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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Yaarel" data-source="post: 7726335" data-attributes="member: 58172">Players seem to strongly want overall character concepts that combine a specific race and specific class together into a single comprehensive idea and flavor. It is vital that D&D makes sure that these specific race-class combos synergize optimally.The popular classes and races are an abstraction. On average, the most popular classes are Fighter, Rogue, Wizard, and Barbarian. And the most popular races are Human, Elf, Half-Elf, and Dwarf. But the raw data displays the specific incidences. So the most popular *characters* are as follows. (Here the top-20 characters cluster together according to their decimal magnitudes, approximating the inverse Golden Ratio.)Top 20 CharactersHuman Fighter Elf RangerElf WizardHuman WizardHuman Rogue Human ClericHuman PaladinElf RogueDwarf ClericTiefling WarlockDwarf Fighter Human MonkHalf-Elf BardHalfling RogueElf DruidGoliath BarbarianHuman RangerHuman WarlockHalf-Orc BarbarianDragonborn PaladinSo, the Human Fighter is the most popular character that players play. It is at a magnitude all its own. (Would love to know about Variant Human and Battle Master Fighter!)Then come the Elf Ranger and Elf Wizard. These are top priority race-class combos. Both of these are extremely important to make sure that the mechanics for the Ranger and Wizard classes and their respective Elf cultures, all have extremely good mechanics and synergize excellently. It is important to get a Ranger class (or several spin-off classes) that most players are happy with − especially Elf players. Already, the Wood Elf synergizes with the Ranger. It is also important that the High Elf synergizes with the Wizard.The fact the Elf Ranger is so popular, while the Human Ranger is significantly less popular, is one of the indications that players are choosing for the sake of overall character concept and flavor.Human Fighter, Human Wizard, and Human Rogue seem good indications for popular classes, but also typify the flavor of Human culture!Then come the Cleric − presumably because of the perceived need for a dedicated healer − and the Paladin holy warrior. Altho these two classes to slightly less well on average when abstracting the most popular classes, they make a good showing here in overall character concepts.The flavor of the Paladin is decisively Human. Yet the remixed fusion of the Knight-v-Dragon archetype seems to find interest and traction in the form of a Dragonborn Paladin.The Elf Rogue makes an appearance − perhaps as much because of the flavor of physical grace and elusiveness, as much as for its Dexterity mechanics. But the most popular choices of Ranger and Wizard evidence the prevailing flavor of the Elf is innately magical.The Wood Elf Ranger class seems to have inherited all of the traditions of the early D&D High Elf being the ‘Fighter/Magic-User’. The Eldrich Knight seems unable to serve in this capacity. Thus, in the attempts to improve the Ranger class, one of its options must have the Wood Elf in mind to synergize with it. This kind of Ranger must be a magical warrior, with strong gishy overtly magical offense spells, as well as woodsy wilderness flavor.By contrast, the Eldrich Knight Fighter seems less significant for the Elf.The Elf flavor is either Ranger gish or Wizard full caster. These are the vibrant archetypes for the Elf cultures.Dwarf Cleric and Dwarf Fighter. In that order. These are virtually the only concepts that typify the D&D Dwarf cultures. Probably each should dominate one Dwarf culture. Wisdom Cleric prevailing among the Hill Dwarf, and Strength Fighter prevailing among the Mountain Dwarf. Make sure these class-culture combos synergize excellently.The fact Tiefling Warlock enjoys significantly more popularity than Human Warlock, suggests most players want an overall character concept that combos both race and class. A comprehensive concept.Half-Elf Bard. Half-Elf only appears in the top 20 characters as a Bard. This is currently the only place where the Fey flavor can happen for Charisma as charm, magic, beauty, and art. Similarly, the Elf of the Feywild is primarily a Charismatic Bard culture.The only time Halfling makes an appearance is as the childlike Halfling-Rogue combo. The only time a Goliath makes an appearance is as the rugged Goliath-Barbarian.The only time a Half-Orc makes an appearance is as the savage Half-Orc-Barbarian.The only time a Dragonborn makes an appearance in the top 20 is as an ironically noble Dragonborn-Paladin.The only time the Druid class makes an appearance is because it happens to be part of the comprehensive Elf Druid combo concept, a woodsy full caster. Nevertheless, even more so, Wood Elf flavor of the Elf is moreso a magical warrior gish, a Ranger. The High Elf flavor is moreso the full caster, a Wizard. The two types that prevail for the Elf are the Wood Elf Ranger and the High Elf Wizard. The game works better when both of these concepts are mechanically optimal.In sum, the evidence demonstrates how players are choosing specific race-class combos, rather than races alone or classes alone. Together these comprehensive combos are what define a ‘type’, the archetype that players want to play. Players choose this because the specific combo is what creates a flavor.Advanced players will occasionally want to play ‘against type’. But each type itself − as an optimal synergistic combo − must work well in the first place.</blockquote>

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