Who has the best overall action economy without feats?

[WereRabbitz]

In your opinion what class has the best overall action economy allowing you to easily take advantage of your bonus actions each round and reaction fairly often? Not including feats that could give this ability to any class which class is the best in you opinion? I would Think Rogues would be up there, Bards would be a good pick I believe since they can react with their inspiration and take advantage of bonus spells or attacks.

[PhoenixPhyre]

In your opinion what class has the best overall action economy allowing you to easily take advantage of your bonus actions each round and reaction fairly often? Not including feats that could give this ability to any class which class is the best in you opinion? I would Think Rogues would be up there, Bards would be a good pick I believe since they can react with their inspiration and take advantage of bonus spells or attacks.

Rogues, hands down. Cunning action and/or TWF.

Bards are more limited (since BI is resource limited), but probably second. Everyone else is far behind, basically with BA spells only.

[Ganymede]

My Storm Herald Barbarian's action economy is pretty crowded with the at-will bonus actions/reactions.

[Merudo]

Tempest Cleric is probably third after the Rogue and the Bard. Healing Word, Sanctuary, and Spiritual Weapon are all great uses of the bonus action, and Wrath of the Storm for the reaction.

Moon Druid is not bad. Bonus action to Wildshape, to heal while Wildshape, to Heat Metal, and to Shillelagh.

Wizard should get a special mention for their Familiar related shenanigans.

[CTurbo]

Tempest and Light Clerics both have great things to do with their Bonus Actions and Reactions

Rogues and Monks have a huge variety of things they can do with their Bonus Actions and Reactions

Fighters and Sorcerers can both break the action economy.

[nickl_2000]

Rogues win this hands down with Monks a second in my book.

Reaction - AoO and Uncanny Dodge - Used many, many turns
Bonus Action - TWF, Cunning action (dodge, disengage, hide, mage hand, use object, etc)
Action - Easy


Monk
Bonus Action - Extra martial arts attack, step of the wind, flurry
Reaction - deflect missiles, slow fall
Action - Easy



That being said, there are a lot of casters that can do things with bonus actions on spells (flaming sphere, summons, heat metal) and have reaction spells to (counterspell, absorb elements, shield).

[Nettlekid]

This is a bit of a cheat answer but anything that a Goblin is good at being has some good bonus action uses, being able to Disengage or Hide every turn. I don't know that a Dex-based Barbarian is really capable but a Goblin Barbarian would have decent action economy.

Someone's already mentioned Sorcerers as breaking the action economy with Quicken Spell, but they also need to use their bonus actions to convert spell slots into Sorcery Points, so between the two their in-combat actions are largely spoken for.

But yeah, Rogue and Monk take the cake. Horizon Walker Ranger too, charging up one shot a turn using their bonus action. And of course any caster who can use an ongoing spell like Heat Metal or Spiritual Weapon which can fire again and again using their bonus action.

[KorvinStarmast]

Fighters and Sorcerers can both break the action economy. Explain how, without feats.

[Waazraath]

Explain how, without feats.

Maybe stuff like Action Surge, quicken spell, twin spell? Action economy is afaic more then just beging able to use a bonus action and reaction.

With that in mind, Ranger is quite good as well; beast ranger anyways, but also Hunter ranger can get a reaction attack, and 2wf has a use for a bonus action every turn; also the list has a lot of good bonus action spells.

Maybe also include Summons, Simulacrums, Animates, and the like in the discussion?

[KorvinStarmast]

Maybe stuff like Action Surge, quicken spell, twin spell? Action economy is afaic more then just beging able to use a bonus action and reaction. Five minute adventure day? When I have one available, yeah, action surge is nice as hell on my Champion Fighter. In a 6-8 encounter day, that's not once per fight, nor once per round, but when you use it, it rox.


Hunter ranger can get a reaction attack, and 2wf has a use for a bonus action every turn; also the list has a lot of good bonus action spells. Yes indeed.

Maybe also include Summons, Simulacrums, Animates, and the like in the discussion? Of Sorcerer?

[jaappleton]

Circle of the Spores Druid

Bonus actions, reactions, attacks, etc. It gets crazy.

[Lunali]

Cavalier, action surge, bonus action to attack people that attacked your friends, opportunity attacks when enemies move in your range, opportunity attack available on EVERY enemy turn.

[CTurbo]

Explain how, without feats.


Yeah Action Surge, Quicken Spell, and Twin Spell mainly


Hunter Ranger's Horde Breaker is a rare example of a totally free attack action. It's at least worth mentioning.

But yeah Rogue are Monk are probably best definitely as far as having options for their Bonus Actions and Reactions. Cunning Action, Uncanny Dodge, Evasion, dash, hide, dodge, attack, etc... Thief in particular gets a free object interaction per turn that's also worth mentioning.

Tempest and Light Cleric are my favorite for Action economy since they both have really strong Reactions and a lot of really good Bonus Action spells.

[Kane0]

TWF and Frenzy Barb look a lot more inviting without access to BA attack feats.

But definitely Rogue and Monk, followed by the rest (Bards, Warlocks, Quicken Sorcs and other resource limited BAs).

[Aaron Underhand]

Honorable mention for my lore bard 6, wizard 1 multiclass.

Reactions: shield, featherfall, counterspell (from magical secrets), and cutting words 4 times a short rest.

Bonus actions: moving ritual cast unseen servant, giving away bardic inspiration, healing word

Also, a familiar, countercharm, song of rest.

In a two short rest adventuring day he gets 12 uses of inspiration 5 first level spells,(arcane recovery), 3 third and one 4th level slot for counterspell. Potentially 21 reactions,

And if I ritually cast unseen servant then all my bonus actions can be usefully employed.

[JakOfAllTirades]

In your opinion what class has the best overall action economy allowing you to easily take advantage of your bonus actions each round and reaction fairly often? Not including feats that could give this ability to any class which class is the best in you opinion? I would Think Rogues would be up there, Bards would be a good pick I believe since they can react with their inspiration and take advantage of bonus spells or attacks.

Although it's not a popular class, the Berserker Barbarian is a contender for this honor. When they Frenzy, their bonus action is used for an extra attack. And their 14th level Retaliation feature allows them to use their reaction to make another melee attack against a creature within 5 feet that hits them with a melee attack. The Reckless Attack feature makes this fairly likely to happen.

So, lots of bonus action attacks, lots of reaction attacks. This is excellent action economy with a LOT of potential damage output, but there are caveats. Frenzy isn't easy to use. Reckless attack is reckless. And the reaction ability comes on line fairly late.

[Rerem115]

Ninja'd. I was literally about to type Frenzy Barbarian, then I saw the above post.

[Mercurias]

I have a Gloomstalker Ranger/War Cleric in the works that should end up having a large number of bonus actions to choose from, starting with an extra opening attack from the Ranger feature and then following up the with either another Bonus attack action from War Cleric or summoning up a Spiritual Weapon.

[Crgaston]

Circle of the Spores Druid

Bonus actions, reactions, attacks, etc. It gets crazy.

^Yep, this. Or an Arcane Trickster, if you’re going single-classed. I’ve seen a few folks mentioning casters, but no one has specifically mentioned the Concentration slot as part of action economy yet.

I’ve been working on a buff/rebuff/BC build that looks something like Mastermind 3/ Glamour Bard 5/ Shepherd Druid 2 when it comes fully online. You can start as a half elf, point buy for 8/14/12/10/16/16, use your ASI to bump Cha.

Open with Bane for your concentration slot, use your bonus actions to dispense Help from 30’, toss out Inspiration (which grants all your allies a reaction, further maximizing action economy) or set up your Spirit Totem (Hawk Spirit). Then you can grant advantage to 2 attacks per round using your BA and your reaction. Use Plant Growth as a non-concentration debuff, and as your action use Vicious Mockery to further hinder your enemies, Thorn Whip to move them about, or Sneak Attack them. Or just turn into a cat, climb a tree and watch your allies wreck shop.

Going Lore instead of Glamor provides a more consistent use of your reaction, but I think Glamour is cooler. And my DM would throw things at me if I brought this build with Lore Bard to his table :)

[Specter]

Rogue, hands down. Don't forget they have an at-will reaction (very rare) whenever they get attacked.

[JakOfAllTirades]

Rogue, hands down. Don't forget they have an at-will reaction (very rare) whenever they get attacked.

I'd say the same thing about the Berserker, but the Rogue's reaction feature comes online much sooner, so the Rogue wins.

[Citan]

In your opinion what class has the best overall action economy allowing you to easily take advantage of your bonus actions each round and reaction fairly often? Not including feats that could give this ability to any class which class is the best in you opinion? I would Think Rogues would be up there, Bards would be a good pick I believe since they can react with their inspiration and take advantage of bonus spells or attacks.
I'd say it really depends of what level we're talking about.

Note that I'm in opposition to my habit I'm writing this "on the fly" so please take this with a significant grain of salt (bigger than usual ^^), because my brain's power dedicated to D&d is capped at 20% of my full potential right now. ^^
(Also, as nearly always, I don't take any UA content into account).

From level 1 to 5, Rogue (Cunning Action) then Bard (Bardic Inspiration, reactions, spells) & Cleric (spells, reactions) then Monk (Deflect Arrows, Martial Arts) then Ranger (moving Hunter's Mark or casting different bonus action spells, Absorb Elements as reaction) and some archetypes (Hexblade Warlock, Storm Herald Barbarian) then then Wizards/Sorcerers (Shield as reaction) and Druid (bonus action spells mostly, archetype features) then everyone else.

Reason for that rating is that I don't value much abilities that would require one bonus action per fight or short rest (Wild Shaping, activating Rage, Second Wind, etc) or consume too big a portion of available resources (Flurry of Blows/Dash/Dodge, Quicken Metamagic).

From level 5 to 10, Monk (more ki), Eldricht Knight (War Magic), Bard (short rest Bardic Inspiration, more slots), Sorcerer (more ki), Cleric (more slots) and Druid (more slots) mechanically improve either by having more fuel for resource-consuming bonus action and reaction.
Rogue still stays the king by a close margin, probably, simply because both its bonus action and reaction have frequent enough triggers to expect full use of it every turn
- bonus action: extra attack or disengage safely or hide or reach another enemy
- reaction: attack (OA) or defense (Uncanny Dodge).

From levels 11 to 15, any Fighter (feats), many Monks (more ki, new features) and many Barbarians (new features) will harshly compete with Rogue on bonus action economy.
A Sorcerer that dedicates himself to action economy will also trump basically everyone else, although that will obviously come at a steep cost (using Quicken regularly will still quickly deplete resource so you would have to convert several slots).
But honestly, although my brain is off so I can't detail, I have the gut that anyone that wants an optimized action economy (aka something useful to do with bonus action and reaction every round) can achieve it with any class.

From levels 16 to 18, same mostly. I mean, other people will make meaningful comparisons, I'll just stay on the "everyone can be optimal".
Levels 18 to 20 though?
Wizards and Moon Druids make a very harsh comeback.
Wizards equal Rogue now thanks to the free 1st and 2nd level spell.
Moon Druid comes very close thanks to free wildshape as bonus action.

There are many things I forgot, so this is a rough draft, but I think there is some truth to it. :=)

[TheUser]

Rogue for obvious reasons.
Sorcerer starts getting great action economy later when quicken spell becomes more economic with cantrips and concentration spells with action spending requirements become more abundant (crown of madness, telekinesis, sunbeam, ennervate etc.).
They also have a host of level 1 reaction spells (shield/absorb elements).

If you are active about juggling slots/sorc points in combat they will get great mileage out of their action economy.

[Willie the Duck]

The no feats clause we are starting with should be addressed, because it seriously hampers fighters (who are seriously hampered in a featless campaign). I rampantly dislike the fact that a Strength-based fighter feels like they need to take GWM, sentinel, or PAM, but we can't pretend that PAM fighters don't exist and really use their bonus and reaction actions well. Same with War Caster Gish builds. But, having acknowledged the effect of that constraint, we can still discuss the winners and loser within that constraint.

Rogue has obvious ability here (twf and Cunning Action disengage actively competing for bonus actions amongst melee rogues being an obvious example). The fact that rogues get one of the most damaging potential Opportunity Attacks makes their reaction very competitive as well.

Any martial build with the most recent minotaur UA has good bonus and reaction actions, but only within constrained battlefields --ones where dashing into melee or pushing are useful (more useful than an OA in the later case).

Other than OAs, I think Bards have the best use of reactions. Without feats, I think spellcasters usually have the best bonus actions (monks as well, with an expendable reserve, so very much like spells).

[Maxilian]

Circle of the Spores Druid

Bonus actions, reactions, attacks, etc. It gets crazy.

Damn, you beat me to it.

[Sorlock Master]

Rogues, hands down. Cunning action and/or TWF.

Bards are more limited (since BI is resource limited), but probably second. Everyone else is far behind, basically with BA spells only.

Uh monk has multiple bonus actions plus reactions, monk has more options prior to monastic traditions.

Every class has pretty good action economy.

[PhoenixPhyre]

Uh monk has multiple bonus actions plus reactions, monk has more options prior to monastic traditions.

Every class has pretty good action economy.

Somehow I forgot about monks when I wrote that. I'd put monks and rogues near the top together (depending on circumstances). Rogues get BAs that don't cost resources, while monks do, so they're a little in front most of the time, IMO.

[ruy343]

Somehow I forgot about monks when I wrote that. I'd put monks and rogues near the top together (depending on circumstances). Rogues get BAs that don't cost resources, while monks do, so they're a little in front most of the time, IMO.

While it is true that rogues get free bonus actions, monks gain access to the ability to bonus action->dodge through the ki spend. This may not seem like a big deal, but this is a rather rare, and rather powerful ability that can enable a lot of tactical options (dodge in the heat of combat to enable your rogue sneak attack damage because of your proximity, or dodge and stand between someone and somewhere they want to move).

Yes, rogues can disengage, dash, sleight of hand, help (if mastermind), or "use an object" (if thief) with the bonus action, and those have specific uses, but dodging is incredibly powerful and versatile. If we're comparing the quality of actions available, Monks might just be on par with rogues, even despite the ki point cost.

[Voltage]

I'd vote for my Half-Elf Dual Cursed Lunar Oracle. With Misfortune, you can force rerolls using your Swift pretty much every turn. Then you have an animal companion at +1lvl at 6th lvl with the elf FCB. Oh, and then you're still a 9lvl caster with Paragon Surge and extra spells known from your curse(Elemental Imbalence Earth for Grease & Glitterdust) & FCB after 6th.

[Aett_Thorn]

I'd vote for my Half-Elf Dual Cursed Lunar Oracle. With Misfortune, you can force rerolls using your Swift pretty much every turn. Then you have an animal companion at +1lvl at 6th lvl with the elf FCB. Oh, and then you're still a 9lvl caster with Paragon Surge and extra spells known from your curse(Elemental Imbalence Earth for Grease & Glitterdust) & FCB after 6th.

You decided to post in an older thread to add in something not even from RAW 5e? 🤨

[Ganymede]

I'll second the Half-Elf Dual Cursed Lunar Oracle. I'd need Liquid Plumber for how badly that guy clogs up my bonus actions.

[JakOfAllTirades]

I'll second the Half-Elf Dual Cursed Lunar Oracle. I'd need Liquid Plumber for how badly that guy clogs up my bonus actions.

Sounds like Pathfinder. Is that from Pathfinder? If so, yeah... Liquid Plumber.

[Derpaligtr]

Rogues, hands down. Cunning action and/or TWF.

Bards are more limited (since BI is resource limited), but probably second. Everyone else is far behind, basically with BA spells only.

Thief or Mastermind Rogues are downright awesome.

Take Moderately Armored + Shield Mastery or Sentinel for more bonus action fun (early expertise, or expertise at all, makes the rogue the best user of these feats).

Having so many bonus action options that are all for different situations is amazing. Adding sentinel for a reaction... Ugh the Rogue was designed so well :).

The only archetype the rogue can't easily replicate is the BFW type.

This makes me wonder if BFW on a rogue would be broken... I guess polearms and PAM... Hmm.

[KorvinStarmast]

Yeah Action Surge, Quicken Spell, and Twin Spell mainly That does not break the action economy. It's what makes those two classes unique. Limited use resources.

Five minute adventure day already breaks the game design frame.