D&D 4E What are the generally powerful classes in 4e?

[AbdulAlhazred]

I'd have to add Warden to the mix too. While they are less absolutely impressive punishing defenders and damage dealers than your fighter is you can survive ANYTHING. The level 12 Goliath Warden one of my players was running for a while was not only simply unkillable, it was unmovable and just laughed at any condition. She was dropping some really serious DR and other bennies on the party too. She wasn't too sticky, but it usually didn't seem to matter as damage mitigation was pretty impressive. Builds are quite straightforward too.

 

[Tony Vargas]

10? WOAH! I only counted 8.

1. great weapon
2. guardian
3. brawler
4. tempest
5. battlerager
6. testudo
7. knight
8. slayer

Arena and 'Eladrin Knight' from Dragon. Some of those are a stretch, I know.

 

[Hussar]

Personally, I'd say that there aren't really any "top tier" characters out there particularly. Or, I guess the better way to say it is that the difference between top and bottom really isn't huge.

 

[Gortle]

Do you mean the core rogue or the essentials rogue?

We have had two core rogues in games I've played in, both rogues were absolutely terrible. I haven't not been too impressed. Now the essentials thief on the other hand feels very thiefy.

Yeah the essentials thief is much more fun. Very accurate, I played one through 3 sessions and I'm yet to miss.
Good damage, nice to have short bows and rapiers - not over invested in daggers, can reliably generate combat advantage with his maneuvers. Lots of skills and tricks. The option to have a climb speed is cool.

I had a core rogue and I got very despondent with weapons powers like 3[W]. Not very exciting when you have a wield a d4. It scaled badly apart from Dagger Master.

 

[S'mon]

Yeah the essentials thief is much more fun. Very accurate, I played one through 3 sessions and I'm yet to miss.
Good damage, nice to have short bows and rapiers

E-Thief only gets shortsword not rapier AIR.

 

[Kerranin]

I can't say I disagree with class perceptions, however, I would say that it can be just as important picking the right combination of classes in the party, and more important that the players work well together.

 

[Argyle King]

Warlord; especially at epic levels, some of the powers they can use to amp up what the part can do are brutal. Plus, a Cha warlord can heal nearly as well as a cleric; fight well enough to be a secondary defender/damage dealer in a pinch, and has a broad enough range of skills to be helpful in skill challenges.

 

[UngeheuerLich]

+3 for Backstab, twice per encounter at 3rd level. I'll normally use it vs the higher-AC foes, with base +16 to hit it's a waste to use it on anyone less than about AC 21, there's always Heroic Effort as back-up.

You can also use backstab after you missed... t is the same backup as heroic effort except it also adds a d6 , is only +3 and can only be used while having combat advantage.

I am not sure which kind of bonuses both powers give... i believe HE is a racial bonus, so those powers indeed stack.

 

[Ratinyourwalls]

All martial classes (outside of Essentials) seem to be really good at being versatile and cranking out some really awesome damage.

 

[Gortle]

E-Thief only gets shortsword not rapier AIR.

Yeah but the point is all the class bonuses work with all their weapons, rather than just a +1 to hit with dagger and a little more damage with a shuriken.