D&D 5E Classes that pleasantly surprised you

[Eltab]

Though to be honest, my 7th level oath of the ancients paladin has cast less than 5 spells his entire run besides find steed and some smite spells if he's got a bonus action (rare with polearm master). Divine Smite consumes the great majority of his slots.

I worked my Paladin the other way: if we were at range, I'd lead with a spell.

Try using _Moonbeam_ in a confined space, especially if Team Monster is all-melee. The beam (plus me) blocked a 15' wide tunnel and protected my companions from taking ANY damage.

 

[Valmarius]

I've been really impressed with the 5e Cleric. With all the wildly different domains available it can fit a lot of different concepts.
They're definitely not the "required" character that no one wants to play, as they have been in the past.

 

[Pants]

I run a game with a Warlock, Cleric, Rogue, Ranger, and a Monk. Without a doubt, the most pleasant surprise amongst the group is the monk. He is very good at knocking things prone, doing buttloads of damage and just being effective. Actually, he is insanely effective, which is a huge change from how monks in 3e and PF generally worked (or failed to work). The rogue and the monk are probably the most consistently effective at dealing damage in the party but the monk tends to get more 'Awesome!' moments.

 

[Celtavian]

I've been really impressed with the 5e Cleric. With all the wildly different domains available it can fit a lot of different concepts.
They're definitely not the "required" character that no one wants to play, as they have been in the past.

This is very true. You play a cleric because you want to, not because you have to now. Nothing they possess is essential, but they have a lot fun abilities that are fun to play.

 

[Miladoon]

My Wild Sorcerer continues to exceed my expectations. And I am having a blast with the Arcane Trickster.

 

[TrippyHippy]

The Fighter-Battlemaster is remarkably good at making diminutive races (Halflings and Gnomes) believably cool in combat.

I like the various Wizard schools and the Warlocks are really fun to play. Ditto Monks and Bards. The Ranger abilities are mixed up in the spell lists, but once you realise this they are potent to play too. Oh and the Dragonborn Sorcerer makes a great narrative archetype.

 

[KahlessNestor]

I've having fun peeving off various DMs with my tempest cleric when I use my channel divinity to maximize damage instead of rolling. And then the push with thunderstrike, as well.

 

[Sacrosanct]

The Fighter-Battlemaster is remarkably good at making diminutive races (Halflings and Gnomes) believably cool in combat.
.

Oh heck yeah! I had a halfling battlemaster and loved playing him. We took on a white dragon and after we enraged it, luring it out of it's main cave, I was hidden just outside on a ledge and nova'd on it, using action surge and all of my maneuver dice to force it to make saving throws each time (which it used up its legendary resistances on--ain't no way the mighty dragon was gonna let a halfling force it to do anything lol). Along with a lot of damage

 

[TwoSix]

Moon druid. Once you get past the low-level "OMG overpowered" quirk (and yes, they are too strong at level 2-3, no question), they quickly become a fascinating puzzle to play. Between wild shape and the strong druid spell list, you can do almost anything, but the opportunity cost is extremely high, and you have to make a lot of impactful decisions in play.

Do you expend a wild shape to scout? If you do, do you fight in your scouting form, which is probably not a great damage dealer? Or do you drop it and lose 1 of your 2 chances to be a hit point sponge? At what point is it better to leave your form and deploy a concentration spell (druids have some great ones, like faerie fire) or healing word? Can you risk your probably weak caster form for more than a round? Are you willing to expend a wild shape at this point of the battle when you've already spent a round or two debuffing?

In general, I really like moon druid if you feel 5e combats can get a little same-y.

 

[Blue]

Thanks for the memories. I just had to pull out my old AD&D PHB and check. Took me a second because it wasn't alphabetical, I forgot paladin was a subclass of fighter back then. Yup, 9th. Heck, even 3.5 Paladins didn't get spells until 4th. Odd, I didn't keep my 2nd ed books but I've got my full collection of 1ed.