Experiences with new Tasha's Sub-Classes

[Yakmala]

We're coming up on three months since Tasha's was released, giving many players time to actually use the new sub-classes in games, instead of simply speculating about them.

Which ones have you played? Which did you enjoy? Which were disappointing?

My list below:

Twilight Cleric: My most played class of the new material. It has taken Arcana's place as my favorite Cleric sub-class. Twilight Sanctuary was as good as advertised. The amount of damage prevented to the party over time is staggering. My typical tactics are to give myself the initiative bonus so I can get it running faster. Then next round, when conditions allow, I go airborne and get Spirit Guardians going. Then Spiritual Weapon if needed. It's a great combination. Being able to give the entire party 300' darkvision isn't everyday useful, but it has come in handy. Plus I love the theme for the sub-class. It's been fun to roleplay.

Swarm Ranger: The first pure Ranger I've really enjoyed. I went with a Polearm Master Ranger where the swarm's ability to move my target or myself, without taking an action, bonus action or reaction, has proved super useful! And there are endless ways to flavor your swarm.

Way of Mercy Monk: I've played at least two other Monks to high level and I'm very impressed with the Mercy Monk. At mid-level, it starts becoming very Ki efficient. Being able to both harm and heal makes him very versatile, especially paired with the Mobile feat to make it easy to move around the battlefield. The main drawbacks so far are that the Poisoned condition is resisted by a heck of a lot of creatures and that the usefulness of my healing depends on the makeup of the rest of the party.

Path of the Beast Barbarian: I really liked the concept, and I tried to make it work, but I ended up abandoning this character (which was being used in Adventurer's League) when different DM's ended up with different opinions on which feats and fighting styles did or didn't work with the Beast Barb's claws. And even when his intended combo was allowed, I still felt I got better utility out of the PAM Barbarians I played previously.

What have been your experiences so far?

[MrCharlie]

We're coming up on three months since Tasha's was released, giving many players time to actually use the new sub-classes in games, instead of simply speculating about them.

Which ones have you played? Which did you enjoy? Which were disappointing?

My list below:

Twilight Cleric: My most played class of the new material. It has taken Arcana's place as my favorite Cleric sub-class. Twilight Sanctuary was as good as advertised. The amount of damage prevented to the party over time is staggering. My typical tactics are to give myself the initiative bonus so I can get it running faster. Then next round, when conditions allow, I go airborne and get Spirit Guardians going. Then Spiritual Weapon if needed. It's a great combination. Being able to give the entire party 300' darkvision isn't everyday useful, but it has come in handy. Plus I love the theme for the sub-class. It's been fun to roleplay.

Swarm Ranger: The first pure Ranger I've really enjoyed. I went with a Polearm Master Ranger where the swarm's ability to move my target or myself, without taking an action, bonus action or reaction, has proved super useful! And there are endless ways to flavor your swarm.

Way of Mercy Monk: I've played at least two other Monks to high level and I'm very impressed with the Mercy Monk. At mid-level, it starts becoming very Ki efficient. Being able to both harm and heal makes him very versatile, especially paired with the Mobile feat to make it easy to move around the battlefield. The main drawbacks so far are that the Poisoned condition is resisted by a heck of a lot of creatures and that the usefulness of my healing depends on the makeup of the rest of the party.

Path of the Beast Barbarian: I really liked the concept, and I tried to make it work, but I ended up abandoning this character (which was being used in Adventurer's League) when different DM's ended up with different opinions on which feats and fighting styles did or didn't work with the Beast Barb's claws. And even when his intended combo was allowed, I still felt I got better utility out of the PAM Barbarians I played previously.

What have been your experiences so far?
My limited experiences are limited to an armorer artificer and DMing for a peace cleric. The peace cleric has saved the parties bacon three times now in impressive ways, two of which were only possible with the abilities of a peace cleric-once through making a vital saving throw and once through bringing a bunch of people up using channel.

From playing an armorer, I'm not very far along but it feels like a battle smith with better weapons and no companion, which is a decent enough trade. I'm not high enough to actually have the first real draw of the archetype, the two extra infusions. So far I feel like an immortal tank gish, like any well-built battlesmith.

[Thunderous Mojo]

I've been pleased with the Psi Warrior. I was afraid the lack of Psionic Energy Dice, compared to the U/A Psi Knight Psi Die mechanic, was going to hamper the class. I will admit to not using Protective Field at every opportunity as I did with the U/A version, but using the Interception Fighting style with Protective Field actually adds to the damage mitigation role.

The addition of the Intelligence modifier for Psi Strikes and defenses has noticeable Impact. Psi Powered Leap is simpler to use now, and really useful. Being affected by the Haste spell in combination with Psi Powered Leap is so much fun!

Tactically I often fill the role of a rapid reaction Calvary squad, I apply pressure and bolster defenses across wide distances during battles.

Overall, limiting the resource, made the actual play more enjoyable, then the experience of playing an U/A Psi Knight. WoTC's final version of the Psi Warrior is fun to play.

A Hold Monster spell plus a TK Thrust and the Telekinetic feat is an automatic 15' of forced movement regardless of the size of the creature.

Outside of my Psi Warrior, the rest of the group is a Cannith Artillerist, a Lyrandar Storm Sorcerer, and a Changeling Enchanter.
Temp HP from the Artillerist's Protector Canon and the damage reduction from the Interception Fighting Style or Protective Shield, helps ensure that any critical checks to hold Concentration due damage, are held to the lowest possible DC for the check.

It's the perfect mage friendly tank class. Psionic Strike/Telekinetic Thrust is an effective way to ensure the DM devotes resources to stopping you, and not your friend's spells. I rolled a Max damage PS/TK last session..an additional +12 Force Damage to a 50 damage critical hit and knocked the Red Abishai back a total of 15',(10' from TKT, 5' from TK feat).
We needed the space.🃏

[nickl_2000]

Twilight Cleric: My most played class of the new material. It has taken Arcana's place as my favorite Cleric sub-class. Twilight Sanctuary was as good as advertised. The amount of damage prevented to the party over time is staggering. My typical tactics are to give myself the initiative bonus so I can get it running faster. Then next round, when conditions allow, I go airborne and get Spirit Guardians going. Then Spiritual Weapon if needed. It's a great combination. Being able to give the entire party 300' darkvision isn't everyday useful, but it has come in handy. Plus I love the theme for the sub-class. It's been fun to roleplay.

Path of the Beast Barbarian: I really liked the concept, and I tried to make it work, but I ended up abandoning this character (which was being used in Adventurer's League) when different DM's ended up with different opinions on which feats and fighting styles did or didn't work with the Beast Barb's claws. And even when his intended combo was allowed, I still felt I got better utility out of the PAM Barbarians I played previously.

What have been your experiences so far?

I haven't played any yet, but I have several in the queue as possible characters for an upcoming Eberron campaign. Including a Twilight Cleric, Beastmaster Ranger (counting them since the beast companion was changed so much), Armorer Artificer, Way of Mercy Monk, or Beast Barbarian. What I play will depends on the rest of the group plays, especially the other DM of our group. We have 2 DMs who switch back and forth for who is DMing and what the campaign is, they typically get to choose their PC style/role first since they don't get PCs half of the time.

It's funny because beast barbarian is the only barbarian build I have ever found interesting enough to want to play.

How did you find the spell list for Twilight Cleric? It seems like it is a great addition to the Cleric toolkit.

[Yakmala]

How did you find the spell list for Twilight Cleric? It seems like it is a great addition to the Cleric toolkit.

Overall the Twilight Cleric spell list is really good, at least the portion of it my character has access to.

Twilight Cleric Level 1: Faerie Fire is always a great addition to the spell list, though once you get Spirit Guardians, that will often take precedence for your concentration. Sleep, as we all know, is great for the first few levels, but falls off rapidly after that.

Twilight Cleric Level 3: Moonbeam I rarely use due to Spirit Guaridans. See Invisibility Lasts an hour and doesn't take concentration. You'll be happy to have it when you need it. I've only used it once with my Twilight Cleric, but it was a life saver for the party.

Twilight Cleric Level 5: Aura of Vitality. combined with Twilight Sanctuary, keeps a party safe in lethal situations. Leomund's Tiny Hut is great to have if you don't have another caster in the party who knows it.

Twilight Cleric Level 7: Greater Invisibility? Yes please! Aura of Life I've yet to use and likely wouldn't be a first choice for concentration, unless I knew there was a lot of necrotic damage incoming.

Twilight Cleric Level 9: Circle of Power is great! Mislead I have yet to use.

Overall, it's a great set of spells!

[Hael]

I played the watcher paladin at lvl 7 in a oneshot. It’s pretty decent actually, better than I thought it would be. The spell list is so so as far as paladins go, but moonbeam is fun in tight spaces and initiative is important if you have a strong party. Its situational of course, but in the right campaign, i think it could be worth a look.

[T.G. Oskar]

Just recently, I managed to level a Rogue/Monk to level 5, so I took a third level of Rogue. I was planning on Assassin, but as I got Tasha's and looked at the Phantom, decided to give it a try.

Turns out, just at 3rd level, they're pretty good. While I haven't had much of a chance to use Wails from the Grave (only once, in a battle against a gnome artificer and its pet Displacer Beast, where I aimed at the Artificer and hit the monster with the side hit), I've gotten a lot of mileage out of Whispers from the Dead. As the party's resident infiltrator and skill-monkey, having a mutable proficiency slot is what the doctor ordered. Usually switching between Survival and Investigation, but I can choose to use a tool in case I got some decent downtime.

That said, it's about as much as I'll delve on Phantom, as the campaign's expected to max at level 8 - 9, and I was planning for more Monk levels than Rogue levels. I can say that, for the particular build I'm aiming at (Rogue 3/Monk 5-6, choosing Way of Shadow for Monk - ergo, a "ninja"), it synergizes surprisingly well.