Which Essentials class do you like the most?

[Nemesis Destiny]

Skald and Berserker were both excellent.

Absolutely! Skald was my favourite from that book, and the Berserker was really well-put-together as well. What makes those classes shine to me is their inherent flexibility.

I also liked the Witch, but more for the goodies it brings to the rest of the wizarding world - some of the witch powers really push the boundaries of what the Arcane power source has been allowed to do, and I like that.

 

[cignus_pfaccari]

I am playing a warpriest now, and have for a few sessions.

He is ok, I guess, but nothing special.

I switched my minotaur cleric from a Str build to the warpriest when we had an opportunity. It was certainly better at healing, and much better-defended. Unfortunately, it lost that oomph I got from swinging a big executioner's axe.

It could use more Encounter-based utilities, instead of coming with a bunch of daily utilities that seem to do the same thing. Granted, you could use other cleric utilities, but you need DDI for that, and if you're just looking at the book, it seems limited.

Brad

 

[molepunch]

My favorite has got to be Knight. It's straightforward and feels just right (for me). I'm a bit bummed that the class leans you towards hammer/mace or sword only (I was hoping the shield would be a third "branch")

I really like the Paladin, Hunter, Rogue, and Warpriest, too!

 

[Nemesis Destiny]

The only thing I found missing with the Knight was a 'polearms' option - polearms are a classic for the archetype.

They published an article in Dragon for a staff knight, but it's just not the same. For this (and other) reasons, in my campaign I houseruled most of the reach weapons to count as a staff.

 

[samursus]

Played most of the essentials characters.

Favs include:

Pyromancer Mage
Eladrin Feypact Hexblade (teleporting fool)
Tiefling Infernal Pact Hexblade (sadist/masochist)
Half-Orc Gladiator Greatspear-wielding Slayer who did crazy charge damage
Dragonborn Cavalier of Valor

I have to agree with the others who have commented on the undefinable "something" that attracts me to the essentials builds.

 

[AdmundfortGeographer]

I just tried out a hamadryad 19th-level bard (skald) in a one-shot. Got off one combat that night, and at that it was only about three rounds. I still had a ton of fun with it and would love to play it further. We knew it was a one-shot so everyone went nova on our dailies, so . . .

The 15th level skald aura enhancement was awesome sauce for our group.

 

[OpsKT]

I'm fond of the Slayer and the Hunter. They do what it says on the box.

 

[Gort]

Big fan of the slayer. Very simple class, but still effective. This makes it excellent for players who:

A) Like fast turns
B) Just want to contribute without having to get all rulesy about it
C) Are only playing for one session as a "guest star"

For those kinds of players, the slayer is fantastic.

 

[ArmoredSaint]

Another vote for the Knight.

 

[Tony Vargas]

The Mage is definitely the best of the lot. It's probably no coincidence that it strays the least from the 4e AEDU structure. The Warpriest is pretty good, too. Both retain the complexity of 4e classes, but have powers that are a bit more forgiving/less-frustrating for newbies, particularly in having more 'effect' and 'miss' lines, so you don't feel like you've wasted your turn when you miss...

Skald and Berserker were both excellent.

They were well done. All the classes in HotFw were at least decent. If we can include post-E, the Berserker would have to get the nod from me. It's a fully-compatible subclass and, though it's not a great defender, the schtick of switching from defender to striker fits the concept really well - arguably a little better than the battlerager or barbarian and much better than the slayer (who has a couple of ragey stances, like 'Battle Wrath'). 4th time's the charm, I guess.