Favorite Subclasses: Why?

[sithlordnergal]

So, I will admit I am an optimizer, though I'm an optimizer that likes me some chaos.


Artificer: I've only ever played one Artificer. I'll be honest, I was unimpressed with the class as a whole. Its powerful, but I don't really find it fun. That said

Artillerist: The cannon was fun, and was pretty handy. I just wish it did a bit more damage.

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Barbarian: A fun class as a whole, though I typically don't play them.

Totem: My absolute favorite subclass, simply because I can say no to basically all damage. The only feature I ever really care about is the 3rd level Bear Totem, but the Elk Totem is handy for my max Speed build.

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Bard: My second favorite classes in the game, you just have so much you can do with this. I love how versatile it can be!

Lore: This is a Bard that went for even more Bard. A skill monkey, extra Magical Secrets, and Cutting Words is a very handy debuff. This was, without a doubt, my favorite Bar subclass until Tasha's came out

Creation: this is now my favorite Bard subclass, bar none. Note of Potential is a great buff for Bardic Inspiration, and Animating Performance is a very useful summon. But none of it compares to Performance of Creation. Being able to make any non-magical item you want, within certain restrictions, is crazy powerful. And once you get Creative Crescendo, its simply game breaking. Make sure to find out what sort of materials your DM considers magical. Cause if your DM doesn't consider Gun Powder and Adamantine to be magical...well...a Cannon with Adamantine Cannonballs is a thing you could create via Creative Crescendo. Just sayin'. And once you're out of cannonballs, you got yourself a cannon you can animate via Animating Performance.

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Cleric: Not gonna lie...this is my least favorite class. Their spell list is extremely lacking once you hit 4th level spells, outside of a few spells like Banishment. Its gotten a little bit better, but not by much. Not to mention their subclass abilities are very hit or miss.

Death: Got this in AL from running a ton of Tomb of Annihilation stuff during that season. Its pretty fun for a Cleric, being able to stack up a ton of static damage makes for an interesting build.

Arcana: Played this subclass the longest...It was ok and the spell list was sort of handy. Most of its abilities were ribbons to be honest. Spell Breaker is only useful in specific circumstances, Arcane Abjuration is handy, but the banishment is about as good as Destroy Undead, and Potent Spellcasting is...not good. Only thing that was good was Arcane Mastery, but if you're getting high level wizard spells why not play a Wizard?

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Druid: This is my favorite class in the game. Its just able to do so much, and be so versatile, I love it. Thanks to Wild Shape and being a full caster, you're not stuck doing one thing the entire game like most classes are. That said, Druid is probably the most complex class in the game due to that versatility. You're a prepared Caster, so every day you're swapping out spells, better know what to choose. Wild shape is a ton of fun, and I wouldn't change it at all, but its complex. There's a reason I make sure to ask my DMs "How do you run Wild Shape" whenever I bring my Moon Druid to a table in AL. The only issue I have with it is the metasl armor restriction. they basically removed all forms of RP restrictions from every single class in the game...except Druids. And even then, if you break the taboo nothing actually happens? At least in 3.5 you lost all your class abilities and spell casting. Here there's nothing really stopping you from wearing metal armor except "Its taboo".

Moon: Nothing beats the classic Moon Druid. This is especially true since I played this in Tomb of Annihilation, so I had access to all of the dino forms, which was a TON of fun. I never really saw that dip in class power people mentioned...yeah, at levels 8 and 9, my Wild Shape wasn't as strong as it used to be, but I had 4th and 5th level Druid spells to fall back on. At level 10, I basically became a Fire Elemental and never looked back. Don't get me wrong, Air is great for mobility, Earth is great for tanking, and Water is great for underwater combat, but Fire is where its at if you want DPS. Because he's an AL character, I got him to level 20, and let me just say. I LOVE the Archdruid capstone, best ability ever. I've only ever taken actual damage once since reaching level 20.

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Fighter: I really enjoy the Fighter class. Its solid, and the subclasses tend to be really fun. Fighter is especially handy since I always multiclass, and it can fit into any build. I find it a lot more fun and interesting than Barbarian.

Battlemaster: Its hard to beat this one. The maneuvers are pretty strong, and can help boost the Fighter's damage and utility. All in all, a really solid choice.

Rune Knight: My favorite subclass by far. The runes are powerful, with passive and active utility in and out of combat, and Giant's Might really lets you make a proper Grapple build that can grapple any size you want with the right build. I currently have a Fairy Rune Knight with the Unarmed Fighting style, and its so much fun!

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Monk: People say the Monk is a weak class. I disagree. The Monk is a surprisingly strong class, you just need to know how to use it. First and foremost, you always want to take a race with a natural weapon that can be used in place of an Unarmed Strike. I prefer Lizardfolk, cause it gives them a base d6 Unarmed Strike from the start. Second, this class is good at darting in and out of combat, so Mobile is almost always a must. If you play one, try to convince your DM to give you the Backbiting Spear from Tomb of Horrors. Best Monk weapon in the game, trust me.

Open Hand: I have a level 19 Open Hand Monk in AL, and it is surprisingly powerful. Being able to remove reactions is very handy, and the damage is great. The Sanctuary effect is also really good, as I have gone through entire encounters doing nothing but dodging because, due to story reasons, all the enemies were trying to target me, and couldn't get past my defenses. However, the best combo for this is either Haste or a Potion of Speed at level 17. Use your Haste Action to bite and set up a Quivering Palm, your Action to activate the instant Death effect, and then a Bonus Action attack to end the turn since you are technically taking the Attack Action with your Hasted Attack

Mercy: This one's just hilarious to me, because I always play Lizardfolk Monks. Come, let me bite you, it'll help!! The poison and extra necrotic damage is nice too, as is the eventual revive you get. Funnily enough, Hand of Ultimate Mercy is one of the few ways you can return an unwilling creature back to life.

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Paladin: Hard to go wrong with the Paladin. I am a bit sad they're being nerfed in One DnD, but I can understand why. Their Smites are just too good. Its certainly in my top five favorite classes, that's for sure

Oath of the Ancients: This one is my favorite for some very good reasons. First, they have some excellent Oath spells, with a nice mixture of control, damage, and mobility. Their channel divinity isn't great, but being able to turn fiends can be really handy depending on the adventure you're in. But my favorite aspect is Aura of Warding. No, it doesn't come up often, but when it does, you'll be happy to have it. Aura of Warding and a successful save can turn a TPK Meteor Swarm into just a little Fireball.

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Ranger: Never really played Ranger, I looked it over, but I'm not a fan of the class. Which is a shame, since I loved the 3.5 Ranger. The updates its gotten have made it better, but I still have some issues with it.

Drakewarden: Never played it, but I've seen it played twice. Looks like a fun and solid subclass, and an improvement on Beastmaster, which was needed.

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Rogue: Not much of a Rogue player...Its sort of a meh class to me. Now, I do enjoy Rogue when I play it, and I have some really fun Rogues in my roster of characters. But they don't really stand out to me like the Bard or Druid do.

Arcane Trickster: My favorite subclass because the added magic really helps make the Rogue a lot better. I generally snag Find Familiar as one of my first level spells, because they just make your life as a Rogue that much easier, and Booming Blade since it adds some extra damage to my melee attacks. Mage Hand Legerdemain is also extremely handy and versatile. Outside of that, the class features are meh. They make you better at casting, but I generally you're better off leaving the spell casting to actual casters.

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Sorcerer: Sorcerer is very much a guilty pleasure class for me, because I only ever play one class. No, I don't care that Clockwork Soul and Aberrant Soul exist. No, I don't care that Paladin/Divine Soul is a really good thematic combo. There is only one Sorcerer subclass I am interested in, only one Sorcerer subclass that I play. And when I play it, you better BELIEVE I will go out of my way to get a Wand of Wonder, by hook or by crook.

Wild Magic: You know how I said I love chaos? This is it. This is the chaos. I have played many classes, Wild Magic Sorcerer is my most played class by far, If I dip into Sorcerer, I only go Wild Magic. If I'm making a full Sorcerer, I only go Wild Magic. DM banned Wild Magic because they hate the randomness? I'll simply skip playing Sorcerer. If you're not a Wild Magic Sorcerer then what are you even doing, wasting your life away. Now, the fact that the DM controls when I roll on the table is annoying, but I find most DMs want you to roll on the table. A majority of DMs say "Just roll the d20 every time you cast a leveled spell" and "If you use Tides of Chaos, roll on the table, no matter what". I have done everything from getting Reincarnated from a Tiefling to Half-Orc, to being turned into a Sheep with over 100 temp HP due to an item I had found. Its AMAZING.

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Warlock: I have a love/hate relationship with this class. I love the flavor, I love the idea, I hate the execution. I find Warlocks just don't have enough resources for a proper adventuring day until level 11. Seriously, why do Warlocks two spell slots till level 11? I know they come back on a Short Rest, but that's still not enough for most encounters, and it encourages short resting after every encounter which is almost as bad as the 5 minute adventuring day.

Hexblade: It does a lot of things that Pact of the Blade should have already been doing, I see it as a sort of unofficial patch to Pact of the Blade. That said, I don't actually think its over powered. The handiest things the Subclass gets you is access to Shield, Medium Armor, and Shields. Which all three are easy enough to obtain as it is. Hexblade's Curse is handy, but it can run into Bonus Action competition, and I don't really think the Charisma to Attack and Damage with Melee weapons is all that strong unless you're doing a specific multiclass like a Paladin/Warlock or Melee Bard/Warlock. Even then, you can emulate Hex Warrior's Charisma attack with three levels of Warlock, which you'll probably want anyway, via Pact of the Tomb and Shillelagh. all in all, a solid subclass, but people tend to think its OP when its really not.

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Wizard: My third favorite class in the game. Just like my other favorites, I love the power and versatility. Heck, the thing I like most in a class is its versatility. I know some people dislike classes with a ton of versatility, but versatility is what makes me interested in a class. Could some of the subclasses be a bit better? Sure, but as a whole I think they're fine. Could the class as a whole use more class abilities? No, I don't think it would benefit from them. A wizard's class abilities are their spells, and I like that fact. I play a Wizard to cast spells, and that's what Wizards do best.

Divination: By far my favorite subclass till Tasha's came out, and not just because of Potent. Yes, Portent is a powerful ability, and being able to cause an ally to auto-succeed or enemy to auto-fail something is wonderful, don't knock the other abilities. Expert Divination was useful before, but now its something you can use in combat thanks to Mind Spike. Meanwhile, Third eye is a very handy buff that helps with scouting or information gathering. All in all, a pretty powerful PHB subclass.


Order of Scribes: My favorite Wizard subclass, bar none. Wizard Quill? Exceptionally handy, and being able to copy down spells faster is really useful for copying spells. Manifest Mind? basically a second familiar that can't be killed. Master Scriviner? Always have a 3rd level Invisibility spell on hand, or Knock, or any other utility spell you can think of. One with the Word? Can we say "Hard Defense"!

But the real meat of this subclass, and why I adore it so much, is Awakened Spellbook. This ability is...honestly a bit OP. Especially compared to every other 2nd level Wizard Subclass. But I wouldn't change it for the life of me. Just the fact that you can instantly replace your entire spellbook if its lost or destroyed via a short rest, provided you have a book, is powerful on its own. You literally no longer have to worry about the DM targeting your spellbook. But the fact you can also use your book as your spell focus and cast a Ritual with the spell's normal casting time once per Short Rest already puts this ability over the edge.

But none of that compares to being able to change the damage type of spells you cast. That one, singular ability basically makes this the MOST versatile and powerful Wizard Subclass in the game. The joke that Fireball can solve any problem becomes a reality. Wanna use all those neat Poison spells that are useless cause Poison is such a bad damage types? Congrats, you can use them now. Fighting vampires? Enjoy dealing Radiant damage with every single spell you cast. It also opens up so many fun combos. There's a Bludgeoning spell at almost every Wizard level, so snag Crusher and Storm Sphere to add some nice utility with that Bonus Action attack. I've seen some people claim Scribe Wizard is weak...they just fail to see the inherent versatility of being able to swap out ALL damage types.

[MarkVIIIMarc]

Lore Bard

It is a VERY busy class which keeps combat moving. It demands you can track your actions, bonus actions and reactions.

You must also pay attention to the situation and not just look up from your phone and cast Eldritch Fire Blastbolt again.

The reward is when all goes south the Bard just may come counterspell her own Wizard to save the day, persuade the vampire to wait till next time to kill the npc, entertain everyone and earn an actual honest buck or SOMETHING.

It is soo customizeable and not overpowered thanks to Additional Magical secrets. Also at thisbpoint of the 5e's evolution I just like PHB classes for being old school lol

[arnin77]

100 percent Conquest Paladin is my favorite IÂ’ve played so far.

1. Conquest Paladin (I loved the theme of the conquest Paladin and I loved playing a Paladin regardless, I was able to use the Orzhov background so I ended up with spiritual weapon and spirit guardiansÂ… I played him as a darth vader type that just waded into battle without fear)
2. Arcane Trickster (high elf + Elven accuracy made for some sweet damage plus I really liked rogue and having some spells up my sleeve. Was a really fun character and I felt useful in all situations.)
3. Eldritch Knight (IÂ’ve been having a lot of fun with this one. Love using spells to help frontline etc)

[KorvinStarmast]

Lore Bard
It is a VERY busy class which keeps combat moving. It demands you can track your actions, bonus actions and reactions.
You must also pay attention to the situation and not just look up from your phone and cast Eldritch Fire Blastbolt again.

As a support class this was a great PC to play through 20. And yes, paying attention is needed to keep using them cutting words and such.

The reward is when all goes south the Bard just may come counterspell her own Wizard to save the day, persuade the vampire to wait till next time to kill the npc, entertain everyone and earn an actual honest buck or SOMETHING.

Yep.

It is soo customizeable and not overpowered thanks to Additional Magical secrets. Also at this point of the 5e's evolution I just like PHB classes for being old school lol

Agree.

Other sub classes I really like the feel of:

1. Celestial Warlock the BA heal feature allows me to play a support in a party with no cleric, and pact of the tome got me where I wanted to be as a support and casting ritual spells.

2. Life cleric is still solid. And if you go Magic Initiate and do the goodberry cheese, keeps any party alive at levels 1-3 very well.

3. Monk, Sun Soul. Like this better than Open Hand, but not by a great deal.

4. Paladin: have enjoyed Ancients, Vengeance, Watcher.

5. Fighter: between Champion and Battle Master, I'll take BM.

6. Druid: any is fine, I really have not leaned into Druid except for a 1 Monk / 10 Moon druid ...

7. Sorcerer: Shadow sorcerer is my fave.

8. Ranger: Gloom Stalker.

9. Rogue: Thief (The one I liked best was a high elf with the mage hand cantrip)

10. Barbarian: Totem Warrior.

11. Wizard: don't play, if I were to play one it would be SCAG bladesinger.

12. Artificer. I just don't.

[Sception]

100 percent Conquest Paladin is my favorite IÂ’ve played so far.

Same! Conquest Paladin is just spectacular subclass design. It does everything you want a subclass to do. It starts with a strong and distinctive narrative/thematic identity. Its mechanical features successfully bring that narrative identity to life on the table in ways that both blend with and recontextualize the parent class's features. Conquerors don't just have a different attitude than other paladins, they play differently as well, which is remarkable for a class where the overall features are more heavily biased towards class rather than subclass. Even some of the parent class features are recontextualized, with the most notable examples being the spell 'Wrathful Smite' - useful for paladins but defining for Conquerors - and the level 10 aura of immunity to frighten - something that's largely a ribbon for normal paladins as frighten only comes up so often and even when it does they were already handing out bonuses to saves via aura of protection - but for conquerors whose most potent ability at that level is the otherwise party-unfriendly Fear cone that immunity aura for your allies is a big deal.

Conquest paladin isn't just impressive in how it reshapes the class it exists in. It also helps re-contextualizes the frighten condition itself, which in D&D in general, including 5e, was most often about causing enemies to flee - often very useful but potentially a problem if enemies fleeing one encounter end up drawing the attention of others. By shifting the conditions effects from 'fleeing in terror' to 'frozen in terror', the Conquest paladin avoids this problem entirely, effectively introducing a completely new version of the frighten condition and allowing a fear-based character concept that avoids the most common drawback of using fear in D&D.


Conqueror also solves a problem that has troubled rpg implementations of 'dark knight' characters in general, in that it has been difficult to envision a good thematic concept for an antiheroic tank. The traditional concept of the Tank - "I protect my friends by deliberately drawing enemy attacks towards myself" - is sort of innately altruistic in a way that's always been a bit hard to square with antiheroic or outright villainous characters and parties. So instead dark knight / antihero subclasses tend to be more of the blood knight variety - with a mechanical focus on extra damage, even at the cost of taking more damage. For an example, look at the Oathbreaker, whose defining feature increases their own melee damage and that of undead and fiendish allies, but at the cost of increasing the melee damage of enemy undead and fiends by an equal amount. The subclass is still fine and works well, particularly with the default paladin's existing focus on single target damage output. But if you're specifically looking to tank, that feature is counterproductive.

The Conqueror however brings a unique take on tanking - for the Conqueror tanking isn't about sacrificing yourself to protect your friends, it's about dominating the space around you and bullying any enemies unfortunate enough to be caught in the area. And just like that a long standing conundrum was solved.


And the Conqueror does all that without busting the established power curve. Yes, Conquest Paladins are on the stronger end overall, at least among warrior classes, mostly by virtue of being paladins, a class that is strong to begin with in 5e. But by focusing on abilities (aoe debuffing and control, mostly of weaker enemies since stronger foes tend to be immune or resistant to frighten or just have strong wisdom saves) that are tangent to the class's existing strengths (buffing, support, single target nova damage), a Conquest paladin gains relevant and useful abilities without increasing power in the domains where paladins are already strong - the way watcher paladins are /even better/ at passive support or vengeance paladins are /even better/ at single target damage.

Conquest paladins are good at stuff that paladins aren't already strong at, and making use of the Conqueror's frighten based control abilities means diverting resources - mostly in the form of spell slots and channel divinity - that other paladins are using on their primary strength. So while a conqueror can smite for big damage - and they will fall back on that strategy when facing frighten immune enemies or boss enemies with prohibitively strong wisdom saves - if they've been doing their conquest paladin thing in previous encounters they won't have as many resources to plow into that nova damage and thus won't be able to trivialize that climactic encounter with a single strong enemy the way other paladins often do, which is good for everyone's enjoyment. Conquest paladins also have clear weaknesses, but in ways that don't render them outright useless. Again, frighten immune or wisdom resilient enemies will bypass the conqueror's main gimmick, but then they still have the strong base class offensive and support features of the paladin class to fall back on. Conquest paladins also share the typical paladin weakness in maneuverability, being mostly melee or short range aura based but not having any built in features like flight or teleportation to make it easy to tag key enemies or position those auras as they might like. Well, apart from Find Steed, but most dungeons don't really allow for mounted combats. Conquest paladins also have increased pressure on stats - they need strength or dex for melee accuracy and damage, charisma for save DCs on critical frighten effects, and constitution to maintain concentration on key spells like Wrathful Smite and Fear. These gaps and weaknesses in the subclass provide interesting challenges to plan your build around, as well as ways for the DM to challenge you or easily prevent you from monopolizing or trivializing an otherwise cool combat encounter in a way that doesn't just sideline you outright.


Finally, Conquest Paladins have no useless or disappointing features. Even some of the strongest subclasses in the game have a few dud features. For Example, vengeance paladin is arguably the strongest paladin, at least if you're looking to maximize a paladin's potential to smite enemies out of existence. Their channel divinity offsets the penalty of great weapon master for big weapon hits and increases the critical chance for double damage smites, and misty step & dimension door in their oath spell list makes it very difficult for enemies to avoid their deadly melee threat. But they have that disappointing level 7 feature, so as good as the subclass is, level seven always feels like a let down. Sentinel has that defining level 7 aura for resistance to spell damage, and in the right campaign having that aura is absolutely dominating, but their channel divinities are bad or overly situational, so level 3 just doesn't feel very good. The entire ranger class has a terrible reputation in 5e that almost entirely comes down not to their lack of good features but the presence of bad ones - if you can ignore the bad features rangers have never been worse than maybe slightly below par - rogues and monks are pretty much universally worse off - but the presence of multiple non-features early in their progression just feels /terrible/. Conquest paladin may not be the strongest paladin, but there is no disappointing subclass feature for conquest.

In fact, nearly every level of paladin is giving you something meaningful to your character that feels like a significant boost. Again reference how aura of courage is much more meaningful for Conquerors than for other paladins. ASIs are even more vital due to the conquerors increased Madness and reliance on concentration. Access to new spell slots and especially spell levels feels much more significant than for other paladins because you're actually casting build-critical spells with those slots, not just smiting a bit more often or for a dice more damage. It's common knowledge that paladins multiclass extremely well with sorcerer, warlock, or even bard or fighter, and that many paladins are tempted to multiclass out some time in tier 2. Conquest paladins certainly can gain a lot of power from multiclassing, but they feel that temptation less than other paladins because, while you might get a bit more from another class, you're always getting /something/ you care about from paladin. At least, you are for more levels than most campaigns will run.



I just can't speak highly enough about the Conquest Paladin. It really is the pinnacle of 5e subclass design.

[Lokishade]

Barbarian: Zealot
I just want to play with a Cleric friend and abuse the free revivals.

Bard: Lore
Two spells of your choice at level 6 will helps let you try your dream combo even in campaigns that end before level 10.

Cleric: Forge
Heavy armor + Fire resistance + full caster Cleric spell list. Optimize to keep concentration and waltz in the thick of battle with Spirit Guardians up while constantly telling the Wizard it's okay to nuke you with Fireball.

Druid: Moon
The fantasy of the Druid is to morph into animals for shenanigans. This subclass says: "More power to you". Most campaigns end before level 10 anyway.

Fighter: Any
The Fighter's fantasy is accomplished through its basic chassis. The subclasses feel like a nice, flavorful bonus.

Paladin: Vengeance or Conquest
Vengence gets the best extra spells to play agressively. But if I feel cool-headed, I want to play more strategically, hence Conquest.

Rogue: Swashbuckler
Not only its jovial and flamboyant attitude makes it the anti-edgelord, but it is also geared towards melee combat, which is the most fun place to be. At least for me. Plus, an at-will charm is just so darn fun for social encounters.

Warlock: Hexblade
Again, for the melee perks. If the Blade Pact granted competent boons for melee combat, I'd enjoy more variety in my gish builds.

[Yakmala]

Artificer: Artillerist. The force field turret has been a life-saver on so many occasions!

Barbarian: Ancestral Guardian. Hands down, the best tank in the game. When the big bad has disadvantage to hit anyone but you and if they do so anyway, get all their damage resisted is simply too big for the baddie to ignore. They have to deal with you. Plus, I really like the flavor of it. There's so many ways to spin the look and nature of the guardians.

Bard: Eloquence. I'm more of a talker than a performer, so Eloquence suits me well. Mechanically, the ability to reduce a target's save by an amount equal to your bardic inspiration roll can wreck bosses that normally have great saves, or at the very least, force them to quickly burn through their legendary resistances.

Cleric: Twilight. Yeah, I know, it's a bit overpowered. But I've played a lot of Clerics and Twilight was great, both thematically and in filling the support role. I played my Twilight Cleric weekly for over a year and he never once drew a weapon. It was a very chill experience.

Druid: Stars. I was never a fan of Moon Druids, nor wild shaping in general, so the Stars Druid really clicked with me. I love the way they can adapt their role from encounter to encounter. Extra DPS? No problem. Great healing? You got it. Need to make sure concentration doesn't break? They maintain it better than anyone.

Fighter: Battlemaster. So many great options. So many different ways to build it.

Monk: Long Death. I played a Way of the Long Death Monk from 1 to 20 and it was the most unkillable character I've ever played, especially once they hit level 11. Hit by three meteor storms on the same turn? Yawn. Shoved through a Prismatic Wall? Is that all you've got? I think Power Word Kill might be the only thing that could take him out.

Paladin: Oath of the Watchers. Maybe one of the most underrated sub-classes in the game. Giving the entire party a bonus to their initiative rolls is always useful and in some cases can be like getting a free surprise round. They also can turn a ton different creature types. I played my Watchers Paladin at a FLGS under Adventurer League rules and players would ask for him by name when I showed up, hoping I'd add him to the party.

Ranger: Swarmkeeper. It's just fun. There's a lot of great story/roleplay potential in what your swarm is and how you acquired it, and using the swarm is very action economy friendly.

Rogue: Thief. Simple, classic. I love all the things you can do with Fast Hands. My Rogue Thief was a battlefield medic, using the Healer Feat + Fast Hands to get allies back on their feet when they went down while still maintaining my DPS. Unfortunately, it looks like the ability to use Fast Hands this way is going away in One D&D.

Sorcerer: Aberrant Mind. Wasn't a fan of Sorcerer due to the limited number of spells. But Tasha's changed my mind by adding a good selection of bonus spells. I had an Enchanter Wizard that never felt like the mind control expert I wanted them to be. Once Tasha's came out, I re-made them as an Aberrant Mind Sorcerer and now they feel and play just as I had wanted the Enchanter to.

Warlock: Celestial Tomelock. I just love the versatility a Celestial Tomelock adds to the base class. All the DPS of a Warlock combined with bonus action healing that can't be countered and (at higher levels) you can rise like a Phoenix when you fall in battle and get right back to it. Plus they have more cantrips and over time, a ton of rituals. Special mention for the Genie, which is a close second to Celestial for me.

Wizard: Evocation. Not the most popular choice, but I just love Sculpt Spells so much. I've lost track of the number of times we're in a big fight and the melee is all mixed in with the bad guys, and we could end it with one good area DPS spell. But nope, we forgot to bring an Evoker.

[5eNeedsDarksun]

I'm going to name my favorite subclass overall. It's my favorite because it's probably the only subclass in the whole game that would motivate me to play a single classed character of this type.
Arcane Trickster makes Rogue so much more interesting and versatile to play. I've played some characters that have dipped rogue, and one rogue that dipped caster to get some of what AT already gets. But other than AT, I don't think I'll play a single classed rogue.

[Corlindale]

All right, I'll give it a shot. Bear in mind that almost all of these are purely theoretical, only played a small handful myself.

Artificer: Definitely Armorist. I like that it gives you both fighty stuff, support stuff and utility stuff through its feature, letting you create both an offensive juggernaught-style character or a more rogueish, sneaky character. Also the only subclass to get bonus infusion, and infusions are crazy useful.

Barbarian: I guess Beast? Barbarian is the class that I have the least interest in, but I like that Beast gives both some utility and solid fighting options.

Bard: Many good options, but I guess Lore wins out because it leans so heavily into the jack-of-all-trades aspect of the class, and you can customize skill/spell selections in all kinds of ways.

Cleric: Knowledge. One of the few I've actually played myself. I think it's the only domain that exclusively gives you out-of-combat abilities, but that's really what you need the most as a cleric. In combat you're still a full caster, out of combat you can fill all kinds of roles thanks to Knowledge of the Ages. Mind-reading is also supremely useful for infiltration-style scenarios. And double-expertise out of the gate for two useful skills? I was out-Arcanaing our wizard for most of that campaign.

Druid: Stars. Never quite clicked with the fluff of the default Druid, and Stars has both great mechanics and more interesting flavour. Love how the constellations let you lean into different aspects of the class as needed.

Fighter: Rune Knight. Most solid attempt at a non-spell magic system I've seen in 5e, would also love to see the full-caster equivalent of a Rune user someday. Fun abilities in combat, and nice utility out of combat. Also love how well the runes mesh with the fighter's action-economy, as none of them compete with the Attack action. That's really good design!

Monk: Shadow. Mainly because at-will bonus-action teleportation never gets old.

Ranger: Swarmkeeper. Many fun abilities, and can be fluffed in all kinds of ways, ranging from Disney princess with a retinue of cute birds to gross abomination with maggots crawling out of its ears.

Rogue: Arcane Trickster. Love the archetype of a rogue with a few supernatural tricks up his sleeve, and love everything that can be fluffed as telekinesis.

Sorceror: First of all, it's hard to compete with Tasha's because of the bonus spellls. Arguable having near-double the amount of spells known beat out the entire set of features that non-Tasha subclasses get. Of the Tasha classes I prefer Aberrant Mind for having a more clear theme and a set of abilities with strong internal synergies. Although Clockwork has access to a better set of bonus spells.

Warlock: Genie. All its features are both really useful and perfectly matched to the fluff of the subclass. LOVE that they get Wish as an extra bonus spell. Also a lot of fun shenanigans possible with the vessel.

Wizard: Divination. Another I've actually played, and Portent is so unbelievably cool and useful. No other ability in the game can really match what it does. I think it's even stronger than most people first realize, because it not only gives you a chance to guarantee success/failure, but also lets you know in advance whether you can do so, which means you get to attempt things that you normally never would (like enchanting someone important in a social situation).

[Lycurgon]

Artificer - Armorer. I like its ability to tank and has some interesting powers. But not a big fan of Artificer as a whole because they are disappointingly weak.

Barbarian - Ancestral Guardian. Love the concept of spirits helping and being tanky and defending others is a play style I like.
I also like the Wild Magic Barbarian. Having random effects allows for differences with each rage and working out the best way to use whichever one you end up with.

Bard - Sword is pretty stylish and Eloquence is very powerful, but generally not a fan of playing bards myself, although I like having one in a party.

Cleric - Tempest. It is great for a front line Cleric and can be good with blasting to. Order Cleric is my favourite for a support/back line cleric, especially if you have a Rogue and paladin to give attacks to.

Druid - Moon Druid. I like transforming and fighting as a beast.

Fighter - Rune Knight. I love the concept of Rune magic and also becoming large is great so I love this subclass. Also it gives passive benefits that help the fighter out of combat. The Echo Knight is a close second. The concept is amazing. It is a pity that it doesn't have better rules (being an object is bad and it should be able to fly/hover if the fighter can't, because conceptually it is an alternative time line version of the fight).

Monk - Not a big Monk fan, they are a big weak. But I like the concepts of Shadow and Astral Soul Monks.

Paladin - Ancients has a great aura. Watcher is a great concept and has is really good against certain types of enemies.

Ranger - Drakewarden. I love having a Draconic pet. I have recently finished a campaign playing a kobold warrior with a pet Drake. It was a fun character to play.

Rogue - Arcane Trickster. Magic adds a lot of versatility and power to the Rogue. I also like the concept of the Soul Knife and it has some great powers but the soul blades need to work with extra Attack and reaction attacks.

Sorcerer - Divine Soul is pretty good. So is Shadow Soul.

Warlock - one of my favourite classes. I have played a Goblin Celestial Warlock from 1-20 Lvl. The healing is great. I also love the Hexblade although I don't like that it is so good for multiclass dips. I also like both the Genie and the Undead warlocks and want to play them in a campaign at some point (I have played a Undead Warlock/Moon Druid in a one off, becoming an undead bear. I want to play this concept for a longer game.)

Wizard - Bladesinger wins it for me but it is a bit too powerful and would prefer it to be more balance. My favourite type of character is a Gish, and Bladesinger is a powerful magical warrior while being a full wizard if they want to just relie on magic. I would prefer a Swordmage class that combines magic and martial might.

[Skayaq]

Artificer - Battle Smith

Barbarian - I have played two, the ancestral guardian and the zealot, both were very fun. If pressed i would probably say i liked the zealot slightly more.

Bard - Valor, i prefer my bards to do some fighting and some magic

Cleric - Tempest

Druid - Moon, if Im playing a druid i want to shapeshift

Fighter - honestly none, they are all disappointing either mechanically or thematically. Fighter went from my favorite class in 3rd and 4th to my second least favorite in 5th.

Monk - Drunken Master is cool

Paladin - Conquest, strong mechanics and cool theme, what more could you want?

Ranger - Drakewarden, pet subclass that works great + it has a dragon

Rogue - Swashbuckler, pirates are cool

Sorcerer - Shadow

Warlock - Tough one, so many good subclasses, Im going to with celestial

Wizard - I don't play wizards

[Sception]

My compulsory gush over how good the design of Conquest Paladin is aside, my picks for subclasses in general are...

Artificer - Battlesmith is, imo, the most effective subclass for offsetting the lower power of the base class features - which to be clear I don't think is an inherent problem. Putting more weight on subclass features can be ok in principle, so long as subclass features are robust enough to support that weight. The Battlesmith's features imo are. Some of the other subclasses, not so much. Battlesmith also has a useful support pet, and I'm always a sucker for well implemented pet classes.

Barbarian - I like tanks, and both bearbarians and ancestral guardians do that well. On the other hand, if you picked barbarian to hit things hard, then zealot is the obvious choice. All barbarians struggle with a lack of compelling features at later levels though - a class feature problem more than a subclass problem, but regardless you're probably going to want to multiclass a barbarian out at some point no matter what subclass you pick.

Bard - I love the theme and style of whispers, but the mechanics just aren't there. I love the mechanics of eloquence but the themaatics don't excite me. My favorite overall is probably plain old valor.

Cleric - Cleric in general has some issues - mostly in that its too front loaded, and its combat features stagnate badly after level 5. Yes, spirit guardians + spiritual weapon is good. Yes, both spells upcast fantastically so they stay good into the late game. But if your combat routine at level 15 is basically the same as it was at level 5, imo that's a problem. As such, my preferred subclasses aren't so much those with the most powerful features (twilight, peace), but rather those that give you reasons to change up what spells you cast in combat, either with compelling domain spell lists (trickery), or with class features that strongly incentivize the use of spells other than spiritual weapon & spirit guardians (zeal).

Druid - I'm not a big fan of shape change or summoning effects that require players or the dm to root around in the monster manual to resolve their effects, so I'm not actually a big fan of Moon and Sheppard druids, despite them commonly being considered the strongest. I'm more a fan of the stars druid for the cool theme and versatility offered, or wildfire for the neat pet with fun tactical abilities.

Fighter - Echo Knight is super fun, albeit arguably a bit op, and it certainly exacerbates problems with the sentinel feat. Plain old battlemaster remains effective and engaging, Psi Warrior is cool, Rune carver is cool, Cavalier has some nice tanking abilities (though it does disappoint on the cavalry side). Fighter has a lot of very good subclasses and several duds, not too much inbetween.

Monk - Mercy's the easy winner. The most effective thanks to useful features, including a needed damage boost, not tied to limited ki pools. That on top of a very cool theme.

Paladin - If you're willing to take a swim in the deep end of the alignment pool, then Conquest is the easy favorite for all the reasons in my previous post. Otherwise, most paladin subclasses are good, and none of them are bad really, thanks to the high floor set by the paladin's strong base class abilities. Many other subclasses are arguably stronger than conquest even, though they all suffer from at least one or two disappointing features. Watchers' channel divinity and level 7 aura are amazing for support, but apart from counterspell their oath spell list is lackluster. Ancients also has a solid support aura, and arguably a better oath spell list, but their channel divinities are either bad or overly situational. Devotion has strong offensive channel divinities and a good support aura at level 7, but disappointing oath spells, while vengeance has fantastic oath spells and a build defining channel divinity, but the a dud of a level 7 feature. Crown is probably the worst of the bunch with nothing of note at all... until level 9 when suddenly it shoots way up with the simple addition of spirit guardians as an oath spell. All of these other subclasses can be stronger than Conquest - at least in particular specialties or level ranges - but the presence of disappointing features sprinkled in holds the overall experience back even if the stronger features are objectively speaking more than enough to make up the difference.

tldr - all the paladin subclasses are at least good, and many of them are great, but conquest remains my favorite overall.

Ranger - Easy choice for gloomstalker, though thematically I'm a sucker for swarmkeeper, and I actually rather like the tasha's version of beastmaster.

Rogue - A class that struggles a bit to contribute in combat as levels start to pile on, and its out of combat contributions are easier to replace in 5e with thieves' tools accessible from a background. For subclass I like Arcane Trickster, which adds enough tools to the toolbox with a bit of spellcasting to help make up for the ways the base class tends to fall a bit behind.

Sorcerer - Most subclasses were at least interesting, but the painful cap on spells known held the class back, and in particular discouraged sorcerers from picking up thematically appropriate spells to fit their subclass theme if it meant passing up on stronger or more versatile spells of the same spell level. As such, the easy best picks for sorcerer subclass are the aberrant mind and clockwork soul from tashas. If the other sorcerer subclasses had similar lists of thematic bonus spells known, then this would be a much harder call.

Warlock - Genie, with Undead as a close second, for strong themes and cool features. Hexblade is also cool and strong, but 1) should be its own class outright and 2) by stacking what is effectively a fix for the blade pact feature on top of what is otherwise already a full featured patron subclass, the result is even more front loaded than other warlocks, questionably balanced overall, and in the end prevented a broader fix from being applied to the blade pact itself which could have made it work with all patrons.

Wizard - Wizards are cool, and most of the wizard subclasses are cool - even if the overall structure of the class leans so heavily on base class that there's only so much the subclasses can do. What I'd like to see out of wizard subclasses is features that change what spells you'd choose to cast, and by that metric my favorite is probably the Evoker. Yeah blast wizard is a bit generic, and wizards blast spells aren't the strongest wizard spells, but the ability to pick out unaffected squares, making evocation blasts much more party friendly, really does make a huge difference for the utility of those spells in combat, and in practice really does encourage their use.

[PallyBass]

Drake Warden ranger because having a dragon pet is awesome

Necromancer Wizard because minionmancy and being carried around in a palisade is fun

Divination Wizard because "portent" is very strong and has fun roleplay opportunities to be overly dramatic ( I think of Orpheus from the Venture Bros)

Not sure about the rest

[T.G. Oskar]

Paladin - If you're willing to take a swim in the deep end of the alignment pool, then Conquest is the easy favorite for all the reasons in my previous post. Otherwise, most paladin subclasses are good, and none of them are bad really, thanks to the high floor set by the paladin's strong base class abilities. Many other subclasses are arguably stronger than conquest even, though they all suffer from at least one or two disappointing features. Watchers' channel divinity and level 7 aura are amazing for support, but apart from counterspell their oath spell list is lackluster. Ancients also has a solid support aura, and arguably a better oath spell list, but their channel divinities are either bad or overly situational. Devotion has strong offensive channel divinities and a good support aura at level 7, but disappointing oath spells, while vengeance has fantastic oath spells and a build defining channel divinity, but the a dud of a level 7 feature. Crown is probably the worst of the bunch with nothing of note at all... until level 9 when suddenly it shoots way up with the simple addition of spirit guardians as an oath spell. All of these other subclasses can be stronger than Conquest - at least in particular specialties or level ranges - but the presence of disappointing features sprinkled in holds the overall experience back even if the stronger features are objectively speaking more than enough to make up the difference.

tldr - all the paladin subclasses are at least good, and many of them are great, but conquest remains my favorite overall.

I'll have to dissent greatly. Crown has great starting Channel Divinity options, whereas Conquest has a brutal weakness to its main schtick.

Now, don't get me wrong. There is truth to your statement, since the weakness of Crown Paladins is their latter options (Redemption Paladins and the Intervention Fighting Style stole the shine of the 7th level ability, and granting Warding Bond to Paladins stole one of the nice goodies they had), but I wouldn't say Turn the Tide is a bad option. In fact, it's a great option if you think of it as an emergency BA heal. Perhaps one of the things that may make it seem horrible is when compared to, say, Clerics granting temp HP by the bucketloads, but anyone who has played a Life Cleric can tell you why an emergency BA heal is worthwhile. Compare to Lay on Hands, which heals a ton but only once per LR - spending 1 point to keep people alive isn't as effective as dumping it all on someone who's one step away from dying, since it consumes an action after all. Turn the Tide has a good range, consumes only your Bonus Action (which means you can follow it with, say, Aura of Vitality for latter BA heals - which they get as a free spell - or maybe preceded by Beacon of Hope for maximum healing). And even Champion Challenge is worthwhile to restrain enemies from moving beyond a certain area; of course, you can't move from that area, but it allows repositioning from the rest of your allies. Spirit Guardians is definitely the high spot, particularly since the level 15 ability is extremely lackluster, but that doesn't mean early Crown Paladin is bad.

As for Conquest, it's great because of the rest that offers. Stuff like Spiritual Weapon, Guided Strike, Scornful Rebuke and their 20th level capstone are wonderful, but their method of lockdown depends on fear effects, and those usually can be removed through saving throws on latter turns - or completely negated by immunity to fear. Not just that, the target must be frightened of you, which means you have to have more than the sources of fear granted by the class (Commanding Presence, the Fear spell) or have a Whispers Bard as your friend (and/or play a Dragonborn and get the feat that replaces your breath weapon with a fear effect). I'd say their lockdown is great when it lands, but that doesn't really make the Conquest a favorite - it's the rest of the set-up.

To be fair, though, I'm a huge fan of the Crown Paladin, and I saw a Conquest Paladin played to 15th level, so that might give me a bit of bias, but most people diss the Crown Paladin because of the latter options, when it stands on a class that's already extremely solid, and that offers a couple of options that can be game-changers. On the other hand, the Conquest Paladin is indeed solid from the get-go, but one of its major selling points has a glaring weakness that doesn't compare to the rest.

(In an interesting contrast - most people LOVE Ancients when they're mostly great because of the aura and the 20th level ability, but IMO their Channel Divinity options are lackluster. Yet, the power of Aura of Warding is such that it overcomes most of the deficiencies of the class at first. The 15th level abilty and the capstone are boss, though - that's undeniable - but they're not that impressive until 7th level, and yet people love them.)

[MutantDragon]

Hmmm...let's see...

Artificer: Armorer. I mean, who can say no to fantasy Iron Man?
Barbarian: Hmmm...I'm going with the Path of the Beast. Tough choice, I really like most of the Barbarian subclasses, but, darn it all, I just want to play fantasy Wolverine!
Bard: Valor. It's the original 5e swordmage and it does its job well. I do really like swords for a more duelist type, but I love the image of a magical warrior-skald running into battle with and axe and an ancient hymn.
Cleric: Forge. I really like the thematics and mechanics. Not much more to say. Honorable mention to knowledge clerics, the ultimate linguists.
Druid: Circle of the Moon. I understand why people might not like wild shaping, but I personally find it to be so much fun. Plus, once you start casting spells in beast shape, there's all sorts of cool things you can do, like casting call lightning as a giant eagle to become a thunder bird. It's just chock full of epic moments waiting to happen.
Fighter: Psi-Knight. At first, I wasn't't really a fan of it, but the more I've worked with it the more I love it. It's really great at what it does and can be used for all sorts of things, from comic book-y heroes, to githyanki warriors, to, of course, Jedi and Sith. It's just an overall cool and flexible concept.
Monk: Kensei. I just love the mental image of an old martial arts master who has become one with his family's blade and truly reached supernatural heights of mastery and artistry with that one chosen weapon.
Paladin: Conquest. Look, I love a good Devotion paladin as much as the next guy. Really. But come on! A plate-clad warlord driving his foes in fear before him is too awesome not to love!
Ranger: Drake Warden. I mean, come on, how could you say no to having a dragon companion?
Rogue: Tough one, but I kind of like the Soulknife. Neat powers and those psychic blades remind me of Psylock. Overall an interesting subclass.
Sorcerer: Dang, this is a hard one. Shadow, Divine Soul, or Aberrant Mind? Hmmm...I can't choose!
Warlock:Great Old One. Cool powers and a very flexible patron.
Wizard: Bladesinger. I just want to play a sword-swinging wizard, ok? From 19th century military officers to magic-slinging swashbucklers to a robed wizard swinging a longsword, the blade singer delivers.

[Kane0]

Armorer Artificer.
It's Gishy, and I like Gishy without the Pet. Feels well integrated.

Beast Barbarian
Your Rage turns you into a monstrous animal and I can break out the appropriate theme music at the table.

Fortune Bard
It's homebrew, but I feel that it just fits so well I have a hard time making any other kind of bard.

Stars Druid
An interesting use for your Wildshape and broadens your options as well as providing neat, thematic utility.

Mercy Monk
The hand giveth, and the hand taketh away. It's brimming with flavor while actually building on the base class mechanics in a cohesive way. It's also one of the few ways to be an effective martial healer.

Conquest Paladin
Weaponizing fear is fun, especially contrasting with the usual Paladin aesthetic.

Drake Warden Ranger
Pet class done well. When taken with the Tasha's options you become fairly good at Dragoning and Dungeoning

Fey Wanderer Ranger
Incentivizes Wisdom investment, has some neat tricks that synergize with allies and when taken with the Tasha's options you get to be really well balanced between Combat, Exploration and Interaction.

Aberrant Mind Sorcerer
Really sells you on the feel of being a mind mage (psion, enchanter, mentalist, whatever) and is strong to boot without pidgeonholing you or rendering you useless outside of your specialty.

Undead Warlock
Both thematically and mechanically cohesive and doesn't force you into a particular playstyle. Feels like it really learned from the mistakes of both the Hexblade and the Undying.

And that's my top 10.

[MutantDragon]

Hmmm...let's see...

Artificer: Armorer. I mean, who can say no to fantasy Iron Man?
Barbarian: Hmmm...I'm going with the Path of the Beast. Tough choice, I really like most of the Barbarian subclasses, but, darn it all, I just want to play fantasy Wolverine!
Bard: Valor. It's the original 5e swordmage and it does its job well. I do really like swords for a more duelist type, but I love the image of a magical warrior-skald running into battle with and axe and an ancient hymn.
Cleric: Forge. I really like the thematics and mechanics. Not much more to say. Honorable mention to knowledge clerics, the ultimate linguists.
Druid: Circle of the Moon. I understand why people might not like wild shaping, but I personally find it to be so much fun. Plus, once you start casting spells in beast shape, there's all sorts of cool things you can do, like casting call lightning as a giant eagle to become a thunder bird. It's just chock full of epic moments waiting to happen.
Fighter: Psi-Knight. At first, I wasn't't really a fan of it, but the more I've worked with it the more I love it. It's really great at what it does and can be used for all sorts of things, from comic book-y heroes, to githyanki warriors, to, of course, Jedi and Sith. It's just an overall cool and flexible concept.
Monk: Kensei. I just love the mental image of an old martial arts master who has become one with his family's blade and truly reached supernatural heights of mastery and artistry with that one chosen weapon.
Paladin: Conquest. Look, I love a good Devotion paladin as much as the next guy. Really. But come on! A plate-clad warlord driving his foes in fear before him is too awesome not to love!
Ranger: Drake Warden. I mean, come on, how could you say no to having a dragon companion?
Rogue: Tough one, but I kind of like the Soulknife. Neat powers and those psychic blades remind me of Psylock. Overall an interesting subclass.
Sorcerer: Dang, this is a hard one. Shadow, Divine Soul, or Aberrant Mind? Hmmm...I can't choose!
Warlock:Great Old One. Cool powers and a very flexible patron.
Wizard: Bladesinger. I just want to play a sword-swinging wizard, ok? From 19th century military officers to magic-slinging swashbucklers to a robed wizard swinging a longsword, the blade singer delivers.

[Tanarii]

What are your favorite subclasses and why?

I like hitting things with a beat stick while having some casting:
Str Valor Bard - Viking Skald
Str Eldritch Knight - Lord Soth wannabe
Ancients Paladin - Summer Knight
Fey Blade Warlock - Winter Knight

Arcane Trickster and Str Beast Ranger are also on my favorites list for similar reasons, but I don't have a mental theme image for them.

[Sception]

I'll have to dissent greatly. Crown has great starting Channel Divinity options, whereas Conquest has a brutal weakness to its main schtick.

Eh. IMO turn the tide is a bit weak (not much healing) and situational (only works on creatures below half health). If it were one or the other - healing more or not having the hp limit - then it would be pretty good. It's not terrible - as a bonus action to wake up multiple downed companions its not bad. Certainly better than I remembered (it was a standard action in my head).

And maybe it's just the kind of games I typically play in, where combat encounters skew heavily to indoor or dungeon environments, but limiting creatures to 30 feet distance from you frequently doesn't have any effect.

Warding Bond was quite nice as an oath spell, but yeah, all paladins get it now.

I didn't find the level 7 feature compelling even before redemption released with just a better version of it. The range is too short to protect the most vulnerable party members, burning a reaction is painful for a class that wants to tank given how important maintaining the threat of opportunity and/or sentinal attacks is to taking in 5e, and the restriction against reducing the incoming damage in any way opens up a big hole in your defenses.

It's certainly better than I was giving it credit for due to turn the tide being a bonus action, but I still very much feel it's the weakest and least exciting paladin subclass until level 9 when spirit guardians suddenly and single handedly makes it great.

again though, on the low end of paladin subclasses is still on the high end of most subclasses, thanks to how good and functionally complete the base class paladin is by default. An 5e paladin with no subclass at all would still be a stronger and more enjoyable character across more of the total level range than a single classed champion fighter imo.

As for Conquest, it's great because of the rest that offers. Stuff like Spiritual Weapon, Guided Strike, Scornful Rebuke and their 20th level capstone are wonderful, but their method of lockdown depends on fear effects, and those usually can be removed through saving throws on latter turns - or completely negated by immunity to fear.

IME frighten immunity isn't as big a problem as people make out. Fewer things are immune to frighten in 5e than in most previous editions - unless you're playing in an abnormal campaign like curse of strahd where practically every enemy is immune to frighten and charm ~just because~. But by default in 5e most dragons are not immune to frighten, most giants are not immune to frighten, most corporeal undead are not immune to frighten, most elementals are not immune to frighten, most plants are not immune to frighten, even most fiends are not immune to frighten - though virtually all of them have spell resistance, so if you expect to face a lot of fiends you should plan on at least a single level dip into clockwork soul sorcerer. Unless the campaign is heavily themed on oozes, constructs, incorporeal undead, or aberrations then blanket immunity isn't likely to be a common problem, and even in the case of aberrations its a toss up.

In 5e frighten immunity is less a blanket trait of creature categories and more a one off trait given to individual creatures - usually big important boss enemies, though not always even that. Again, most dragons are not immune to frighten. Where 'boss' enemies aren't blanket immune, though, they typically have sky high wisdom saves, spell resistance, and/or legendary resistance, because failed wisdom save effects in general are crippling and that's an anticlimactic way to end an adventure. So in general a conqueror isn't going to be locking down the biggest & baddest enemies in a given adventure. Random minions and brutish miniboss type enemies though are usually quite vulnerable to frighten, and that's what the conqueror's control effects are for - not for dominating strong willed enemies but for bullying weak willed ones.

That kind of what I was getting at in my earlier post where I talked about the conqueror's subclass strengths being mostly tangent to the paladin's base class strengths. Paladins have aura of protection to help them (and their party) shrug off the most debilitating attacks of the most dangerous foes, and the potential for truly staggering single target nova damage to take each day's most dangerous foe down with ease. However, they are so effective at this - especially the subclasses that further enhance single target damage like vengeance or oathbreaker - that it's common for paladins to end what should be climactic boss encounters before the rest of the party (or the dm) has the chance to start enjoying themselves, while putting more work on the rest of the party in the less exciting attrition fights leading up to that boss encounter as they hoard their resources for the big nova.

The first time the paladin single-handedly ends the adventure's climactic encounter before the villain can finish their opening monologue, it's funny. By the second time, it's already a disappointing let down.

The Conquror's frighten abilities are really cool, and also generally ineffective against the big boss, so you're encouraged to use them in the attrition fights - where they really do shine. This helps those fights go more smoothly and conserves overall party resources for the boss. When that boss fight does happen, the conqueror switches over to traditional paladin mode, shielding the party with their aura of protection, maybe tossing a bless out if nobody else is going to, maybe tossing out a spiritual weapon since that's a nice little bonus action option on their oath spell list, and wading in with divine smites to start taking big chunks out of the bosses HP. Still perfectly effective.

Only, since the conqueror has been casting Wrathful Smites and Fear cones all day, they're not going to have as many spell slots left over for smites as other paladins. Not only that, the need to keep their Save DCs high means they've probably prioritized raising charisma over their weapon attack stat, AND their reliance on concentration effects means they may have picked up resilient con or warcaster instead of great weapon master or polearm master, which altogether means they're probably dealing considerably less base damage than other paladins before layering the smites on top.

The overall package is probably weaker objectively speaking than some other paladins, but imo and ime it's weaker in a way that leads to more fun for everyone.


re: follow up saves, they're an issue for the channel divinity - a fair trade off for its huge area, party friendliness, and lack of concentration or spell slot investment. But the two other main frighten effects for conquerors - Wrathful Smite and Fear - avoid the issue. Wrathful Smite because follow up escape attempts are checks rather than saves - and thus made with disadvantage as long as your conquerer stays in the enemy's line of sight, something that is guaranteed once you have the aura to lock them down. Fear because there's no escape attempt at all as long as the enemy is within range and line of sight, and you already have the lockdown aura by the time you get it.

There is a bit of anti-synergy in that enemies under the effect of Fear who are locked down in your aura get their action back (they aren't required to Dash away if they have nowhere to flee to, which is always the case while under your aura), but aoe disadvantage on attacks and saves EDIT: Checks, I meant checks plus zero movement with no possibility of escaping the effect after the initial failed save - apart from you dropping concentration - is usually way better than normal Fear, and in situations where it isn't you can just move your aura out of range and let the normal Fear effects take over.

[T.G. Oskar]

Eh. IMO turn the tide is a bit weak (not much healing) and situational (only works on creatures below half health). If it were one or the other - healing more or not having the hp limit - then it would be pretty good. It's not terrible - as a bonus action to wake up multiple downed companions its not bad. Certainly better than I remembered (it was a standard action in my head).

It's more powerful than Mass Healing Aura without any healing modifier (1d6 vs. 1d4), and it's 1/short rest instead of spell-based. (MHW has a 60-ft. range but also a limit of 6 people, while TtT has a range of 30 ft. but can heal anyone inside that range). That'd be like saying MHW is weak because it doesn't heal a lot - sure, it heals even when you're over half your HP, but consider that you're going to use MHW (or really, any healing spell) when you're under 50% hp anyways.

However, the thing is to bring multiple downed companions or at least let them survive for one more round - an emergency heal, which can be coupled with a healing spell or Lay on Hands if you want to, or combine it with an Attack or Cast a Spell action. That's the benefit of Turn the Tide - it's an emergency heal for a tank-based character, who has a couple of sources of emergency heals in LoH or Cure Wounds or Aura of Vitality. It's not meant to make the Paladin a main healer.

I didn't find the level 7 feature compelling even before redemption released with just a better version of it. The range is too short to protect the most vulnerable party members, burning a reaction is painful for a class that wants to tank given how important maintaining the threat of opportunity and/or sentinal attacks is to taking in 5e, and the restriction against reducing the incoming damage in any way opens up a big hole in your defenses.

Aura of the Guardian bypasses your defenses as well. However, you're right in that it's not so great, but when you consider the alternative (the Protection fighting style, which is objectively worse unless you're trying to null a critical hit) at that moment, it's a change. Unfortunately, it got power-crept badly, with Redemption making it worthless and then Interception just spitting on it by making it a 2nd-level feature that mitigates more damage.

Unfortunately, Crown Paladins never got a pass, which is weird because practically all Paladins have things that make them distinctive.

It's certainly better than I was giving it credit for due to turn the tide being a bonus action, but I still very much feel it's the weakest and least exciting paladin subclass until level 9 when spirit guardians suddenly and single handedly makes it great.

again though, on the low end of paladin subclasses is still on the high end of most subclasses, thanks to how good and functionally complete the base class paladin is by default. An 5e paladin with no subclass at all would still be a stronger and more enjoyable character across more of the total level range than a single classed champion fighter imo.

I still stand that Champion's Challenge is a great CD, at least when compared to others.

Think Nature's Wrath, from Oath of the Ancients. At the same level, they get Ensnaring Strike which is pretty much exactly the same - the main difference is that one deals damage and can be used more times, the other requires no concentration. Given that Ensnaring Strike allows you to deal DoT alongside the restraint (plus the initial damage from the attack, which is essentially a "Smite" in all but name), I find it far, far better - particularly since you can work up for Concentration. The "Turn" effects are much better than the Cleric's Turn Undead up until the latter can Destroy Undead (and even then), but for the most part it's limited by which enemies you face. (That one of those enemies you face are fiends is what makes the CD a bit more useful.)

Watcher's Will is another, even though it has some synergy with Aura of Protection later on. It has a wider range of applications than 1/3rd of the Crown Paladin's capstone (it affects Intelligence saves, for one) and its 15th level feature (which applies only to itself), but advantage can only take you so far. It's not bad at all (as I pin Nature's Wrath), but it depends on getting blasted by mental attacks - it does little against physical attacks. Much like Champion's Challenge, it'll have its uses.

Now, to speak of Champion's Challenge, it's meant to keep enemies at bay while your group maneuvers into a different position. Think of Champion's Challenge as a way to cover a retreat - your allies can move away from that range, but your enemies cannot. And it doesn't have to be an actual retreat - it just means your allies can reposition while you take the heat, and you're curiously built to take that heat compared to others. You're not using Champion's Challenge as a lock-down in the same way you'd use, say, Sentinel (which only applies to one target unless you got something like the Mark Creature feature from the DMG or you somehow got Tunnel Fighting approved by the DM). You use it to allow your allies to reposition, so that the only targets they're allowed to strike are the ones that are within your range - which is most likely you and another front-liner. I do agree that the range and format doesn't help - a 30-ft. range surrounding you, rather than a 30-ft. radius cylinder that's fixed on one spot or an aura-like ability at a smaller radius.

IME frighten immunity isn't as big a problem as people make out. Fewer things are immune to frighten in 5e than in most previous editions - unless you're playing in an abnormal campaign like curse of strahd where practically every enemy is immune to frighten and charm ~just because~. But by default in 5e most dragons are not immune to frighten, most giants are not immune to frighten, most corporeal undead are not immune to frighten, most elementals are not immune to frighten, most plants are not immune to frighten, even most fiends are not immune to frighten - though virtually all of them have spell resistance, so if you expect to face a lot of fiends you should plan on at least a single level dip into clockwork soul sorcerer. Unless the campaign is heavily themed on oozes, constructs, incorporeal undead, or aberrations then blanket immunity isn't likely to be a common problem, and even in the case of aberrations its a toss up.

In 5e frighten immunity is less a blanket trait of creature categories and more a one off trait given to individual creatures - usually big important boss enemies, though not always even that. Again, most dragons are not immune to frighten. Where 'boss' enemies aren't blanket immune, though, they typically have sky high wisdom saves, spell resistance, and/or legendary resistance, because failed wisdom save effects in general are crippling and that's an anticlimactic way to end an adventure. So in general a conqueror isn't going to be locking down the biggest & baddest enemies in a given adventure. Random minions and brutish miniboss type enemies though are usually quite vulnerable to frighten, and that's what the conqueror's control effects are for - not for dominating strong willed enemies but for bullying weak willed ones.

I'll go with the opposite experience, even though it's not mine. The only Conquest Paladin I saw (single-classed, BTW) almost never got to use its Aura of Conquest because it rarely landed a fear effect. (Maybe once or twice, and they shook off the effect quickly.) However, it showcases the weakness of the subclass - its main feature falls flat if there's any kind of defense against fear.

It's good, though, that you pointed out who are the usual targets of the Conquest Paladin's aura - minions and minibosses. A well-placed crowd-control effect should lock them down as easily as your fear effect; ideally, it's used best to divide those minions between yourself (who they can't hit) and the CC spellcaster or ally who can probably mow them down. (A "divide and conquer" strategy, pun intended.) Minibosses, however, could be locked down easily through other methods, such as Sentinel.

The problem is specifically with boss types. Conquest is good when you want to do "divide & conquer" strategies if you happen to have a method to lock down the boss as well, but if the boss moves away and you're the only tank, then you're pretty much screwed - either you mow down the minions in hopes of getting to the boss, or you leave them alone and they start fleeing. And once each minion starts breaking off their fear saves, it'll become harder and harder to keep them locked from you (particularly since they can serve as sacrifices to eat your reaction, which means you must choose between keeping the boss locked down or letting the minions go). OTOH, when playing against a solo boss, using fear effects isn't recommended, as you mentioned, because of all the resources against them.

(And let's not talk about legendary resistance. Yes, dragons aren't immune to fear, but they can eat away at your uses of fear abilities, and they already have pretty high saves anyways. You can attempt to play with weaker moves as sacrificial chips, but LR just makes any strategy based on save-based crowd control a nuisance in the first place.)

So, more than immunity to fear (which is, arguably, not as much a problem as before), it's defenses against fear that hinder the Conquest Paladin's signature ability. And most people will want to keep the biggest threat locked down - being able to keep the minions away isn't as important when the Wizard or Warlock can just take them out of commission with (Evard's) Black Tentacles anyways, but being unable to keep the BBEG away from the same Wizard or Warlock doing that concentration, or away from them at all, might not sit well with the rest of the party. (Party coordination, however, does minimize this.)

Weirdly enough, Conquest plays best with a crowd controller at their side. Or two. Something like a Whispers Bard and a Wizard play nicely with them, even though the feature that triggers fear effects with the Whispers Bard requires 1 minute of conversation. It's still fun, though, for roleplaying encounters as the Bard can always say "I'll leave you here with my friend" and it won't be able to move because the Aura of Conquest kicks in.

That kind of what I was getting at in my earlier post where I talked about the conqueror's subclass strengths being mostly tangent to the paladin's base class strengths. Paladins have aura of protection to help them (and their party) shrug off the most debilitating attacks of the most dangerous foes, and the potential for truly staggering single target nova damage to take each day's most dangerous foe down with ease. However, they are so effective at this - especially the subclasses that further enhance single target damage like vengeance or oathbreaker - that it's common for paladins to end what should be climactic boss encounters before the rest of the party (or the dm) has the chance to start enjoying themselves, while putting more work on the rest of the party in the less exciting attrition fights leading up to that boss encounter as they hoard their resources for the big nova.

The first time the paladin single-handedly ends the adventure's climactic encounter before the villain can finish their opening monologue, it's funny. By the second time, it's already a disappointing let down.

The Conquror's frighten abilities are really cool, and also generally ineffective against the big boss, so you're encouraged to use them in the attrition fights - where they really do shine. This helps those fights go more smoothly and conserves overall party resources for the boss. When that boss fight does happen, the conqueror switches over to traditional paladin mode, shielding the party with their aura of protection, maybe tossing a bless out if nobody else is going to, maybe tossing out a spiritual weapon since that's a nice little bonus action option on their oath spell list, and wading in with divine smites to start taking big chunks out of the bosses HP. Still perfectly effective.

Only, since the conqueror has been casting Wrathful Smites and Fear cones all day, they're not going to have as many spell slots left over for smites as other paladins. Not only that, the need to keep their Save DCs high means they've probably prioritized raising charisma over their weapon attack stat, AND their reliance on concentration effects means they may have picked up resilient con or warcaster instead of great weapon master or polearm master, which altogether means they're probably dealing considerably less base damage than other paladins before layering the smites on top.

The overall package is probably weaker objectively speaking than some other paladins, but imo and ime it's weaker in a way that leads to more fun for everyone.

I could say the same for Crown Paladins. It all depends on how you see the use of their tools.

If you see Turn the Tide as an AoE heal instead of an AoE emergency heal, it's obvious you'll see it as weak. It has a hindrance in that you'll try to reserve it for the right moment, but even if it means using it to bring a downed creature into play WHILE refreshing some or all of the other allies, it's worthwhile. It's not meant to keep HP topped off, because that's not their job.

It's strange that you didn't mention Command, which is shared on both lists. (Maybe because it's also a Paladin spell?) Command is arguably one of the most flexible spells you can have, since it can be used to cut the enemy's escape, pull them towards you, disarm them, or simply set them prone, all while losing their actions. (And as a 2nd-level spell, it can be used on two enemies!) Perhaps it's because it doesn't deal damage, but taking one or two enemies out of combat for even a single turn is pretty amazing.

Crown Paladins also get Guardian of Faith, and that spell is also very underrated. Consider that it lasts for a stupidly long time (8 hours) but it only requires a verbal component (which means it can be used when restrained), has a pretty decent range (effectively as a Large creature with a range of 10 ft.), and pretty much guarantees you'll deal 60 points of damage. It's good to block a choke point or general nuisance on small rooms.

Perhaps it's because most of the spells are on the Paladin's spell list already, but the benefit of the Crown Paladin curated list is that it frees some slots for you to choose while giving you several crowd control spells. Mostly, you can focus on either keeping enemies restrained on an open area, pull single targets towards you, keep them on a bog, close chokepoints, and if necessary, spread emergency heals.

(Plus: the Conquest Paladin has a good damage profile, if you consider Guided Strike in order to go nova, or if you manage to snatch the capstone which lets you pull critical hits on a nat 19. I wouldn't go Warcaster unless I have something like Booming Blade, though, since you get more out of it that way.)

re: follow up saves, they're an issue for the channel divinity - a fair trade off for its huge area, party friendliness, and lack of concentration or spell slot investment. But the two other main frighten effects for conquerors - Wrathful Smite and Fear - avoid the issue. Wrathful Smite because follow up escape attempts are checks rather than saves - and thus made with disadvantage as long as your conquerer stays in the enemy's line of sight, something that is guaranteed once you have the aura to lock them down. Fear because there's no escape attempt at all as long as the enemy is within range and line of sight, and you already have the lockdown aura by the time you get it.

Interesting. I'd still recommend another source of fear besides those, because you're mostly limited to three, and as you mentioned, they're gonna eat through your spell slots AND conflict with all the other stuff you can use, like Smites and buffs. (Specifically Fear.)

[Daffy Dutch]

Honestly I love any sublcass that gives me more options and tools for a situation. There's nothing more boring than playing a martial whose turn is just "I walk up and hit it". So yeah, battlemaster fighter is definitely top of the list for me.

[Samayu]

I've been playing constantly since 5e was released, but our campaigns last a good chunk of a year, so I haven't played all that many different subclasses. I'll see if I can list them all.

The best ones provide good synergy between mechanics and role-playing.

Artificer - None

Barbarian - I've played two, but only to level 4.
One was Frenzy. There is no real thematic advantage to it - you just beat on things better. Maybe.
The other was Zealot. I was going to multiclass to Battlemaster, but the campaign ended early.

Bard - None

Cleric - Grave. One of my favorite characters. I'm not going to say the subclass was a strong one, but it enabled and encouraged me to play the character like I wanted to play it.
Also - Order. I played a Loxodon lawmage in Ravnica. The campaign and character were fun, but odd. I think we only only played through L7, though.

Druid - None

Fighter - Eldritch Knight. I was a bit disappointed in the magical aspect. It's really set up to be used to enhance your skill as a fighter. Which is how it should be, but I'm used to using magic for a versatile toolbox.

Monk - I love monks. So much fun! I played Open Hand through level... 12? I have a shadow monk on deck right now.

Paladin - I've probably played paladins the most. I've done them in a couple of one-shots. I played a Conquestor through level 16, with a 2-level hexblade dip. One of my favorite subclasses. It didn't enable the RP aspect like the Grave cleric, but I loved my role as battlefield controller. I'm doing an Ancients paladin right now. I'm only up to level 5, but am finding it lackluster so far.

Ranger - None, but Gloomstalker looks like fun.

Rogue - I did a Swashbuckler once. Didn't enjoy it. I didn't do enough with the rogue chassis, so it was basically a subpar fighter.

Sorcerer - Wild Magic. I enjoyed this one through L15.

Warlock - Only did the one Hexblade dip.

Wizard - Enchantment. My first 5e character, played through L6. Seemed good.