The most powerful class?

[Bryan898]

My group and I are having a discussion over which class is the most powerful, and I was wondering if anyone has a good link to a discussion on the topic. It's pretty obvious that the class is a spellcaster, but nonetheless, we'd like to see other people's opinions. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

BTW I'm arguing for cleric. When you have more spells than wizards, can use weapons and all armor, decent BAB progression, good HD, and good Fort & Will saves (the two instant killers), how can you go wrong? You could almost argue that they're unbalanced compared to others IMO.

 

[Khayman]

I'd second cleric.

The game intentionally rewards characters that take clerics, mostly due to the fact that in previous editions clerics were the PC equivalent of the last kid to be picked for baseball. I've played in enough 3E/3.5 games to realize that a neutral- or evil-aligned cleric can be extremely powerful.

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

Commoner.

Errr...wait, no. Housecat!

 

[TroyXavier]

Doodad aka Druid, followed by Cleric

 

[Testament]

Cleric or Druid.

With their spell list, beta BAB, saves, d8 HD and ability to wear armour, there is almost nothing a high-level character of any class can do that a Cleric can't do better. Complete Divine, by introducing some of its Divine feats (Divine Metamagic, Divine Spell Power) made it worse. And the Words of Faith (Dictum, Blasphemy etc) are just insane.

Druids are almost as bad. Their Wild Shape ability makes them impressive fighters, and their spell list contains the best battlefield control spells and some great blasting, although they can be terrain dependant. Spontaneous Summoning off the SNA list is just the icing on the cake. The only reason that they aren't number 1 in my opinion is that they can be hosed badly by terrain (put 'em in a city and 70% of their control goes phhht), and Wild Shape can make you a low AC disaster waiting to happen without some big magical gear. Oh, and some major Druid twinking relies on suspect rules reading and Skip-isms (keeping gear while shaped, Animal Growth and Wild Shape stacking...)

 

[Jdvn1]

Druid. I think Cleric is pretty powerful, but overrated. Druids have a more powerful spell list, they get better fighting ability, and tons of perks.

Second? Bard. Nah, depends on the level. Bbn 1's are pretty tough.

 

[AZNtrogdor]

if you know wut you're doing, a druid could kick every other members in the party's butts (at the same time), but to tell u the truth i hav never played with a cleric pc yet so i really can't say for certain


Edit: grammartized!

 

[The Shaman]

The most powerful class? Whatever I'm playing at the moment, baby.

 

[Celebrim]

Cleric.

Depending on the build, you can make a Cleric that's about as good a spellcaster than a wizard or about as good a combatant as a fighter. In either case, they lack the obvious weakness of the class that they emulate. Their AC is generally really good, and they won't roll over and die in melee like a Wizard can. And they don't have the Fighters problem with poor Will saves and over reliance on magical equipment. Plus, whatever the build, you are far and away a better healer than anyone else in the party and you tend to make charcoal out of undead.

Druid is only really uber under certain rules extensions and suspect interpretations. Clerics were built that way from 3.0 on. In fact, they were the only class that dropped in power going to 3.5.

One class I'm surprised I haven't heard mentioned yet is Rogue. They are uber-skill masters, generally have under some builds can crank out as much damage as a tank, and improved evasion just rocks. In fact, I think that its interesting that Cleric and Rogue were far and away the weakest classes in 1st and 2nd edition, but ended up being the most powerful in 3rd. Overcompensation maybe?

Best class in a supporting role tends to be fighter. I've seen alot of parties were it seems like everyone has splashed a level or two of fighter. Then again, I've seen alot of tanks that splashed a level or two of cleric or rogue.

 

[TheAuldGrump]

if u kno wut ur doing a druid could every other members in the party's butts (at the same time), but to tell u the truth i hav never played with a cleric pc yet so i really cant say for certain

Please, for gods sake, use English. I know that 133+ and its variants were born on message boards, but not everyone wants to wade through it.

Thank you.

I would give the Cleric the edge in some situations, the Druid in others. I think that the Cleric ends up better in most circumstances, but not by any means all.

The Auld Grump

*EDIT* I have no idea why that letter was capitalized...