Most balanced and versatile classes in 3.5e

[RealMarkP]

Like the title states, what are the most balanced and well designed classes in all of 3.5e D&D? I'm looking for both play mechanic and actual versatility.

[Eldan]

That's more or less the definition of a tier 3.

[Malroth]

the most balanced classes aren't that versitile and the most versitile ones aren't balanced. But on the whole i think you're looking for classes in the tier 3-4 range.

examples.
Warblade
Factotum
Warlock
Binder
Dread Necromancer
Beguiler
Bard
Wildshape Ranger

[RealMarkP]

I've never heard classes being grouped into tiers. Can someone explain that to me?

[Malroth]

Tier 6) Cannot contribute to any situation without a lot of cheese or excess wealth or your main mechanic is non functional
examples: Commoner, Monk, Truenamer, CW Samurai

Tier 5) Somewhat functional in a single role sometimes but useless more often than not.
EX: Fighters, Rogues,Experts, Adepts, Vanilla Rangers

Tier 4) Good at a single trick but useless when that trick is innapropiate.
Healers, Paladins, Barbarians, Warmages

Tier 3) Good at several things and can contribute even when their main trick isn't appropiate:
Bards, Factotums, Beguilers, Dread Necromancers

Tier 2) Capable of completely negating encounters of certian types, Can break the game completely with some work.
Psions, Favored Souls, Sorcorers

Tier 1) Capable of breaking the game in multiple ways without even trying very hard almost impossible to provide a meaningful challenge for in any consistent way.
Wizards, Clerics, Archivists, Druids

[MidgetMarine]

I've never heard classes being grouped into tiers. Can someone explain that to me?

In this case, it describes how well certain clases can handle situations.

Here's the basic idea

Tier 1 classes can do basically anything they want well. They've got options for any situation you could think up and wield some pretty serious raw power.

Tier 2s aren't that different from Tier 1s, they can do a lot of things that the Tier 1s can, but often lack that raw power

Tier 3s and 4s can do a good amount of things well. They're neither as powerful nor as versatile as Tier 1s and 2s, but they do their jobs well and have enough options to keep themselves going.

Tier 5s can do generally one or two things well. But even then, the high Tier classes can probably do it better than them. They're significantly weaker than the others.

Tier 6s are almost hopeless. They can do almost nothing well, and the things they are supposed to do well are actually done better by other classes.

And then there's truenamer.....


EDIT: Swordsage'd!

[Silva Stormrage]

Ya tier 3 is probably where you want to be. In the tier 3 category most versatile probably is going to go to the factotum. The Dread Necromancer might be up there depending on optimization and what monsters the DM lets you animate/control.

[Barlen]

here is a link to the reposting of the official tier list:

http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=266559

[Gavinfoxx]

All the Tier 3's, pretty much.

http://brilliantgameologists.com/boards/index.php?topic=11714.0

A list that includes homebrew fixes and such:

http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=174628

[Flickerdart]

Note that the tier system is used for measuring character classes rather than builds. It's fairly simple to build a wizard that can't contribute to any encounter, and it's also possible to jack up a Beguiler to campaign-breaking proportions. Which classes work for you also depends on what your definition of versatility is - if "has something to do in a few esoteric situations" counts, then even Monk will serve you well, but if you want "has unique and effective ways of solving every encounter" then nothing under T1 is gonna cut it.

[RealMarkP]

All the Tier 3's, pretty much.

http://brilliantgameologists.com/boards/index.php?topic=11714.0

A list that includes homebrew fixes and such:

http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=174628

Is there a definitive list of classes and their tiers?

EDIT: I should rephrase. Is this the definitive list of tiered classes?

[Greenish]

Is there a definitive list of classes and their tiers?That first link seems to contain most published classes in their tier, though "definitive" is somewhat elusive, since there's no ranking everyone (or even just everyone who isn't opposed to the very idea of there being tiers) would agree to. Why, that link gives totemist (clear tier 3) and mountebank (tier 5 on a good day) as tier 4! :smallwink:

Anyway, one should definitely read the original explanation of tiers (http://brilliantgameologists.com/boards/index.php?topic=5293), since there are great many misconceptions about the concept.

[Shining Wrath]

Everyone thus far has gone tier happy, so I'll try a different approach.

I'll define "versatile" as "able to do something useful in, and also out of, combat".

And say that you want Artificers and Bards and Factorums. High charisma classes with some trap finding / lock picking abilities and lots of skill points. All of them can fight or buff or UMD.

[wayfare]

I'm gonna hop in here and add Warlock, Scout and Rogue to the mix. They are T4, but each has a chance to shine and fun tactical options. Even Spellthief is fairly useful, though prone to shenanigans.

[Shining Wrath]

I'm gonna hop in here and add Warlock, Scout and Rogue to the mix. They are T4, but each has a chance to shine and fun tactical options. Even Spellthief is fairly useful, though prone to shenanigans.

Oh, if only Scout had Open Lock on the skill list.:smallbiggrin:

[Spuddles]

I'm gonna hop in here and add Warlock, Scout and Rogue to the mix. They are T4, but each has a chance to shine and fun tactical options. Even Spellthief is fairly useful, though prone to shenanigans.

Scout & rogue can be good, but without serious dedication to their build, they have problems with certain enemy types as well as certain combat situations. Depending on the game, barbarians & fighters will do better than rogues & scouts.

I suppose lightbringer rogue and swift hunter scout can get around certain immunities, but as far as straight builds go, there are problems.

[Malroth]

These lists usually include a pretty high degree of optimization so Swifthunter scouts, Sword of the arcane order Paladins and Lion spirit totem barbarians are assumed.

[eggynack]

These lists usually include a pretty high degree of optimization so Swifthunter scouts, Sword of the arcane order Paladins and Lion spirit totem barbarians are assumed.
This doesn't seem necessarily true. I'd say yes on spirit lion totem, no on sword of the arcane order, and a maybe on the swift hunter in terms of the required optimization level. There's also a decent amount of classes on the list for whom the power level ceiling is pretty close to the power level floor. Conveniently enough for the OP, most tier 3 classes fit that category. You can build most characters in tier 3 however you want and get pretty similarly powered characters.
Generally, the gap between high power and low power isn't incredibly extreme with the exception of the truenamer. Wizards, for example, can be played badly in the wrong hands, but if you hand a power gamer a wizard built by a first time player, you'd get a tier one character simply due to their ability to change all of their spells pretty easily. This concept applies even more for druids and clerics, and less for tier two characters like sorcerers for whom initial build choices are pretty important because they stick.