D&D 5E Worst Classes Level 1.

[THEMNGMNT]

Maybe half the classes feel...incomplete?...at first level. But fighter, rogue, wizard, and cleric at least do what it says on the tin right from the start.

 

[Eltab]

Monks are Skirmishers, not Tanks. Use your speed to run from friend to friend, smacking the enemy he is facing (hopefully taking them down) - one feature of status effect Dead is "makes no opportunity attacks".
Also, finish moving where you give your friend Advantage - let the enemy decide who he wants to hit, knowing the Tank will punish him severely if he hits you but does not down you.

At L1 where typical enemies do not have a lot of HP.

 

[Xenonnonex]

Maybe half the classes feel...incomplete?...at first level. But fighter, rogue, wizard, and cleric at least do what it says on the tin right from the start.

Classes rely on archetypes. Many really start at 2nd. Or 3rd level. Why classes feel incomplete.

 

[Undrave]

No class that gets it's subclass at level 1 should be towards the bottom. You get extra features right from the start, many of which are pretty good. I gave some examples of the level 1 sorcerer above. If you want another, myself as a level 1 shadow sorcerer was significantly more effective at stealth and exploration than the rogue. Between stealth proficiency and minor illusion cantrip, it was no contest.

And having played wizards and sorcerers, I found the sorcerer to be better at level 1 for the reasons I gave up thread.

Divine and Shadow sorcerers sound cool... But out of the PHB options though?

 

[Undrave]

Monks are Skirmishers, not Tanks. Use your speed to run from friend to friend, smacking the enemy he is facing (hopefully taking them down) - one feature of status effect Dead is "makes no opportunity attacks".
Also, finish moving where you give your friend Advantage - let the enemy decide who he wants to hit, knowing the Tank will punish him severely if he hits you but does not down you.

At L1 where typical enemies do not have a lot of HP.

This works great!

... In 4e edition.

Unless you have a V-Human with Sentinel, the tank can't 'punish' the enemy for hitting you, AT ALL, and you can't give your friend Advantage by just standing there.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

On the monk, I would just mention that there is a Theros only way to build a 1st level monk that is so far ahead on the DPS curve that you can't see fighters for dust.

Step 1: Choose to be a follower of Nylea. At 3 piety she grants you Hunters Mark [wisdom mod] times per long rest.

Step 2: Choose the "Pious" supernatural gift. This gives you a piety of 3 at level 1.


Once per day Hunter's Mark is good, but with a wisdom of 16 you can use it 3 times per day, which is probably enough to have it always on in every fight. And with the extra attack at level 1, monks are better placed to leverage hunters mark than clerics, druids or rangers.

 

[Undrave]

On the monk, I would just mention that there is a Theros only way to build a 1st level monk that is so far ahead on the DPS curve that you can't see fighters for dust.

Step 1: Choose to be a follower of Nylea. At 3 piety she grants you Hunters Mark [wisdom mod] times per long rest.

Step 2: Choose the "Pious" supernatural gift. This gives you a piety of 3 at level 1.


Once per day Hunter's Mark is good, but with a wisdom of 16 you can use it 3 times per day, which is probably enough to have it always on in every fight. And with the extra attack at level 1, monks are better placed to leverage hunters mark than clerics, druids or rangers.

Yeah but the other class also get to be followers of a god and a supernatural gift...

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Yeah but the other class also get to be followers of a god and a supernatural gift...

Yes, but no other god gets anything as powerful as hunters mark, characters without high wisdom can only use the ability once per day, and characters who don't get an extra attack can only benefit from hunters mark once per round.

Oh, and there is no other supernatural gift that directly boosts damage. The DM might allow a fighter to cash in their supernatural gift for GWM or PAM, but they would still be behind.

 

[Undrave]

Yes, but no other god gets anything as powerful as hunters mark, characters without high wisdom can only use the ability once per day, and characters who don't get an extra attack can only benefit from hunters mark once per round.

Oh, and there is no other supernatural gift that directly boosts damage. The DM might allow a fighter to cash in their supernatural gift for GWM or PAM, but they would still be behind.

On the other hand, a Fighter can get a +2 to WIS since they can get into heavy armor.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

On the other hand, a Fighter can get a +2 to WIS since they can get into heavy armor.

They can. But that's only twice per day, and unless they choose two weapon style - a sub par choice later on - they will still be behind. Three times per day would likely mean taking a hit somewhere else.

The other nice thing about this choice for monk is it only gets better at higher levels.