D&D General Best Class per edition?

[LordEntrails]

Kender.
I know some of you might try to argue they are a race and not a class. But you are wrong.

 

[TarionzCousin]

0E - I recently played a 2.5 year campaign of White Box DnD and couldn't say which class was best. Everyone doing d6 damage evened things out. Wizard was definitely better than the Thief. Wizard had reach and 1d6 quarterstaff damage. Thief did 1d3 damage.
1E - We rolled 3d6 in order. Nearly every PC was a fighter or a thief. Of those, fighter was better/more likely to survive.
2E - I ran a long campaign and never played. Of my players, Cleric had the most class fun.
3E - Going out on a limb here with the Psionic Wilder. I love playing wizards and the psionic "wizards" were much more versatile.
4E - Avenger, baby. Roll two d20's for most attacks.
5E - Bladesinger. Full wizard spells and the occasional melee attack. It makes you decide in every combat "What am I going to do here?"

 

[Zardnaar]

I'm gonna rate them mostly for the sweet spot level 3-7 Roughly level 10+ mostly theoretical but wizard at very high level.

OD&D Can't comment.

BECMI. Elf.

1E. Druid. Check out it's xp table and spell pattern.

2E. Specialty priest or build your own cleric skills and powers.

3E CoDzilla. 3.0 cleric, 3.5 Druid.

4E. No idea. Probably ranger.

5E. Twilight Cleric.

 

[Weiley31]

Kender.
I know some of you might try to argue they are a race and not a class. But you are wrong.

Old School Essentials Kender class when?

 

[the Jester]

Inspired by this awesome podcast.

Edition Wars Christmas 2022 Day 1: Favorite Class through the Editions (Edition Wars 086) | The Tome Show

Welcome to the 12 days of Edition Wars, in this year's series we will be taking a deep dive into the things we love about this game and why we love them. On the First Day of edition wars, Brandes and Sam talk about their favorite class in each edition! Questions, Comments, or Suggestions? Email...

www.thetomeshow.com

In your opinion, what is the best class per edition and why?

odnd?
becmi?
1st edition?
2nd edition?
3rd edition?
4th edition?
5th edition?

Best as in most powerful, or best as in most fun to play?

 

[James Gasik]

1e- this is pretty tough, but I would say Paladin, esp. the Cavalier subclass version. The rp requirements were obnoxious (though not quite as bad as the Barbarian's), but you got a lot of goodies to make up for that.

2e- Specialty Priests if you have access to Legends & Lore, Faiths & Avatars, Powers & Pantheons, or Monstrous Mythology. Not all are great, but some are just off the hook, swiping the special abilities of other classes and granting free spells.

3e- Cleric, esp. with Divine Metamagic. Even if you try not to break it, and focus on buffing your allies instead of trying to become Clericzilla, the DM is going to lose their sanity or engage in the Dispel Magic arms race before long.

4e- this is a toughie, but I'm going to have to go with either Cleric or Wizard- they got the most support of any other classes; not only did they have the advantage of being released in the PHB, which guaranteed them great support, but they were compatible with the Essentials line, in a way other classes generally weren't. Special shout-out to Hybrid characters; I saw a few played that had amazing synergy, though it wasn't until the NEXT playtest that I actually made a Warlord/Wizard that had an answer to just about every situation.

5e- the answer varies on your tier of play, as Clerics are generally quite strong, being full spellcasters with great AC. Moon Druids can be balance wrecking in the early game. Paladins have arguably the best chassis of any class, combining burst damage with a powerful defensive package. Though I haven't seen one played to higher levels, I think the Bladesinger Wizard might have the most potential, however, since Wizards have a lot of power even without a subclass, and their subclass gives them great potential to conserve spell slots early on by mimicking a melee class. Certainly they gain a lot more out of their subclass than the Eldritch Knight does.

 

[see]

AD&D 1e - Cleric.
AD&D 2e - Cleric.
D&D 3e - Cleric.
D&D 3.5 - Cleric.
Pathfinder 1e - Cleric.
D&D 5e - Cleric.

Hmm. It might be that I just like the combination of good armor, decent hit points, good ability to hit things, maaaagic, and a high concept to anchor my roleplaying on.

On the other hand, liking all those things is just obviously objectively correct, so.

 

[Voadam]

Then there were ones which were "mostly helpful" like the Fighter, Wizard, and Thief ones. Wizard was another big one - we still use some spells from that - Chromatic Orb and Ice Knife particularly - and it really helped fill out a lot of stuff about Wizards in a very cool way.

Just FYI but those both originated in 1e. Chromatic Orb is in Unearthed Arcana (in a more broken version of the spell) and Ice Knife is from Oriental Adventures.

 

[EzekielRaiden]

Going out on a limb here with the Psionic Wilder. I love playing wizards and the psionic "wizards" were much more versatile.

What you want then is the Spell-to-Power Erudite.

All the benefits of Psionics...and you can turn spells into psionic powers. There are limits (your progression is delayed, no "recall/recast spells" spells), but boy howdy does it give you incredible versatility. Especially because you aren't limited to a single class list. ANY class with an arcane casting progression qualifies. Meaning you can mix Wizard, Wu Jen, Bard, and a host of other options all together.

Convert Spell to Power Erudite is probably the single most versatile "spellcaster" in the game.

 

[TarionzCousin]

1e- this is pretty tough, but I would say Paladin, esp. the Cavalier subclass version. The rp requirements were obnoxious (though not quite as bad as the Barbarian's), but you got a lot of goodies to make up for that.

I almost said "1E - Cavalier." But as I had only allowed one NPC to be a cavalier in my campaign, I didn't. It was a great subclass--especially on horseback.

 

[Enrico Poli1]

MOST POWERFUL in any edition is Wizard;

MOST FUN, for me, is Fighter or variant (3.5 Crusader; Pathfinder 1e: Barbarian; 5e: Paladin)

 

[FrogReaver]

didn't really play 3e or anything before. but did play some video games based on it (i think).

4e - warlord
5e - wizard

 

[Voadam]

4e is real tough. It did a great job of balancing the power of classes and making them fun to play so that two striker classes felt really different.

I had a lot of fun as a twin-striking ranger. Best edition for rangers in my opinion.

I had a lot of fun as a warlord being a warrior but also buffing and healing allies with no magic.

I had a lot of fun as a wizard with bursting fire at will, throwing lightning bolts to hit multiple opponents, and having lots of utility spells and rituals.

I had a lot of fun as a swordmage in paragon and epic, feeling like a full on threatening defender magical tough guy.

Most everything I saw in play was strong and good at their role and looked fun to me.

4e I would have to say the rogue was standout in my experience though from seeing others excel at being a 4e striker, hitting hard, and feeling like fantasy James Bond. Best edition for them, and they just seem to edge out others. Seeing how thieves and rogues are bottom of the barrel in power in most editions (pre-3e particularly) this was nice to see.

 

[Voadam]

3e I'd go with Druid for most powerful once you got going. Full Caster. Healing. Spontaneous summoning to wreck action economy. Companion animals to wreck action economy. Wildshaping into a giant dire bear to grapple dominate solo humanoid enemies. Wildshaping into a sparrow to spy or travel. More hp and BAB than a wizard.

Wizards can be fantastically powerful, Clerics can be great, but I go with Druids as top.

 

[Voadam]

AD&D is a tough call.

Early it is Fighters, and for a long time there is a good argument that with decent THACO and multiple attacks higher level fighters are up there. But once you get some levels magic users/wizards really get going.

In 1e elven fighter/magic-users are really strong up until they hit their level limits. Full fighter, full wizard casting in armor. They are generally a level behind others because of splitting their xp, and they have a slightly lower hp per level than a straight fighter (gaining half from fighter, half from magic user), but they are really stand out strong. Straight single class I would go with Fighter subclass Rangers. Fighters plus (double starting HD, the level bonus to damage against giant class is huge as levels increase, eventual spell casting) who are restricted to being good, and only keeping what they can carry on their person.

In 2e fighter wizards lost a lot with not being able to cast in armor, they turned into wizards with some better hp (even after the xp level hit), better THACO, and able to use weapons. I might go with either a straight fighter or a specialist wizard for power. The 2e restriction on specialization to single class fighters. If non PH stuff is on the table however the specialist priests can take the 2e class power prize.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

Assassin was maybe the worst class because of the terrible "Shroud" system it used.

The powers are what made the Assassin struggle to function, not Shrouds. Assassin’s Shroud is an excellent idea that was held back by overvaluing of nova damage, and really bad power damage.

And feat taxes that should have just been errata’d into how the feature worked.

But having played both an executioner with shrouds instead of the stock executioner damage mechanic, and a regular assassin with a couple of the shroud feats houserules in as automatic features, yeah it for sure was not shrouds that held the class back.

It still boggles my mind that they didn’t just errata the class. It was a digital only class.

Anyway, “best” isn’t about “power” IMO but rather how fun to play it is.

2e - Bard. Partly because it’s the only class I played in 2e for any significant time.

3/.5e - Rogue, Bard, Ranger.

4e - Warlock, Assassin, Avenger, Rogue, Swordmage, post-essentials Ranger (it wasn’t a ranger until it got magical utility powers), and Bard. Bard is so freaking excellent it isn’t funny in 4e. Oh, and Warden! Seekers are really cool but needed another design pass.

5e - Man…all except cleric?

Some of the most fun I’ve had has been with Rangers and Rogues. I surprisingly don’t really like the 5e Bard much.

 

[Zardnaar]

The powers are what made the Assassin struggle to function, not Shrouds. Assassin’s Shroud is an excellent idea that was held back by overvaluing of nova damage, and really bad power damage.

And feat taxes that should have just been errata’d into how the feature worked.

But having played both an executioner with shrouds instead of the stock executioner damage mechanic, and a regular assassin with a couple of the shroud feats houserules in as automatic features, yeah it for sure was not shrouds that held the class back.

It still boggles my mind that they didn’t just errata the class. It was a digital only class.

Anyway, “best” isn’t about “power” IMO but rather how fun to play it is.

2e - Bard. Partly because it’s the only class I played in 2e for any significant time.

3/.5e - Rogue, Bard, Ranger.

4e - Warlock, Assassin, Avenger, Rogue, Swordmage, post-essentials Ranger (it wasn’t a ranger until it got magical utility powers), and Bard. Bard is so freaking excellent it isn’t funny in 4e. Oh, and Warden! Seekers are really cool but needed another design pass.

5e - Man…all except cleric?

Some of the most fun I’ve had has been with Rangers and Rogues. I surprisingly don’t really like the 5e Bard much.

5E bard is a great class. Poor bard though.

 

[Ashrym]

Anyway, “best” isn’t about “power” IMO but rather how fun to play it is.

That's how I rate classes. I love the 5e bard too tho. I make them to fit the concept I want.

 

[Argyle King]

I'm not familiar enough with 2nd or earlier to have an opinion there.

•3E: Druid - you can do most of what a wizard can do, wildshape, and gain an animal companion which eventually grows strong enough to be better than some actual PC classes.

Depending on what PrCs and splats are used, this changes. Seeker of the Song can help make a bard pretty ridiculous.

•4E: Warlord (Cha) - you can heal nearly as good as a cleric; you amplify the capabilities of the party; and you have a good mix of abilities to help facilitate effective multiclassing. Some of the paladin paragon paths arguably work better for warlord than for paladin. Alternatively, you could also MC into Bard for extra healing, a free skill, and possibly cherry pick something later.

In late 4E, some of the hybrid options could be pretty OP.

•5E: Paladin tends to be pretty good.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

5E bard is a great class. Poor bard though.

Agreed.