Dnd 5e questionnaire Answers

[Bannan_mantis]

so after sending out a questionnaire on here and on other sites I'm on I've come to a good amount of answers and got a pretty representative amount of data in my eyes (194 responses to be exact.) I first must apologise about taking a while to do this, I was just forgetting to do so but now I can release the information. This is the original post this is linked to - http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?588791-Fun-little-questionnaire-on-dnd-5e

Quick note on most and least powerful class section - I am not saying any of the classes ranked high in these are particularly weak or op I am just giving out info on people's opinions.


12th - Ranger 0.5%
11th - Fighter 1%
10th - Monk 1.5%
9th - Barbarian 3.1%
8th - Sorcerer 3.6%
7th - Rogue 5.7%
6th and 5th - tied between Warlock and Cleric, both 6.7%
4th - Bard 7.2%
3rd - Druid 13.4%
2nd - Paladin 24.2%
1st - Wizard 26.3%




12th - Paladin 0%
11th - Druid 0.5%
10th - Cleric 1%
9th, 8th and 7th - tied between Wizard, Warlock and Bard, all are 1.5%
6th - Rogue 2.1%
5th and 4th - tied between Sorcerer and Barbarian, both 2.6%
3rd - Fighter 4.6%
2nd - Monk 12.9%
1st - Ranger 69.6%




12th - Ranger 3.6%
11th and 10th - tied between Monk and Barbarian, both 4.1%
9th - Druid 4.6%
8th and 7th - tied between Cleric and Sorcerer, both 7.2%
6th - Fighter 7.7%
5th - Rogue 9.3%
4th - Bard 10.3%
3rd - Paladin 12.4%
2nd - Wizard 13.4%
1st - Warlock 16%




12th - Cleric 2.6%
11th - Wizard 3.1%
10th and 9th - tied between Rogue and Paladin, both 5.2%
8th and 7th - tied between Warlock and Bard, both 6.7%
6th, 5th and 4th - tied between Barbarian, Sorcerer and Fighter, all are 8.8%
3rd - Druid 10.8%
2nd - Monk 14.9%
1st - Ranger 18.6%



Now there is other data such as races but I need to filter through that as I put it as type your own answer and all the different ways people have typed the names for races means that all the different ways it was typed are seen as different answers. Once I have that ready I will post it, additionally one thing that might interest some people is I posted this on r/dnd and giant in the playground and I have actually been able to separate the responses from both sites, if anyone would be interested in seeing the different opinions over the websites then I will include them in my next post.

[Darc_Vader]

Wow, I understand why people ranked them how they did, but poor Rangers.

[sithlordnergal]

XD Ok, this is some really cool data, and I feel bad for the Ranger...but Paladin on the "Weakest class Mechanically" standing at 0% is hilarious. Even the Ranger got a 0.5% in strongest class. XD Guess that just goes to show how strong paladins are

[ProsecutorGodot]

XD Ok, this is some really cool data, and I feel bad for the Ranger...but Paladin on the "Weakest class Mechanically" standing at 0% is hilarious. Even the Ranger got a 0.5% in strongest class. XD Guess that just goes to show how strong paladins are

I've seen claims on a few occasions that a Paladin can compete with most other classes off their base class features alone. Not very many classes can claim that and have it be generally agreed on. Druid and Wizard come pretty close but their subclasses tend to strengthen their core abilities to a noticeable degree.

Divine Smite and Aura of Protection are the likely culprits.

I'm surprised (only a bit) that despite being seen as middling or only slightly above average mechanically that Clerics and Warlocks are among the most popular. Cleric is often near the top of the charts in most metrics I've seen. It's also a bit weird that the "Favorite" and "Least Favorite" categories have some pretty varying results.

[sithlordnergal]

I've seen claims on a few occasions that a Paladin can compete with most other classes off their base class features alone. Not very many classes can claim that and have it be generally agreed on. Druid and Wizard come pretty close but their subclasses tend to strengthen their core abilities to a noticeable degree.

Divine Smite and Aura of Protection are the likely culprits.

I'm surprised (only a bit) that despite being seen as middling or only slightly above average mechanically that Clerics and Warlocks are among the most popular. Cleric is often near the top of the charts in most metrics I've seen.

Oh yeah, Smite and Aura of Protection are precisely why the Paladin is able to compete with almost everything without taking subclass into account. And as soon as you do...well...when you give a great thing an even greater ability it will be one of the strongest things out there.

[Trickery]

Oh yeah, Smite and Aura of Protection are precisely why the Paladin is able to compete with almost everything without taking subclass into account. And as soon as you do...well...when you give a great thing an even greater ability it will be one of the strongest things out there.

The one that always blows my mind is Cleansing Touch. The Paladin can just straight-up remove a spell affecting a willing creature. Like, destroy it. Any spell. They can end that spell's whole career. It's gone. Deader than Disco. Less relevant than D&D 4e in 2019. Dispel Magic requires ability checks or high-level spell slots to do that. A spell could theoretically be too high of level to Dispel if cast by an epic creature. But the Paladin says nah, it's gone. Ridiculous.

I understand why Ranger got shafted so badly. The Ranger's class features are difficult to use, mechanically weak, and don't fill any particular role that's relevant to a dungeon party. Rangers are not actually weak in the damage department, and they're just fine if all you want to do is play an archer with magic. But every Ranger player I've ever seen basically ignored more than half of the Ranger's features. They use spellcasting, the fighting style, Extra Attack, and the subclass features - that's about it. The other features aren't worth writing down in most campaigns until you hit level 14.

[Kyutaru]

Seems predictably accurate. I'm loving that Warlock has the number one most liked slot despite having nothing to do with power. It's not just the hybrid of spell and sword which other classes get. The lore is similar to other classes too and they're not the only pet users. Just mechanically the class plays better than most others and feels fun.

[Fable Wright]

As a Druid player...

Only one person said it was mechanically weak, twenty two people have it as their most hated class. Wellp. I can see Moon Druids are popular.

[Bannan_mantis]

Oh yeah, Smite and Aura of Protection are precisely why the Paladin is able to compete with almost everything without taking subclass into account. And as soon as you do...well...when you give a great thing an even greater ability it will be one of the strongest things out there.

Yeah this is actually something I've always found puzzling actually. I personally feel the paladin, in terms of just a quick look, seems very powerful but in play and after evaluations it loses that powerfulness. I'm not saying it's the weakest class, it's a good and strong choice but, maybe from the way my group plays, it doesn't feel op to me. Like if we want I tank I tend to choose barbarian instead of pally, if we want melee damage I choose fighter instead of pally and then if we want some charisma I choose bard instead of pally. It's probably since my dm has quite a few encounters and like 2-4 short rests a day

[Kyutaru]

Yeah this is actually something I've always found puzzling actually. I personally feel the paladin, in terms of just a quick look, seems very powerful but in play and after evaluations it loses that powerfulness. I'm not saying it's the weakest class, it's a good and strong choice but, maybe from the way my group plays, it doesn't feel op to me. Like if we want I tank I tend to choose barbarian instead of pally, if we want melee damage I choose fighter instead of pally and then if we want some charisma I choose bard instead of pally. It's probably since my dm has quite a few encounters and like 2-4 short rests a day

Paladins rank among the highest for damage and tanking.

https://www.dndbeyond.com/forums/dungeons-dragons-discussion/tips-tactics/7108-5e-class-tier-list-a-bit-more-in-depth

[Bannan_mantis]

Paladins rank among the highest for damage and tanking.

https://www.dndbeyond.com/forums/dungeons-dragons-discussion/tips-tactics/7108-5e-class-tier-list-a-bit-more-in-depth

Well yeah they're very good at that, of course they are but they're not better from everyone else like some people say they are. A paladin bursting is powerful, but compare a paladin with purely short rest based resources against a fighter and there's a big gap in power or do the same just both with no resources and you face the same thing. Look it's not that they're weak, just that they're not as OP as people say they are in my eyes.

Also looking at that tier list I feel iffy about some of it's ratings. Like trying to look at a entire class's abilities would get muddy once you consider subclasses for a first thing then there's the amount of feats there are that work super well with specific classes and etc.

[Yormungand]

The concept of the ranger is awesome, but they suck sooo much. Their skills are situational at best, you are a dps with a bit of magic but it's not until hunter that you become somewhat decent. If weren't because of it, 5e Ranger would be flat out useless.

[Trickery]

The concept of the ranger is awesome, but they suck sooo much. Their skills are situational at best, you are a dps with a bit of magic but it's not until hunter that you become somewhat decent. If weren't because of it, 5e Ranger would be flat out useless.

What is the concept of the Ranger?

[BloodSnake'sCha]

Well yeah they're very good at that, of course they are but they're not better from everyone else like some people say they are. A paladin bursting is powerful, but compare a paladin with purely short rest based resources against a fighter and there's a big gap in power or do the same just both with no resources and you face the same thing. Look it's not that they're weak, just that they're not as OP as people say they are in my eyes.

Also looking at that tier list I feel iffy about some of it's ratings. Like trying to look at a entire class's abilities would get muddy once you consider subclasses for a first thing then there's the amount of feats there are that work super well with specific classes and etc.

Well, there are people like me that see the class as abilitis packs for you character. Packs you can combine to get what you want.
A paladin will work great in a short rest camping with some warlock to support.

[Waazraath]

Well yeah they're very good at that, of course they are but they're not better from everyone else like some people say they are. A paladin bursting is powerful, but compare a paladin with purely short rest based resources against a fighter and there's a big gap in power or do the same just both with no resources and you face the same thing. Look it's not that they're weak, just that they're not as OP as people say they are in my eyes.


(bolded for emphasis.)

Well, people have it wrong... it isn't OP, cause hardly anything is in 5e, and a class isn't. Of all these classes, I do agree the Pally is one of the best. One of the best burst damage classes, if not the best (comparing full classes), tanky enough to take hits, great party buffer, healer, and half caster to boot. That's pretty impressive, the only thing it lacks is skills and Area of Effect.

I'm a bit surprised about the (in my eyes low) rating the fighter gets mechanically; 4 attacks, action surge, indomibility, 2 feats, strong subclasses... I'd have expected it higher.

And the ranger... oh well. I guess it is the black sheep of the edition, isn't it? Even though I didn't find them lacking when I had one in my party, if so many people think they are both weak and not fun, there is something wrong. Even though the differences between ranger, monk, bbn and druid for 'least favorite' are so close, I can't believe they are significant (statistically).

Interesting to obsever: "least favorite" really doesn't seem only related to power, but (I think) also with how niche they are. Druid is looked upon as a powerful class, but people don't like to play 'em, I assume because they are niche in fluff. Ymmv, but in my view monk, druid, barbarian and ranger are much narrower defined (and have fewer examplars in literature) than fighter, rogue, wizard or cleric. On the other hand, the same can be said from a class like bard, and that's pretty popular.