D&D 5E Classes Rated By Tier

[famousringo]

You said this earlier which lead me to what I posted. If that's not the case then nevermind

Ah, sorry, I can see how that may have looked misleading. I was trying to articulate that natural armor + Dex is the typical base formula that Mage Armor is replacing, and beastmaster bonus applies after whatever base formula is used (except Barkskin, obviously, because it's pants ).
[MENTION=6804468]leonardoraele[/MENTION]

Also Absorb Elements, but the ranger needs to be targeted by the same attack and level 15. Useful feats include Inspiring Leader, Mounted Combat (must be halfling or gnome), and Sentinel, and there are some other useful multiclass options. And as I started off saying, while you're building to keep your pet in the game, the fighter or hunter ranger is building to wreck things more spectacularly. Building for beastmaster is obtuse (every mechanic that requires the attack action is incompatible with beast attacks) and most players probably won't find it very thrilling even if they do figure it out.

 

[leonardoraele]

Also Absorb Elements, but the ranger needs to be targeted by the same attack and level 15. Useful feats include Inspiring Leader, Mounted Combat (must be halfling or gnome), and Sentinel, and there are some other useful multiclass options. And as I started off saying, while you're building to keep your pet in the game, the fighter or hunter ranger is building to wreck things more spectacularly. Building for beastmaster is obtuse (every mechanic that requires the attack action is incompatible with beast attacks) and most players probably won't find it very thrilling even if they do figure it out.

You are right. Protection fighting style seems to be a good multiclass option too.

 

[Z. H. Darkstar]

Noticing a lack of SCAG materials in this list, so it could use an update.

Sun Soul Monks, Bladesinger Wizards, and Arcana Clerics are easily Tier 2.
Swashbuckler and Mastermind Rogues are borderline Tier 1/2, especially a Swashbuckler with the SCAG melee cantrips. Sneak Attack + Cantrip damage is a potential boost of up to 4d8 additional damage of a magical type.
Purple Dragon Knights are Tier 3 fodder, sucking so hard that we're still stuck with a Warlord subforum.
Storm Sorcerer might get knocked down a peg from its UA counterpart.
Battlerager is a solid Tier 2 subclass, adding to its damage potential with spiked armor.
Long Death Monks could be Tier 2 based on their higher durability.
Undying Warlocks could be Tier 2 since they have more support potential.
Oath of the Crown Paladins are Tier 2ish.

 

[Endur]

I think Tier ratings should always be done by level.

So, for example, all wizards are Tier 1 at level 14+, some wizards are tier 1 below level 14.

Moon Druids are Tier 1 at levels 2-5 and 18-20, and Tier 2 at other levels.

Etc.

 

[UngeheuerLich]

Right now until level 7 I have seen some classes in action which are rated at different tiers and I must say it depends greatly on the players how versatile they are. Power wise all are ok. I can see that you can use a tier rating system for the classes and there are a few outliers at some levels, but over the course of those 7 levels I have played it all boiled down to teamwork and great ideas of the players making the difference.
It also is not uncommon at our table that two abilities or spells rated red in some guides added up to being gold. And gold spells or abilities didn't matter at all.

 

[Noctem]

Basically though the list in the OP is useless to anyone except the OP because it's based on his anecdotal experience. To make it useful for others it would need to be broken up by level range (1-5, 6-10, 11-15, 16-20), purpose (combat, exploration, social, etc..) and more.

And also, some of the ratings are just nonsensical. Paladin Oathbreaker is considered tier 2 because it's an NPC class? What does that even mean?

If someone wants to make a thread with a real tiers system (or if the OP wants to adapt this one) for the classes, it could be a useful resource to have for the forum.

 

[Captain Panda]

One moment. Need to do some necromancy on this thread...

It's not a matter of drawing and quartering the OP for his opinion of moon druids, it's simply that he's wrong by any objective measure. Druids are in the top tier, with wizards and bards. Even after level 2, they remain exceptionally good at control, damage soaking, damage dealing, healing, and they are second to none among the casters when it comes to resource variety and efficiency. Fireball might hit harder upfront, but over the course of the spell conjure animals will have a much larger effect on the battlefield. The idea that clerics are the superior class is just absurd. Though I hate clerics, so I admit to some bias.

 

[Yunru]

I like how Oathbreaker is dismissed as "NPC", and then completely ignored, despite completely out-damaging every other Paladin due to it's +Cha to attacks. And that's before the Oathbreaker swarms the field with undead.

 

[Zardnaar]

One moment. Need to do some necromancy on this thread...

It's not a matter of drawing and quartering the OP for his opinion of moon druids, it's simply that he's wrong by any objective measure. Druids are in the top tier, with wizards and bards. Even after level 2, they remain exceptionally good at control, damage soaking, damage dealing, healing, and they are second to none among the casters when it comes to resource variety and efficiency. Fireball might hit harder upfront, but over the course of the spell conjure animals will have a much larger effect on the battlefield. The idea that clerics are the superior class is just absurd. Though I hate clerics, so I admit to some bias.

The list needs updating but I find that Druids drop off in power levels a lot at higher leels and they are not that good at anything or at least outclassed at say healing or damage by other classes. THey are good at control but every spellcaster is good at that.

Also using 5 tiers might be better as to many classes would be tier 2.

New wildshape options in Tome of Battle and Volos though might change things I am still reading through them.

 

[FormerlyHemlock]

The list needs updating but I find that Druids drop off in power levels a lot at higher leels and they are not that good at anything or at least outclassed at say healing or damage by other classes. THey are good at control but every spellcaster is good at that.

Their level 6 spells are a tiny bit weak compared to other spellcasters, so you could argue that they fall behind a little bit at levels 11 and 12... except that their overall package is still great at those levels.

The one weakness of Moon Druids is that they have no organic ranged combat capability. They pretty much always have to close with the enemy (in person or via summoned proxies) in order to destroy them. So in a campaign which consisted entirely of fighting dragons in flight, Moon Druids would be a weak(ish) choice.