D&D 5E The most Powerful out of Combat Characters

[FrogReaver]

The most Powerful out of Combat Characters. Which characters do you feel are the strongest out of combat. Maybe in socialization. Maybe in exploration. Maybe in some other aspect?

 

[Jester David]

Out of combat encompasses as lot of ground.

The ranger is particularly good at wilderness exploration and natural terrain, being generally able to track and travel quickly. Meanwhile rogues are better served by dungeons (if they are built that way). Bards remain the king of social skills.

 

[Mistwell]

On the old WOTC boards I had a build with all skills as proficient skills, and I think all languages too?

AH, here it is, on EnWorld. It also explores maximum number of expertise skills, and focus on a single skill.

 

[Shiroiken]

One of the best aspects of 5E is that Backgrounds allow for a variety of skills and tools, regardless of class. Several classes do have certain advantages for specialized things, such as Ranger with wilderness travel. I'd have to say if I had to pick a single winner, it would be Bard.

Bard gets 3 skills instead of 2, which are open to anything. They get to add half proficiency to what they're not trained in. They get expertise at levels 3&10, so four skills can be tremendous. They already focus on charisma, so social encounters are their forte naturally. Finally, they have a lot of versitile spells (especially with Lore Bards picking up other class spells) that can be used to get around a lot of challenges.

Rouge gets an honorable mention, because Reliable talent at 11th level makes them amazing at whatever they're trained in. A lack of magic keeps them out of first place though.

 

[Krachek]

The most Powerful out of Combat Characters. Which characters do you feel are the strongest out of combat. Maybe in socialization. Maybe in exploration. Maybe in some other aspect?

Usually the character with the best background and the best overall definition and incarnation.
Class don't matter,

 

[Quickleaf]

Clearly, it's the fighter.

Because a good (fighter) player can convince their DM of anything.

 

[DaveDash]

Rogue, Bard, or Warlock I'd say.

Warlocks are very useful both for the Social and Exploration pillar of the game. Bards and Rogues get expertise.

 

[Ath'kethin]

The most Powerful out of Combat Characters. Which characters do you feel are the strongest out of combat. Maybe in socialization. Maybe in exploration. Maybe in some other aspect?

In my experience, the most effective characters are those whose players can think outside the character sheet.

 

[DaveDash]

In my experience, the most effective characters are those whose players can think outside the character sheet.

As a DM though you need to respect what's on the character sheet too. If a character has 18 Int you should drop the player hints and so forth that are appropriate for an 18 int character.

After all you don't make players try and chop wood with their bare hands to prove how strong they are in real life if they're playing a strong character, likewise when it comes to the mental stats you need to treat the character with the appropriate respect, regardless of the players ability.

If a player was playing a character with low mental stats but constantly coming up with clever ideas in game I'd have a word - otherwise what's the point in having mental stats to begin with.

 

[aco175]

I was going to say fighters since they seem to be the rulers of kingdoms, but a mage may be since they are always the power behind the throne. Maybe it is their wives though.

If you are looking to make a PC do this I would say a non-blaster mage type. He should have access to cool organizations and secret libraries. Like a powerful NPC it is the circle around the PC that makes him powerful.