Best classes for small parties?

[tormund]

I am currently in a campaign with only one other player, and it got me thinking about how different classes/builds are impacted by having fewer party members. E.g, casters are going to have a much harder time staying out of melee, and group buffs (e.g. paladin auras) are less effective. This leads me to the general question:

Which classes/subclasses/character types are great in small parties?

My best ideas towards answering this question are subclasses with decent melee survivability, but good ranged damage or control options and some out-of-combat utility. Moon druids, arcana clerics, bladesinger/abjurer wizards, and perhaps bards of some kind. Or, maybe all classes/subclasses can be built to work well in smaller parties?

[Nhym]

I am currently in a campaign with only one other player, and it got me thinking about how different classes/builds are impacted by having fewer party members. E.g, casters are going to have a much harder time staying out of melee, and group buffs (e.g. paladin auras) are less effective. This leads me to the general question:

Which classes/subclasses/character types are great in small parties?

My best ideas towards answering this question are subclasses with decent melee survivability, but good ranged damage or control options and some out-of-combat utility. Moon druids, arcana clerics, bladesinger/abjurer wizards, and perhaps bards of some kind. Or, maybe all classes/subclasses can be built to work well in smaller parties?

Shepherd Druid. You ARE the party. Past level 5, you can have your summons be the front line and damage, while you heal. The only thing they can't do well is burst damage.

You mention moon druid and while they CAN do a lot of things, they can't do them all at the same time without dropping in and out of wild shape, while Shepherd Druids CAN do almost anything a moon druid can past level 5 with their summons AND have their entire turn to still be a full caster. Level 18-20 moon druids go back on top but games rarely get that far.

If you want more on the Shepherd Druid, check out my guide in my signature below.