What is your favorite class/race and why?

[SangoProduction]

I personally loved Warlock because of infinite teleports. Eladrin kinda the same deal. What about you guys?

[masteraleph]

Big fan of that. But moreso as a hybrid, because Warlocks aren't very good at fulfilling their role while staying in class (see the conversation in the vampire thread right now; much of it applies to Warlocks as well).

Definitely a fan of Tieflings. Would love to love dwarves, but they just don't quite have the racial support they need to be great. As noted, Eladrin are great.

I'm a big fan of Paladins as well. Would love to try a Paladin|Warlock one day, but I'm not quite sure where I want to go with it.

[ThePurple]

Half-orc Berserker Barbarian Paragon Multiclass Rogue (for Riposte Strike at-will and Low Slash) Martial Archetype Epic Destiny (because Riposte strike + Defender Aura basically guarantees 2+ attacks per round and recharge Low Slash on a crit turns that into 3+ attacks per round).

The berserker barbarian, as the only default class that is actually designed as a multi-role class, is my straight up favorite class outright (the martial/primal and defender/striker mutually exclusive combination is just an incredible design), and half-orc is just a perfect fit for it.

[DragonBaneDM]

Man do I love Artificers and Clerics.

The way they ended up implementing the Artificer this time around was wicked. They came out being able to generate a ton of temporary hit points, buff weapon and implement attacks, and even become decent minionmancers in the process.

Clerics on the other hand are super diverse. A Battle Cleric plays nothing like a Laser Cleric, and I love that. I've used both, and Battle Cleric's Lore makes for an amazing fix to the class's longstanding AC issue and gives them great hybrid and multiclassing options. They can't enable to save their lives, but a Battle Cleric can make a great substriker and a Pacifist or Laser Cleric is arguably the best healer in the game.

[masteraleph]

Clerics on the other hand are super diverse. A Battle Cleric plays nothing like a Laser Cleric, and I love that. I've used both, and Battle Cleric's Lore makes for an amazing fix to the class's longstanding AC issue and gives them great hybrid and multiclassing options. They can't enable to save their lives, but a Battle Cleric can make a great substriker and a Pacifist or Laser Cleric is arguably the best healer in the game.

Rather, they can't enable until level 27, at which point someone writing the Neverwinter Campaign Setting decided "you know what class needs the best attack granting power in the game? Clerics."

[MwaO]

I'm a fan of weird eladrin Defenders. Fighter, Battlemind|Swordmage, etc...

[Dimers]

Dwarf is my favorite race, because dwarf, that's why. By which I mean that there's something about the race in its many varieties that I find emotionally resonating ... it feels morally good (if not in a huge way) to bring a dwarf character to the table. I'm also big on Constitution, Wisdom and self-reliance.

I don't have a favorite class. Assassin is the most likely to work its way into my builds, because assassins have some great feat options, though generally MC is enough. Battlemind, cleric and avenger show up a lot too, monk a little bit less. I don't care about the default flavor of any of them though. They're all ways to activate certain 'tricks' or get a unique build functional. Monk is my favorite to play straight -- they have a clear role and a lot of freedom to determine their own fate.

My favorite paragon path is Blood Mage, entirely for flavor (though its powers and features aren't bad either).

And some favored builds so far are

goblin arena fighter/assassin Snapping Testudo
dwarf swordmage|wizard Blood Mage
svirfneblin ranger|runepriest fluffed as a mud elemental
warforged witch/invoker Blood Mage
kenku rogue|executioner/warlock ... with Cunning Sneak and Shadow Walk, during any long movement, the character bursts into a flock of shadow birds that fade entirely from sight
pixie sentinel druid|rogue who rides on living zephyr
drow invoker/assassin reluctantly serving the god of poison
dwarf sentinel druid/shaman beastmaster (with fey beast tamer theme, of course)
dragonborn fighter|sorcerer Fear Walker underworld superstar

[Tegu8788]

Tiefling Paladin|Warlock for me. I like the more exotic races. If it's found in Tolkien I'm not really interested. Love Tolkien, but as books, not for my characters. Tiefling, Deva, Shadmind, Warforged all speak to me. Cha/Int/Con being my breakdown of choice.

When it comes to classes, I'm the hybrid lover. I don't just build a character, I built the class too. Make it really mine. I love taking the different features and playing them together. Cha/Int being favorites, I've done the Paladin|Warlock, a Warlock|Executioner that threw 4d8 at-will before level 5 without charging, I enjoyed a Druid|Warlord that went bear shaped and just barked out orders, and a F-Skald|Executioner/Warlock in a Paragon game that was a great sniper. Do want to try a Blackguard|Bard/Binder at some point. I just gotta figure how to mix at-will Eldritch Strike, a Skald Aura, and Executioner Weapon Finesse into a single character, and I may be set for life.

[Inevitability]

Rather, they can't enable until level 27

*cough*Cause Fear*cough*

[tcrudisi]

Favorite class? Runepriest.

Why? Because it offers more options than any other class. And by that, I mean each power has multiple options. It just makes the class so incredibly diverse when at the table.

Favorite race? Half-elf.

Because I love being able to pick any at-will power and turn it into my encounter/at-will power.

[Kurald Galain]

Favorite race is Eladrin, because of its excellent teleportation ability.

Favorite class is Wizard, because I love being the crowd controller and utility caster, and wizards are just sooo good at that.

[DragonBaneDM]

Oh yeah, I never answered the race question!

Half-Orc is my favorite. I've played a Ranger that went against the almost-always tragic backstory by having two half-orc parents, and now I'm playing a ClerBarian who plays it right up. Mom was a Paladin, Dad was a rampaging orc warlord, the whole shebang.

Here's hoping I get a chance for evil rampaging female human warlord and simple orc dirt farmer in the future.

Warforged get a close second. When you're expected to be a robot, a character's quirks and personality can really shine. No two Warforged are the same. Also they have great bonuses, are fun to hybrid with, and Warforged Tactics, Warforged Tactics, Warforged Tactics.

[Inevitability]

Favorite race is shardmind, because they've got everything that makes warforged awesome and add psionics and ability bonuses I like more.

Favorite class is probably wizard, because they're so versatile.

[Telwar]

Sorcerer. I was never really fond of Dragon or (sigh) Wild sources, and I'm not sure they thought too hard about the Cosmic sorcerer, but I loved me my storm sorcerer. Made two of those, actually. Those were the best, for me, right up until the fire elementalist, and I never looked back once I found that; our last 4e campaign, I played a tiefling fire elementalist from 1-23, no breaks). I didn't even bother with the Flame Spiral crap (I figured the DM would have the enemy beat me into the ground the third time I tried it), and I wasn't in the highest-op of party, but I could stomp anything, and was very survivable. If I'd had a warlord or artificer in the party, I'd've been a monster.

Next best was rogue. I'm generally good at sneaky characters and again I had two of these over the edition. Thief was a surprisingly good ranged striker, especially once you realized that the "make basic attacks with a light blade against AC or Reflex" didn't actually say *melee* basic attacks. By the time we hit epic, my thief was flinging out 7d8+20ish or more and hitting almost every time.

Honorable mention goes to the avenger, which I would love to have played well but apparently my dice conspired against me, as with a Vicious Weapon (19+ crit range), rolling twice, I crit under 5% of the time (as mentioned elsewhere).


Favorite race? Minotaur! Not only did it start out overpowered (and got nerfed into reasonableness...I missed the Large weapons, but not as much as I thought I would), but no other race allows you to say "Mooooo!" as you moooove around the board. Well, you can do that with any other race, really, but it only makes sense with a minotaur. In our Eberron/Maztica game, the other party members noted that my minotaur battle cleric "wore the horns of power" as I threw down the false idols of the Mazticans, who spread their vile heresy that the Seven (...and Six...) wanted human hearts to keep the world going.

[ScrivenerofDoom]

I think my favourite combination is eladrin tactical or resourceful warlord. I love the tactical side to 4E and the mix of fey step and warlord powers simply screams "tactics".

[Laserlight]

Favorite race was pixie, due to the combination of ridiculous plus chaotic fey plus flight. I'm miffed I never got to play a Pixie Barbarian.

I liked AoE nuking sorcerer and wizard; I liked the warlord's ability to make the barbarian attack the target he should be attacking.

My favorite character, though, was Junior, Paladin of St Dale the Intimidator. Yee ha, y'all.

[NeoNinevite]

My favourite race is Dragonborn, probably as a result of its versatility and all the fun memories of playing as one.

I feel like I probably enjoy swordmage the most as a class, though a lot of other classes come close.

[Necroticplague]

I like to be very mobile. To this end, I love Thiefs and Monks for the constant shifting. I prefer to go Human, because the extra at-will power can be very useful (combined with monk, where an extra at-will is essentially worth two at-wills), and the extra feat is awesome for most the builds I use.

[R.Shackleford]

The Non-Essentials Fighter is perhaps my favorite class. I'm not a huge fan on how they gained abailities (would rather just see a pool of energy to use encounter powers from) but my god was it awesome.

Fighter's Superiority is perhaps my favorite feature. Too bad they turned it into part of a feat in 5e.

Hybrid Sorcerer/Warlord gains a huge nod for being straight up awesome. It could almost perfectly replicate Red Mage from 8 Bit Theater... How can you not love that?

[Jesse Booth]

If I had to say which of my characters has been the most fun to play, I would have to say it was my Kobold Artificer Self-Forged Archlich.

That's right, he's a undead cyborg-lizard who does science and ****. He might look like a toddler's Halloween costume on meth and sugary sodas, but with an action point, an at-will, and a sigil, he can give the party's Ranger a +33 to all damage rolls, and a +4 to hit for one round. If there'd been an Archer Warlord in the party too, that would've been a total of 198 points of extra damage, just from 2 Twin Strikes and the Warlord's bonus attacks to allies.

Did I mention he also had a shoulderbow that shot LASERS???

[Seek For Truth]

I like to play Genasi because I like the idea of being touched by the elements and I like their stat boosts.

Though I also like the Half-Elf, Eladrin, and Dragonborn.

I like Swordmage because it allows me to make a fairly mobile defender that is very cool thematically to me and I enjoy playing all three archetypes of swordmage.

I also like to multiclass into the Spellscarred when playing Forgotten Realms sometimes.

[doe]

I have to admit I am quite partial to the Dragonborn Paladin combo. There is just a certain regality to it and the Charisma modifier for Dragonborn works quite well! The best one I've played so far was a Red Dragon Dragonborn, due to the fact that everyone we encountered naturally assumed I was evil and tried to attack first and ask questions later, which was good for a heavy hitting party.

For a more relaxed and social game, I quite like Bards. Dwarven Bards always bring me great joy because Dwarves are stated for anything BUT being a bard and it makes for very good character progression.

[bloodshed343]

My favorite races are Hobgoblin, Genasi, Tiefling, and Gnome.

I play almost exclusively Swordmage hybrids. I have a problem.

[Kurald Galain]

I play almost exclusively Swordmage hybrids. I have a problem.

"Hello, my name is Bloodshed, and I'm a swordmoholic." :smallbiggrin:

[Dimers]

*nods sagely* I struggled with gishoholism myself. Strength, friend. Or Intelligence as the case may be.

[Elricaltovilla]

I love Wardens and Goliaths. Two great tastes that taste great together.

[bloodshed343]

"Hello, my name is Bloodshed, and I'm a swordmoholic." :smallbiggrin:

My current roster:

5 different swordmage|warlocks.
3 different swordmage|Cleric
Swordmage|Invoker
Swordmage|Wizard
Swordmage|Bard
Swordmage|Sorcerer
Swordmage|Ardent
Swordmage|Psion
Swordmage|Battlemind
Swordmage|Paladin
Swordmage|Warlord
Swordmage|Avenger
Swordmage|Shaman
And two Swordmage|Barbarians (one dual-wielding drow long knives and taking shock trooper, the other being allowed to use Spears instead of heavy blades for Swordmage features and charging.)

[Delicious Taffy]

So far, I'm most intetested in the Revenant and Genasi. Revenant because I like the idea of searching for an identity and having a personal mission. Genasi because being a demi-elemental with sweet Tron lines is something I can easily get on board with, plus their emotional states are described similarly to my own.

Swordmage is pretty appealing to me, class-wise. It seems reasonably versatile, and I like the idea of being a melee spellcaster.

[GPuzzle]

Warden for me. Holy crap, it oozes with flavor both in crunch and fluff. That said, it needs stickiness early on, which it desperately lacks. Can't really keep them nearby until level 9.

And I love Goliaths. Rock solid. Dwarves are also really cool.

[Elricaltovilla]

Warden for me. Holy crap, it oozes with flavor both in crunch and fluff. That said, it needs stickiness early on, which it desperately lacks. Can't really keep them nearby until level 9.

And I love Goliaths. Rock solid. Dwarves are also really cool.

I feel you. I almost have to force myself to play something other than a Warden. They're my ideal class in nearly every way.

[ThePurple]

They're my ideal class in nearly every way.

I love the idea behind the Warden but the implementation of their baseline mechanics I found a bit wanting. I totally love their flavor and I think that they have the best designed (mechanically and thematically) daily powers in the game. My ideal defender would actually be a mix of the Berserker Barbarian (mechanics) and Warden (theme and daily powers) such that you've got a barbarian whose rages (especially the later ones) cause her to physically morph into badass forms.

[GPuzzle]

Really, if the Warden had better abilities to lock down, they'd be really interesting. Some mechanism to keep multiple enemies close early on, really. Such as whirlwind powers or multi-targets.

[ThePurple]

Really, if the Warden had better abilities to lock down, they'd be really interesting. Some mechanism to keep multiple enemies close early on, really. Such as whirlwind powers or multi-targets.

Easiest way could always be to just outright replace the Nature's Wrath class feature (provides the marking mechanism as well as the retributive effects) with Defender Aura and one of the Essentials retributive effects (Vengeful Guardian or Battle Guardian). Not sure if that would cause any weird cascade effects down the line, though.

I really prefer the Essentials defenders over the classic ones because they just seem better at locking down (and interfering with) multiple targets without being able to absolutely *dominate* a single one (which means they're more useful in most fights and not as powerful in solo fights). With the exception of the Swordmage, all of the classic defenders could probably replace their mark and retributive mechanisms with the Essentials versions without really needing much of a tweak others; I'd like to find something to do with Swordmage to make them better multi-target defenders (also, better at defending rather than marking, running away, and then either playing striker or leader).

Combining the options afforded to classic classes with the elegant design of the Essentials classes would be really nice.

[Finback]

Warforged Knight. I originally created him before I learnt people consider it an optimised build, but I had wanted to play one, and the Knight seemed perfect for the protector role I had envisaged. And boy, does he rock. Craghammer in one hand, shield in the other, tossing himself in between allies and danger..

The other fun one I made was a dragonborn monk (stone fist) - all inspired by a song.

[MwaO]

Easiest way could always be to just outright replace the Nature's Wrath class feature (provides the marking mechanism as well as the retributive effects) with Defender Aura and one of the Essentials retributive effects (Vengeful Guardian or Battle Guardian). Not sure if that would cause any weird cascade effects down the line, though.

I really prefer the Essentials defenders over the classic ones because they just seem better at locking down (and interfering with) multiple targets without being able to absolutely *dominate* a single one (which means they're more useful in most fights and not as powerful in solo fights). With the exception of the Swordmage, all of the classic defenders could probably replace their mark and retributive mechanisms with the Essentials versions without really needing much of a tweak others; I'd like to find something to do with Swordmage to make them better multi-target defenders (also, better at defending rather than marking, running away, and then either playing striker or leader).

Hmm? Swordmage almost by default is an excellent multi-target Defender by level 1 using just Forgotten Realms Player Guide. Be a Shielding Swordmage, take Booming Blade as your at-will, mark one target, Booming Blade another. The only real issue is that you won't have an at-will MBA that does anything - so the Booming Blade target can do ranged attacks at friends, but that's easily fixed by getting Intelligent Blademaster as your 1st level feat choice.

Transposing Lunge at 3rd really improves that - your marked target either attacks you or potentially ends up next to you anyway, setting up Sword of Sigils. Everything there is a book choice with only Sword of Sigils being not FRPG.

In general, the problem with aura powers, though, is that as the battle field expands, it gets harder and harder to use them on multiple targets. It is one of the reasons that Paladins and Swordmages tend to be the most effective Defenders in Epic - simply because it isn't hard to end up in a combat where the Defender can't get to more than one opponent without significant forced movement help.

[Elricaltovilla]

Easiest way could always be to just outright replace the Nature's Wrath class feature (provides the marking mechanism as well as the retributive effects) with Defender Aura and one of the Essentials retributive effects (Vengeful Guardian or Battle Guardian). Not sure if that would cause any weird cascade effects down the line, though.

I really prefer the Essentials defenders over the classic ones because they just seem better at locking down (and interfering with) multiple targets without being able to absolutely *dominate* a single one (which means they're more useful in most fights and not as powerful in solo fights). With the exception of the Swordmage, all of the classic defenders could probably replace their mark and retributive mechanisms with the Essentials versions without really needing much of a tweak others; I'd like to find something to do with Swordmage to make them better multi-target defenders (also, better at defending rather than marking, running away, and then either playing striker or leader).

Combining the options afforded to classic classes with the elegant design of the Essentials classes would be really nice.

I'm personally not a fan of the defender auras, but I agree that Warden could use better marking/punishing.

[Exorcessum]

I would have to say my favorite race is definitely dragonborn. So much awesome draconic flavor and they fit perfectly with my ideal character, which is a barbarian|sorcerer hybrid, usually thunderborn and always dragon. Basically, even when I was playing D&D, I was playing Skyrim:smalltongue:

[RPG_NPC]

Always had a soft spot for halfling rogues, my first ever PC was a AD&D halfling thief.

[Jesse Booth]

Update from the Kobold I mentioned before: I'm currently head-over-heels in love with Dwarven Fighters - stubborn, belligerent, alcoholic, gratuitously-accented Dwarven Fighters. I'm on a binge of flavor-of-the-month characters (cycling through every non-essentials Fighter build under the sun), and the overbearing prevalence of Dwarven Fighters in the campaign world is a bit of an inside joke at this point (this is in a game where the wacky side of D&D has always been particularly strong). However, after taking a look at an article from Dragon 410, Thingamajigs of the Barrier Peaks, I'm sorely tempted to break the Fighter mold to dabble in a Dwarven Warlord build - specifically a space marine.

[MeeposFire]

I love warlords and bards. SO good and so much fun. They also utilize the part of 4e that I think 4e does best which is moving pieces on a game board. Warlords are amazing at moving allies while bards do both allies and enemies.

I actually really enjoyed the slayer and I really like a lot of the monk (though with the monk I really wish there was a monk melee basic attack that was fully dex based that was not a discipline power).

Not sure I have a favorite race though...

[Zaydos]

Personal favorite was Swordmage. For reasons similar to MeeposFire's above, very much felt like playing a (chess) Knight. Warlord is probably my second favorite even if I didn't enjoy it when I got to play it (the DM didn't have an actual grid and would change distances between creature's turns, and even during one person's turn so that someone managed to without anyone involved no longer be adjacent to the enemy they'd just attacked in melee when it came time for me to take my turn :smallsigh: 2nd worse DM I've ever had).

As for race not so sure there, 4e experience being limited.

[Dimers]

I really like a lot of the monk (though with the monk I really wish there was a monk melee basic attack that was fully dex based that was not a discipline power).

Wow, I never considered the implications, there -- a full discipline power basically can't be used off-turn. Thanks for bringing that up. I've fixed my homebrew monk AWs to suit.

Ki flow [attack technique]. At-will / Full Discipline, Psionic, Weapon.
Requirement: You must use your monk unarmed strike or one bodily weapon to make this attack.
Standard action; Melee weapon.
Target: Up to 2/3/4 creatures.
Attack: Dexterity vs AC.
Hit: Dexterity modifier damage, and your flurry of blows deals additional damage to the target this turn equal to your Dexterity modifier.
Special: If you target only one creature, this attack technique is a melee basic attack, deals [W]+Dexterity modifier damage on a hit, and does not count against the limit of one full discipline power per round. Unlike most at-will powers it does not deal more dice of damage in epic-tier play.

Ki flow [movement technique]. At-will / Full Discipline, Psionic.
Move action; Personal.
Effect: You shift 1 square, then select one enemy adjacent to you. You gain a +2 power bonus to attack that enemy until the start of your next turn.

Three shadow jab [attack technique]. At-will / Full Discipline, Psionic, Weapon.
Requirement: You must use your monk unarmed strike, a light blade or a spear to make this attack.
Standard action ; Melee weapon.
Target: 1 creature.
Effect: The target takes [W] damage, and you have combat advantage for the next attack you make against it before the end of your next turn. If it is your turn, you may use your flurry of blows as if you had hit the target.
Special: This attack technique is a melee basic attack and does not count against the limit of one full discipline power per round. Unlike most at-will powers it does not deal more dice of damage in epic-tier play; however, if you are able to use this power at will, at 21st level you may use its attack technique as a minor action once per encounter.

Three shadow jab [movement technique]. At-will / Full Discipline, Psionic.
Move action ; Target: 1 creature.
Effect: The target takes a -2 penalty to its next attack roll, and you may move 1 square without provoking attacks from the target.

[Saint Jimmy]

Fighter, all of the options make it one of the most versatile classes in my opinion, and I was able to mix some builds and do some min/maxing to make one that gained a decent amount of temporary HP whenever he hit or got hit, had an insanely high AC, and had the best accuracy and damage of the entire party.

[Verbannon]

Deva Avenger. I like Devas well mostly because of the aestetic. Most people like skulls and spikes and blood aestetics. But I actually like and prefer the more angelic, goody two shoes aestetics. And avenger because, well I feel more in control of the battle with an avenger then I do any other class. All those powers that let me teleport enemies around. Stop them, move them as a group away from or towards me. I mean starting at third level I can just rush into a mass of enemies then set them all in a nice little package right by the defenders. Then there are a lot of defensive, healing and damage options to ensure my character is well rounded. Avenger is in my mind, the best controller in the game. :p

[NerdwithaPencil]

My favorite races are Warforged and Minotaur (PHB III). As for classes, I'm partial to Shaman, Psion, and Warlock.

[MwaO]

Wow, I never considered the implications, there -- a full discipline power basically can't be used off-turn. Thanks for bringing that up. I've fixed my homebrew monk AWs to suit.

Yeah, Monk has a couple of issues related to full discipline powers not being fully thought out. There should just be an option that 'if you use one full discipline power and then another, you may not use the movement option of the 1st after you use the 2nd' kind of wording.

The two really big issues are:
Action Points - spending an Action Point doesn't immediately use the standard action. It gives you a Standard Action to use when you want during that round. That's important where Paragon Paths are concerned, because you usually want to spend the Action Point first, then take advantage of the benefits. But that's not usually when you want to switch Full Disciplines.

Young Green Dragon Fly-By Attack Powers - there are 4 powers that have move action options that use the attack part of the discipline. If they work as Fly-By does, then they don't actually cost a Standard Action, just a Move. If they don't work as Fly-By works, then Fly-By doesn't work either as Instinctive Fly-By has no way to spend a Standard Action.

[Thajocoth]

Race: Anything sufficiently out of the ordinary

Class: Anything sufficiently simple

Preference for: Anything I haven't played yet

Personality: As blue-orange as I can reasonably get away with

Back when I only had the PHB to work with, I made an Eladrin Wizard, thinking Int to be the best way to go, but finding the result to be more complex than I'd like. (This was back when I thought it superior to other stats in real life as well... D&D was instrumental in helping me begin to reevaluate that belief.) My Halfling Rogue later was much simpler & more party useful. Once I had access to more books and made a Warforged Artificer, a Wilden Druid who turned into a swarm of glowing bees, and then the contradiction in my avatar & sig, I started having more fun. Burned a fire elemental to death at one point... Fun stuff.