One class party, best and worst

[lxion]

If you had a party of say 4 players, existing of only one class, which would be the most effective? With effective meaning that you could set them in any campaign and they would be able to go without much trouble.

I'd say the most effective would be a party of Rogues. They have a lot of flexibility and a bit of all. Plus the stealth attack a nice thing to have. For the least effective, I would go for Barbarians. Although very tough in battle, the lack of magic seems like an off point. I would like to see a party of four totem warriors, though. A party of wizards, warlocks etc could also be very effective if they tune their spells. What would you think?

[CTurbo]

I was thinking about making a thread about this. I like the idea.

I think a party full of Clerics or Paladins would be best overall. A band of Bards would be pretty good too.

I have seen a party of nothing but Fighters do pretty well although they stumbled a little in social encounters.

I think Monks or Barbarians would probably be worst.

[lxion]

A band of Bards would be pretty good too.

That would indeed be a fun thing as well. A death metal band rocking everything out.

Even later, if they could transform, they could become the Town Musicians of (Not) Bremen.

[DarkKnightJin]

I think a party full of Clerics or Paladins would be best overall.

A party with only Clerics and/or Paladins, all forntue same deity, could be pretty fun.
The God Squad. When asked why they're adventuring? "We're on a mission from God."

As for flavor and diversity: treat the Domains as different aspect of the god in question. Knowledge Domain for a deity known for storms and stuff? They're just the bookish type, and were granted fitting abilities by their deity.
Have some fun with it.

[djreynolds]

If it is a single class, bard has access to all spells, including healing and 1 bard could play the valor bard and upgrade to heavy armor. Lore bard can grab a good selection of spells

Though I would like to see a party of barbarians do it

A party of fighters would remind of union road workers taking "short" rests all the time.

[Sage Tellah]

I'd say Paladins don't have any ranged options, Clerics and Bards don't deal sufficient sustained damage, and Fighters lack meaningful magic.

Throwing my hat in the ring with the all Warlock party, also known as the wall of eldritch blasts. Hexblades get the kit they need to hold a front, everyone has high level spells, everyone has a ranged option, and they get plenty of customizable features such as invocations to differentiate each one.

[Mortis_Elrod]

This could work with any class. Though some classes don't have healing so it might be a thing of smarter not harder for them early on. But thats what potions are for.

[hymer]

A party of druids, natch. :smallbiggrin: First level would be a little roguh, but from level 2 they can shelter behind the big bear. Once they get to level 5, they become unstoppable in combat, with the Shepherd's totems affecting everyone's minions.
I'd have the Dreams druid be the charismatic one with face skills (probably half-elf), the Land druid the sneaky one (so probably Grassland and either some halfling or a wood elf), the Shepherd the smart one (probably high elf), and the moon druid can fill in any gaps (ghostwise halfling, unless the Land druid took a halfling).

[Spiritchaser]

I like bards for this.

Strong casting options, great skills and with Sharpshooter and GWM combined with one of the many magical ways to create advantage and help with attacks (things like faerie fire from one character and swift quiver and sharpshooter from another) plenty of damage too.

My second pick would be paladins, with the caveat that you really want a couple of Dex paladins. Nothing whatsoever wrong with a Dex pally!

An earlier mention of warlock sounds interesting. I’d normally think cleric... but what the heck. A celestial warlock won’t be ideal, but who needs ideal when you have that much raw damage, and so many utility options. I can’t honestly say I’ve seen a party with more than one warlock so I may be missing something.

[lxion]

Warlocks seem tough indeed. A combo of Eldritch blasters with some Hexes etc can be tough to beat early on. Add a Bladelock for some frontline slashing. It's indeed nice how versatile everything is. Now, to crank it up, how about a party of 4 completely identical builds (race, class+subclass and background)? Which would live up to the test?

[Citan]

If you had a party of say 4 players, existing of only one class, which would be the most effective? With effective meaning that you could set them in any campaign and they would be able to go without much trouble.

I'd say the most effective would be a party of Rogues. They have a lot of flexibility and a bit of all. Plus the stealth attack a nice thing to have. For the least effective, I would go for Barbarians. Although very tough in battle, the lack of magic seems like an off point. I would like to see a party of four totem warriors, though. A party of wizards, warlocks etc could also be very effective if they tune their spells. What would you think?
Well, the beauty of it is that 5e is so well designed that I don't see any kind of "same-class" party being really unprepared for a kind of challenge, except *maybe* a group of Barbarians that can use absolutely no magic. But even then, a Frenzy Barbarian could very well be a Human that got the double proficiency feat to pair with Persuasion or Intimidation and as such persuade NPC to provide the magic part.

In general, especially with Xanathar's options in the pool, any party can manage.
Of course, some would have a bit less trouble.
- Wizards, provided obviously they share spells, would probably be the best.
- Equally good or better if Wizards don't share would be a party of Druids.
- Very very close behind come Paladins (Aura resilience) and Bards (multiple Bardic Inspiration + Magic Secrets) and Clerics (archetype features + Divine Inspiration).
- Then Rogues, mainly because Reliable Talent and Cunning Action, and Warlocks, because archetype features and Invocations.
- Nearly equal to them, Rangers, because spells and tracking features and Sorcerers (because build complexity pushes them away, otherwise they would be much higher).
- Then Monks (which I would easily push over Rangers and Rogues but only in last tier) and Fighters.
- Then Barbarians.

Let's actually give examples. ;)

Barbarians
- Battlerager: Grappler and Mobile feats, tasked with retrieval of dangerous targets.
- Zealot or Berserker: the one that will take care of the Charisma checks (meaning, in case of Berzerker, that Frenzy is wasted sadly). ^^ Picking necessary/relevant feats.
- Totem (Bear/Elk/Eagle) with Shield Master and Sentinel: the main tank.
- Storm Herald: because I like very much the aura features, but Ancestral Guardian would be tempting too. Will grab the Ritual Caster feat.

You could actually make a party of only Totem too, but less fun. ^^




Bards

Lore: one tasked to Counterspell / Dispel obviously.

Glamour: perfect party size for THP, Command as bonus action is neat too. Obviously the one taking care of Charisma checks.

Swords: the off-tank (or main tank, depending on last) of the party. Tasked with Expertise in WIS or INT skills.

Valor: the main tank with Shield Master. Alternative, Whispers with a racial proficiency in longbow to make a striker. Couldn't choose between both, as Valor is great for tanking, but Whispers offers neat features for spying/infiltrating. Expertise in STR, INT or DEX skills.
Obviously someone has Ritual Caster feat, one Inspiring Leader, one Observant, and party has access to all rituals and Pass Without Trace one way or another.



Clerics

Life (because of the awesome Channel Divinity, if harsh campaign) or Knowledge (skills are cov. Mid-field.
Space for Ritual Caster (Wizard) and Inspiring Leader.

Tempest: because maximum damage is great, also good versatility. Main tank with Spell Sniper (Booming Blade) and Warcaster.

Nature: Second tank with Plant Growth + Spirit Guardians + Thorns Whip, using reaction to reduce damage to others.

Trickery: the scout, stealth-enabler and inquisitor of the party, obviously picking Observant and whatever else (possibly Spell Sniper with Thorns Whip).

Notes...
I'd swap either Nature or Trickery with Arcana only if campaign had a 100% chance of reaching last tier, because getting Wizards spells is too good to pass. Otherwise, I find this very unimpressive.

Light was interesting for CD and Fireball, but Clerics have other ways to get rid of darkness IIRC and Fireball has the problem of collateral damage: and a maximized Shatter deals damn close amount of damage anyways.
War is completely uninteresting for the party imo. Same with Forge, *except* for the corner case of one Cleric wanting to imbue Tempest's weapon with Lightning for freebie push effect (Tempest's level 6 ability). And Wall of Fire + Animate Objects. But that's basically it. Not enough to my taste, but I would completely understand people saying otherwise. Maybe I'm just conservative. ^^
Death had a thing with the twin cantrip but otherwise not enough exclusive spells. Could make a case for him at highest levels though, impressive damage potential.


Druids
Hey, who cares really? Whatever works. XD
No, really: except *maybe* a Dreams-only party, which would still work but have trouble, you could make a Land-only, Moon-only or Shepherd-only party. With special star awarded to the latter.
"Hey guys, look at that small group, they look so damn weak, we'll mince them in seconds.".
"Yeah, you're right. Plus we're a dozen. Easy loot. Attaaaaack!"
~12 seconds later (each Druid casting upcast Conjure Animals).
"Errm... Ahem, why are we surrounded and so heavily outnumbered? From where come all those ferocious beasts?"
XDXD

Anyways. Let's keep my self-imposed rule, no same archetype. Well, it's easy: one archetype per character.

Dreams: support character, grabbing Ritual Caster and Inspiring Leader.

Moon: obviously the tank and possibly scout, grabbing Resilient: Constitution and Observant.

Land: choice will be hard between Grassland (Haste your Moon), Arctic (Slow!), Coast (Mirror Image, Misty Step), Swamp (Darkness, Stinking Cloud) and Underdark (Cloudkill). Would probably still go Grassland simply because Haste can be good in so many situations. Will be rather in the mid-field/back, maybe grabbing Spell Sniper to use with Thorns Whip, although first choice is obviously Resilient: Constitution.

Shepherd: the conjurer obviously.



Fighters
The simplest choice would probably be four Eldricht Knights.
But hey...

Arcane Archer: didn't have a chance to play it yet but looks awesome. Who cares you only get 2 shots per short rest? Those are great: I'd certainly take the Seeking Arrow, Grasping Arrow, Bursting Arrow and either Beguiling or Banishing Arrow. Besides that, hey, it's the classic Sharpshooter.

Battlemaster: probably a versatile fighter, not sure whether DEX (Sharpshooter + Crossbow Expert) or STR (Sharpshooter + Dual Wielder) based. Picking Observant and Resilient: Wisdom if possible. Obviously Precision, Menacing, Trip and Evasive Footwork. Then whatever you fancy.

Eldricht Knight: Int, INT!! Obviously pick Magic Initiate: Wizard to get one more spell and cantrips. He will be the tank so Warcaster is another obvious choice. He will have to pick control spells whenever he can, with Slow ASAP at level 14.

Last one: honestly hesitating between Cavalier (seems very powerful, borderline broken at level 18, but would create strong discrepancy in mobility), Champion (resilience, classic GWM for damage), Samurai (limited use is a pain but is very fluffy and can be powerful in teamwork) and Purple Dragon Knight (heal, skills): probably the latter because easier to work with and covers Persuasion nicely.



Monks
Aaaaah. ;) Honestly a party only of 4E would work very well. A party only of high-level Open Hand would be frightening (Quivering flurry XD).
As always, one PC = one archetype makes it more tasty.
What's easy?

Shadow: if only because of those infiltration spells. Does help that he also is still a Monk. Will obviously pick Observant, but otherwise push DEX first and maybe pick Inspiring Leader, although Magic Initiate: Sorcerer for Booming Blade, utility cantrip and Mage Armor/Find Familiar (depending on target stats) may be nice too.

4E Monk: another obvious one: you can push him to WIS for blasting, or push him to STR for Fly-grappling. I'd say WIS first though because so many interesting spells: always keep one AOE (Burning Hands > Shatter > Fireball -especially since you don't worry about collateral damage), one control ability (Hold Person or push/pull effect) and one utility (Gaseous Form / Fly for infiltration, Wall of Stone to create camps or prisons).
(Sun Soul being a better alternative if all you want is blasting power, but is otherwise much less interesting).

Kensei: honestly hesitated with Drunken, but the latter's abilities are a bit more engaging to make work: Kensei is easy and solid damage-dealer in ranged and melee alike, and with the level 11 ability, you can easily keep a 18 DEX for a good while and instead bump WIS and maybe get high enough CHA for Inspiring Leader.
Or you could instead make him a complete damage dealer, going full DEX with Sharpshooter and using Ki solely on archetype features or defensive features.

Long Death: really hesitated with Open Hand, especially because Quivering Palm, but if I had to make the party go up from level 1, no doubt i'll pick Long Death: the mass Fear as an action is just too good, as the THP on kill.

One of them will have to pick Ritual Caster feat, not sure which. ;)



Paladins
Probably THE class in which multiplying instances of the same archetype would be a bad thing.

Ancients: obviously, one of the controller thanks to Ensnaring Strike and Plant Growth. Because probable heavy use of bonus action, no related feat. Instead, Magic Initiate: Lightning Lure may be worthy to pair with another's Spirit Guardians. Probably DEX based so Ensnaring Strike can work off a distance when needed.

Crown: yeah, that's the one: the main tank of the party thanks to Spirit Guardians. Grabbing Magic Initiate: Sorcerer for Shield and Booming Blade + Ray of Frost, and Warcaster to use BB or Command when one wants to escape. Obviously STR first, CON and CHA not too far.
Because he will take the brunt of damage...

Redemption: generally overlooked by people because its exclusive are usual in casters, for a Paladin-only group he's completely indispensable: Counterspell, Hypnotic Pattern and Wall of Force. Plus he gets interesting features to reduce damage of others by taking it himself.
He will obviously pick Spell Sniper: Warlock for Eldricht Blast. Besides that, maybe Healer feat, or Tough. He will be maxing CHA first things.
To round things up...

Unless the party will go very high level (at which case Conquest), Devotion.
While Devotion seems overall less "powerful" than Conquest, in that group of 4...
1. It can take care of the ranged attack well when needed thanks to is Sacred Weapon feature. You could even make it a DEX based with Sharpshooter although that may be pushing it. Or make it a STR GWM-wielder while still being decent with a longbow at times.
2. Being immune to charmed is important, as several nasty high-level creatures will try that.
3. Because it's less combat-oriented, you could also make him the big healer, using Aid preemptively and otherwise using whatever he can to further reduce HP loss (keeping Bless active, using Cure Wounds or his imposition of hands). Inspiring Leader and/or Healer would be good, as would having Ritual Caster: Wizard so you get in addition to other things, Find Familiar for distant Cure Wounds.

This party would have more trouble than others until level 8. After that, should be fine. Near capstone, is probably one of the strongest parties you could have thanks to all Auras getting 30 feet radius.
And, you know, hopefully Crawford dropped his insanely stupid tweet about Auras of Protection being stackable. Because otherwise nothing really could stop that group. XD




Rangers
Well, there are 5 archetypes. Which will be the one put aside?

Gloomstalker: this one is obviously in party: advantage on Initiative, built-in WIS proficiency, excellent bonus spells (Rope Trick!) and extra attack make it an excellent choice.
I would probably make it a GWM wielder (to pair with Haste from friend and level 11 miss into hit).

Horizon Walker: it's not my cup of tea, but for a Ranger-only party, this brings solid value thanks to those spells, extra attack with teleport and "unnamed Uncanny Dodge".
Either a STR dual-wielder with Sharpshooter or a plain DEX Crossbow Expert + Sharpshooter user.
Would pick Ritual Caster: Cleric or Wizard to stay in the thematic. ;)

Monster Slayer: same, not my cup of tea, but the ability to instantly learn about resistances and weaknesses of a creature is by itself valuable enough to make it a necessity. Obviously added benefit against that creature and extra spells are great too.
Would completely be a finesse weapon wielder with a shield and Defense FS, picking Mobile and Mage Slayer feats ASAP.

So are left the PHB ones: BeastMaster and Hunter.
Well, as much as I love Hunter (Horde Breaker/Escape the Horde/Volley/Evasion), I'd probably go beastmaster here.
Not only is it a way to get a 5th teammate on a regular basis, which is always nice, in the long run it tops Hunter in terms of potential damage if you know how to use Share Spells efficienty. Even better if party finds a Ring of Spell Storing obviously. :)
Would completely pick Ritual Caster: Druid because 100% thematic and great rituals there.




Rogues

Ok so let's take the cat out of the bag.
Arcane Trickster is a given here, as well as Thief.
For a campaign that will go high enough, Scout is an obvious third thanks to nearly OP lvl 17 feature, although Assassin could easily compete with it. Honestly Assassin is heavily underrated around here, but it is an indisputable fact that his 9th and 13th level abilities require collaboration with the DM and a long campaign in which you can really alter the world by your actions. Also Scout's abilities are a bit more party-friendly. So let's go with Scout.
For the remaining... Between Swash, Inquisitive and Mastermind, I feel that Swash is more like Assassin in that he's kinda a loner, Inquisitive is great for some utility... But I love the Mastermind's Help as bonus action (easy to use) and Redirect (can be extremely powerful really).

So...
Arcane Trickster: int, INT!!! You'll be the main controller: obviously Magic Initiate: Wizard (Shield or Absorb Elements, more cantrips) AND Ritual Caster: Wizard (Find Familiar, Phantom Steed etc) are a given, as well as Expertise in Stealth.

Scout: obviously more of a ranged attacker, Sharpshooter (more for cover ignore) and Observant are a given, as Expertise in Stealth.

Thief: melee finesse, with Healer feat and as soon as possible a Bag of Holding. Mobile may be a good thing too.

Mastermind: versatile, possibly a dual-wielder.

Honestly all of them should be Expert in Stealth at least, beyond that anything goes. You can really build them in many ways.



And, it's already so late. Oh my... I'll have to pursue later. ;)

[A Fat Dragon]

Warlocks can fill a lot of the niches in a general party.

[Grear Bylls]

Wizards would be good, I think. Very versatile, 10 (?) subclasses with different abilities, can copy each other's spells.

[ZorroGames]

The urge to multi class would become irresistible. Couldn’t do it.

[Contrast]

Quite a few people saying bard.

I feel a whole party of bards would absolutely stomp some encounters but they'd bleed hitpoints at a rate of knots and have difficultly actually killing things.

For best - probably warlocks. For one I'd most want to try - rogues. For one I'd least like to try - monks?

[Xihirli]

Honestly I think a party of Rogues would do really well. Suddenly the character that is often alone has a full team.
Of course, the Mastermind’s ability will shine a lotion getting that Thief (and assassin post turn one) that sweet sweet advantage.

[Naanomi]

I agree Warlocks would be a great party... access to all ritual casting via tome... scouting via chain... Celestial Healing... all short-rest based... all amazing consistent damage...

[Waazraath]

Best (no particular order):
Clerics: area damage, melee damage (grab a SCAG cantrip), tankiness, healing, buffing, debuffing, battlefield control, status effect removal... they really have it all.
Druids: all of the above. Little less tanky, but great option to wildshape all together and skip some encounters
Warlock: all of the above. Melee fighting, healing, lots of ranged damage, area damage, additional funky stuff with invocations and invisible familiars, the option to be less squishy due to invocations (fiendish vigor at will is simply great at low levels, and alone makes a Warlock party better in my book than Bards or Wizards).

Meh:
Fighters: though with the large number of feats, they can remedy weaknesses (healer, inspiring leader on fighter with a decent cha who is also the face - prolly the Purple Dragon knight, ritual caster). Some spells with the Eldritch knight, and all have little self healing, which is nice.
Wizards: great at the higher levels, but at the lower levels there will be casualties; so squishy, and to compensate for that will cost too many precious spell slots (for shield and mage armor). Also: no healing.
Monks: nice for all stealth, but monks can hardly afford to have high ability scores in things not Wis, Dex and Con, so they'll miss a decent party face, and int and str skills.

worst:
Barbarian; great class, but of all 5e classes the least suited imo to take on another role instead of the obvious one (smash things in melee and be hard to kill).

[Eriol]

I agree Warlocks would be a great party... access to all ritual casting via tome... scouting via chain... Celestial Healing... all short-rest based... all amazing consistent damage...
This. With the variability of patrons, you have melee covered well (Hexblade), healing (celestial), and mix in the others where appropriate. You also have POWERFUL social abilities (mask of many faces being just one of them) to make that part of the game to go smoothly too. The main thing you're missing is skill-monkey, but your magic makes up for most of that, and on short-rest.

Bards are another strong candidate for similar reasons, with decent melee options, plus full caster, plus skill-monkeys as well. I agree on the low-ish health problem, but not THAT low.

Clerics I think are fine, and only need a few less feats for their front-line fighter-type domains compared to bard, but bard does so many OTHER things better IMO.


Agreed that Barbarians have it the worst. They don't have any 1/3 caster options like a number of other classes, and that's limiting. Magic makes up for a lot. Similar reason as to why Monks are down here, but for some reason their "spell-like" class and other abilities of their options get feel more versatile than the Barbarian ones.

[MarkVIIIMarc]

Well, the beauty of it is that 5e is so well designed that I don't see any kind of "same-class" party being really unprepared for a kind of challenge, except *maybe* a group of Barbarians that can use absolutely no magic. But even then, a Frenzy Barbarian could very well be a Human that got the double proficiency feat to pair with Persuasion or Intimidation and as such persuade NPC to provide the magic part.

In general, especially with Xanathar's options in the pool, any party can manage.
Of course, some would have a bit less trouble.
- Wizards, provided obviously they share spells, would probably be the best.
- Equally good or better if Wizards don't share would be a party of Druids.
- Very very close behind come Paladins (Aura resilience) and Bards (multiple Bardic Inspiration + Magic Secrets) and Clerics (archetype features + Divine Inspiration).
- Then Rogues, mainly because Reliable Talent and Cunning Action, and Warlocks, because archetype features and Invocations.
- Nearly equal to them, Rangers, because spells and tracking features and Sorcerers (because build complexity pushes them away, otherwise they would be much higher).
- Then Monks (which I would easily push over Rangers and Rogues but only in last tier) and Fighters.
- Then Barbarians.

Let's actually give examples. ;)

Barbarians
- Battlerager: Grappler and Mobile feats, tasked with retrieval of dangerous targets.
- Zealot or Berserker: the one that will take care of the Charisma checks (meaning, in case of Berzerker, that Frenzy is wasted sadly). ^^ Picking necessary/relevant feats.
- Totem (Bear/Elk/Eagle) with Shield Master and Sentinel: the main tank.
- Storm Herald: because I like very much the aura features, but Ancestral Guardian would be tempting too. Will grab the Ritual Caster feat.

You could actually make a party of only Totem too, but less fun. ^^




Bards

Lore: one tasked to Counterspell / Dispel obviously.

Glamour: perfect party size for THP, Command as bonus action is neat too. Obviously the one taking care of Charisma checks.

Swords: the off-tank (or main tank, depending on last) of the party. Tasked with Expertise in WIS or INT skills.

Valor: the main tank with Shield Master. Alternative, Whispers with a racial proficiency in longbow to make a striker. Couldn't choose between both, as Valor is great for tanking, but Whispers offers neat features for spying/infiltrating. Expertise in STR, INT or DEX skills.
Obviously someone has Ritual Caster feat, one Inspiring Leader, one Observant, and party has access to all rituals and Pass Without Trace one way or another.



Clerics

Life (because of the awesome Channel Divinity, if harsh campaign) or Knowledge (skills are cov. Mid-field.
Space for Ritual Caster (Wizard) and Inspiring Leader.

Tempest: because maximum damage is great, also good versatility. Main tank with Spell Sniper (Booming Blade) and Warcaster.

Nature: Second tank with Plant Growth + Spirit Guardians + Thorns Whip, using reaction to reduce damage to others.

Trickery: the scout, stealth-enabler and inquisitor of the party, obviously picking Observant and whatever else (possibly Spell Sniper with Thorns Whip).

Notes...
I'd swap either Nature or Trickery with Arcana only if campaign had a 100% chance of reaching last tier, because getting Wizards spells is too good to pass. Otherwise, I find this very unimpressive.

Light was interesting for CD and Fireball, but Clerics have other ways to get rid of darkness IIRC and Fireball has the problem of collateral damage: and a maximized Shatter deals damn close amount of damage anyways.
War is completely uninteresting for the party imo. Same with Forge, *except* for the corner case of one Cleric wanting to imbue Tempest's weapon with Lightning for freebie push effect (Tempest's level 6 ability). And Wall of Fire + Animate Objects. But that's basically it. Not enough to my taste, but I would completely understand people saying otherwise. Maybe I'm just conservative. ^^
Death had a thing with the twin cantrip but otherwise not enough exclusive spells. Could make a case for him at highest levels though, impressive damage potential.


Druids
Hey, who cares really? Whatever works. XD
No, really: except *maybe* a Dreams-only party, which would still work but have trouble, you could make a Land-only, Moon-only or Shepherd-only party. With special star awarded to the latter.
"Hey guys, look at that small group, they look so damn weak, we'll mince them in seconds.".
"Yeah, you're right. Plus we're a dozen. Easy loot. Attaaaaack!"
~12 seconds later (each Druid casting upcast Conjure Animals).
"Errm... Ahem, why are we surrounded and so heavily outnumbered? From where come all those ferocious beasts?"
XDXD

Anyways. Let's keep my self-imposed rule, no same archetype. Well, it's easy: one archetype per character.

Dreams: support character, grabbing Ritual Caster and Inspiring Leader.

Moon: obviously the tank and possibly scout, grabbing Resilient: Constitution and Observant.

Land: choice will be hard between Grassland (Haste your Moon), Arctic (Slow!), Coast (Mirror Image, Misty Step), Swamp (Darkness, Stinking Cloud) and Underdark (Cloudkill). Would probably still go Grassland simply because Haste can be good in so many situations. Will be rather in the mid-field/back, maybe grabbing Spell Sniper to use with Thorns Whip, although first choice is obviously Resilient: Constitution.

Shepherd: the conjurer obviously.



Fighters
The simplest choice would probably be four Eldricht Knights.
But hey...

Arcane Archer: didn't have a chance to play it yet but looks awesome. Who cares you only get 2 shots per short rest? Those are great: I'd certainly take the Seeking Arrow, Grasping Arrow, Bursting Arrow and either Beguiling or Banishing Arrow. Besides that, hey, it's the classic Sharpshooter.

Battlemaster: probably a versatile fighter, not sure whether DEX (Sharpshooter + Crossbow Expert) or STR (Sharpshooter + Dual Wielder) based. Picking Observant and Resilient: Wisdom if possible. Obviously Precision, Menacing, Trip and Evasive Footwork. Then whatever you fancy.

Eldricht Knight: Int, INT!! Obviously pick Magic Initiate: Wizard to get one more spell and cantrips. He will be the tank so Warcaster is another obvious choice. He will have to pick control spells whenever he can, with Slow ASAP at level 14.

Last one: honestly hesitating between Cavalier (seems very powerful, borderline broken at level 18, but would create strong discrepancy in mobility), Champion (resilience, classic GWM for damage), Samurai (limited use is a pain but is very fluffy and can be powerful in teamwork) and Purple Dragon Knight (heal, skills): probably the latter because easier to work with and covers Persuasion nicely.



Monks
Aaaaah. ;) Honestly a party only of 4E would work very well. A party only of high-level Open Hand would be frightening (Quivering flurry XD).
As always, one PC = one archetype makes it more tasty.
What's easy?

Shadow: if only because of those infiltration spells. Does help that he also is still a Monk. Will obviously pick Observant, but otherwise push DEX first and maybe pick Inspiring Leader, although Magic Initiate: Sorcerer for Booming Blade, utility cantrip and Mage Armor/Find Familiar (depending on target stats) may be nice too.

4E Monk: another obvious one: you can push him to WIS for blasting, or push him to STR for Fly-grappling. I'd say WIS first though because so many interesting spells: always keep one AOE (Burning Hands > Shatter > Fireball -especially since you don't worry about collateral damage), one control ability (Hold Person or push/pull effect) and one utility (Gaseous Form / Fly for infiltration, Wall of Stone to create camps or prisons).
(Sun Soul being a better alternative if all you want is blasting power, but is otherwise much less interesting).

Kensei: honestly hesitated with Drunken, but the latter's abilities are a bit more engaging to make work: Kensei is easy and solid damage-dealer in ranged and melee alike, and with the level 11 ability, you can easily keep a 18 DEX for a good while and instead bump WIS and maybe get high enough CHA for Inspiring Leader.
Or you could instead make him a complete damage dealer, going full DEX with Sharpshooter and using Ki solely on archetype features or defensive features.

Long Death: really hesitated with Open Hand, especially because Quivering Palm, but if I had to make the party go up from level 1, no doubt i'll pick Long Death: the mass Fear as an action is just too good, as the THP on kill.

One of them will have to pick Ritual Caster feat, not sure which. ;)



Paladins
Probably THE class in which multiplying instances of the same archetype would be a bad thing.

Ancients: obviously, one of the controller thanks to Ensnaring Strike and Plant Growth. Because probable heavy use of bonus action, no related feat. Instead, Magic Initiate: Lightning Lure may be worthy to pair with another's Spirit Guardians. Probably DEX based so Ensnaring Strike can work off a distance when needed.

Crown: yeah, that's the one: the main tank of the party thanks to Spirit Guardians. Grabbing Magic Initiate: Sorcerer for Shield and Booming Blade + Ray of Frost, and Warcaster to use BB or Command when one wants to escape. Obviously STR first, CON and CHA not too far.
Because he will take the brunt of damage...

Redemption: generally overlooked by people because its exclusive are usual in casters, for a Paladin-only group he's completely indispensable: Counterspell, Hypnotic Pattern and Wall of Force. Plus he gets interesting features to reduce damage of others by taking it himself.
He will obviously pick Spell Sniper: Warlock for Eldricht Blast. Besides that, maybe Healer feat, or Tough. He will be maxing CHA first things.
To round things up...

Unless the party will go very high level (at which case Conquest), Devotion.
While Devotion seems overall less "powerful" than Conquest, in that group of 4...
1. It can take care of the ranged attack well when needed thanks to is Sacred Weapon feature. You could even make it a DEX based with Sharpshooter although that may be pushing it. Or make it a STR GWM-wielder while still being decent with a longbow at times.
2. Being immune to charmed is important, as several nasty high-level creatures will try that.
3. Because it's less combat-oriented, you could also make him the big healer, using Aid preemptively and otherwise using whatever he can to further reduce HP loss (keeping Bless active, using Cure Wounds or his imposition of hands). Inspiring Leader and/or Healer would be good, as would having Ritual Caster: Wizard so you get in addition to other things, Find Familiar for distant Cure Wounds.

This party would have more trouble than others until level 8. After that, should be fine. Near capstone, is probably one of the strongest parties you could have thanks to all Auras getting 30 feet radius.
And, you know, hopefully Crawford dropped his insanely stupid tweet about Auras of Protection being stackable. Because otherwise nothing really could stop that group. XD




Rangers
Well, there are 5 archetypes. Which will be the one put aside?

Gloomstalker: this one is obviously in party: advantage on Initiative, built-in WIS proficiency, excellent bonus spells (Rope Trick!) and extra attack make it an excellent choice.
I would probably make it a GWM wielder (to pair with Haste from friend and level 11 miss into hit).

Horizon Walker: it's not my cup of tea, but for a Ranger-only party, this brings solid value thanks to those spells, extra attack with teleport and "unnamed Uncanny Dodge".
Either a STR dual-wielder with Sharpshooter or a plain DEX Crossbow Expert + Sharpshooter user.
Would pick Ritual Caster: Cleric or Wizard to stay in the thematic. ;)

Monster Slayer: same, not my cup of tea, but the ability to instantly learn about resistances and weaknesses of a creature is by itself valuable enough to make it a necessity. Obviously added benefit against that creature and extra spells are great too.
Would completely be a finesse weapon wielder with a shield and Defense FS, picking Mobile and Mage Slayer feats ASAP.

So are left the PHB ones: BeastMaster and Hunter.
Well, as much as I love Hunter (Horde Breaker/Escape the Horde/Volley/Evasion), I'd probably go beastmaster here.
Not only is it a way to get a 5th teammate on a regular basis, which is always nice, in the long run it tops Hunter in terms of potential damage if you know how to use Share Spells efficienty. Even better if party finds a Ring of Spell Storing obviously. :)
Would completely pick Ritual Caster: Druid because 100% thematic and great rituals there.




Rogues

Ok so let's take the cat out of the bag.
Arcane Trickster is a given here, as well as Thief.
For a campaign that will go high enough, Scout is an obvious third thanks to nearly OP lvl 17 feature, although Assassin could easily compete with it. Honestly Assassin is heavily underrated around here, but it is an indisputable fact that his 9th and 13th level abilities require collaboration with the DM and a long campaign in which you can really alter the world by your actions. Also Scout's abilities are a bit more party-friendly. So let's go with Scout.
For the remaining... Between Swash, Inquisitive and Mastermind, I feel that Swash is more like Assassin in that he's kinda a loner, Inquisitive is great for some utility... But I love the Mastermind's Help as bonus action (easy to use) and Redirect (can be extremely powerful really).

So...
Arcane Trickster: int, INT!!! You'll be the main controller: obviously Magic Initiate: Wizard (Shield or Absorb Elements, more cantrips) AND Ritual Caster: Wizard (Find Familiar, Phantom Steed etc) are a given, as well as Expertise in Stealth.

Scout: obviously more of a ranged attacker, Sharpshooter (more for cover ignore) and Observant are a given, as Expertise in Stealth.

Thief: melee finesse, with Healer feat and as soon as possible a Bag of Holding. Mobile may be a good thing too.

Mastermind: versatile, possibly a dual-wielder.

Honestly all of them should be Expert in Stealth at least, beyond that anything goes. You can really build them in many ways.



And, it's already so late. Oh my... I'll have to pursue later. ;)

I'm going to vote for the Bards. You gave me a great idea also. I love the variety of having maybe 2 Lore bards then a spread of the other colleges. Bards do ok for damage with Thunderwave and Shatter.

Is there anyway for a Bard to pick locks? They can pick that up as a bonus proficiency someplace, right? I'm DMing for a group of players who don't have a Rogue. They were having a heck of a time breaking into rooms until one of the Paladins got Shatterspike and I decided it was made to kill items so why not doors.

[xyianth]

If UA is available, things like the Wizard Theurge specialty lets a Wizard party heal. I think Barbarians still have it worst, but with everyone raging and a few players with the Healer feat it might still work out.

[smcmike]

Normal brain: A party of bards gives you access to every spell and skill in the game, and can make for a perfectly well-rounded party.

Big brain: A party of druids is also well-rounded, but could avoid some encounters via mass wildshape.

Galaxy brain: A party of barbarians would smash face though.

[Naanomi]

Is there anyway for a Bard to pick locks?
2+ backgrounds give thieves’ Tools... or you can train in downtime... and Jack of All Trades makes you half proficient anyways

[Potato_Priest]

I’d absolutely pick paladins. Sure, they’re a little weak on ranged damage, but they’re all proficient with longbows and get extra attack so it won’t be that bad. The real draw of the paladin team is their incredible resistance to spells and saving throws after level 6, and the fact that the entire party is specialized against the enemy type that I hate the most out of all the things in the MM: Fiends. Here’s my four man variant human paladin team:

Smasher 1: Oath of Devotion. Uses GWM and the holy weapon channel divinity to wreck some serious face.
Smasher 2: Oath of conquest. Uses GWM and the guided strike channel divinity to also wreck serious face. Can also use fear effects for some crowd control.
Pusher: Oath of the ancients. Uses shield master to knock enemies down and give the smashers advantage on their attacks. His or her level 7 aura also gives the party a huge advantage against spellcasters, and they can pick up some of the slack on ranged damage with moonbeam.
Lockdown: Oath of vengeance. Uses Polearm master and sentinel feats in conjunction with the lvl 7 feature that lets him or her move as part of opportunity attacks to keep big brutes at bay and squishy casters in close range.

Together, they should all try to boost charisma when they can, because that saving throw aura stacks, people. (At least, I think it does, since it’s not a spell).

[Nidgit]

A party of all Barbarians would be terrifying in combat until they encountered a horse or a flying enemy. For social encounters, just only Initimidate by flexing.

Wizards are obviously great and versatile but they'd reeeeally struggle through those first few levels until the Bladesinger or Abjurer can sufficiently protect the others.

Rogues are crazy versatile, yes, but being limited to 1-2 attacks per turn, minimal tanking, no healing, and barely any magic leaves a lot of holes in that group.

[Lvl 2 Expert]

I was thinking about making a thread about this. I like the idea.

I did (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?442603-The-most-fun-(D-amp-D)-class-for-a-single-class-campaign). :smallbiggrin:

(This thread is shaping up nicely, just some extra reading material from two years ago.)

[the secret fire]

Warlock because of class diversity, followed by Rogue because of subclass diversity.

A Rogue party of Assassin, AT, Thief and Mastermind could work really well. For healing, you'd probably want the Thief to take the Healer feat (and maybe Mobility) to act as an emergency medic, but beyond that, this party should be pretty effective, good at the social and exploration pillars through skills and a few spells, and able to dictate combat encounters encounters through stealth.

[the secret fire]

Now, to crank it up, how about a party of 4 completely identical builds (race, class+subclass and background)? Which would live up to the test?

Identical builds makes it harder. I suppose four identical Hexblades could do fine. Four vhuman Thieves would also be pretty good. Everybody with Healer and later Mobility. You'd have to kind of go "combat as war" with such a group, set up lot of traps and ambushes and such, but I think it would work just fine, and once you hit 13th level and get UMD, it's over.

[JakOfAllTirades]

Any party composed of a single class will all be proficient in the same saving throws, which could be a problem.

[Vorpal Crowbar]

If you had a party of say 4 players, existing of only one class, which would be the most effective? With effective meaning that you could set them in any campaign and they would be able to go without much trouble.






Best: Any Clerics - Combat 8/10, social interact 9/10, utility 8/10

Worst: Bow Hunter Rangers - Combat 7/10, social interact 0/10, utility 4/10



VC

[Naanomi]

Any party composed of a single class will all be proficient in the same saving throws, which could be a problem.
Excepting Monks (who will all be proficient in them all) and Paladins (whose overlapping bonuses will make saves trivial)

[JakOfAllTirades]

Excepting Monks (who will all be proficient in them all) and Paladins (whose overlapping bonuses will make saves trivial)

Once they reach a certain level, yes. Another solution is having some vHumans in the party starting out with the Resiliant feat.

[Citan]

Any party composed of a single class will all be proficient in the same saving throws, which could be a problem.
True, except for...
1. Monks (gets proficients in everything).
2. Paladins (the next best thing, +CHA to saves for everyone AND one can maintain Circle of Power).
3. Rogues (you get Dexterity and Wisdom, might as well take Resilient: Constitution to cover all three greatest).
4. Bards (Circle of Power at level 10) and Abjuration Wizards (you don't get proficient, but you get advantage against spells which is great too).

The others, yeah you'll be in trouble although several have features that can reduce the danger. ;)

Once they reach a certain level, yes. Another solution is having some vHumans in the party starting out with the Resiliant feat.
Or you can just prevent many spells from targeting you in the first place: even low-level spells like Fog Cloud, Darkness or Mold Earth cantrips can severely limit the ability of others to target you with spells. ;)



(I'll edit my previous post when I can finish the last three classes missing, but not tonight it's already too late, work waiting tomorrow ^^).

[EdenIndustries]

Wizards, provided obviously they share spells, would probably be the best.

I think I might agree with this, and I have a bit of experience to back it up. This may sound crazy but I played as 4 Wizards (Enchantment, Divination, Bladesinger, Theurge) with a DM who DM'd Lost Mine of Phandelver for me. Now granted the Bladesinger dipped into Rogue a bit (eventually I was going to do some arcane trickster) and the others dipped into Cleric for armor. So it wasn't pure Wizard, but fairly close.

Although we almost got slaughtered at level 1, by the time we got to the end of LMoP we were pretty potent. In the final series of encounters, in fact, none of the characters took a single HP of damage because I had so much control with all of their spells. The one thing that was notable with a party of Wizards though was damage was pretty hard to come by. That last series of encounters I mentioned took a long time to complete. That was pre-Xanathar, so now I'd definitely grab Dragon's Breath and cast it on our familiars to probably more then double our damage output. And if/when I play that team again and if/when I get Polymorph, I think the T-Rex will really help with the damage.

So the all-Wizard team wasn't without its problems, but the control options were insane. Actually the 2nd-to-last dungeon there were like 20 enemies coming at us and we ended up putting the whole fortress to sleep. And for the final boss of LMoP, the DM ended up just having him surrender. I don't know what was written in the adventure and if the character would do that normally, but after 20 or so rounds of neither him nor his goons able to deal any damage, with flaming spheres rolling in from everywhere, illusions all over the place, etc. there was no hope for him anyway!

[CTurbo]

I've seen an all Wizard party before in a one shot but they were like level 14 or something. It was an Abjur, Diviner, Evocer, illusionist, and Enchanter. They were pretty silly powerful.

I don't think an all Wizard party would be very good starting at level 1. I'd like to try it though.

[Kaliayev]

Barbarians. A bunch of geeks playing characters broing out hardcore would be both the best and the worst.

[BW022]

I would generally say (without analyzing every possible aspect of what a good party could be) is that a good four characters tends to cover off the core four classes fighter (melee/tanking), cleric (healing/buffing), wizard (area/blasting/non-combat spells), and rogue (damage dealing/stealth/skills). Given this... I would say...

Best

Cleric -- given domains they can cover many of these. Fighter = war domain. Cleric (obvious). Wizard = magic domain and/or just selecting more offensive spells and maybe the ritual caster feat. Rogue = stealth domain + background.

Bard -- a good jack of trades class. Fighter = valor bard + feat for heavy armor. Cleric = they have some healing and good buffing. Wizard = they have some control/offensive spells, add the ritual caster feat. Rogue = obvious skills + background.


Worst

Fighter, Monk, Rogue, Barbarian -- they just don't have enough access to spells or ability to make up for any of the other three classes. Many rely on really specific tactics (melee, stealth, etc.) which can't always be utilized and which are really in trouble if facing opponents which those don't work on.

[2D8HP]

...I'd say the most effective would be a party of Rogues....


Best? I'l second the choice of Rogues, and I'd love to play in that party!

Tag-team-sneak-attack!

Worst? A bunch of Paladins with incompatible Oaths.

[tieren]

I'm also going with druid.

I'd like to do this where most of the party stays wildshaped most of the time. A lone stranger walks into town with a faithful hound, a hawk on his shoulder and ferret in his satchel...

They could even take turns being the humanoid and the rest of the world would think they were disguising themself or shifting between personalities or something.

But you could easily have a good tank, controller and healer, and summons for plenty of dps (and wildshapes for the whole party to be stealthier than a rogue). It would be a nightmare to DM for (lots of summons, multiple concentration effects, long term control spells, etc...) but I would sure love to play in it.

[Potato_Priest]

Worst? A bunch of Paladins with incompatible Oaths.

That’s a fair critique. As long as you vote on your decisions like a civilized party though, you shouldn’t have too much trouble, since this isn’t 3.x anymore where you can lose your Oath at the drop of a hat. Of course, for a paladin party that would work better together you could take out the oath of conquest from my suggested party and replace it with another oath of devotion without hurting anything.

[Zorrah]

On the Wizard front, if you delve into UA, you can get the Theurgist and you would have your healing spells, and a few other nice features.

Edit, or actually get around with "no healing" with some choice feats. like healer or magical adept.