D&D 5E The Most Popular D&D Classes & Subclasses

D&D Beyond posted these stats on the most popular D&D subclasses by class based on the "high thirties" in millions of characters on the platform. This is a revisit from last year, with updated data, and only includes single-classed characters.

Fighter is the most-played class (as has always been the case with these stats), followed by rogues, warlocks, clerics, and wizards.

The 'free' (SRD) subclasses are the most popular subclasses on D&D Beyond, which is no surprise.

 

[Helldritch]

You forget monk. Some subclasses have pretty much magical abilities too.

 

[MostlyHarmless42]

And every top subclass is the one listed in the free srd/basic rules. Color me surprised. rolls eyes

Less sarcastically, the data is interesting to at least look at on some levels.

 

[Undrave]

Eh. Fighters have mostly non-magic choices. Rogues have mostly non-magic choices. Paladins and Rangers were always partially magic. Barbarian really stands out as oddly more magical than prior editions.

The 4e Barbarian's Rages were powered by Primal Spirit (somethng specifically separate from Arcane and Divine powers) but everything else was pretty much mundane. 4e Rangers were purely Martial until Essentials (and they had the Warlord to make 4 Martial classes).

 

[Undrave]

You forget monk. Some subclasses have pretty much magical abilities too.

I don't classify the Monk as a 'mundane' class, personally.

 

[Hussar]

I don't classify the Monk as a 'mundane' class, personally.

I dunno. Way of the Hand is pretty mundane. Supernatural maybe, but, hardly "boom Zip Flash" kind of magical.

 

[Guest 6801328]

I dunno. Way of the Hand is pretty mundane. Supernatural maybe, but, hardly "boom Zip Flash" kind of magical.

Way of the Open Hand. But for some reason your omission got me thinking about Way of the Rosie Palm. I might have to write that up.

 

[ccs]

I find it baffling that anybody who has access to the full PHB would willingly choose to play a Berzerker... It doesn't DO anything interesting! It's not like the Totem Warrior is particularly complicated either. It just has a few decisions points at level up but there's always a solid passive buff!

Sometimes though it's not about how much a class/subclass does or doesn't do as opposed to what best fits the character your making.
Believe me, when I made my barbarian for the last 5e campaign I got to play in, berzerker was a very strong contender. It fit the character very well. The DM though had an idea for a slight tweak to the Ancestral Guardian that was even better based upon RP.

Encounter Powers were the meat-and-potatoes of your character, the way you could really make your build's personality shine. It's the same with any Encounter ability in 5e, they really make your particular build come alive as its own thing. A class with nothing but dailies is just boring to me.

Hmm, maybe it's Encounter based. Or it could be that the Warlock simply has sooo many different RP approaches.
I've seen nearly a dozen Warlocks played, all played by different people (one of them me), and only two of them were even close in race/pact/etc (both were early in 5e & had EB+ mods).

 

[Parmandur]

I dunno. Way of the Hand is pretty mundane. Supernatural maybe, but, hardly "boom Zip Flash" kind of magical.

It is a short rest half-caster, by the numbers.

 

[Minigiant]

We went from a concept of a barbarian that hates magic and some go out of their way to destroy magic they encounter, to every barbarian except one seeming magical in some way. It's weird. There should be more non-magic barbarians.

I'm still shocked that the designers have not tapped more into the 4e barbarian.

1. The Rageblood barbarian is already covered in the Berserker
2. The Thaneborn barbarian is the more tribal chieftain or savage noble who presence strikes fear in enemies and inspires allies.
3. The Thunderborn barbarian is the "shout barbarian" of video game fame that invokes terror
4. The Whirling Barbarian is the dual wielding barbarian with tons of attacks

I'm tempted to homebrew them.

Not just barbarians. Way too much magic in almost every class. But that's just me.

Well there are only 4 classed that have no basis of overt magic.

Although there s a bit of too much focus on blatantly obvious supernatural effects added to the subclasses of those 4 classes. There are ways to convey the supernatural base nature of D&D heroes without always being so blatant.

However blatant does sell well. The straight magical versions are very popular according to this list.

 

[Undrave]

I dunno. Way of the Hand is pretty mundane. Supernatural maybe, but, hardly "boom Zip Flash" kind of magical.

Yeah the Monk is supernatural for sure. What with the slow falling and running up walls and use Ki points...

Hmm, maybe it's Encounter based. Or it could be that the Warlock simply has sooo many different RP approaches.
I've seen nearly a dozen Warlocks played, all played by different people (one of them me), and only two of them were even close in race/pact/etc (both were early in 5e & had EB+ mods).

Well yeah, that too! The Warlock is a great flavorful class!