Informal Poll - Rank the classes

[The Serge]

They're all EQUAL!!!!!!!

When are we going to stop having these conversations? The classes are all balanced (with the possible exception of the Ranger class, and even now with all of the decent spells the class has access to, I don't buy that either).

No offense, but in my experience, most of the people who elect one class as the best/strongest class either love the class, and therefore root for it, or they think their favored class is too weak, and thereby attack another class... typically the class that has foiled them time and again in a game.

I can answer this in terms of my favorite classes.

I like:

Barbarian: 9
Bard: 10
Cleric: 2
Druid: 7
Fighter: 6
Monk: 4
Paladin: 3
Ranger: 8
Rogue: 5
Sorcerer: 11
Wizard: 1

 

[Tallow]

Barbarian = 8
Bard = 10
Cleric = 4
Druid = 5
Fighter = 2
Monk = 3
Paladin = 7
Ranger = 9
Rogue = 1
Sorcerer = 11
Wizard = 6

Hands down the Rogue is the best class. There were several things that I found very odd... Those who rank Wizard as least powerful and/or Sorcerer as most powerful. That is a score I really do not fathom. The other odd thing was the guy who thinks Monks suck. Dude, Monks rock!

As far as I'm concerned Sorcerer and Ranger are nothing more than complimentary classes to make a good multi-classed combination.

Bard could be 1 in a good social or political based campaign. I like what some third parties have done to make Bards overall better, giving them more depth and stuff. Overall though, Bard is an enigma in that it has received almost no attention from WotC.

Andy Christian

 

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

I find it difficult to rate the classes, because, as always, it depends on situation...
A Fighter is be best because he is versatile and can wield his weapons with great effectiveness
A wizard is the best because he can know any little spell, and if he didn`t memorize it, he casts it from scroll, wand, or from any other magic item he created.
A sorcerer is the best because he can dish out dozens of deadly spells
A bard is the best because he can fight, perform, and communicate with people, and heal and support his mates.
A Ranger is the best because he can survive and fight in the wilderness, and can sneak past enemy lines.
A Rogue ist the best because he can search for traps, sneak past enemies and kill them without risk, or bluff his way out of worse situations.
A Paladin is the best because he is a powerful holy warrior, capable of detecting and destroying all evil foes in the world.
A Cleric is the best because he can cast useful spells and enter melee combat.
A Druid is the best because he rules the wilderness, has powerful animal allies and is not limited to his "natural" form.
A Monk is the best because he is a calm, but powerful warrior that can fight even without equipment, and is a respected member of the society.
A Barbarian is the best because he can dish out great amounts of damage, survives great punishments and scares his enemies.

Yes, I know, this is quite obvious, most of it probably stands in the character class description. But it is true.
So far, I never regretted any character class or combination I played, I always had some fun (at least, if the campaign and the adventures were fun), and isn't it how it should be?
(So far, I played: Bard, Fighter, Ranger, Barbarian, Rogue (and Rogue/Pilot))
I would love to play every class at least once, but - so many classes, so few campaigns...

Mustrum Ridcully

 

[der_kluge]

Interesting. Some people put Sorcerer at the top, and some put it at the bottom.

I'm focusing on campaign-independent here.

Good. Keep it coming.

 

[Gizzard]

At levels 1-5 through the Sunless Citadel and Forge of Fury:

rank class why
1. Barbarian (high HPs, huge damage)
2. Sorcerer (constant stream of magic missiles)
3. Tank Cleric (mega-healing, some combat ability)
4. TWF Fighter (less damage & HPs, more flexibilty)
7. Bard (arcane & divine spells. missile weapon. song.)
9. Monk (umm. some combat ability. umm.)

I only ranked the characters in my campaign. I think that the first four are tightly grouped, while the Bard is clearly a step down and the Monk is clearly another step down.

 

[Crothian]

Barbarian: 9
Bard 6 (Tie)
Cleric: 4 (Tie)
Druid: 3
Fighter: 1
Monk: 10
Paladin: 11
Ranger: 6 (Tie)
Rogue: 8
Sorcerer: 4 (Tie)
Wizard: 2

But really, it's to hard to say. The character and the player make the class, not the other way around. People who consistently say a certain class is weak has more then likely never seen it properly played.

 

[takyris]

Ditto the Crothmeister.

Not that I'm attacking the question, 'cause it's one I love to debate, but there are so many varied levels of "power".

POWER: Straight ability to do damage in one round.
You can make a case for the core classes (fighter, rogue, wizard, cleric) with powerful weapons, sneak attacks, or damaging spells. But a buffed up bard who has Suggestion at a lower caster level than anyone else can be a scary opponent. I'd call this one variable, due to creativity and circumstance.

FLEXIBILITY, role: Rogue and bard win, hands down. Ranger and monk come in second.

FLEXIBILITY, roleplaying: Many classes have no alignment restrictions. Some have non-lawful. Some have lawful. The paladin has a code of conduct.

ITEM-DEPENDENCE: A monk stripped of all magical items is still a dangerous foe. A fighter can survive for awhile, but is at a serious disadvantage. A wizard is in deep defensive trouble, but still has a lot of offensive bam-bam power (assuming he gets to keep his spell components and spellbook).

STAT-DEPENDENCE: A rogue is a great class for a character with no great scores. A monk only works if your scores are pretty good. I'd rank the bard and paladin as also being stat-dependent -- you need a lot of good scores to get access to all your potential, while the fighter, barbarian, and wizard are at the other end of the spectrum, really needing only one or two scores above 13 to be a valid contender.

SOCIAL: Bard and Rogue. Every class with Diplomacy as a class skill comes in next. For campaigns that might not have combat every session, this power level comes up more often than "ability to kill a fire giant in under two rounds."

-Tacky

 

[Ridley's Cohort]

In terms of power...

At low levels:
Barbarian: 2
Bard: 9
Cleric: 1
Druid: 4
Fighter: 3
Monk: 11
Paladin: 10
Ranger: 8
Rogue: 7
Sorcerer: 5
Wizard: 6

At high levels:
Barbarian: 9
Bard: 7
Cleric: 2
Druid: 4
Fighter: 5
Monk: 10
Paladin: 11
Ranger: 8
Rogue: 6
Sorcerer: 3
Wizard: 1

The big wild card is the social skills, and that is a very campaign dependent feature.

 

[der_kluge]

Excellent.

Anyone else?

Hardly enough responses for a serious statistical average, but it's interesting nonetheless.

Break the power rankings down by low/medium/high level if you want to. I'll just take the average of all three.

 

[Blackthorne]

Barbarian 6
Bard 10
Cleric 1
Druid 7
Fighter 3
Monk 8
Paladin 5
Ranger 9
Rogue 4
Sorcerer 11
Wizard 2