D&D 5E What is the "Simple" Full Casting Class?

[Maxperson]

Spamming Eldritch Blast is just so weak though - does anyone actually do this in real life and not as a baseline DPS metric for youtube videos?

Yes. One of my players was a warlock in the last campaign I ran. Eldritch blast spam was his go to.

 

[Vaalingrade]

There is none.

Not in the way people use 'simple' to justify the Fighter's poor design.

Yes, Warlock has the Eldritch Blast, but they also get variety in the form of Invocations, their spells, pacts, and patrons.

The warlock is the least complex cast, yes, but they still get so much compared to the class that was brutally restricted to allow for the Champion.

No other casters even comes close. The prep casters have daily homework in trying to guess what the DM is thinking; the bard has colleges and inspiration handling, the druid is a shapeshifter, and the sorcerer has metamagic.

So yeah, there's no simple casters. Wish I could say the same for martials.

 

[Sword of Spirit]

I consider class complexity to be most heavily influenced by how many subsystems your class includes and how many resources it gives you to track. I do not consider options as being nearly as large of a contributor.

Warlock (invocations, boon (2014)), sorcerer (sorcery points, metamagic), druid (wildshape), cleric (channel divinity), and bard (bardic inspiration) all have subsystems and/or resources to track in addition to their spells.

Wizard lacks subsystems and the closest they get to an additional resource to track is arcane recovery 1/day, and maybe signature spell at level 20.

Wizards only have to pick spells, and while my friend and I both shake our heads at wizard players who never change their spells from day to day, that part is optional rather than a resource that weighs into class power.

I know some people consider each spell to be a class feature based on more modern analysis (and maybe 4e affinity). In more old school play spells were more like weapons shared among classes (to some extent even pre-3e, when the sharing was more complicated).

IME even new and more casual players instinctively view spells more like weapons and have a harder time keeping track of additional class systems and resources than the list of spells on their character sheet. They might not be the best at remembering how each spell works, but they are even worse at remembering to use channel divinity or juggling sorcery points, etc.

 

[Horwath]

Yes. One of my players was a warlock in the last campaign I ran. Eldritch blast spam was his go to.

you have 2 or 3 spell slots for most of the campaigns,
what do you do after those 3 spells?
If you can get short rest after every battle it is great. but some spells are bonus action so you cast them together with EB on the same round.

 

[CleverNickName]

you have 2 or 3 spell slots for most of the campaigns,
what do you do after those 3 spells?
If you can get short rest after every battle it is great. but some spells are bonus action so you cast them together with EB on the same round.

Honestly, the number of spell slots only matters if scrolls are scarce in your game world (and this is true for all spellcasting classes, not just the warlock).

I'd argue that scrolls are most useful for a warlock than other classes, since warlocks tend to have the fewest spell slots and the most restrictive spell list. (Again, this is a feature, not a bug.) But all spellcasting classes should keep them on hand.

 

[Horwath]

Life cleric or Evoker wizard are real simple to play.

 

[Horwath]

Honestly, the number of spell slots only matters if scrolls are scarce in your game world (and this is true for all spellcasting classes, not just the warlock).

I'd argue that scrolls are most useful for a warlock than other classes, since warlocks tend to have the fewest spell slots and the most restrictive spell list. (Again, this is a feature, not a bug.) But all spellcasting classes should keep them on hand.

I'm not sure if I want to relive 3.5e where every wizard goes around with 873 scrolls, you know, just in case.

 

[Horwath]

Wizards only have to pick spells, and while my friend and I both shake our heads at wizard players who never change their spells from day to day, that part is optional rather than a resource that weighs into class power.

unless you know exactly what you will be facing, it's usually good idea to have all around spells prepared that can cover most situtions:
shield,
absorb elements,
chromatic orb,
invisibility,
misty step,
fireball,
fly,
dispel magic,
counterspell,
dimmension door
improved invisibility,
banishment,
hold monster,
teleport circle,
wall of force,
true seeing,
teleport,
wish,

 

[CleverNickName]

I'm not sure if I want to relive 3.5e where every wizard goes around with 873 scrolls, you know, just in case.

We have very different playstyles. I burn through scrolls way too fast to have more than a few on hand at any moment. Since an uninterrupted rest is never guaranteed and I never know how long it'll be until we set camp, I tend to use scrolls first and save my spell slots as a last resort.

 

[CleverNickName]

If I were to rank the spellcasting classes from Easiest > Hardest to Play:
Warlock > Sorcerer > Wizard > Bard > Cleric > Druid

And if I were to rank them in order from My Favorite > Least Favorite to Play:
Wizard > Cleric > Warlock > Sorcerer > Druid > Bard

And if I were to rank them in order from Most Powerful > Least Powerful:
Wizard > Cleric > Warlock > Druid > Bard > Sorcerer