfallenangel]

and thats the reason for the Heal and Harm nerf. Nothing like being able to cast and (asumeing you get through s.r.) reduce an ancient red wyrm to 1d4 hp... then hit him with a brik....

my dm seems to think dragonshaman is overpowered in that i'm able to enhance the entire group with my auras, so he's been throwing stuff at us that is over the recomended challange rateing.. not all bad, when we survive it's nice xp. but, dieing the first round of combat.... not so fun....

mostly i think my dm relaizes that we think way outside the box during encounters which gives us an advantage most of the time. almost any class can be optimized for any given situation, and to have one "over powered" isn't that hard, especially with all the feats and what-not thats out there.