High Rolling
Picking your Dungeons and Dragons character’s class is one of the most important decisions in any campaign. Your class determines the extent of your power and also defines your playstyle for months to come. Whether you’re looking for a balanced character or an overpowered one, here are 20 classes to consider.
1. Cleric: Twilight Domain
The Twilight Domain subclass is exceptionally powerful even by Cleric standards. With their ability to wear heavy armor, heal and prevent damage, as well as fly and give initiative checks virtually forever, it is one of the best Cleric subclasses out there.
2. Warlock: The Hexblade
Hexblade Warlock is the most popular multiclass in the new 5e rules. Being able to set up a build as a primary damage dealer in the front lines, while staying reasonably safe thanks to a wide range of spells, makes this Warlock a force to be reckoned with.
3. Wizard: School of Divination
The School of Divination makes your wizard an excellent scout in addition to the wizard’s more common roles. While Rangers and Rogues have to go look around in person, these wizards can scout the distance, negating problems long before your enemies even know you are there.
4. Druid: Circle of the Shepherd
If you enjoy summoning creatures, buffing your allies, and staying safe in the backlines, this is the circle for you. These druids offer excellent support and powerful summons with Conjure Animals and Conjure Fey, while being a master of control, healing, and support for the team.
5. Fighter: Echo Knight
The Echo Knight is a powerhouse. These fighters output great damage, have amazing battlefield control, and are as durable as they come. The place where the Echo Knight really shines is delivering melee attacks to enemies that are not quite within reach of you.
6. Bard: College of Swords
College of Swords brings the Bard out of the pub and onto the battlefield, offering access to a fighting style, as well as their signature ability, Blade Flourish. This is a signature subclass ability that, while eating away at your Bardic Inspiration dice, can deliver significant damage boosts to the enemy.
7. Barbarian: Path of the Zealot
If being a reckless bruiser who dives into the heart of the battlefield without a care in the world is your playstyle, look no further than the Path of the Zealot. These Barbarians hit, and they hit hard. Unleashing their rage with Divine Fury, attacking twice with Reckless Attack, and wreaking havoc on any enemy who dares stand in their way.
8. Wizard: War Magic
Have you ever wanted to go into combat and obliterate all enemies with just one spell? Now you can, with the War Magic Wizard. With boosted initiative and an insanely large spell pool, this wizard can enhance defenses as well as deliver devastating blows to all enemies in sight.
9. Artificer: Artillerist
Combine magic, spells, and guns—introducing Artillerist Artificers. You don’t have to choose between using magic, a gun, or a cannon. Just pull out the weapon and cast a spell through it. This Artificer does not stop applying pressure to the enemies in combat, being able to activate the cannon every round as a bonus action while still casting, attacking, or doing virtually anything you want on the side.
10. Ranger: Gloom Stalker Conclave
The Gloom Stalker Conclave will never leave you feeling like you have a random, useless spell taking up space in your arsenal. From stealth to utility, all the way down to monstrous amounts of damage, this Ranger is easily the most versatile and terrifying class.
Now that we have discussed some of the strongest subclasses out there, here are 10 weaker ones that may just be the challenge you're looking for.
1. Monk: Way of the Four Elements
Way of the Four Elements monks can channel “ki” for both offensive and defensive purposes. However, the spell selection is abysmally small for this subclass. They are considered to be weak due to their insane “ki” cost.
2. Warlock: The Undying
The Undying sounds pretty overpowered, right? It’s supposed to make the Warlock more survivable, but it hardly manages to do so compared to any other subclasses. Most spells are situational and rarely give the Warlock viable options to address problems.
3. Ranger: Beast Master
Who doesn’t like having an animal companion fight by their side? This subclass, however, has a major setback. Requiring you to use up an action every turn just to perform the basic function of what this ranger stands for is a crippling design for this class.
4. Paladin: Oath of the Crown
Oath of the Crown Paladin certainly is the weakest oath to take. Despite making it easy to take damage for your allies, this path doesn’t get a traditional aura for your team. On top of that, you have no reliance on weapon attacks beyond Divine Smite.
5. Druid: Circle of Dreams
This druid subclass focuses on party support and healing. However, it lacks additional spells and takes nearly 10 levels to start actually being good or viable. With most campaigns not going into the higher levels, you will most likely be stuck being sub-par.
6. Cleric: Trickery Domain
Trickery Domain is the closest that a Cleric gets to being a rogue. Even though the spell pool is wide, the spells are mostly useless in combat. Spells like Cloak of Shadows require an action and channel divinity just to become invisible for a single turn, which is worse than simply taking a dodge action.
7. Wizard: School of Transmutation
Wizards are generally pretty competent regardless of their subclass. This one, however, is an exception. With half the subclass features being almost worthless, the biggest sin is that it isn’t any better at its chosen school of magic than any other wizard school.
8. Rogue: Mastermind
The Mastermind rogue works best in a game with a lot of intrigue and social interactions. This, however, is where this subclass ends. The only feature that applies in combat situations is Master of Tactics, while everything else this subclass brings is for social situations.
9. Fighter: Arcane Archer
The Arcane Archer is a really cool concept for a fighter. It, however, comes with disappointing mechanics that nowhere near match the appeal of the concept. Arcane Shot is the heart and soul of Arcane Archers, but it only comes with two shots per long rest, making the signature of this subclass virtually unviable.
10. Sorcerer: Wild Magic
This Sorcerer subclass is certainly unpredictable at best. The Wild Magic table is completely up to the DM of the group, meaning they can choose to make you roll when you cast a leveled spell, as well as make you reroll to recharge Tides of Chaos, which is your only useful feature at lower levels. This makes the subclass unreliable and ineffective.
