D&D 5E Why Class X is good (+)

[Cap'n Kobold]

So far I've not found a class that I did not enjoy playing (I think that I've played everything apart from Ranger off the top of my head.) - but I tend to focus on the character concept rather than the class.
I think that the only character whose class I found mechanically lacking was a Fighter for a short high-level game - spells tended to dominate out of combat a bit. It was still fun to play though.

I think that picking the right class can depend upon what I want out of a game, and how much investment I can spare: part of the reason I enjoyed the Champion Fighter was that I wanted something more straightforward and less fiddly. Compared with the Monk, and Sorceror, where there were a lot more decisions to be made each round which was good when I wanted to get more intellectually invested in the game.

Overall I tend to play support-type characters. I'm going to try to break this trend soonish with a headstrong, glory-hog Paladin though.

 

[Tales and Chronicles]

I know the Eldritch machine-gun warlock gets a bad rep, but if you do not play it like a striker (to use 4e terminology), it can be a great at-will controller that use the battlemap like a chessboard. Use Lance of Lethargy, Repelling Blast, Grasp of Hadar and, once you get more than one blast, instead of focusing fireing one foe, use multiple blast to shatter the enemy formation: pull the the squishy mage past its defensive line toward your stikers, push back the defense line and slow the skirmishers to group them while your artillery blast the hell out of them!

Add to that a chain pact and tamdem tactic from UA and you can even grant your team a bunch of advantages against the shattered enemy formation. And all that, at-will!

 

[Burnside]

I love playing bards because I never feel like “Well, there is nothing I can really do to contribute in this situation.” There is ALWAYS something a bard can do. Might or might not be a very powerful thing, but it will be at least a useful thing.

Arcane Trickster rogue tends to offer this as well, with the right build, but leaning a little more into combat and a little less into support.

 

[TheSword]

Had a blast, playing a ranger based on a Witcher concept. My god, spike growth is a good spell. My DM let me reskin the spell as an Yrden ward and it’s perfect.

 

[Shiroiken]

I like most of the classes, feeling they're mostly well designed. I think the best designed one is the Cleric, because it does exactly what you'd expect a cleric to do, and the sub-classes help it to do more than just be a heal-bot. The Fighter and Barbarian are probably the next two, but part of me wishes the Rage feature was just a once per short rest (eventually 2x Rest), rather than X per long rest, because I like martial based characters being more short rest oriented. Rogue is along the same lines, but reversed, since they have no short or long rest abilities.

Honestly, the class I feel would have been a well designed class with a small change is the Paladin. I feel that it's the strongest class by a significant margin, almost entirely from the ability to Smite at will. The smiting spells are really cool, but they generally pale in comparison to the regular smite, since you don't need concentration and can wait to use smite on a critical hit.

 

[Snarf Zagyg]

My favorite 5e classes are probably the Warlock, the Monk, the Fighter, and the Barbarian, but all for different reasons.

I love the Warlock and the Monk because the mechanics and the lore combine to make those classes fun. Both classes suffer from the common (mis)perception that they are one-trick ponies; but both of them provide a wealth of options to play with. In addition, the short rest mechanics are enjoyable.

The fighter and the barbarian are good melee characters, when you just want to hit and be hit.

If I was going with another class in a more spell-casty area, I'd probably add the sorcerer, just because it's got some fascinating subclass choice that have been coming up recently I'd like to give a spin.

 

[Stalker0]

I will note a few of my favorites.

Barbarian: Its entire flavor is wonderful baked into its first few abilities:

1) Rage: Armor class only means there is a chance to stop the pain, Rage means you can simple TAKE IT!
2) Unarmored Defense: I literally stop weapons with my muscles...now we are talking.
3) Reckless Attack: So I can trade puny defense for even more offense! Uh...duh!

The entire barb class showcased...perfectly flavored, wonderful strong.

Bard: For the first time we have an honest to god bard class that keeps the flavor and is actually competent.

1) Full Spellcasting with Good Spells
2) Bardic Inspiration: Powerful AND Flexible. First, I don't have to play an instrument the whole time to use. Hey man you want inspiration, you got it... go off and enjoy for 10 min. Its a solid bonus, a d6 that keeps scaling. And it helps with skills sure...or with an attack roll, or a saving throw, what you need, when you need it. And the icing on the cake, you can see the die roll before using it, so you can decide to use the ability with a decent guarantee that you are using it right when you most needed it. This ability is very well designed.
3) Expertise: Other than rogues, there will be two skills in the game you are the best at. That is easy for DMs to show off.

Fighter:

1) Action Surge: Literally the heroic moment basically baked into the class. People always talk about the DPR potential of this, but honestly in the hands of a creative player, this ability is so much more than mere offense. The chance to save a damsel in distress, to rush over and shield a friend about to die, the possibilities are endless.
2) Second Wind: Again, another "hero's moment" ability, that surge of endurance to do that last act before falling down.
3) Battle Master: I really like the design of the battle master. I think WOTC finally nailed make a fighter that had just enough "pizazz" to appeal to more Book of 9 Swords people but still feels mundane enough in flavor to cater to the "I don't want a spellcasting fighter" people. Its a very hard balance to find, and I think they did well with this subclass.

Paladin:
I honestly think the best changes to the Paladin weren't in favor per say, but they found a way to make the paladin personally powerful but in a more "team spirit" aspect. Also improving the flexibility of the class by removing the LG requirement and the focus on smiting evil.

1) Smite: A powerful weapon that is the literally "cool and special" moment for the class, as everyone is wowed by his spike of damage. Further, but not requiring it on evil creatures, frees up the DM to use other monster types.

2) Aura of Protection: The traditional Paladin trademark, the literally "I am too cool to be hurt". However, now he can share it with his party, which is both very flavorful but also creates interesting tactical decisions (should we bunch up around the paladin for protection but risk a fireball?

Rogue:
Another class WOTC just "nailed" in the first few class abilities.

1) Sneak Attack: What revolutionary about SA in 5e is how simple it is. No more weird situations, having to worry about monster types or concealment or distance or XYZ. Rogue get advantage, rogue get damage.... it just works!

2) Cunning Action: This ability alone encapsulates a million little rogues things in one simple class feature. I am super fast, super stealthy, I can get out of danger. Again such a simple decision that is cinematically so powerful.

3) Expertise: Like the bard, the true master of a few skills.