D&D 5E (2014) Best Class and Why???

[Warpiglet]

Warlock. I like blade pact. Just behind that is cleric. Both have good flavor and if constructed well, can stand, fight and cast.

 

[cmad1977]

Beast master ranger.


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[Tony Vargas]

I want to know your favorite classes, or what you think is the best class and why....
Any class from any edition is okay.

'Best' class has often been a subject of debate. The answer was clearest in 3.5: the Tier 1 classes, the Cleric, Druid, & of course, Wizard were the best, hands down. 5e has changed some from 3.5, but not so much that those three, the 'neo-Vancian' casters, aren't still obviously at the top of that particular way of heaping classes. In other editions, the answers not so clear. 4e classes were unusually balanced for D&D, you can pick out a couple - Seeker, RunePriest - that were badly under-supported, and a few (Vampire, Binder, etc) that were just lacking. But the classes that were around long enough to appear in a PH and get a '_____ Power' book could all stand about equal (albeit, in 3.5 terms, all hanging out in about Tier 3). In the classic game, 'best class' really depended on level. At low level, the fighter was actually pretty awesome and the Cleric indispensable, but non-/demi- human multiclasses were really were it was at. By 3rd or so, casters were pretty good (the Druid got surprisingly good at 3rd, and again, at 7th), but there was a little sweetspot, there when all the classes (except the poor thief, of course) were doing pretty well, at high level, magic-users ruled. Though the Cleric was surprisingly capable at all levels, the 'healing burden' mostly kept it in check - it was potentially a CoDzilla waiting to happen, were it not always using so many of it's spells to heal.

:shrug:

My personal preferences have changed over the decades:

1980: Class? Does it really matter, as long as you have cool items?
1981: Magic-user, always looking for new spells and trying the memorize the right ones. Hmm...Druid, wow, 3rd level spells at 3rd level? Shapechanging at 7th? This class is wild(pi)... ...hm... this Celtic stuff is kinda fascinating, too...
1990: Druid sucks, Wizard is old hat, the Priests in CPH though, are pretty cool because, as DM (and at this point, I rarely play, mostly DM) I can use them to fill my world with all kinds of interesting religions and priesthoods.
2000: The fighter is a surprisingly elegant, customizable class design. Druid has become the D in CoDzilla, how annoying.
2003: After getting over how forced it initially seemed (not Vancian for the sake of not being Vancian), it turns out the Sorcerer is a also a neat, customizable design, much better suited to build-to-concept than the Tier 1 wizard.
2008: Wot, no Druid? The Warlord, though, that's something I'd been trying to do with fighter builds (and PrCs and such) for years and never could, now it's as easy as choosing a core class, and so much better, too. Too bad there are fighter 'battlefield control' builds I could do for years that I can't anymore, though.
2010: Druid is chopped into pieces to fit in different roles.
2014: Hey, look, the cool Druid's back.

 

[Cyan Wisp]

I don't think I've played a character I didn't enjoy - we invest a lot of time into our choices, right?

I have a nostalgic draw towards monks because of 1e. 5e does not disappoint. I'm currently playing a Shadow monk and feel like I use almost everything I've got - except, ironically maybe, darkness and deflect missiles. So much fun; I look at a battlemat and the whole thing is my playground.

Also love the 5e rogue, that dodgy little sneak. Cunning Action just makes the class. Had tons of laughs with Spirit Shaman (3.5e), too - started as a kickbutt melee at lvl 1-2 (shillelagh) then evolved into a stand-at-the-back blaster/polymorpher. He was a champion of the poor and spent downtime converting an alleyway into a Voodoo/Witch-doctor clinic. Yes, he had Profession (Witch-doctor) maxed out.

Probably my favourite though, the one just brimming with non-lethal fun - the Beguiler (3.5e). I loved that character so much. ('twas a Zilargo gnome secret agent "seductress"/femme fatale.) Escaping and running through an Underdark prison with zero body count, just a very confused series of guards ultimately giving chase like a Benny Hill sketch. She was awesome and elusive.

 

[Aldarc]

I cannot say what my favorite class in 5e would be. That is too dependent on my mood at a given time. I will say that the Bard is probably a contender for "winner" of best 5e class design, with exception of one glaring blemish: its subpar level 20 capstone. It has an incredible mix of skill and magical support, party and game pillar flexibility, and clear flavor. It jumped from a "tier 3" class in 3.X to one of the potentially most powerful classes in 5E, in no small part due to their access to level 9 spells and magical secrets.

Honorable Mentions: Rogue, Paladin, and Monk.

 

[rgoodbb]

Didn't think I'd like the Barbarian as much as I do. Whoooo hoooo!!


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Thought I'd love the Barbarian more than I did. Booh Hooh!!

 

[Zardnaar]

There isn't one. Lore Bards are up there though.

 

[Mercule]

but there was a little sweetspot, there when all the classes (except the poor thief, of course)

The thing folks already seemed to forget about AD&D was that the XP tables were different. That was the only thing that made the Thief playable -- it was actually going to be higher level than everyone else. Never start a higher level game of AD&D by saying "8th level characters." It needs to be "750,000 xp."

It probably helped that I thought it was stupid that someone who could backstab had worse attacks than a priest, even one with a martial bent. So, I flipped their attack tables even in 1E.

 

[Tony Vargas]

The thing folks already seemed to forget about AD&D was that the XP tables were different. That was the only thing that made the Thief playable -- it was actually going to be higher level than everyone else.

Oh, I'm aware. (In 2e I designed a class that was intentionally even wimpier and faster-advancing than the thief - someone even played one, he was 18th when the campaign wrapped with everyone else at ~14th.) But, just like multi-class characters, the difference wasn't vast, you weren't going to be double someone else's level because of the charts, mostly you'd just hit the next level before them, maybe lead by 2 for a while. Then there were level-draining monsters and the possibility of different exp awards for different PCs.

The exp tables (relative to the exp you could expect to get) also meant that the first few levels were a deadly slog, then you sped quickly straight through the best levels of the game, only to hit a wall and slow to a crawl again just as it was getting whacked again. Pretty sad. At least 5e finally reversed that so you spend a proportionally greater amount of time in the sweet spot.

 

[Capn Charlie]

I judge an RPG on how well it can realize a human fighter. It has gone up and down over the years, but right now 5e does a great job.

I could build a dozen human fighters and every one could feel mechanically unique. Good times.

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