Your favorite class, archetype, and why?

[Clone]

I've played a few different classes and characters so far in 5e, and I've noticed I stick to the general theme of "dude who uses magic and gets up in enemies' faces". Not surprisingly, my favorite subclasses as a result are the Stone Sorcerer and Bladesinger Wizard, with a character I'll be using soon being a Tempest Cleric. I do think I prefer the Arcane spell list and I greatly miss the number of prepped spells the Bladesinger got compared to my Stone Sorcerer, so Bladesinger would have to be my current favorite. I'm not ignoring the RP side of things too, as I love all my characters' personalities, and how I've played them has influenced how I view them.

Similarly I have a bad taste in my mouth of the Eldritch Knight because of issues I had RPing the character and head-butting with one of my DMs about it, so I doubt I'll play one any time soon if ever again. This is nothing to do with the mechanics though, as he was a nigh-unhittable tank who put in serious work (one of the reasons there was issues!).

What are everyone else's favorite classes and archetypes? Did you fall in love with it because of your character? Did a specific mechanic or string of mechanics pull you towards it and you never looked back? Any that you particularly dislike for similar reasons?

I'd love to hear what people have to say, especially if there is a story behind it!

[Findulidas]

Probably swashbuckler. Because it gives me two abilities I really like to have as rogue and many other fun ones. Being able to sneak attack a target without worry and being able to move out after attack. Ducking and weaving to a new level. :)

[Finger6842]

Lore Bard, just too many abilities which keep you relevant in every phase of the game, 2 levels you can multiclass into that change the flavor for each iteration, and Magical Secrets which would be perfect if you got 3 spells each time... there is always a spell I wanted and didn't get, beautiful agony.

[DracoKnight]

By far my favorite character archetype has to be the gish. Bladesingers are a lot of fun, and so are Eldritch Knights, but by far my favorite gishing package comes in the form of the Pact of the Blade Warlock. I absolutely love the Hexblade that was recently released to be the patron designed around making PotBlade shine.

I played a Hexblade the other day in a one shot with the following tweaks: my DM tied Hexblade's Curse into casting hex. This way the (now outdated) Curse Bringer invocation is not necessary to move the Hexblade's Curse. I also took a homebrew feat that my group uses, it grants the character a fighting style from the Fighter's list of choices. The one shot was 12th level, and let me tell you: with the Hexblade, the PotBlade is finally on par with the other gishing archetypes.

The ability to use CHA for your weapon attacks is a major boost. I had a scimitar of speed, and I was dealing 25 damage per swing (for those interested: {3.5 + 2 [scimitar] + 2 [Dueling fighting style] + 3.5 [hex] + 4 [Hexblade's Curse] + CHA [Hex Warrior] + CHA [Lifedrinker]). I know that DPR isn't everything, but it was satisfying to be able to deal enough DPR to hang in the front lines (previously when I've played a PotBlade Warlock, there's not been enough support for it, and the cleric's literally said: "Hey, since I don't have the diamonds to keep resurrecting you, can you hang back and spam EB? Your DPR isn't worth having you on the front lines."). Throw in my short rest spells, it felt very much like I was a warrior empowered by dark and eldritch entities.

I didn't flesh out the character's personality as much as I would have if I were playing them in a long running campaign, but I can safely say that mechanically the Hexblade is my favorite archetype!

[TheUser]

Draconic Subtle Sorcerers as sneak mages, master infiltrators, beguilers, assassins and exploders of enemies.

They have counterspell supremacy, innate mage armor and even flight after level 14 without the need for concentration. Proficiency in concentration saves is a huge boon to boot!

You can pin them, silence them, restrain them, even submerge them in water and it doesn't lock them out of spell casting. So liberating that I shudder at the thought of playing a non-subtle caster....

[Specter]

Couldn't decide between Eldritch Knight and Arcane Trickster. There are so many mechanical and thematical ways to build them that I'm always surprised at their potential.

[jaappleton]

This is really difficult, actually.

I like a lot of Archetypes as being my go-to for certain concepts.

Mechanically, with how sound it is, and how everything feeds into eachother, I really like the Devotion Paladin. It's so well made. I mean, it is the iconic Paladin, right? I suppose that's the most 'well made' in my eyes.

But my personal favorite, just for how cool it is? It's the Horizon Walker (Revised) Ranger.

[DracoKnight]

But my personal favorite, just for how cool it is? It's the Horizon Walker (Revised) Ranger.

I really liked this one too! It got too much hate when the UA came out, but I think i remember it got confirmed for Xan's :smallbiggrin:

[mephnick]

Couldn't decide between Eldritch Knight and Arcane Trickster. There are so many mechanical and thematical ways to build them that I'm always surprised at their potential.

My choices too. Wizard multiclassing with various ratios can completely change the character as well. No EK or AT should be the same.

[jaappleton]

I really liked this one too! It got too much hate when the UA came out, but I think i remember it got confirmed for Xan's :smallbiggrin:

I don't like how a core feature is purely fluff, tied to finding portals and such.

But Etherealness at lv7 every short rest? An Eladrin Horizon Walker sounds so fun to play. Just there one minute, gone the next.

[ZorroGames]

For simplicity sake, The Mountain Dwarf Strength based Fighter, Champion, "Just hit it!" "It twitched, hit it again!"

For some Role play and combat Hill Dwarf Cleric or Druid. Love Dwarf capabilities. Love to break stereotypes (no Scots accents please!)

If I have no idea what the party mix may be, Variant Human capable of MC to meet the need of the day.

"Fear of 'Combat Commitment' " caster would be Forest Gnome Wizard. "I like the view back here," sniping from range. Humor and bloodshed, cool!

"Investigator" Rogue would be Forest Gnome also. Nosy detective character.

Monk or Ranger (DE) would be Wood Elf. Silent Death role. "Surprise,"

Just because, I am using currently a Mountain Dwarf Monk.

Half-Orc or Dragonborn Paladin possible someday. Or not.
Niche interests.

[Sariel Vailo]

I play something thematic usually like bladesinger with the entertainer background.or goliath fighter purple dragon knight actual knight background.bladesinger courtier.rouge courtier. Barbarian mercenary veteran.
Aasimar cleric or paladin. Depending on my aasimar subtype my subclass changes

[Potato_Priest]

Wow, that's a lot of fish gish fans. Kinda wierd that the one thing not supported well by 5e is the most popular.

My favorite class, for all of its major design flaws and terrible frontloading, is the barbarian. I'm a diehard grappler, and damage resistance combined with advantage on strength checks makes barbarian perfect for that. Even better, you don't get your powers from any sort of wierd magic stuff, just from being an angry badass.

[suplee215]

I like the big strong stubborn guy who never guys so Barbarian. I don't like the subclasses too much (or don't prefer one over the other) but I do love the idea of the Battle Rager. I feel like it really needs 1 thing to be amazing, for Spiked Armor to be considered a heavy weapon. At first I hated the idea of losing the insane AC a barbarian can get but then I realize that with reckless attack (which you always use due to +5 temp hp) you are not dodging attacks anyways. Basically it's a barbarian who picked up the biggest weapon he could find and said "ok, but how do I wield another weapon?"

[DracoKnight]

Wow, that's a lot of fish gish fans. Kinda wierd that the one thing not supported well by 5e is the most popular.

I mean gishes aren't unsupported. Each martial class has at least one magical subclass - except Barbarian, of course (Eldritch Knight, Way of the Four Elements, Arcane Trickster). And each caster class has at least one martial-oriented subclass (Valor Bard, Nature/Tempest/War Domain, Moon Druid, Stone Sorcerer, Hexblade, Bladesinger). Especially since SCAG came out with the melee cantrips, gishes have become a lot easier to build, while keeping up in round-to-round DPR with green-flame blade and booming blade.

EDIT: and there's the half-caster classes which are essentially full on gishes straight out of the box - the Paladin especially.

[Xrposiedon]

My personal favorite is Shadow Monk.

I always play speed monk when I can. Max out that unarmored movement, get mobile feat. Get some type of haste item, or get your party to cast longstrider on you etc....rush in, hit, rush out and dont provoke opportunity attacks...By the time the enemy knows what hit him...you are probably out of range for him to get to you.

STICK AND MOVE...really taken to the next level.

[Shadow_in_the_Mist]

For me, my favorite class is without a doubt the Wizard: I have always gravitated towards the Wizard in D&D, mostly because I don't like the Cleric & Druid's central identity themes and magic's versatility has always fascinated me. Add in that martial classes tend to be very one-note in game-function, something only 4e really shook up, and that leaves me loving the Wizard.

For archetypes, it's a close-fought tie between two Traditions.

The Necromancer has always intrigued me; I just like the anti-hero "bad powers, good people" motif. One of my few purchased AD&D books was The Complete Necromancer's Handbook, and in Diablo 2, I always played a Necromancer. Add to it that 5e finally kicked the Cleric in the guts and gave necromancy mastery to the class that's supposed to be the best at it, and it's the most fun I've had with it since AD&D gave me the Undead Master kit.

If there's one thing I like more than wizards, it's gishes. My first ever time playing D&D was playing Baldur's Gate, and the multiclassed Fighter/Mage seemed straight away to be the perfect "break in" class. The fighter gave me the toughness to survive the early levels and the ability to actually do something with my PC when I exhausted my all too piddling reserves of low-level magic, the wizard gave me the interesting stuff to do when I reached high levels. It may have started out as just rookie nerves, but it made the game so enjoyable for me that I found it stuck with me for life. The Swordmage was, without a doubt, my favorite 4e Defender, and probably my favorite 4e class as a whole. So, of course, the Bladesinger is a big deal for me as well. That said, I do wish WoTC would hurry up and convert more of the Swordmage spells to 5e; the Bladesinger just cannot make its gishiness really sing the way its predecessor did until it's got more close to mid-ranged spells to use in combat.

[Demon Tongue]

My personal favorite is the Warlock because it's the opposite of what a hero in any story is supposed to do. You're offered power in exchange you must serve some big bad and the average guy would take that deal in a heartbeat. It's also a great story tool for DM's. Instead of a random powerful being giving the grouo a quest, it becomes personal for that particular warlock.

As for the Archetype, Great Old One is the best because of Create Thrall. Now it can suck depending on the DM, but if you have a fun one and you play a halfling, you can turn a Goliath into your thrall and then go all Ferra/Torr on your enemies.

[Mortis_Elrod]

Since i saw it in 3.5 Warlock was always my favorite class. Never having to worry about resources, cuz anything i could do i could do all day. The fluff was also very enticing, sold my soul or inherited dark powers from ancestors who sold their souls. in 4e and 5e he was lumped in with the binder and i can't tell if it was for better or worse but i love the current warlock anyway, even if i have the MOST limited resources, the at will stuff is still there though it is limited.

Strangely enough the warlock is on of the classes i don't use in most of my builds. Mechanically i tend to go for Monk Ranger Barbarian and Cleric. Death and Tempest being my favorite for Cleric, i really like the focus on just dealing as much damage as possible. I'm currently working on a 4EMonk rework (don't like the current ones that are more popular, thinking about doing much like the tome of battle in 3.5, stances and disciplines), but Shadow, Long death and Sunsoul especially call to me. Storm Herald is by far my favorite and go to for Barbarians, it creates a really cinematic type of rager. Revised Ranger or no Ranger, and Horizon walker was my favorite with Monster Slayer and Deep Stalker right behind. I just wish they were all better for a TWFer, espescially horizon walker. a Dual wielding Kurt Wagner esque Feral blue tiefling is right up my alley.


In terms of Archetypes of characters, I have a love for Necromancers, Gishes, and Glass Cannon blasters. Nothing esle i like to play, unless i go full martial, then it has to be Sneak, or Leeroy Jenkins.

[Mortheim]

Beastmaster (UA or PHB) - i always had softspot for having animal companion. Power of HATRED is also nice. Getting 65% more arrow per arrow with ranger spells is great.

[Yanecky]

I really like paladins, especially in 5e. You don't have to play "naive dogooder" anymore, they're tough in combat and fun to roleplay. I also like the resource management element, where you have to decide: "do I want to cast a spell, or smite"?

[Beelzebubba]

My favorite is a strongly themed Cleric.

You can get away with acting really theatrical and strange without as many social repercussions because 'oh, he's Religious, we should respect them to say crazy things' and 'he/she can literally back those crazy things up with divine retribution when necessary'

[Talionis]

Wow, that's a lot of fish gish fans. Kinda wierd that the one thing not supported well by 5e is the most popular.

My favorite class, for all of its major design flaws and terrible frontloading, is the barbarian. I'm a diehard grappler, and damage resistance combined with advantage on strength checks makes barbarian perfect for that. Even better, you don't get your powers from any sort of wierd magic stuff, just from being an angry badass.

This edition didn't totally make casting the end all be all , so martial classes are viable. Run of the mill champion fighter is a bit boring so it's no surprise Board members are trying to make spicy interesting melee characters, gishes.

My favorites are Lore Bard, Arcane Trickster, and Bladelock, Tomelock. Usually with small dips in something else.

[rollingForInit]

For anything aside from outright DPS: Lore Bard. It has skills, healing spells, buff spells, debuff spels, crowd control, the option to steal a few spells from any class, it can hold its own in melee even if it isn't a tank. It can just do anything decently, and that's good enough to me. There are so many variations. I've only ever played one, but in theory there's so much more.

I also really like the Cleric. I don't have a favourite archetype, but just the fact that there are so many of them that allow different playstyles. You can be a full tank, blaster, supporting spellcaster, and with a small feat or MC investment you can be a decent melee damage dealer (e.g. Tempest/War Cleric with Booming Blade from Magic Initiate).

[Spore]

Lore Bard because I love to use every aspect of games. Monster Hunter Fighter is a close second. Sacrifices a bit of combat versatility for skill versatility.

[Aett_Thorn]

Lore Bard. There are just so many ways that you can take it, while still being a great party face, historian, or whatever other skillset you want.

Healer/Support: Aura of Vitality and other good cleric support spells

Arcane Archer: Take a bunch of Ranger spells

Blaster: Fireball or Lightning Bolt, Eldritch Blast, and other good fun direct damage spells


You can basically make it into a mini version of most other casters. Sure, you won't be as good as any of them individually, but you have your own tricks as well.

[Rhedyn]

Champion skillmonkey fighter. Very flexible. Can roll with whatever the campaign throws your way.

I like the idea of always rolling for something even if the build requires a lot of DM fiat as you are reliant on the skill "rules".

It's also the most "5e" build because it leans on soft rules as opposed to the crunchy classes because I prefer the crunch of PF, so there is no reason to play a crunchy class in this edition for me.

[Oramac]

Vengeance Paladin, no doubt. I just love the Punisher-type feel of the archetype. If you're good you have nothing to worry about. If you're evil, you better watch your ass.

Even when I play a different class/archetype, I tend to make characters similar to this.

[LaserFace]

Probably Fighter, Eldritch Knight.

1) I like anything with "Knight" in the name

2) The Eldritch Knight to me represents a clever, educated hero. A knight uses their might and prowess to fulfill their oaths or fight for their ideals, and the EK is strong enough to see their will done. But, they're not mindless brutes; they clearly need to be educated, and can even be scholarly, if still considered amateurish compared to the Wizard or Cleric in their pursuit of knowledge. But unlike the Wizard, you're probably bold enough to take a dragon face-on. It's like you can one day hope to be some sort of philosopher-king who leads from the front line, or something.

I guess it combines my love of 80s Action Heroes (who usually have a clever moment or two) with bros like Merlin. To me, it evokes mythological characters like Odin, whose portfolio (I think) typically includes Winning Everything Including Battles, and Magic (among other things).

[jaappleton]

I absolutely love the flavor of the EK.

However, I really hate the spell school restrictions. Let's face it, making an "offensive" EK with damage dealing spells is pretty much the wrong move. The damage dealing spells they get are basically obsolete for when they get them.

The Arcane Trickster doesn't really suffer from this problem, as their spell list available is much more varied.

[Magic Myrmidon]

Spellcasters (mainly wizards) are still my favorite class, because I love magic and the variety they bring.

That being said, I really love how they did Rogues in this game, and I've played an equal number of rogues and wizards in 5e. They actually feel agile and dextrous with cunning action, they do some really solid damage relatively reliably, and they aren't pigeonholed into the "sneaky trapfinder". My favorite archetype is prooobably arcane trickster, but it's a real tough call.

For wizard, I don't particularly like the flavor of diviner, but their abilities are awesome. I probably like enchanter best, despite the mechanical limitations.

[Rogerdodger557]

Eldritch Knights. Full fighters that get spell like shield, absorb elements, misty step, and eventually giving enemies disadvantage on their saving throws when you drop Fireball on them. And you don't have to choose between just attacking or casting a spell once you hit level 7, since you can cast a cantrip, and bonus action attack(which works well with the cantrips from Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide).

[Maxilian]

Eldritch Knights. Full fighters that get spell like shield, absorb elements, misty step, and eventually giving enemies disadvantage on their saving throws when you drop Fireball on them. And you don't have to choose between just attacking or casting a spell once you hit level 7, since you can cast a cantrip, and bonus action attack(which works well with the cantrips from Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide).

I love EK, but funny enough, i always MC after lvl 8 or 10, cause i like the feel of "caster in plate" (thanks to the lvl 7 ability), and then fact that i'm a Fighter, means i have a lot of ASIS, so i can create so many types of character. (I could go full blaster, i could go full melee, i could go more tanky and still have all the advantage of a Fighter) -Also i hate the "choose between attacking more times with your sword, or having the *caster* feel on you"

[erok0809]

So far, I really like Wild Magic sorcerers, because they make for the best stories when unexpected things happen.

"Oh whoops, I wanted to take out the evil leader in plain sight of all the people at the fair so I can be a hero; too bad I sent out a wave of necrotic energy with my spell that killed all the townsfolk and their kids..."

There are very few ways to play a wild mage and have it not produce funny stories, as far as I can tell.

[Maxilian]

So far, I really like Wild Magic sorcerers, because they make for the best stories when unexpected things happen.

"Oh whoops, I wanted to take out the evil leader in plain sight of all the people at the fair so I can be a hero; too bad I sent out a wave of necrotic energy with my spell that killed all the townsfolk and their kids..."

There are very few ways to play a wild mage and have it not produce funny stories, as far as I can tell.

Wild Sorcerer always looks like a fun option, but i have never seen it as something that i would like to go back to very often, mostly because the Wild Sorcerer will most likely feel a lot alike any other Wild Sorcerer (unless you MC, but then you are getting even less of the Wild part -i believe they are only activated by Sorecer spells-)

[ImproperJustice]

I think 5e has done a wonderful job of making so many different characters feel "awesome" in their own way.

I've run a sorceror, ranger, fighter, and cleric and enjoyed them all.

If I had to pick, I would say the Revised Ranger has been my favorite.
So versatile, he has been a great mix of exploration utility and combat prowess with a few fun tricks to keep things interesting.

I also love the new feats, which can really expand a player's utility.
Out group has seen ritual caster on a fighter (Monster Hunter), Healer on a Rogue (works great with the free object use), Inspiring Leader on a Battlemaster (has been awesome at low levels for taking the edge off of big hits), and Dungeon Delver on the Ranger (to grant some Rogue Like prowess).

[Biggstick]

My favorite Class is definitely the Cleric. I absolutely love how different every Cleric can be depending on their archetype choice. And even within that archetype choice, an Elf Cleric will be much different then a Dwarf Cleric, who will also be much different from a Gnome Cleric. And, people are pretty much always happy to bring on a Cleric into their group, even if they already have one.

My favorite archetype would be Valor Bard. Being able to play a Sharpshooter who does solid ranged damage, has all the restorative capabilities of a Cleric (Healing Word, Lesser Restoration, Freedom of Movement, Greater Restoration, etc), can toss Bardic Inspirations, and be an amazing skill monkey on top of all that?! It's an amazing archetype and almost always going to be able to find a spot in any group.