Easy x Strong

[FoxDropz]

Hello guys. Really straight forward topic. Noob player buiding a character.

I was wondering which Subclasses fit both categories of "easy to play" and "feel strong".

I wanna take the time to learn more about the game without being overwhelmed and still contributes to the campaign success (Roleplaying and Combat).

[Christew]

Martial classes are the general recommendation for newer players -- harder to die, no fiddly spell mechanics to deal with, etc.

I think the Fighter Champion is purposefully designed to be mechanically easy and reasonably powerful (since it is defined by passive bonuses instead of resources you have to keep track of). That said, its simplicity of design can lend it to a very flat progression (you will never really do much more than hit the bad guy with your weapon). This I would recommend:

1) Totem Barbarian - you are one of the hardest to kill characters in the game, Rage is a pretty simple resource to keep track of (turn it on when you enter combat and make sure you hit or are hit to keep it up), for RP the door kicking, intimidating, if somewhat dim, wall of hit points is always fun.

Or

2) Fighter Battlemaster - a little more fiddly than Barbarian with battle maneuvers, but still high survivability and gives you fun options to do more than say "I attack" every turn.

In truth, 5e is a very forgiving system and nothing is really prohibitively complicated or off limits RP wise. I'd start with what concept you really want to play and then build from there. If you want to go magic, Dragon Sorcerer or a martial Cleric are probably easiest to access.

[BarneyBent]

Paladins are really strong, and can be a nice introduction to spellcasting. You can use your spell slots to fuel Divine Smites to do more damage if you don’t want to worry about casting spells at first.

[HappyDaze]

Warlock, particularly Pact of the Blade with Hexblade (and still sporting EB + AB) is plenty strong while still being fairly easy to understand.

[BloodSnake'sCha]

Champion fighter is easy and strong.
This is my favourite class for archery.

The samurai fighter is also nice.

Clerics and druids also work as you can change your spells everyday so you will have the ability to do testing without paying a big price.
And paladins are the same.

[Safety Sword]

I'm going to second totem barbarian.

Great character, tough as nails and it can be whatever you like for a role playing perspective.

It has fairly simple mechanics to get your head around and can contribute to combat by simply being in the right place and getting hit in the face. :smallamused:

[Anymage]

Paladin has an acceptable power curve. It might take some time before you really grasp how to make optimal use of your spells, but you can do okay only spending slots on either Cure Wounds or smiting.

Bear totem barbarian, as others have mentioned, is hard to do wrong.

[Bjarkmundur]

Devotion Paladin
No spells, just charges of Smite.
Feels strong because of the spotlight gained from big smites.
Can slowly introduce spells, maybe one spell per level at 4th level and onwards.
Explain that Paladins do not worship gods, but instead some promise made by the player. Their determination is the source of their powers.

[Slipperychicken]

Crossbow fighter is about as easy as it gets. You're basically just a turret, putting out a ton of damage. Not much really can get in the way of it either, given that it's ranged, ignores cover, and doesn't take disadvantage for being in melee with enemies. Stand wherever you like and shoot stuff.

Fighter, whatever subclass you like most, two hand crossbows, crossbow expert feat, and sharpshooter feat.

People will tell you champion is the simplest fighter subclass, but it can get really dull. I always get bored to tears when playing any fighter subclass other than eldritch knight. Eldritch knight is my recommended subclass because it'll teach you a bit about the magic system, which is important because magic is basically the only way things get done in dnd.

[Sigreid]

I'd suggest Eldrich Knight fighter. All the simple brutal effectiveness of a fighter and a nice introduction to spells without making you dependent on them.

[Gignere]

Rogue is probably the most effective and easy to play class in 5e. Good utility, good combat and not rest reliant at all.

[strangebloke]

Fighter: Samurai. You either make attacks or you make lots of attacks. Pretty straightforward and strong.
Rogue: Swashbuckler. You're fast, you're sexy, and you don't have to keep track of any resource except HP.
Hexblade: Look, just ignore the sword, okay? You're a wizard in half plate with a semi-automatic rifle. There's almost no way to screw this up.

[JellyPooga]

Rogue is probably the most effective and easy to play class in 5e. Good utility, good combat and not rest reliant at all.

I'll second Rogue for this. Between Sneak Attack and Expertise, they feel strong in multiple aspects of play right out of the gate at lvl.1. As they increase in level, everything scales well automatically, so you rarely feel like you're not making significant gains at every level. Add to that some very tasty features from the base class that add to your raw survivability and skill use, as well as whichever Archetype takes your fancy (I like Thief, myself, because Fast Hands has a lot of applications for the creative Rogue).

With all but zero resource management, Rogue definitely qualifies for "easy to play", but I will add the caveat that Rogue *is* one of thise classes that you can get "wrong" if you don't know or utilise your abilities. Cunning Action, for example, is easy to forget that you have, but is also one of the strongest features in the game if used properly and key to good Rogue play. Likewise with Uncanny Dodge, making your Rogue remarkably tough, especially if your GM is fond of throwing single big-hitters at you (not so good against mobs or multi-attackers), but also useless if you forget you have it (bearing in mind that you can use it every turn).

[Eldariel]

Honestly, you could just Moon Druid and turn into the biggest baddest thing you know without having to worry about much else. Then you'd have the whole spell system to fall back on when you get bored of eating things as a bear, but you'll be golden without it. Moon Druid is competitive without its spellcasting but it has a great list and 9th level spells too so it's a good caster for figuring out spells and the spell system as you go while your main thing is eating things as a huge beast.

[BloodSnake'sCha]

Honestly, you could just Moon Druid and turn into the biggest baddest thing you know without having to worry about much else. Then you'd have the whole spell system to fall back on when you get bored of eating things as a bear, but you'll be golden without it. Moon Druid is competitive without its spellcasting but it has a great list and 9th level spells too so it's a good caster for figuring out spells and the spell system as you go while your main thing is eating things as a huge beast.

I agree, you can just use your casting for simple stuff like goodberry and Pass Without Trace(then the party and the giant spider drop from the ceiling).
If you don't want to interact with the magic system.

I like to buy an exotic saddle for my favourite form so a party members will be able to raid me to battle.

[LudicSavant]

Of the Fighter subclasses, the Samurai with an archery-focused build has a good ratio of easy to strong. Go Elven Accuracy / Sharpshooter / Max Dex and shoot things. If something is scary, shoot it harder with Fighting Spirit. Your allies will buff you sometimes. That's about it. You can't even make the newbie mistake of not taking Resilient (Wisdom) because you basically get it automatically. And it has some of the better out of combat abilities of the Fighter subclasses, too.

Battle Master and Eldritch Knight may have more optimization potential, but they're harder to play. Champion is also mechanically simple, but generally not as strong as the Samurai.

[micahaphone]

I highly recommend Barbarian, almost any subclass. There's some variety in how you build - you don't need to use Unarmored Defense if you want, regular medium armor is also good. You can be a tactical shield user, a dual-wielding cyclone, or a big ****off-stick hitting guy.

Your roles include running into the fray, smacking heads, causing a ruckus. Shove, grapple, and other less-dps focused things are also good for you. Even if you get hit, you take only half damage and have a metric boatload of health.

This class' durability also encourages you to use rope, tools, and other unconventional stuff in combat. If it doesn't work, eh no worries you'll be fine and can get right back to thwacking people with your axe.


Subclasses - Totem barb has cool passives, Ancestor makes you a great tank and attention-getter, and zealot gives you some extra damage and makes you free to resurrect - go even more hog wild!

berserker and storm herald have some extra bookkeeping and/or fringe things you have to remember, I don't recommend it as the easy to pick up option.