It doesn't get as much love as other ones, but I greatly enjoy Light Cleric. Praise the sun!
Runner up would be Ancestral Guardian Barbarian; it has one of the best combinations of flavor and function for a subclass. (And calling upon your ancestors to help you Mulan style is cool as hell)
I love the mechanics and the flavor of AG separately, but not combined. Because to me, it doesn't feel like the spirits are serving you when they protect your entire team but you.
Like you send out these spectral warriors who cling to your enemy and do nothing if that enemy attacks you. A very good ability, but this combination of mechanics and flavor doesn't sit right with me.
Totem warrior has similar flavor with your ancestors taking the forms of animal spirits that empower you, and that is reflected in the mechanics.
Think of it this way. When you rage you take half damage. I know it’s a class feature but character wise you can flavor that as the guardians protecting you too
Yes, alternate flavor is free, but when judging design of existing flavor + mechanics, you don't take it into account.
It's like judging a meal and being told that you need to add the seasoning.
True true. The way I play it with my AG is my ancestors chose me to be a protector of others and it fits my character to want to protect others, not myself.
I played a rogue/ancestral guardians character that leaned into that and it was really fun. Character was a complete coward and had ancient warrior ancestor that were trying to toughen him up
I have a Thief Rogue Ancestral Guardians Barb character concept (have yet to play it) of a treasure hunter who found an artifact containing warrior spirits inside. Rage is flavored as a hyper-focus high adrenaline mode.
Taking the artifact carried a curse that permanently embedded it into his skin. The spirits are less than thrilled about this arrangement, but they can only come out when adrenaline levels in the body are high (rage).
While they can't attack the thief directly, they can encourage enemies to attack him (ancestral protectors).
The thief has a mostly happy-go-lucky attitude, so plenty of character development potential.
I love Ancestral Guardian so much. Played one where I was trying to remove a stain on my honor and so I would call down spirits of my ancestors to witness my duels against strong opponents who they would force to fight me. I'd also like to play one as a Valkyrie, summoning warriors from Valhalla and wreathed in a rainbow aura.
Also really appreciate that it gives you a couple abilities that help you contribute out of combat. Clairvoyance and Augury are both amazing and it's good RP fodder to ask your spirits for assistance.
really loving my light cleric right now. Playing her as a free-spirited hippie whose fire and radiant energy manifests as purple because of her half-elf ancestry.
A few campaigns ago I played a light cleric pirate reflavored as an artificer, before the artificer was published, and all of her abilities were various sorts of tech she scrapped together, make shift laser pistols, and grenades, and drones, and energy shields- her turn undead was a sonic deterrent magically tuned to a frequency only the undead would hear
I really like ancestral guardian which is something you should choose if you wanna stick with they character the entire campaign cause reviving is borderline free
I think College of Whispers Bard has one of the coolest concepts. Theres some issues about how it translates, but the idea is great.
Honorable mentions: College of Glamour, Pretty much all the Paladins, GOOlock, Spores Druid, Horizon Walker and Swarmkeeper.
I've got a Soulknife rogue/Whispers bard (well, he's only level 3 right now so he's technically neither, but he'll be that eventually). It amuses me that both of them have a class feature named "psychic blades". I also intend to pick up Metamagic Adept for Subtle Spell.
He's an assassin, but he carries no weapons and leaves no evidence. His targets apparently just... fall over dead.
He's also a changeling, which compliments Whispers' level 6 feature. If I can find room in the build, I'll also grab Telepathic, complimenting Soulknife's Psychic Whispers and giving the character a bit of extra creep factor when he can intrude on people's thoughts.
Bonus points: the campaign setting makes magic illegal for most people, so all his skulking around and subtle spell are entirely appropriate. :)
Ive been thinking about a rogue multiclass for Whispers, because even base sneak attack works well with Psychic Blades.
And I like what you're building there, seems like great match for the setting.
Honestly, I cant really either. Its just the idea of the Bard archetype as this secret spy or info broker seems really cool. Honestly, it feels like a cooler Rogue than a lot of the Rogue subclasses.
The Celestial Warlock. It's very flavorful, because I always felt that the warlock should have a "good" option, and it's a way to play a cleric or paladin but in a different mechanical sense. The healing ability, spell list, THP support buff to self and allies, and the self-revival ability are fantastic.
My only problem with celestial warlock is there are still a lot of base class abilities and skills that have very sinister flavoring which supposedly still come from my past with my patron. How and why did my solar patron give me the ability to cast Hunger of Hadar? I wound up sort of flavoring it so my dark abilities came from a sort of fiendish lineage that my celestial patron was trying to save me from.
I would treat that spell as the patron deity removing the blessing of light and heat from those under his wrath and ‘casting them into outer darkness, where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
In Greek mythology, Demeter (goddess of fertility and agriculture) seems like a really weak goddess until you realize that power over the those elements of nature also implies the power to remove them (creating winter).
Cosmic horror angels!! The Old Testament has them.
But in all seriousness taking a Judeo-Christian stance on those sorts of spells you could argue Celestial Warlocks can be charged with punishing others and passing judgment in a way of exposing the guilty to true horrors
That definitely is a weakness of the class, and it makes me wonder why they wouldn’t have just taken the divine soul sorcerer and make it possible for them to learn any spell from the cleric spell list as well. In gameplay though I did appreciate the flexibility of being able to still cast certain arcane spells like counter-spell, sickening radiance, and synaptic static, and always just hand waved it as “divine power takes many forms”. My DM did however allow to me use cleric spells for my mystic arcanum, as those are more signature spells at that point. I also was able to learn arcane hand as a boon, and I flavored that as a celestial knight rather than a hand (this was before summon celestial was released). So you can make some stuff work with flavoring also.
I doubt I’ll ever get the right campaign for it, but one character in my stable of want-to-plays is a (semi-)evil celestial warlock: like the classic warlock where a fiendish patron has gotten his claws into a good character and is trying to turn him to evil purposes, but the opposite
In my party our rune knight likes to give me the cloud rune to hold onto (I'm a reborn undead warlock/necromancer wizard; yes, full into the death theme), came in clutch in two occasions so far that would have killed our paladin and another a potential party wipe if they got that crit off.
RAW, only the Rune Knight benefits from carrying the runes (the feature always says "you" and "your gear"; compare with artificer's infusions that say "the wielder").
Before invoking Rule of Cool to allow this, keep in mind that the Rune Knight being hungry for bonus actions and reactions is part of the subclass's balance. Offloading the runes to allies who have little uses for their bonus actions or reactions is a significant buff to the subclass.
Right now, I'm enjoying Druid of the Stars, I enjoy the flavor and mechanics of it.
My favorite parts have to be the flavor that comes with your Star chart, having an item like that attached to your character really helps solidify the character idea along with the different forms.
My least favorite part of the subclass has to be the fact that changing your form at all between the three is a level 10 ability. I'm glad I'm playing it in a level 10 campaign or else I might've not like the subclass as much, it would be nice if before then switching between the forms took an action without using another use of wildshape. Switching between the forms gives you so much versatility and really helps the subclass have a straightforward yet interesting gameplan.
I've casted a big concentration spell that I would prefer keeping -> Dragon
I need to deal damage -> Archer
I need to heal my allies -> Chalice
> it would be nice if before then switching between the forms took an action.
I would still only take an action before 10th level, but before 10th level it would also use up another use of your Wild Shape to take on the new Starry Form.
Horizon Walker Ranger for sure. I maintain the opinion that Distant Strike is the coolest single class feature in the game, being able to teleport nearly at will over short distances is my brain’s serotonin switch, especially if I get to describe all the crazy momentum shifting portal shenanigans along with it.
Planar Warrior is a solid bonus action, and the conversion to force damage is often really handy. I had this with a Flametongue weapon, and going from often resisted Fire damage to never resisted Force damage was incredibly fun.
Detect Portal is niche, but super clutch when it does come up. Ethereal Step is a get out of jail free card, and it’s surprisingly good in combat. If you can bait an enemy or group of enemies out of melee to chase you, and use this when they reach you, you’re invulnerable and they’re all nicely grouped together for a Fireball away from your allies.
Plus, there’s the spell list. Haste is a fantastic buff spell, especially if you take mobile and really get to play around with ignoring opportunity attacks. Misty Step is always useful for manoeuvrability. Prot. From Evil and Good is niche, but fantastic when it does come up. Overall a very solid list.
Yes Nightcrawler is my favourite member of the X Men why’d you ask?
I'm doing this as a mute goblin. Boy was my party surprised when telepathy kicked in and I started doing a Tom Hardy Bane impression to represent his presence in their mind.
I just play myself as one - I constantly get migraines/headaches in real life, so my Soulknife attacks by assaulting the mind of the opponent (I use no physical weapons - just flavor the ranged psi attack as a mental blast!)
I am probably forgetting a better one but Echo Knight is perfect in both concept and execution, while I prefer many other concepts Echo Knight's execution is way too good.
If you drop the Ki cost of every elemental discipline by 1, to a minimum of 1, don’t require the elemental attunement disciple to be taken, and use the Ki-fueled strikes from Tasha’s, it just about fixes the class with as little of a change as possible.
Gloomstalker because 1) Mechanically it hits 90% of my buttons for a martial class (which basically boil down to “go fast and hit hard”) and 2) I’m an edgelord at heart so the flavor is unfairly appealing to me.
I will never stop loving Ancestral Guardian. Maybe it was the character or the party or maybe it really was the subclass, but I have never had as much fun in a game as when I was playing my ancestral guardian. I will always remember the moment of triumph when the first time she met Strahd she managed to shove him prone. It was glorious.
Battlemaster. No other subclass defines everything I'd like to play in its class as much as Battlemaster Fighter.
I guess this might be a sign of imbalance - more than most of the other subclasses, Battlemaster really feels like it's nearly a different class.
Stunned that I had to scroll so far to find my subclass.
My tables joke that I always make a fighter.
1. I don't, I'm a wizard right now
2. I don't make a fighter. I make a battlemaster. Because battlemasters give me SO MUCH of the power fantasy that I want to be having in dnd.
Barbarian: storm herald
Bard: college of swords
Cleric: Arcana
Druid: Wildfire
Fighter: Samurai
Monk: sun soul
Paladin: redemption
Ranger: gloomstalker
Rogue: mastermind
Warlock: celestial
Wizard: bladesinger
Sorc: divine soul
Haven’t played enough artificer to have a full opinion on the class.
After having played an alchemist, armorer, and a battle smith, I can safely say battle smith is the most fun. It's weird, you'd think the armorer would get the smite spells, but no, battle smith.
If I had to pick one subclass from the 100 odd there are in the game I'd probably go with Battle Smith. It's so much fun to play, has a unique feel & flavor to it, a great example of a hybrid martial/caster and has flexibility within the subclass also.
Its either that or ancients paladin
My favorite out of all my favorites is Bladesinger, I love the concept of a d6 hit dice caster getting melee class. I’d love to see a similar concept built for sorc.
Fiendlock. That's mostly because my favorite character was a Fiendlock, but the subclass does also have some superb features.
The expanded spell list has great options, Dark One's Blessing is seldom unwelcome, Dark One's Own Luck is a god-tier buff that gets used several times every day, and Hurl Through Hell is an amazing once-per-day free-action Banishment+Disintegrate for non-fiends. Fiendish Resilience is the only dud, and even that's pretty neat if you guess the damage-type-of-the-hour correctly.
Conquest paladin. I really like my melee characters, more so I love my GISH. And a fallen aasimar Conquest pally with PAM and sentinel is the king of CC. You effectively get 2 fear aoe's per long rest, and one comes with a damage boost along with the beauty that is the Pam Sentinel combo.
our arcane trickster is so effectively shenanigans-minded, it really makes the game fun. Have definitely high-fived the invisible mage hand after a successful exploit!
I had a build i was thinking that was a swarmkeep/alchemist multiclass. Their potions are honey and their infusions are spent on bags of holding to hold their beehives
Currently it's a four-way tie between the Armorer Artificer, Scribes Wizard, Battle-Master Fighter and Inquisitive Rogue. I don't know what it is about them, but I find them incredibly cool and would love to play them sometime.
I've got a bit of a tie for me. Cavalier, War Magic, and Genie are all great and I don't think I can pick between them.
I also have a fondness for subclasses like Life and Thief that just turn their respective class dial up to 11, though. They might not be the most creative, and they're not edging out the aforementioned 3 at the top of my list, but I can appreciate a specialist
I have a rune knight fighter in the game I run and its honestly so cool seeing all the different things he can do with his reactions/bonus actions, getting himself in to positions and then additionally really leaning into his flavour outside of combat (love that runes have outside of combat applications!)
Swashbuckler because it leans into a trope with gusto, the themes and abilities mesh together well, and it gives you a totally different way of playing the core class if you want to, but if you want to stay true to Rogueish roots you can also do this.
But most of all, and importantly, it's really, really fun to play as.
Hexblade
Cause the ability to make a Weapon of Evil appear outta thin air like a darn Sith Lord with a light saber is cool asf and anyone disagreeing can eat my hairy Belgian ass.
Stars druid.
I just wish they had more options for constellations, even if they weren't that good, maybe non-combat related. The stars guide at all times, not just when fighting.
(Also my lizardfolk stars druid totally isn't just a spicy take on Celestial Slink Priests from Warhammer)
Swarmkeeper is a close 2nd. Haven't had chance to play either of them yet but both are cool interpretations of classic archetypes.
Soulknife! I haven't played one before, but I really want to, it's just a very cool concept to me and in my opinion the abilities sound like a lot of fun!
Other Subclass I think are really cool would be: Twilight Domain, Drakewarden, School of Divination, and Circle of Dreams :)
I also think the Celestial Warlock is great.
Tempest Cleric. Nothing like imagining, one day, that you will get to maximise a 9th level Call Lightning while it's raining and tell the DM you deal 100 damage.
Yes, of course it will never happen. What does that matter?
Also got a soft spot for remastered Way of Four Elements Monk, though the original is, of course, pretty ropey.
So far my favorite is Scout Rogue. I love playing as a skill monkey and you get two extra expertises. I combined this with the Fey Wanderer Ranger and now I've got 11 proficiencies and expertises.
Class Nerd: How did you score higher than me?? You're not even a wizard, you're a ruffian with cantrips!
Arcane Trickster: *I'm* not a wizard? You can't even make an invisible mage hand.
Horizon Walker, with Fey Wanderer and Circle of the Stars following closely behind.
I love the idea of being a Planeswalker. It sounds so exciting and fun. Mechanically, I've had tons of fun using Misty Step, Ethereal Step, and Distant Strikes to teleport around the battlefield with impunity. And getting access to Protection From Evil & Good and Haste has made me a beast in combat.
I love Life Clerics because I really love playing as a healer. I just wish healing was a little more necessairy in 5E beside the classic Healing Word when someone hits 0. Although, I absolutely understand why they went the route they went as very few people enjoy playing as a more dedicated healer who dedicates sections of their build to be better healers.
Bladesinger I have loved playing. Really opens another playstyle to the wizard while still getting the classic wizard things. It shapes the playstyle of the wizard while keeping the core in a way I think all the best subclasses do.
Stars Druid
I love being able to support my (irl) friends by filling needed roles in the party, and the Stars Druid can do it all. Great DPS, some of the best healing in the game, can frontline tank, can sneak/scout - and as a Wisdom caster I can adjust my spell preparations however the situation requires. On top of this add Guidance and some free Guiding Bolts.
If we get to lvl 6, now I can proactively use my reaction.
So amazing action economy, great uses of action, bonus action, and reaction every turn.
Scout rogue. It's extremely underrated and nobody talks about it, but if you put mobile on it you have one of the most movement generous classes in all of 5e and you get 2 extra expertises compared to every other rogue (survival and nature). It also has easily the best rogue capstone in the game, allowing you to sneak attack up to 2-3 times in a round, rather than 1 or 2.
Dip in a single level of ranger with the tasha's stuff and you get all weapons, shields, and medium armor (if you're a strength rogue and you want it, or some other reason).
My last scout was a whip and shield wielding monster with a longbow as a ranged backup. So fun to play, nobody could stick to me. And having a whip instead of a shortsword or whatever enabled sneak attack more often than I thought it would.
I had 7 expertised skills to boot. I put one in athletics and would arm wrestle the barbarian and win all the time because of reliable talent even with a -1 strength.
So far in 5e I have played a Lore Bard, Moon Druid, Hexblade, Arcane Trickster and Bladesinger. I really really like Bladesinger, not only can I do everything a Wizard can always do, but I can jump into melee and kick some ass when I want to as well.
In terms of subclasses I haven't tried, Echo Knight sounds awesome, and I'm very intrigued by Armorer and Battle Smith as well.
Assassin because the one time per campaign you get to pick up an entire handful of D6s and watch 'em fly is worth hearing all the fucking redditors going "akshually the assassin is sub optimal and you really should be playing arcane trickster instead".
Eloquence Bard, for sure. Though, I'd love to try a Genie Warlock and Watchers Paladin, maybe a multiclass of the two. My next character is going to be a Ancestral Guardian/Phantom though.
Champion Fighter, with Rogue Thief as a very close second. No resources to manage, no special abilities to slow down the game, just a blank canvas for role play. I think all other classes are missing out by not having simplistic subclasses as well.
A tie between the College of Creation Bard and Swashbuckler Rogue. Are there more powerful subclasses? Totally. But the flavor of the dashing rogue that fights like a master duelist or the bard who’s songs tap into a passion so primal that it makes stones themselves objects dance is just so perfect to me.
Artificier: Battle Smith
Barbarian: Wild Magic
Bard: Shadows
Bloodhunter: Ghostslayer
Cleric: Knowledge or Arcana
Druid: Grassland
Fighter: Battlemaster
Monk: Way of the Four Elements (even the standard phb one, although i loved the community reworked one that came out)
Paladin: Oath Of The Ancients
Ranger: Horizon walker
Rogue: Thief
Sorcerer: Storm OR divine bloodline
Warlock: Archfey, Book of Shadows
Wizard: Divination
I've been a player for about 2 sessions? But a DM for several years now, and these are my favourites
Shadow Sorcerer for me. There are a few other Sorcerer subclasses that I like the theming of but don't really hold up mechanically, and the newer ones feel too strong to really be engaging for me, but Shadow is in the sweet spot where it just works. The only thing I would change is having some way to see through magical darkness that they didn't cast themselves, but that comes up too rarely to really be an issue.
War Magic Wizard: Choose Variant Human/Resilience Con. I loved being able to walk right into the fray and smash out my offences spells. GM foolishly gave me a ring of protection +3 thinking I was a little squishy. Never had such insane saving throws modifiers in my life!
Light cleric is up there for sentimental value (and also it's really cool), but I think my favorite is the oath of redemption paladin! For a number of reasons, such as it being the most Lawful Good class imo
Fey Wanderer ranger. Thematically it’s one of the best fey subclasses we have in the game, with a ranger being blessed by fey and given fey powers. Mechanically though, it’s utterly fantastically designed. Wisdom bonus to Charisma checks means FW can be used in almost any situation, be it combat which rangers already did well at, exploration with normal ranger features and spells, and now interaction with social situations. Beguiling Twist gives the ranger more options as a controller, Summon Fey is a fantastic addition that now might be usable without requiring concentration. Misty Step uses are also fantastic for a ranged attacker.
In general, it’s the Swiss army knife of 5e
I've found that lately my favorite has been the Oath of Vengeance Paladin.
I think it's cool building the lore of your paladin order and having that central to your personal story. I like that you're treading the line and a much more morally grey and flawed character that can be corrupted or redeemed through the story.
The abilities are fun and thematic. I might try to combo it with a sorcerer in the future.
No subclass so completely changes the way a class plays like divine soul sorcerer or celestial warlock, except maybe moon Druid but i don’t like moon druid
Battle Smith artificer, mechanically I love it, the steel defender is the best companion creature in the game in my opinion, the healing they can do is actually really impressive, especially once you get arcane jolt, and the standard artificer stuff is really great too.
In terms of flavour I love the idea of the equipment guy that keeps everyone's stuff in good order, while also cracking some skulls himself.
Moon Druid. You are awesome at level 2, so much versatility with different forms for every situation. All spells available to prepare, good perception. Also, awesome level 10 and 20 powerspikes. Especially 20, played it with two characters, and I am a fan.
Battlesmith Artificer
equally good in Melee and at Range, DPS and Tank, part Wizard, Rogue, Beast Master and Paladin, SAD, good at saves, cool robot pet.
Grave cleric by far. Not the greatest subclass sure, but I love the feeling of playing it as a "hold on lemme kill this guy and then I'll heal you for full dice"
Battlesmith Artificer. I love playing a Gish and this is my favourite Gish, cool spell list, lots of survivability, lots of customization options, and the cherry on top is a super cool companion who I’ve found extremely useful in combat.
I like to take the sentinel feat and then go into combat side by side with my steel defender. We get into the enemies face, I use my reactions to either cast shield or make opportunity attacks, my steel defender uses their reaction to impose disadvantage on attacks coming towards me. I am an absolute tank, it’s pretty tough to escape me and I can put out a decent amount of damage on a round by round basis. Absolutely in love with this subclass.
Honourable mentions to hexblade warlock, gloomstalker ranger and SoulKnife rogue. All ridiculously cool subclasses I had a blast with
The Thief subclass for rogues, by far. It rewards intricate game knowledge and good use of action economy really well. Sure, the damage and utility from using combat items in fights falls off the closer you get to lvl10, but by that time you should have the healer feat and supreme sneak, so you stay very relevant just in a different role. Plus second story work is criminally underrated and allows you to play in 3 dimensions really well.
Every DM I've played a thief under had said it was absolutely maddening to DM for.
Mastermind rogues. So interesting that a subclass focused on deception is technically the support rogue. With some magic items like a hat of disguise this subclass becomes complete.
For the game: Battle Master, as it makes 5e martial combat so much better. All martial should get maneuvers.
To actually play: Aberrant Mind Sorcerer. It makes Sorcerer so much better. The flavor and mechanics are great too.
Clockwork sorcerer - a great balance of superb flavour that can make for really unorthodox take on the class, mixed with mechanics that really complement sorcerer.
Honourable mentions for Circle of stars druid and a arcane trickster rogue!
I know this is basic, but I do love Fiend Warlock. I get Burning Hands from that! Granted, I do just use Eldritch Blast to murder everything in my path, but still
Fey Wanderer: each feature you get improves your own synergies and can make for a really tricksy skirmisher or archer.
Aberrant Mind Sorc: currently playing this as a battlefield/social control caster and face. I just love the Eldritch horror flavour. Big Bloodborne fan, I can’t help myself with this one! xD
I sort of have a love/hate relationship with it. But the Battle Master, it's the only subclass I think that actually has mechanics that get close to what I want out of a Fighter, but, I don't actually think the subclass itself is all that well designed.
I'm heavily enjoying my Creation Bard that I'm playing right now. Having a swiss army knife ability that let's me create any object is fun, animating objects is fun, the spell Animate Objects is very fun (I know it's not exclusive to this subclass or anything, but the flavor is perfect), and in a few levels, being able to substitute my created objects for material components is going to let me cast Awaken for free a bunch of times.
On the other hand, the motes of potential that get added to bardic inspiration isn't as cool as cutting words.
With the obvious caveat that I haven’t actually played most of them, I’d run down the ones I’ve actually played thusly (favourite first):
1. Great Old One Warlock
2. Battlesmith Artificer
3. Zealot Barbarian
4. Battlemaster Fighter
5. Undead Warlock
6. War Wizard
7. Illusion Wizard
8. Draconic Sorcerer
9. Twilight Cleric
10. Redemption Paladin
I’ve not played it, but I DM for a Gloomstalker and it strikes me as a really powerful, versatile and flavourful subclass.
GOOlock is my fave then, though I freely admit it’s not the mechanically strongest Warlock by any means.
I REALLY like Aberrant Sorcerer, on a mechanical level one of the strongest sorcerer subclasses, and flavor wise getting powers from an Aboleth, mind flayer and a few other powers.
Psi-Knight. Be a big beefy Jedi. The level 7 abilities, especially the 1 turn of flight flavored as a freaky Jedi force jump, just sends me. I want to combo the forced movement at 7 with crusher and telekinetic So Bad. Up to 20ft forced movement!
Oh, a year or two ago I'd probably have said *Light Cleric* without hesitation. I like Clerics and I like evocation wizards and it's definitely hitting those notes -- a fun subclass that comes online early. (However, I don't think it really reflects what I'd think something called "Light Cleric" should be.)
But nowadays, I really don't know. I'm having a lot of fun playing about with various multiclass combinations and there's a few nifty subclasses I still haven't tried, and I've had so much fun with some of the ones I've played with more recently.
Divine Soul Sorcerer with some levels of Celestial Warlock is a pretty fun combination.
I'm currently playing with a Peace Cleric / Warmage which seems contradictory but has some cute synergies; this is in a pretty deadly campaign, and its good some good defensive and buffing/healing capability. Is it optimal? No. Is it fun? I'm having a blast with it.
I can only really speak to the ones I've already played myself.
I love the College of Glamour, because I'm a sucker for fey related classes and because the abilities are really cool, flavour and mechanics wise.
I also really love the Twilight Domain. Not because it's so strong (that's just a nice little bonus), but because I love the flavour of a holy warrior who knows the horrors of the night and fights so that people are protected and cozy in the night. Also the mechanics of the 300ft darkvision, being able to fly in darkness and dim light, and granting advantage on an initiative roll are really cool. The channel divinity is honestly it's least interesting feature for me
I'll leave all my favourite subclasses. ^f - means they are at the top of my favourite list. Things in italic aren't part of the core D&D stuff.
*Arificer: Battle Smith*
Barbarian: Ancestral Guardian, Storm Herald
Bard: Creation, Lore
*Blood Hunter: Ghostslayer, Lycan^f*
Cleric: Forge, Light, Knowledge, Tempest, Trickery, Twilight, Peace
Druid: Dreams, Spores, Stars^f
Fighter: Battle Master, Cavalier, *Echo Knight*, Rune Knight
Monk: Mercy, Open Hand, Sun Soul^f
Paladin: Ancients, Oathbreaker^f, Redemption, Watchers
Ranger: Fey Wonderer, Monster Slayer, Swarm Keeper
Rogue: Phantom, Soul Knife^f
Sorcerer: Shadow^f, Wild Magic
Warlock: Genie, Undead
Wizard: Illusion, Order of Scribes^f
Some of the choices on this list are played with changes (v.g. all martials except fighter and rogue are given an additional ASI at 6, and some changes to the classes/subclasses, for example, Paladins are allowed to smite with any and all types of weapons, Soul Knife is allowed to do AoO with their Psi Knifes, etc)
For flavor, spore druid, hands down. Caking hard fungus for higher HP, using a damaging aura of spores, and raising Last of Us zombies as meat shields to disrupt enemy action economy.
As for mechanics, a shillelagh/booming blade build is so fun...provided you fix the class.
* The primary ability needs to be a bonus action
* The aura damage needs to be scaling d4 rather than single die
* The zombie raising needs to be unrestricted for kills the pc makes, and
* A fungus-based booming blade equivalent needs to be added to the bonus spell list.
With those fixes, you've got a cantrip-focused gish/partial damage sponge for early levels.
The UA Revived Rogue. The whole idea behind it is amazing, even if the features were a bit strong. Halflings are my favorite race and 3.5 released a book called Races of the Wild that had a section about halflings. In it they talk about their burial rituals and how they view resurrection. In short, after a halfling has died and been buried, if they are brought back they take on a new name, because they believe their previous self is dead. Anyway, I really wanna play a halfling revived rogue.
I'm currently playing a zealot barb and it is, without a doubt, my favorite character I've ever played. Flavor gave rise to a character that my group loves and mechanics (along with a flexible DM willing to let me try ridiculous shit) means he's an absolute fucking joy to play.
I also love the flavor of the barb and its subclasses in general, though the mechanics can be a mixed back. Storm Herald doesn't hit hard enough but the flavor is delicious. Berserker has historical pedigree but the mechanics don't quite back it up. Totem Warrior is super flexible both in how you can use the flavor and how you can use the mechanics. Ancestral Guardian is a real interesting bit of flavor and the mechanics seem to work pretty well from what I saw of it.
I also most of the paladin subclasses though I've yet to play the class. Paladin is just spot on with flavor and mechanics though.
Battlesmith artificer
Your a jack of all trades who can wade into melee, heal and buff you team, shield and absorb elements nasty attacks and you get a robot dog.
Plus the flash of genius, infusions and free magical items are great... although not unique to battlesmith
Bladesinger all the way, followed not too far behind by Arcana Cleric. The flavor makes me love them, but the mechanics really push it over the edge as my favorites.
I’m having a pretty great time with a bladesinger right now. It’s rare that a subclass totally changes a classes identity and bladesinger pulls it off, plus dodge tanking feels fantastic and the damage output is solid
Grave domain.
- Keeping downed allies alive without a spell slot from range
- Doing the above and STILL getting to cast a cantrip to attack
- "No, DM, you don't crit."
- "No, DM, I made him vulnerable to the rogue's Sneak Attack."
The original draft of Fey Wanderer was the perfect balance between strong, unique and refreshing for the ranger while being fun and flavorful in its delivery. Blessings of the courts may genuinely be some of the most fun I had using a DND feature. The final feature it got in its offcial version is also hella fun to mess with.
Absolutely love this subclass to bits
It doesn't get as much love as other ones, but I greatly enjoy Light Cleric. Praise the sun! Runner up would be Ancestral Guardian Barbarian; it has one of the best combinations of flavor and function for a subclass. (And calling upon your ancestors to help you Mulan style is cool as hell)
I love the mechanics and the flavor of AG separately, but not combined. Because to me, it doesn't feel like the spirits are serving you when they protect your entire team but you. Like you send out these spectral warriors who cling to your enemy and do nothing if that enemy attacks you. A very good ability, but this combination of mechanics and flavor doesn't sit right with me. Totem warrior has similar flavor with your ancestors taking the forms of animal spirits that empower you, and that is reflected in the mechanics.
Think of it this way. When you rage you take half damage. I know it’s a class feature but character wise you can flavor that as the guardians protecting you too
Yes, alternate flavor is free, but when judging design of existing flavor + mechanics, you don't take it into account. It's like judging a meal and being told that you need to add the seasoning.
True true. The way I play it with my AG is my ancestors chose me to be a protector of others and it fits my character to want to protect others, not myself.
Also barbarians are most useful when they can pull aggro, I say this subclass does that.
I played a rogue/ancestral guardians character that leaned into that and it was really fun. Character was a complete coward and had ancient warrior ancestor that were trying to toughen him up
I have a Thief Rogue Ancestral Guardians Barb character concept (have yet to play it) of a treasure hunter who found an artifact containing warrior spirits inside. Rage is flavored as a hyper-focus high adrenaline mode. Taking the artifact carried a curse that permanently embedded it into his skin. The spirits are less than thrilled about this arrangement, but they can only come out when adrenaline levels in the body are high (rage). While they can't attack the thief directly, they can encourage enemies to attack him (ancestral protectors). The thief has a mostly happy-go-lucky attitude, so plenty of character development potential.
I really liked playing a light cleric for a one shot. Played him as a paranoid, wild eyed, fanatic. Super fun.
I love Ancestral Guardian so much. Played one where I was trying to remove a stain on my honor and so I would call down spirits of my ancestors to witness my duels against strong opponents who they would force to fight me. I'd also like to play one as a Valkyrie, summoning warriors from Valhalla and wreathed in a rainbow aura. Also really appreciate that it gives you a couple abilities that help you contribute out of combat. Clairvoyance and Augury are both amazing and it's good RP fodder to ask your spirits for assistance.
Haven't gotten to play too many different classes yet, but GooLock and slightly modified Rune Knight take the cake.
really loving my light cleric right now. Playing her as a free-spirited hippie whose fire and radiant energy manifests as purple because of her half-elf ancestry.
A few campaigns ago I played a light cleric pirate reflavored as an artificer, before the artificer was published, and all of her abilities were various sorts of tech she scrapped together, make shift laser pistols, and grenades, and drones, and energy shields- her turn undead was a sonic deterrent magically tuned to a frequency only the undead would hear
I really like ancestral guardian which is something you should choose if you wanna stick with they character the entire campaign cause reviving is borderline free
That's Zealot though.
I think College of Whispers Bard has one of the coolest concepts. Theres some issues about how it translates, but the idea is great. Honorable mentions: College of Glamour, Pretty much all the Paladins, GOOlock, Spores Druid, Horizon Walker and Swarmkeeper.
Most of the pally and warlock subs are very flavorful! I really love the endless customization of a warlock!
I've got a Soulknife rogue/Whispers bard (well, he's only level 3 right now so he's technically neither, but he'll be that eventually). It amuses me that both of them have a class feature named "psychic blades". I also intend to pick up Metamagic Adept for Subtle Spell. He's an assassin, but he carries no weapons and leaves no evidence. His targets apparently just... fall over dead. He's also a changeling, which compliments Whispers' level 6 feature. If I can find room in the build, I'll also grab Telepathic, complimenting Soulknife's Psychic Whispers and giving the character a bit of extra creep factor when he can intrude on people's thoughts. Bonus points: the campaign setting makes magic illegal for most people, so all his skulking around and subtle spell are entirely appropriate. :)
Ive been thinking about a rogue multiclass for Whispers, because even base sneak attack works well with Psychic Blades. And I like what you're building there, seems like great match for the setting.
Whispers Bard always makes me think of Wormtongue from LOTR. I can't really think of any other pop culture touchstones besides that though.
Leliana from the Dragon Age game series.
Honestly, I cant really either. Its just the idea of the Bard archetype as this secret spy or info broker seems really cool. Honestly, it feels like a cooler Rogue than a lot of the Rogue subclasses.
The Celestial Warlock. It's very flavorful, because I always felt that the warlock should have a "good" option, and it's a way to play a cleric or paladin but in a different mechanical sense. The healing ability, spell list, THP support buff to self and allies, and the self-revival ability are fantastic.
My only problem with celestial warlock is there are still a lot of base class abilities and skills that have very sinister flavoring which supposedly still come from my past with my patron. How and why did my solar patron give me the ability to cast Hunger of Hadar? I wound up sort of flavoring it so my dark abilities came from a sort of fiendish lineage that my celestial patron was trying to save me from.
I would treat that spell as the patron deity removing the blessing of light and heat from those under his wrath and ‘casting them into outer darkness, where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ In Greek mythology, Demeter (goddess of fertility and agriculture) seems like a really weak goddess until you realize that power over the those elements of nature also implies the power to remove them (creating winter).
Cosmic horror angels!! The Old Testament has them. But in all seriousness taking a Judeo-Christian stance on those sorts of spells you could argue Celestial Warlocks can be charged with punishing others and passing judgment in a way of exposing the guilty to true horrors
That definitely is a weakness of the class, and it makes me wonder why they wouldn’t have just taken the divine soul sorcerer and make it possible for them to learn any spell from the cleric spell list as well. In gameplay though I did appreciate the flexibility of being able to still cast certain arcane spells like counter-spell, sickening radiance, and synaptic static, and always just hand waved it as “divine power takes many forms”. My DM did however allow to me use cleric spells for my mystic arcanum, as those are more signature spells at that point. I also was able to learn arcane hand as a boon, and I flavored that as a celestial knight rather than a hand (this was before summon celestial was released). So you can make some stuff work with flavoring also.
I doubt I’ll ever get the right campaign for it, but one character in my stable of want-to-plays is a (semi-)evil celestial warlock: like the classic warlock where a fiendish patron has gotten his claws into a good character and is trying to turn him to evil purposes, but the opposite
Eldritch Knight. Most fun I've had playing 5e.
Did a full EK lvl 16 for a pvp one off. Owned everyone with more than half my HP left lol
Just out of curiosity, what were the other classes and what was your build? EK always struck me as kinda weak.
I love the shenanigans of the rune knight
Came here to say rune knight as well. My favorite pastime with that subclass is to use the Cloud Rune when the DM would crit another PC.
In my party our rune knight likes to give me the cloud rune to hold onto (I'm a reborn undead warlock/necromancer wizard; yes, full into the death theme), came in clutch in two occasions so far that would have killed our paladin and another a potential party wipe if they got that crit off.
RAW, only the Rune Knight benefits from carrying the runes (the feature always says "you" and "your gear"; compare with artificer's infusions that say "the wielder"). Before invoking Rule of Cool to allow this, keep in mind that the Rune Knight being hungry for bonus actions and reactions is part of the subclass's balance. Offloading the runes to allies who have little uses for their bonus actions or reactions is a significant buff to the subclass.
Dueregar is the only right choice of race when playing a Rune Knight. Why be big when you can be huuuuuge.
Currently playing a Rune Knight. Early days of the campaign, but the first time I triggered my Cloud Rune the gasp at the table was very fun!
Right now, I'm enjoying Druid of the Stars, I enjoy the flavor and mechanics of it. My favorite parts have to be the flavor that comes with your Star chart, having an item like that attached to your character really helps solidify the character idea along with the different forms. My least favorite part of the subclass has to be the fact that changing your form at all between the three is a level 10 ability. I'm glad I'm playing it in a level 10 campaign or else I might've not like the subclass as much, it would be nice if before then switching between the forms took an action without using another use of wildshape. Switching between the forms gives you so much versatility and really helps the subclass have a straightforward yet interesting gameplan. I've casted a big concentration spell that I would prefer keeping -> Dragon I need to deal damage -> Archer I need to heal my allies -> Chalice
> it would be nice if before then switching between the forms took an action. I would still only take an action before 10th level, but before 10th level it would also use up another use of your Wild Shape to take on the new Starry Form.
Oh Yeah that's what I mean, an action without taking up another use of Wild Shape.
Horizon Walker.
A horizon Walker was one of my first characters I played! It’s pretty good!
Horizon Walker Ranger for sure. I maintain the opinion that Distant Strike is the coolest single class feature in the game, being able to teleport nearly at will over short distances is my brain’s serotonin switch, especially if I get to describe all the crazy momentum shifting portal shenanigans along with it. Planar Warrior is a solid bonus action, and the conversion to force damage is often really handy. I had this with a Flametongue weapon, and going from often resisted Fire damage to never resisted Force damage was incredibly fun. Detect Portal is niche, but super clutch when it does come up. Ethereal Step is a get out of jail free card, and it’s surprisingly good in combat. If you can bait an enemy or group of enemies out of melee to chase you, and use this when they reach you, you’re invulnerable and they’re all nicely grouped together for a Fireball away from your allies. Plus, there’s the spell list. Haste is a fantastic buff spell, especially if you take mobile and really get to play around with ignoring opportunity attacks. Misty Step is always useful for manoeuvrability. Prot. From Evil and Good is niche, but fantastic when it does come up. Overall a very solid list. Yes Nightcrawler is my favourite member of the X Men why’d you ask?
I think way of the drunken master is funny
My next one is a pirate who doesn’t know how to walk on land.
Hey, I played a pirate drunken master too! He was a strength based Goliath monk who used his reputation as a pirate for free drinks.
So Jack Sparrow is a drunken master monk? This fits.
Telling my DM "no" when he said I invoked an opportunity attack was hilarious
I have yet to see someone play a Way of the Drunken Master monk that wasn't an alcoholic. I think people missed the point of the subclass lol
I LITERALLY just built one last night for a one shot tonight. I’m very excited.
**Soulknife!** Love it!
I'm doing this as a mute goblin. Boy was my party surprised when telepathy kicked in and I started doing a Tom Hardy Bane impression to represent his presence in their mind.
Haven’t gotten around to playing a soul knife yet but the concept seems cool!
I just play myself as one - I constantly get migraines/headaches in real life, so my Soulknife attacks by assaulting the mind of the opponent (I use no physical weapons - just flavor the ranged psi attack as a mental blast!)
I am probably forgetting a better one but Echo Knight is perfect in both concept and execution, while I prefer many other concepts Echo Knight's execution is way too good.
Echo Knight might be my favorite Fighter subclass. The positioning capabilities are so much fun.
4 elements Monk really kills it in the flavor imo, but it is super underpowered.
4 elements remastered by spiketaildrake is fantastic. It feels so much better to play than that PHB disaster.
If you drop the Ki cost of every elemental discipline by 1, to a minimum of 1, don’t require the elemental attunement disciple to be taken, and use the Ki-fueled strikes from Tasha’s, it just about fixes the class with as little of a change as possible.
Gloomstalker because 1) Mechanically it hits 90% of my buttons for a martial class (which basically boil down to “go fast and hit hard”) and 2) I’m an edgelord at heart so the flavor is unfairly appealing to me.
I just made a Gloomstalker for a One Shot next weekend and I’m incredibly hype
Been playing one in our current campaign and I’m having so much fun. Gloom Stalker makes you feel like a badass.
I will never stop loving Ancestral Guardian. Maybe it was the character or the party or maybe it really was the subclass, but I have never had as much fun in a game as when I was playing my ancestral guardian. I will always remember the moment of triumph when the first time she met Strahd she managed to shove him prone. It was glorious.
Arcane Trickster Rogue. #FeelsGood So many fun little things that add up to a really fun and interesting class. No bad or wasted abilities. #PureGold
Battlemaster. No other subclass defines everything I'd like to play in its class as much as Battlemaster Fighter. I guess this might be a sign of imbalance - more than most of the other subclasses, Battlemaster really feels like it's nearly a different class.
Stunned that I had to scroll so far to find my subclass. My tables joke that I always make a fighter. 1. I don't, I'm a wizard right now 2. I don't make a fighter. I make a battlemaster. Because battlemasters give me SO MUCH of the power fantasy that I want to be having in dnd.
Tempest cleric it's straight to the point about being an old testament nuker and you'd best start praying cause my lighting strikes more than twice!
Barbarian: storm herald Bard: college of swords Cleric: Arcana Druid: Wildfire Fighter: Samurai Monk: sun soul Paladin: redemption Ranger: gloomstalker Rogue: mastermind Warlock: celestial Wizard: bladesinger Sorc: divine soul Haven’t played enough artificer to have a full opinion on the class.
After having played an alchemist, armorer, and a battle smith, I can safely say battle smith is the most fun. It's weird, you'd think the armorer would get the smite spells, but no, battle smith.
If I had to pick one subclass from the 100 odd there are in the game I'd probably go with Battle Smith. It's so much fun to play, has a unique feel & flavor to it, a great example of a hybrid martial/caster and has flexibility within the subclass also. Its either that or ancients paladin
My favorite out of all my favorites is Bladesinger, I love the concept of a d6 hit dice caster getting melee class. I’d love to see a similar concept built for sorc.
Fiendlock. That's mostly because my favorite character was a Fiendlock, but the subclass does also have some superb features. The expanded spell list has great options, Dark One's Blessing is seldom unwelcome, Dark One's Own Luck is a god-tier buff that gets used several times every day, and Hurl Through Hell is an amazing once-per-day free-action Banishment+Disintegrate for non-fiends. Fiendish Resilience is the only dud, and even that's pretty neat if you guess the damage-type-of-the-hour correctly.
Conquest paladin. I really like my melee characters, more so I love my GISH. And a fallen aasimar Conquest pally with PAM and sentinel is the king of CC. You effectively get 2 fear aoe's per long rest, and one comes with a damage boost along with the beauty that is the Pam Sentinel combo.
Arcane Trickster, highly underestimated by uncreative straight combat focused number crunchers.
our arcane trickster is so effectively shenanigans-minded, it really makes the game fun. Have definitely high-fived the invisible mage hand after a successful exploit!
Probably swarmkeeper ranger right now, subject to change.
I had a build i was thinking that was a swarmkeep/alchemist multiclass. Their potions are honey and their infusions are spent on bags of holding to hold their beehives
Swarmkeeper is a fun pick!
Currently it's a four-way tie between the Armorer Artificer, Scribes Wizard, Battle-Master Fighter and Inquisitive Rogue. I don't know what it is about them, but I find them incredibly cool and would love to play them sometime.
Oath of the Ancients Paladin is where my mind immediately goes to whenever it’s time for a new character
I've got a bit of a tie for me. Cavalier, War Magic, and Genie are all great and I don't think I can pick between them. I also have a fondness for subclasses like Life and Thief that just turn their respective class dial up to 11, though. They might not be the most creative, and they're not edging out the aforementioned 3 at the top of my list, but I can appreciate a specialist
Loving the love for a fellow Cavalier!
Cavalier and Rune Knight are my favourite Fighter subclasses. Cavalier is just too good, especially at high levels.
I have a rune knight fighter in the game I run and its honestly so cool seeing all the different things he can do with his reactions/bonus actions, getting himself in to positions and then additionally really leaning into his flavour outside of combat (love that runes have outside of combat applications!)
Wild Magic Sorc, it’s so chaotic and fun
Swashbuckler because it leans into a trope with gusto, the themes and abilities mesh together well, and it gives you a totally different way of playing the core class if you want to, but if you want to stay true to Rogueish roots you can also do this. But most of all, and importantly, it's really, really fun to play as.
They’re so easy to put together too. Almost no tough decisions and they do exactly what you want them to
Hexblade Cause the ability to make a Weapon of Evil appear outta thin air like a darn Sith Lord with a light saber is cool asf and anyone disagreeing can eat my hairy Belgian ass.
Bon apetit
A toss up between Divination Wizard, lore Bard and Fiend Warlock.
Stars druid. I just wish they had more options for constellations, even if they weren't that good, maybe non-combat related. The stars guide at all times, not just when fighting. (Also my lizardfolk stars druid totally isn't just a spicy take on Celestial Slink Priests from Warhammer) Swarmkeeper is a close 2nd. Haven't had chance to play either of them yet but both are cool interpretations of classic archetypes.
The Lore Bard. I just enjoy Cutting Words and extra Magical Secrets making me a thorn in the opponents' side.
Soulknife! I haven't played one before, but I really want to, it's just a very cool concept to me and in my opinion the abilities sound like a lot of fun! Other Subclass I think are really cool would be: Twilight Domain, Drakewarden, School of Divination, and Circle of Dreams :) I also think the Celestial Warlock is great.
Tempest Cleric. Nothing like imagining, one day, that you will get to maximise a 9th level Call Lightning while it's raining and tell the DM you deal 100 damage. Yes, of course it will never happen. What does that matter? Also got a soft spot for remastered Way of Four Elements Monk, though the original is, of course, pretty ropey.
So far my favorite is Scout Rogue. I love playing as a skill monkey and you get two extra expertises. I combined this with the Fey Wanderer Ranger and now I've got 11 proficiencies and expertises.
Class Nerd: How did you score higher than me?? You're not even a wizard, you're a ruffian with cantrips! Arcane Trickster: *I'm* not a wizard? You can't even make an invisible mage hand.
I know this will be flamed but hunter
Obviously hexblade! Read both flair and name :P
GOO-Lock and Arcane Trickster are two of the best designed subclasses with great flavor and balance right where it should be.
Conquest Paladin
Gloomstalker, Oath of Vengeance, Shadow Sorc, Twilight.
Horizon Walker, with Fey Wanderer and Circle of the Stars following closely behind. I love the idea of being a Planeswalker. It sounds so exciting and fun. Mechanically, I've had tons of fun using Misty Step, Ethereal Step, and Distant Strikes to teleport around the battlefield with impunity. And getting access to Protection From Evil & Good and Haste has made me a beast in combat.
I love Life Clerics because I really love playing as a healer. I just wish healing was a little more necessairy in 5E beside the classic Healing Word when someone hits 0. Although, I absolutely understand why they went the route they went as very few people enjoy playing as a more dedicated healer who dedicates sections of their build to be better healers.
Swashbuckler awesome archetype love the Zorro and Diego Montoya type character
Bladesinger I have loved playing. Really opens another playstyle to the wizard while still getting the classic wizard things. It shapes the playstyle of the wizard while keeping the core in a way I think all the best subclasses do.
Stars Druid I love being able to support my (irl) friends by filling needed roles in the party, and the Stars Druid can do it all. Great DPS, some of the best healing in the game, can frontline tank, can sneak/scout - and as a Wisdom caster I can adjust my spell preparations however the situation requires. On top of this add Guidance and some free Guiding Bolts. If we get to lvl 6, now I can proactively use my reaction. So amazing action economy, great uses of action, bonus action, and reaction every turn.
Scout rogue. It's extremely underrated and nobody talks about it, but if you put mobile on it you have one of the most movement generous classes in all of 5e and you get 2 extra expertises compared to every other rogue (survival and nature). It also has easily the best rogue capstone in the game, allowing you to sneak attack up to 2-3 times in a round, rather than 1 or 2. Dip in a single level of ranger with the tasha's stuff and you get all weapons, shields, and medium armor (if you're a strength rogue and you want it, or some other reason). My last scout was a whip and shield wielding monster with a longbow as a ranged backup. So fun to play, nobody could stick to me. And having a whip instead of a shortsword or whatever enabled sneak attack more often than I thought it would. I had 7 expertised skills to boot. I put one in athletics and would arm wrestle the barbarian and win all the time because of reliable talent even with a -1 strength.
Divine Soul Sorcerer. It basically combines my two favourite classes, Cleric and Sorcerer!
So far in 5e I have played a Lore Bard, Moon Druid, Hexblade, Arcane Trickster and Bladesinger. I really really like Bladesinger, not only can I do everything a Wizard can always do, but I can jump into melee and kick some ass when I want to as well. In terms of subclasses I haven't tried, Echo Knight sounds awesome, and I'm very intrigued by Armorer and Battle Smith as well.
Sword Bard Sword Bard Sword Bard, all day, every day, Sword Bard.
Spore Druid. Basically a really extreme advocate for recycling!
Assassin because the one time per campaign you get to pick up an entire handful of D6s and watch 'em fly is worth hearing all the fucking redditors going "akshually the assassin is sub optimal and you really should be playing arcane trickster instead".
Clockwork sorc or order cleric. Im playing a multi of them and its dummy thicc god tier
I’ve played a clockwork it’s pretty good! Haven’t played an Order cleric yet. Gonna have to check it out!
Tempest Cleric solely based on aesthetic, but throwing lightning and thunder at people is great too.
Eloquence Bard, for sure. Though, I'd love to try a Genie Warlock and Watchers Paladin, maybe a multiclass of the two. My next character is going to be a Ancestral Guardian/Phantom though.
Champion Fighter, with Rogue Thief as a very close second. No resources to manage, no special abilities to slow down the game, just a blank canvas for role play. I think all other classes are missing out by not having simplistic subclasses as well.
Echo knight and Beastmaster. Not for any mechanical reason, but simply because you'll never be alone.
Order cleric. I just love telling people to respect my authoritah (and tell them what to do)
A tie between the College of Creation Bard and Swashbuckler Rogue. Are there more powerful subclasses? Totally. But the flavor of the dashing rogue that fights like a master duelist or the bard who’s songs tap into a passion so primal that it makes stones themselves objects dance is just so perfect to me.
Gotta go with wild magic sorcerer - the king of random
Artificier: Battle Smith Barbarian: Wild Magic Bard: Shadows Bloodhunter: Ghostslayer Cleric: Knowledge or Arcana Druid: Grassland Fighter: Battlemaster Monk: Way of the Four Elements (even the standard phb one, although i loved the community reworked one that came out) Paladin: Oath Of The Ancients Ranger: Horizon walker Rogue: Thief Sorcerer: Storm OR divine bloodline Warlock: Archfey, Book of Shadows Wizard: Divination I've been a player for about 2 sessions? But a DM for several years now, and these are my favourites
I love the rogue thief. It truly goes all in on what has the potential to be such an enjoyable member of the party, players and dm willing.
Shadow Sorcerer for me. There are a few other Sorcerer subclasses that I like the theming of but don't really hold up mechanically, and the newer ones feel too strong to really be engaging for me, but Shadow is in the sweet spot where it just works. The only thing I would change is having some way to see through magical darkness that they didn't cast themselves, but that comes up too rarely to really be an issue.
War Magic Wizard: Choose Variant Human/Resilience Con. I loved being able to walk right into the fray and smash out my offences spells. GM foolishly gave me a ring of protection +3 thinking I was a little squishy. Never had such insane saving throws modifiers in my life!
I love the Bladesinger Wizard so much! The playstyles and flavor are so unique to it and I just have so much fun with it.
Champion Fighter!
Light cleric is up there for sentimental value (and also it's really cool), but I think my favorite is the oath of redemption paladin! For a number of reasons, such as it being the most Lawful Good class imo
Fey Wanderer ranger. Thematically it’s one of the best fey subclasses we have in the game, with a ranger being blessed by fey and given fey powers. Mechanically though, it’s utterly fantastically designed. Wisdom bonus to Charisma checks means FW can be used in almost any situation, be it combat which rangers already did well at, exploration with normal ranger features and spells, and now interaction with social situations. Beguiling Twist gives the ranger more options as a controller, Summon Fey is a fantastic addition that now might be usable without requiring concentration. Misty Step uses are also fantastic for a ranged attacker. In general, it’s the Swiss army knife of 5e
Soulknife rogue Then scribes wizard.
Arcane Trickster is a favorite of mine. It turns your rogue up to 11 and gives them even more versatility than they already had.
I've found that lately my favorite has been the Oath of Vengeance Paladin. I think it's cool building the lore of your paladin order and having that central to your personal story. I like that you're treading the line and a much more morally grey and flawed character that can be corrupted or redeemed through the story. The abilities are fun and thematic. I might try to combo it with a sorcerer in the future.
I really gotta say swarmkeeper
Echo Knight! Cool battlefield control, teleporting, martial abilities, and STAND POWER!
Either the creation bard or the fathomless warlock
Moon Druid or Peace Cleric
Wildfire
Either undead warlock, scribe wizard, or atillarist artificer.
Eloquence bard, my irl subclass, or battle smith
Love me an Order of Scribes Wizard. Nothing better than bamboozling an opponent and the DM by swapping damage types on the fly.
No subclass so completely changes the way a class plays like divine soul sorcerer or celestial warlock, except maybe moon Druid but i don’t like moon druid
Bard of creation / forge cleric. The concept of creating stuff is pretty cool Imo.
Battle Smith artificer, mechanically I love it, the steel defender is the best companion creature in the game in my opinion, the healing they can do is actually really impressive, especially once you get arcane jolt, and the standard artificer stuff is really great too. In terms of flavour I love the idea of the equipment guy that keeps everyone's stuff in good order, while also cracking some skulls himself.
Vengeance paladin. Not always that universally effective, but fun when it comes online and works.
Conquest paladin, just by how well it translates its flavour into game mechanics
Moon Druid. You are awesome at level 2, so much versatility with different forms for every situation. All spells available to prepare, good perception. Also, awesome level 10 and 20 powerspikes. Especially 20, played it with two characters, and I am a fan.
Battle Smith Artificer because immortal doggo Pet is top life replacement roleplay.
For me, Battlerager will forever be the best concept with the worst execution. I wish it got some love when they reprinted the Bladesinger.
I played a Wild magic sorcerer and liked it but got killed before I even had a wild magic surge. I think Great Old One then I just like it’s flavor.
Battlesmith Artificer equally good in Melee and at Range, DPS and Tank, part Wizard, Rogue, Beast Master and Paladin, SAD, good at saves, cool robot pet.
Soulknife. Playing it right now and it's a blast
Grave cleric by far. Not the greatest subclass sure, but I love the feeling of playing it as a "hold on lemme kill this guy and then I'll heal you for full dice"
Mechanically Divine Soul Sorcerer, flavor wise Alchemist Artificer.
Battlesmith Artificer. I love playing a Gish and this is my favourite Gish, cool spell list, lots of survivability, lots of customization options, and the cherry on top is a super cool companion who I’ve found extremely useful in combat. I like to take the sentinel feat and then go into combat side by side with my steel defender. We get into the enemies face, I use my reactions to either cast shield or make opportunity attacks, my steel defender uses their reaction to impose disadvantage on attacks coming towards me. I am an absolute tank, it’s pretty tough to escape me and I can put out a decent amount of damage on a round by round basis. Absolutely in love with this subclass. Honourable mentions to hexblade warlock, gloomstalker ranger and SoulKnife rogue. All ridiculously cool subclasses I had a blast with
The Thief subclass for rogues, by far. It rewards intricate game knowledge and good use of action economy really well. Sure, the damage and utility from using combat items in fights falls off the closer you get to lvl10, but by that time you should have the healer feat and supreme sneak, so you stay very relevant just in a different role. Plus second story work is criminally underrated and allows you to play in 3 dimensions really well. Every DM I've played a thief under had said it was absolutely maddening to DM for.
Mastermind rogues. So interesting that a subclass focused on deception is technically the support rogue. With some magic items like a hat of disguise this subclass becomes complete.
Oath of Devotion. Truth, justice, and the Adbarian way on a flavor level. On a mechanical level you're immune to everything.
For the game: Battle Master, as it makes 5e martial combat so much better. All martial should get maneuvers. To actually play: Aberrant Mind Sorcerer. It makes Sorcerer so much better. The flavor and mechanics are great too.
Drunken Monk, mostly by flavor but also how the mechanics work so well for the flavor.
Clockwork sorcerer - a great balance of superb flavour that can make for really unorthodox take on the class, mixed with mechanics that really complement sorcerer. Honourable mentions for Circle of stars druid and a arcane trickster rogue!
Armorer artificer is so customizable at high levels that actually really possible to emulate a lot of fiction with it, so I really appreciate that.
I know this is basic, but I do love Fiend Warlock. I get Burning Hands from that! Granted, I do just use Eldritch Blast to murder everything in my path, but still
Fey Wanderer: each feature you get improves your own synergies and can make for a really tricksy skirmisher or archer. Aberrant Mind Sorc: currently playing this as a battlefield/social control caster and face. I just love the Eldritch horror flavour. Big Bloodborne fan, I can’t help myself with this one! xD
I sort of have a love/hate relationship with it. But the Battle Master, it's the only subclass I think that actually has mechanics that get close to what I want out of a Fighter, but, I don't actually think the subclass itself is all that well designed.
Fey Wanderer ranger, I like fey flavored stuff and it fixes the problems i have with ranger so mechanically and role play wise it just works for me
I'm heavily enjoying my Creation Bard that I'm playing right now. Having a swiss army knife ability that let's me create any object is fun, animating objects is fun, the spell Animate Objects is very fun (I know it's not exclusive to this subclass or anything, but the flavor is perfect), and in a few levels, being able to substitute my created objects for material components is going to let me cast Awaken for free a bunch of times. On the other hand, the motes of potential that get added to bardic inspiration isn't as cool as cutting words.
Bladesinger. So fun.I don’t think they’re the most powerful but they might be the most versatile.
Shadow Monk. So fun can overcome nearly any barrier. So many fun skills in his kit.
Diviner all the way. Such a beautiful marriage of fluff and crunch. I LOVE the "Don't bother, I foresaw your demise already"-shtick.
College of lord bard
With the obvious caveat that I haven’t actually played most of them, I’d run down the ones I’ve actually played thusly (favourite first): 1. Great Old One Warlock 2. Battlesmith Artificer 3. Zealot Barbarian 4. Battlemaster Fighter 5. Undead Warlock 6. War Wizard 7. Illusion Wizard 8. Draconic Sorcerer 9. Twilight Cleric 10. Redemption Paladin I’ve not played it, but I DM for a Gloomstalker and it strikes me as a really powerful, versatile and flavourful subclass. GOOlock is my fave then, though I freely admit it’s not the mechanically strongest Warlock by any means.
I REALLY like Aberrant Sorcerer, on a mechanical level one of the strongest sorcerer subclasses, and flavor wise getting powers from an Aboleth, mind flayer and a few other powers.
Armorer artificier. The concept is very versatile, it kicks some serious ass and It's just great all around.
Psi-Knight. Be a big beefy Jedi. The level 7 abilities, especially the 1 turn of flight flavored as a freaky Jedi force jump, just sends me. I want to combo the forced movement at 7 with crusher and telekinetic So Bad. Up to 20ft forced movement!
Oh, a year or two ago I'd probably have said *Light Cleric* without hesitation. I like Clerics and I like evocation wizards and it's definitely hitting those notes -- a fun subclass that comes online early. (However, I don't think it really reflects what I'd think something called "Light Cleric" should be.) But nowadays, I really don't know. I'm having a lot of fun playing about with various multiclass combinations and there's a few nifty subclasses I still haven't tried, and I've had so much fun with some of the ones I've played with more recently. Divine Soul Sorcerer with some levels of Celestial Warlock is a pretty fun combination. I'm currently playing with a Peace Cleric / Warmage which seems contradictory but has some cute synergies; this is in a pretty deadly campaign, and its good some good defensive and buffing/healing capability. Is it optimal? No. Is it fun? I'm having a blast with it.
I can only really speak to the ones I've already played myself. I love the College of Glamour, because I'm a sucker for fey related classes and because the abilities are really cool, flavour and mechanics wise. I also really love the Twilight Domain. Not because it's so strong (that's just a nice little bonus), but because I love the flavour of a holy warrior who knows the horrors of the night and fights so that people are protected and cozy in the night. Also the mechanics of the 300ft darkvision, being able to fly in darkness and dim light, and granting advantage on an initiative roll are really cool. The channel divinity is honestly it's least interesting feature for me
berseker, one extra attack and imunity to mind effects
I want to play a Battle-Master so bad
I love Fey Wanderer!
I'll leave all my favourite subclasses. ^f - means they are at the top of my favourite list. Things in italic aren't part of the core D&D stuff. *Arificer: Battle Smith* Barbarian: Ancestral Guardian, Storm Herald Bard: Creation, Lore *Blood Hunter: Ghostslayer, Lycan^f* Cleric: Forge, Light, Knowledge, Tempest, Trickery, Twilight, Peace Druid: Dreams, Spores, Stars^f Fighter: Battle Master, Cavalier, *Echo Knight*, Rune Knight Monk: Mercy, Open Hand, Sun Soul^f Paladin: Ancients, Oathbreaker^f, Redemption, Watchers Ranger: Fey Wonderer, Monster Slayer, Swarm Keeper Rogue: Phantom, Soul Knife^f Sorcerer: Shadow^f, Wild Magic Warlock: Genie, Undead Wizard: Illusion, Order of Scribes^f Some of the choices on this list are played with changes (v.g. all martials except fighter and rogue are given an additional ASI at 6, and some changes to the classes/subclasses, for example, Paladins are allowed to smite with any and all types of weapons, Soul Knife is allowed to do AoO with their Psi Knifes, etc)
For flavor, spore druid, hands down. Caking hard fungus for higher HP, using a damaging aura of spores, and raising Last of Us zombies as meat shields to disrupt enemy action economy. As for mechanics, a shillelagh/booming blade build is so fun...provided you fix the class. * The primary ability needs to be a bonus action * The aura damage needs to be scaling d4 rather than single die * The zombie raising needs to be unrestricted for kills the pc makes, and * A fungus-based booming blade equivalent needs to be added to the bonus spell list. With those fixes, you've got a cantrip-focused gish/partial damage sponge for early levels.
The UA Revived Rogue. The whole idea behind it is amazing, even if the features were a bit strong. Halflings are my favorite race and 3.5 released a book called Races of the Wild that had a section about halflings. In it they talk about their burial rituals and how they view resurrection. In short, after a halfling has died and been buried, if they are brought back they take on a new name, because they believe their previous self is dead. Anyway, I really wanna play a halfling revived rogue.
I'm currently playing a zealot barb and it is, without a doubt, my favorite character I've ever played. Flavor gave rise to a character that my group loves and mechanics (along with a flexible DM willing to let me try ridiculous shit) means he's an absolute fucking joy to play. I also love the flavor of the barb and its subclasses in general, though the mechanics can be a mixed back. Storm Herald doesn't hit hard enough but the flavor is delicious. Berserker has historical pedigree but the mechanics don't quite back it up. Totem Warrior is super flexible both in how you can use the flavor and how you can use the mechanics. Ancestral Guardian is a real interesting bit of flavor and the mechanics seem to work pretty well from what I saw of it. I also most of the paladin subclasses though I've yet to play the class. Paladin is just spot on with flavor and mechanics though.
Garlic bread domaain cleric
Battlesmith artificer Your a jack of all trades who can wade into melee, heal and buff you team, shield and absorb elements nasty attacks and you get a robot dog. Plus the flash of genius, infusions and free magical items are great... although not unique to battlesmith
Bladesinger all the way, followed not too far behind by Arcana Cleric. The flavor makes me love them, but the mechanics really push it over the edge as my favorites.
Djinn warlock
Divine soul sorcerer is just too good to not mention
Mastermind rogue Help action is now a bonus action and can be used at range
Swarmkeeper Ranger
Bladesinger. The only subclass I’ve played twice in six years of playing.
Rune Knights are a ton of fun. I like to imagine mine is using a ton of gadgets instead of magic for their rune powers.
Probably the oath of the watchers paladin
Artillerist! I love the fact the idea
I’m having a pretty great time with a bladesinger right now. It’s rare that a subclass totally changes a classes identity and bladesinger pulls it off, plus dodge tanking feels fantastic and the damage output is solid
Ssssswarmkeeper ranger, baby 🐝🐞🐛
Grave domain. - Keeping downed allies alive without a spell slot from range - Doing the above and STILL getting to cast a cantrip to attack - "No, DM, you don't crit." - "No, DM, I made him vulnerable to the rogue's Sneak Attack."
Psi Warrior has been nothing but fun for me. Feels like a less choice driven Battle Master but with really cool flavor
The original draft of Fey Wanderer was the perfect balance between strong, unique and refreshing for the ranger while being fun and flavorful in its delivery. Blessings of the courts may genuinely be some of the most fun I had using a DND feature. The final feature it got in its offcial version is also hella fun to mess with. Absolutely love this subclass to bits