D&D 3E/3.5 Which D&D 3.5 Core Base Class is the Most Powerful?

[airwalkrr]

I know this has been a subject of much debate over the years, and I know there are similar polls out there. I actually went back and did a search on several websites which host forums related to D&D to examine what polls they had logged in their history. Interestingly, I never saw a poll as basic as this, and I am interested in the subject for academic and practical reasons.

What do I mean by most powerful?

-I want your most objective measurement of the ability of a class to contribute to the successful resolution of any given encounter throughout the level range of 1-20 based on actual play experience. Thus, if you feel class "X" is the most effective in the most types of encounters over the life of a 20th-level character, you choose class "X" for the poll.

-If you have never seen a class played beyond (or below) a certain level, then simply give your best estimation.

-Your choice should reflect both your own characters' experiences and the experiences you have observed from the characters of other players with whom you have played.

-Actual play experience is more important (for the purposes of this poll) than game theory.

-Game theory, when incorporated into your choice should presume standard character generation rules (either 4d6 drop lowest or 25-32 point buy) and standard character wealth by level in a medium fantasy world. You may also consider class design.

-This question is primarily focused on campaigns which utilize the core rules only, but if you feel there are certain source books which are ubiquitous or common to most groups, feel free to consider them in your choice.

-This is NOT a popularity contest or a vote for your favorite class. We all have favorite classes for one reason or another which we may choose to play despite our knowledge that the class we choose to play is not the best.

-This is not a question of which class best fulfills its generally ascribed role in the party, but which class is the most effective on its own merits. If it helps, think of the class which you believe would have the greatest chance of surviving a campaign with a small party of no more than four characters.

Feel free to discuss the merits and weaknesses of the various base classes in this thread, but please keep the conversation civil and do not belittle the opinions of others. This is not a thread for discussion of Pathfinder, other editions of (A)D&D (including 3.0), or how 3.5 classes compare to those systems.

Thanks for voting!

Edit Notes: I changed the original wording of "best" to "most powerful" in the thread title and text to better reflect what I meant to ask.

 

[delericho]

Across the full level range, it's probably the Druid. If you chop off the very lowest levels, though, the Wizard edges it.

If you only play low-mid levels (like most people), the disparities between classes are somewhat reduced. Nonetheless, the three primary casters (the Cleric, Druid, and Wizard) are generally accepted as the best classes when judged by the criteria you lay out.

 

[(Psi)SeveredHead]

The answers are in this thread: http://brilliantgameologists.com/boards/index.php?PHPSESSID=oc8ehtce43fm3ahdjv26fosu76&topic=5293

(Well, it depends on what you mean by "best" class.)

 

[Greenfield]

I guess it depends on what you value in play.

If you're looking at raw horsepower it will be Druid or Wizard.

If you're looking at survivability over 20 levels, it weights more towards Druid, if only because of the healing availability and hit points.

If you're looking at versatility and the ability to adapt, I'd favor the skill-intensive classes like Ranger or Rogue. Bard, while also a skill-dense class, is solidly third best at pretty much everything he does, other than knowledge availability.

Over all I favor the Ranger, but that's because I like versatility more than raw power, and the Rogue really depends on Sneak Attack to be combat viable.

YMMV, naturally.

 

[Jacob Marley]

For me, the "best class" is the one that has the greatest level of flexibility in terms of the types of encounters they it can face, and the ease in which the class can adapt to new threats. This generally means the three full casters: cleric, druid, and wizard. While a druid may be inherently more powerful, I find the class to actually be less flexible than the wizard. The cleric, I think, is the least of the three. So, I vote wizard.

 

[TwoSix]

Across the full level range, it's probably the Druid. If you chop off the very lowest levels, though, the Wizard edges it.

Taking your criteria, and giving slighter weight to 1-10 range (more play experience there, and an assumed bias towards lower-level play among all groups), Druid wins.

There isn't a single situation in the game that 4 druids can't handle. 4 well-built clerics come close, but they need to work together to ensure a broad range of domain access. Isolating them to pure core also knocks DMM-Persist out of the picture, which puts them from Tier 1 to Tier1-.

Wizards can win by themselves more easily, but may not synergize as well (spellbook sharing aside).

Edit: It's a shame you used the extremely subjective "best" in the title, even though you spelled out a lot of objective criteria. You're going to get a lot of "this is my favorite class!" anyway.

 

[airwalkrr]

Thank you for the replies and votes so far everyone. [MENTION=1165](Psi)SeveredHead[/MENTION], thank you for reminding me of the Tier system JaronK came up with. I know his system has been discussed extensively, but his principles have always appeared to be based chiefly on game theory and his own personal experience. He is also rather intransigent on this matter. I have found his opinions helpful at times when thinking about campaign design, and while it is about as close to a master thesis on D&D 3.5 game theory as exists, it is still heavily biased by anecdote. I realize an internet poll is not a perfect scientific statistical model, but EN World is most popular home for 3.5 enthusiasts I know of and therefore the best place to put such a poll. But again, thank you for the link. It has been some years since I read up on that particular approach.

 

[airwalkrr]

Edit: It's a shame you used the extremely subjective "best" in the title, even though you spelled out a lot of objective criteria. You're going to get a lot of "this is my favorite class!" anyway.

I have changed the thread title and text to better reflect the nature of the question. Thank you for your feedback.

 

[TwoSix]

Thank you for the replies and votes so far everyone. [MENTION=1165](Psi)SeveredHead[/MENTION], thank you for reminding me of the Tier system JaronK came up with. I know his system has been discussed extensively, but his principles have always appeared to be based chiefly on game theory and his own personal experience. He is also rather intransigent on this matter. I have found his opinions helpful at times when thinking about campaign design, and while it is about as close to a master thesis on D&D 3.5 game theory as exists, it is still heavily biased by anecdote. I realize an internet poll is not a perfect scientific statistical model, but EN World is most popular home for 3.5 enthusiasts I know of and therefore the best place to put such a poll. But again, thank you for the link. It has been some years since I read up on that particular approach.

GitP also has a fairly large 3.5 base, although most of the board is steeped in CharOp orthodoxy, so I can imagine what sort of answers you'll get.

 

[airwalkrr]

Yes GitP is almost a hivemind when it comes to this sort of thing. I consider EN World to be a place where freer expression is more tolerated.