Favorite/Least Favorite Class

[Raith5]

I like Clerics in 3rd and 4th ed but my favourite class is being multi classed - especially fighter/mage or Fighter/clerics. There are a lot of other classes I would like to play in 4ed, however (especially warlord and Paladin).

I have never liked wizards or mages - no matter the edition. Robes are never flattering.

 

[Minigiant]

Favorite: Ranger

The idea of a warrior who focuses outward on his surrounding and not inward in his equipment training, rage or ki is great. Whether as the sometimes magic ranger, urban ranger, planar ranger, or pure martial ranger I love the idea on being the master of a domain with snatching control of an area with magic.

Least: Druid

It just reminds me of how I am disappointed with clerics. Druids should be a cleric subtype to me, a nature cleric who trades turn undead and alignment/energy spells for wildshape and some nature spells. It just feels forced as a class.

 

[Herobizkit]

Favorite Edition: 3.5 - Pathfinder make a lot of decent changes and additions, but it feels like they traded one pile of extraneous information for another. There were still tons of options in 3.5 that I have yet to try, and now will probably never get a chance to. It's definitely a 'cleaner' pile to manage, though, so 3.5 only wins by a small edge.

Favorite Class: Bard. And multi-classed Bard/anything. Love chatty skill-monkey magic-using classes. Pathfinder did right by Bards, which was a welcome change.

Least Favorite Class: Male Human Fighter specialized in longsword and shield. You literally can't get any more vanilla... I don't think. The last PF game I participated in had TWO of them.

 

[Scars Unseen]

Favorite Class: Fighter, particularly in 2nd Edition AD&D(didn't play earlier than that). Because 2E was house-ruled out the wazoo anyway in my group, the fighter class was really only limited by my imagination because it was the least codified class. I got a lot of mileage out of the "called shot" rule. Then 3E came along, and suddenly I needed feats to do the stuff I had been doing all along.

Least Favorite Class: Ranger. I don't have anything against the concept, but I always thought that this class was very poorly executed. Dual wielding because Drizzt said so(really, what is it about "wilderness warrior" that screams "Florentine Style"), divine spell casting because who the hell knows... The class just never clicked with me.

 

[steenan]

Favorite (in 4e and Pathfinder): Paladin

• Very flavorful, tied into the setting by the paladin code
• Strong hooks for roleplaying and the mechanics to support it (high charisma, fear resistance, challenges etc.)
• Mechanically strong at what he does

Least favorite: Cleric

• Pushed into the healer niche, even when it doesn't fit the deity
• In all editions but 4e has balance issues
• Doesn't encourage a true relation with the deity followed, and without it it's just a mage with a different name

 

[Yora]

Given that there are hundreds of classes found throughout splatbooks, I limit myself to Players Handbooks.

Favorite: Ranger. It has some armor without being slowed too much, decent combat ability, stealth, and lots of skills. Pretty much everything a non-caster could ever need or want.

Least Favorite: Paladin. D&D could never make up its mind what alignment is supposed to be so nobody can agree what a paladin is. And it's supposed to be special, but I don't see how it's different in any way from a LG fighter/cleric. Except worse in every single thing than a fighter/cleric in 3rd Edition.

 

[Empirate]

Interesting how the Paladin is either the most hated or most beloved class... I always felt that if people are mature about alignment and conduct and stuff, Paladins are good fun, but not particularly impressive (except in PF, which finally got their mechanics right, but even in PF Paladins tend to be pigeonholed a bit).

Favorite class (3E and PF):
Wizard, or anything that casts off of intelligence really. I enjoy being the knowitall (also do in RL, unfortunately), and if that enjoyment also lets me bend the campaign to my will, I can't imagine a way in which that isn't awesome.

Least favorite class (again, 3E and PF):
Monk, for its massive need of a mechanical and flavor overhaul to fit decently into a standard (european medieval) fantasy game. It just never struck me as needed or useful, which isn't something I can say about most other PHB classes.
Outside the PHB, it's gonna be the Spellthief for 3E, and the Cavalier for PF. Incomprehensibly niche and burdened with a useless schtick in the first case, utterly redundant and again with a useless schtick in the second.

 

[Halivar]

Favorite: Hands down, paladin. Most social, most hookable, and all around makes the best party leader (which is usually me if I'm playing). The paladin, in a good player's hands, is a DM's dream: keeps the plot moving forward, follows up on "side quests", makes things happen, and adds a "heroic" atmosphere to the game. I find that even the most chaotic rogue players appreciate the story impetus of a paladin in the group.

Least Favorite: Bard. Love the concept. Am still waiting for an implementation that is not the worst class in whatever edition it's being presented in.

 

[exile]

Favorite: Regardless of system, the rogue/thief is my favorite class. My very first Basic D&D character was a thief with a hand axe and a large sack. He was killed at the entrance to a dungeon by a couple of wolves. My first 4E character was an elven rogue who I played all the way up to level 22. I was unable to find Epic LFR play opportunities to continue playing her after that. One of my favorite PFS characters right now is a halfling rogue who contributes a little in combat, but is a skill monster and full of personality.

In 4E, I really like strength based clerics, but I am not particularly fond of them in other additions. I also really liked clerics (in general) in 2E and 3E, but really am not that fond of them in Pathfinder.

Least Favorite: Paladin. Despite my love of strength clerics, I really dislike paladins. I enjoyed playing one for a stretch during a 2E game, but have never really much liked them since then. I think a former gaming acquaintance kind of ruined me on them.

 

[Dungeoneer]

Late 4e really ran out of creative steam as the splatbook fiasco continued. There's numerous terrible classes, usually ones that can't fulfill their roles (seeker, bladesinger, a few others), or have weird combos like low-Strength assassins running around with greataxes (talking about the avenger here). But IMO the worst was the vampire, because it wasn't just terrible mechanically, the flavor was offensive. A vampire base class. Seriously! It's like watching a beloved TV show definitely jump the shark.

The Vampire class was just embarrassing. It doesn't even make sense. Vampire should be a race! Wait, you say, but there WAS a 4e vampire race, the Vryloka. Released in the same book. So you could play a vampire vampire. To appeal to the emo goth kid who would rather be playing World of Darkness, apparently. Oh, and once you take the class you are pretty much going to be constantly draining your fellow party members of healing surges, since you pretty much have none of your own.