What is your favorite class(es) so far? (4E)

[Garthanos]

In my case, because I have no clue what archetype from fantasy fiction /Myth they are trying to emulate.

Im not sure either .. but my fantasy game world had what I called green knights they were supposed to be monster hunters and protectors for a squishy priestesshood... with a druidic cast to them.. they had wood armor and weaponry. Wardens for me = Green Knights.

 

[Kwalish Kid]

Ranger - My former favorite is taken over by cheese. The melee version is still okay but the ranged one bores me. "I kill stuff dead with my trusty fey bow. Damage is da bomb". Good for you, but what else do you lend to the party? It's what I'd call a good "starter class" and is also a prime class for "new" elves but doesn't interest me much.

Honestly, as a player and a DM, I just love it when the elf ranger brings the smack down through the bow. I try to increase the amount of cover so the bowger can do his thing dodging around, firing from behind cover. I did recently run an encounter where the bowger decided to drop it and go in with daggers, but I didn't plan that.

 

[thecasualoblivion]

I've played every class except Cleric, Avenger and Invoker, and Monk isn't on character builder so it doesn't exist yet.

1. Fighter--All time favorite class in any edition. 4E brings me back to my childhood of playing low level 2E with Fighter dominance
2. Swordmage--Arcane Power gives Swordmage the goods
3. Wizard--The deepest class in the game, once you understand it
4. Shaman--The most tactically interesting class in the game
5. Warlord--Eladrin Tactical Warlord FTW, one of these days I'll build another type of Warlord, maybe
6. Warlock--Challenging class for the master, can be the equal of the other classes in the right hands
7. Barbarian--Self destructive wrecking ball
8. Warden--I'm a Defender guy
9. Rogue--Sneak Attack is more important than my own well being, which I will leave to others to worry about
10. Paladin--Not quite as underpowered as everybody says
11. Bard--I just like Shaman and Warlord too much
12. Ranger--My favorite character from a RP standpoint in 4E was a Ranger, and its weird to have to work this hard not to be boring.
13. Druid--Interesting popping in and out of things(and forms), but just doesn't have the guns the Wizard has.
14. Sorcerer--I like the Dragon Sorcerer
15. Artificer--I played this during the playtest, and it was ok I guess.

 

[Blizzardb]

I am very impressed by the way they handled the Wizard in 4E and love my Wizard character. I am still very surprised that many people think he is underpowered or boring. And yes, they should balance the orb build.

My other favorites are the sorcerer, fighter, shaman, barbarian, and avenger

I don't particulary like the bard and the invoker - the bard is very different than the stereotype in my head and the invoker invokes the thought "we should have a divine controller even if we have no good idea for him". And I don't like the warlock very much - he feels kinda bland and his class mechanics aren't appealing to me (I had a blast playing a warlock in 3.5, though).

Edit: An important addendum - every class in 4E is appealing to me to some degree and I would gladly create a character even from the classes that I don't like very much.

 

[Kwalish Kid]

Why so little love for the warden? Dfinitely one of my favourite defenders...

I played one and loved it. More interesting to me than the fighter. Often more of a controller than a defender. Though I find that the Warden takes a lot of damage without realizing it. All of a sudden, I look down and see that only 2 surges are left out of 12. That shows me the defender bit is working.

 

[Jengenritz]

I haven't played all the classes yet, but in 4E, I prefer bard and warden.

Wardens are the druid-y class I've always wanted dwarves to have! Huzzah for warden!
Bards do everything bards should do, and do it better than in the past! Huzzah for bards!

Really, this is probably my favorite incarnation of the bard class.

I'd have to say my least favorite class is warlock. The formula ((races I like + warlock builds + interesting flavor) = effective character) does not compute for warlocks and I.

 

[mlund]

Here's my take on the classes grouped by tier of awesome:

Gems: Avenger, Bard, Fighter

Each of these classes are well designed in terms of themes and mechanics. They are fun to play, though each in a different way. Fighters control the battlefield. Avengers dominate a target of choice. Bards make the rest of your allies fight better, while still doing his share of damage.

Exceptional: Rogue, Sorcerer, Swordmage, Warlord

Let's hear it for teamwork. Most of these characters play very well with others. They also throw up some great numbers when it comes to dealing or preventing damage. The Sorcerer is the one who plays least well with others, but he also had the most impressive damage-dealing functionality.

Decent: Barbarian, Cleric, Druid, Invoker, Ranger

All these characters are fun and have redeeming qualities, but are lacking somewhere or other. The Ranger and Barbarian aren't the best team players. The Cleric is more limited in his role than either the Bard or the Warlord. The Invoker's theme feels like someone put a new skin on a traditional Wizard while the Druid eats up extra time and power slots with his silly shape-changing routines.

Trash: Paladin, Shaman, Warden, Warlock, Wizard

The Wizard under performs until he reaches Paragon Tier, at which point he gets tricks that become so powerful as to become a buzz-kill. The Shaman is a dedicated "pet class," which 4th Edition was better for leaving behind. The Warden has ill-conceived themes. The Paladin and Warlock are largely broken classes with terrible core mechanics (Divine Challenge + Warlock Curse).

- Marty Lund

 

[Mallus]

The Paladin and Warlock are largely broken classes with terrible core mechanics (Divine Challenge + Warlock Curse).

The paladin is trash? I doth protest (in Ren Faire-speak, apparently).

You're right that Divine Challenge doesn't work as advertised. It's largely inconsequential in play. But the class has a number of good powers (Wrath of the Gods is one of the best in the game), plus two of the best Paragon Paths; Champion of Order and Hospitalier.

And this is before the release of Divine Power.

 

[Kwalish Kid]

The Warden has ill-conceived themes.

?

from what I've seen, the warden powers are some of the best described and powers in the game (including the implementation of that description). They all have an appropriate primal feel, as befits someone who channels the power of nature for the purposes of defending. Very much the martial-type druid.

 

[Obryn]

I kind of love the Warden, in part for some of the reasons others don't.

As far as I can tell, it's a completely new class idea that's never been done before. It's unique to 4e. There aren't any direct archetypal ancestors I can think of, but it's similar to enough concepts that it's still the sort of class I could easily imagine. It has a great mythological draw, as far as I can see - the tough warrior, drawing on the spirits and forces of nature to defend their allies.

It's new and unique, with an interesting niche and a few great hooks (their Forms are just cool).

I like it a lot. It's something new, and something that nobody was really asking for, but now that it's here I appreciate it.

-O