The following is a ranking system for the classes. This is a general guideline only and I have rated the classes as to how useful I think they are overall. Very few of the classes are outright great or bad with a few exceptions. In 5E there is a large amount of variance in the classes as some peak early (level 2) in their careers while other switch on late (level 14+) while others roughly as useful at level 1 as they are at level 15. For the most part this is an overall guide with a slight weighting towards level 1-10 as opposed to level 20 due to I do not think most people play games at level 20 and I believe the game breaks long before you get there anyway. Note some classes are also better if you roll high stats than using the default array. Everyone benefits from high stats some classes just benefit more- mostly gish type classes and the Monks.
I have broken the classes in the game into 3 tiers. Tier 1 is the most powerful tier, tier 3 not so much. I generally look at how useful the classes are overall not just in terms of DPR, nova capabilities etc. Also not I could be drastically wrong here this is a combination of gut feeling, what I have seen in the game and I do not rate the ability to deal lots of damage that high for various reasons.
Tier 1. These classes tend to be the most versatile or are the best at what they can do and do not suck at some of other things in the game. In general you are going to love to have these classes in the party almost regardless of how they are run assuming the player is somewhat adequate at playing 5E.
Tier 2. These classes are the bread and butter of the game. Assuming the player is not a muppet it is hard to go wrong with these classes and some builds of them may creep into tier 1 territory as the difference between a tier 1 and 2 class can be marginal.
Tier 3 Classes. These are the bottom feeding classes. Mostly they are either weak, a one trick pony class, do not work as conceived or otherwise take a bit of effort and system mastery to get going. Some of them can also be redeemed via multiclassing.
Tier 1
Bard (lore and valor).
The Lore bard is perhaps the most powerful class in the game and I thought it outclasses the valor bard (which it does). However as it turns out the valor bard is quite good as well. Skills, spells, social interaction, healing, bardic dice ll add up to a decent package in all the pillars (exploration, combat, social). Also a lot of versatility and can be built in multiple ways- buffer, blaster, healer etc and fun to play as well. Both of them have good multiclass options. Overall the Bard is pure win IMHO.
Cleric (Life, Light, Tempest).
The Cleric class has a great amount of variance in the various subclasses. The 3 best clerics IMHO are the Life, Light and Tempest clerics. One of them is the best single classed healer in the game (3rd or 4th best overall), the Light Cleric makes a great blaster and can do the usual cleric things (heal, buff, fight etc) while the Tempest Cleric has some decent granted abilities, any weapon and armor and some great spells when compared to the cleric spell list (Call Lighting, Destructive Wave, Thunder Wave) and is a decent hybrid character. Overall you can’t go to far wrong with these 3 subclasses although I personally find the life cleric a bit boring.
Paladin (Oath of the Ancients, Oath of Vengeance).
These 2 Paladins are the best of the warrior type classes IMHO and these two are the best of the Paladin options. Generally Paladins are good at single target damage and are great to have in the party due to their auras as 5E saving throws are a bit spotty. In effect just having a Paladin in the party more or less makes you proficient in all saving throws and buffs the current ones you already have. Throw in some great spells, smites, a fighting style and aura effects and Paladins are great. The Vengeance Paladin is better at damage, the Ancient one has better AoE and defensive options. I prefer the latter Paladin myself but both are great IMHO.
Ranger (Hunter)
The hunter ranger can actually beat the fighter in damage up to level 11 and even then is still competitive and can still in some situations beat the fighter at damage. You also have great skills, a decent spell list and a pile of abilities not all of which are useful but the basic chassis is so good I would not get to upset about it. One of the few cases in this game where I think you could build an effective dex based melee combatant. Overall a very good class in most pillars of the game and when you can use pass without trace to sneak a party of heavy armor wearing PCs through enemy lines strapped to a decent combat chassis I won’t complain to loudly.
Sorcerer (Dragon Favoured Soul, Storm).
The Sorcerer I think unfairly gets compared to a wizard. After seeing several classes of both of them in action I start to feel sorry for wizards. Sorcerers have metamagic and are the only primary spellcasting class proficient in con saves. Its not really until you start seeing twinned hastes and greater invisibilities in action you realize how powerful this class is and you also can excel in the social pillar of the game as well. The Favoured Souls and Storm sorcerers also have access to a lot more spells than the other Sorcerers and quickened bless or marrying destructive wave to arcane blast spells can be a potent package. I really like these Sorcerers.
Wizard (Abjurer,Diviner, Transmuter,)
These are the 3 best wizard to take. The 5E wizard does take a while to come online and is actually outclassed at some traditional wizard roles by the Sorcerer and Clerics. In 5E the wizard also has some of the worst saves in the game with a good intelligence save rarely if ever being used and while proficient in wisdom saves odds are the average wizards wisdom will not be that good so in effect the wizard class has no great saving throw. At high levels all wizards are some of the most powerful classes in the game but at low levels they kind of stink and are outclassed by Bards and Clerics. They are also one of the easiest classes in the game to replace. The best 3 wizards are still powerful for a variety of reasons, the other subclasses you can really live without.
Tier 2
Cleric (Death, Nature, Knowledge, Trickery, War)
These clerics are still quite good as they are still a primary spell caster. They just lack the power of the other 3 cleric subclasses IMHO and in some cases do not work as well as advertised such as the war cleric who is not actually that good at erm fighting. These clerics also tend to lack the powerful spell and abilities options of the other clerics compare channel divinity to radiant dawn or disciple of life for example and that is one of the better abilities on the tier 2 clerics.
Druid Land and Moon).
At the risk of getting hung drawn and quartered on the forums I have rated the Druids as a tier 2 class. People seem to think a moon druid is all sorts of broken which they kind of are- at level 2. From there it is all down hill for them as they are not really any good at combat, damage, magic, buffing, healing or much of anything apart from taking the hits and that is easy enough to deal with. In theory they can cast spells just like a land Druid but why bother? I think the land Druid is actually the more powerful Druid but that Druid is weaker at magic than most of the better options in the game and is one of the worst combatants in the game outside of using spells. To be fair the Moon Druid does pick up again around level 18 but I am not convinced it will actually matter that much by then and how often are you going to be in level 18+ games anyway. The land Druid would be rated higher if things like light clerics and tempest clerics did not exist as the superior Druidic blasting spells would matter more.
Fighter.
Fighters are very good at magic and a high level Eldritch Knight (14+ or so) might even squeak into tier 1. EKs do take a while to get going however. The Battle master Fighter I believe is overall the best fighter form level 1-20 while the Champion is simplistic but powerful enough and doesn’t require much effort to excel with. Fighters also get the most feats and attacks in the game. I suspect people may focus on damage a bit to much with fighters though as I think the Champion for example might be better off with the shield master and resilient (wisdom) feats than the polearm master+great weapon master feats. You might also be better off going dex based as well giving up some damage potential in return for not getting hosed at ranged encounters as going form 3 attacks per round at level 11-20 and dropping down to 1 attack (lobbing a spear or javelin) really does suck. Hence why I think the Battllemaster and Eldritch Knight are the better fighters YMMV. The class also shines in a team with spells such as foresight I suspect that will break the game in half at higher levels when combined with the fighter using sharpshooter/great weapon master.
Rogue (Thief)
Unfortunately the Rogue is the easiest class in the game to outright replace. It may be the best class in the gamea t skills but it has lost them as an exclusive ability. Any moderate to high dex PC can be good enough at spells and in some cases with the right back ground and spells can outright replace the rogue. For example guidance and enhance ability on a moderate dex anything with the criminal back ground can do the skill monkey thing. After that the Rogues damage and other abilities are not enough to save it. The thief makes it this far up the ist due to its fast hands ability and the way it interacts with various things in the 5E game such as potions and the healer feat which makes the Thief one of the best healers in the game. When the thief is one of the best healers in the game you may have a problem with class design IMHO.
Monk (Way of the Open Hand)
Monks have a long tradition of sucking in D&D going back to the 1970’s perhaps as it was not just a 3E thing. The 5E monk at least gets an A for effort as the designers did seem to try. The Way of the Open Hand is the “traditional” monk archtype from previous editions althogugh much like the Moon Druidit seems to peak at level 2 and go slowly downhill from there. The main problem is in a 4 man party what role can it fill (warrior, support, artillery, expert) and in a 5th man party you have better options. I’m not a fan of the monk due to genre beliefs but mechanically the Way of the Open Hand monk seems fine and I like the class from a mechanical standpoint more than quite a few subclasses.
Paladin (Oath of Devotion, Oathbreaker)
The devotion Paladin is the weakest IMHO of the 3 Oath Paladins and the Oathbreaker one seems to be more of an NPC class. It is still a Paladin though and just the saving throw bonus is enough by itself to save the class IMHO and you can still smite etc. It just lacks the offensive/defensive powers of the other 2 PHB Paladins although the Sacred Weapon ability is quite good. It also lacks the spell list options of the other Paladins whose spell lists I think are better.
Sorcerer (Wildmage)
The Wildmage is really hard to rate but it is still a primary caster. Even the negative effects of this class I feel can still be fun even with the remote chance you end up firewalling your own party and getting a TPK at low levels. At least you will remember that in 20 years time which makes for a great D&D moment IMHO. I liked the wild mage more in 2E where you had actual wild magic spells. Converting those spells and making them exclusive to the wildmage might actually be fun. Tides of Chaos is also a powerful ability and a wild mage mountain dwarf is on my list of things I would like to try assuming I can roll a 16 charisma on 4d6 drop the lowest.
Wizard
(Conjurer, Enchanter, Envoker, Illusionist, Necromancer)
At high levels these classes are still some of the most powerful I the game but what about all the other levels? I feel these wizards are outclassed by the other wizards and even other classes. I think I would rather have a light cleric for example or even a Paladin in the party over one of these wizards.
Tier 3
Barbarians (both of them).
It is kind of sad to see the 5E Barbarian more or less being a rehash of the 3E/4E Barbarian and still have most of the same issues those ones had. If D&D took place in a world where the campaign was a 10’ by 10’ room they would be a great class. They are nor bad as such just pigeonholed and I do not rate moar damage as a great class ability.
Monk (Way of Shadow, Way of the 4 Elements)
These monks do not offer that much to me that really stands out. You get to do some semi goofy stuff and throw the occasional elemental attack long after a spell caster has probably moved on or is scaling their slots. High marks for fun and in some campaigns something like the Shadowdancer Monk could really shine (urbane based thief guild type game) Once again high marks to the designers for trying but ye olde pile a heap of interesting looking abilities onto the Monk class and pray seems to have come up a bit short. I could be wrong of course but overall these 2 monks seem on the weak side of things.
Ranger (Beastmaster)
Some classes may be a little bit weak or one trick pony type thing but very few are outright bad. The beastmaster may be an exception. This subclass by now is notorious for being weak on online forums. How bad is it? I have a couple of players who do not have that much D&D experience and they missed 3E and 4E entirely. Those players also like RP type RPG’s over combat heavy games like D&D and even they thought this class was bad - and they like bad/goofy stuff. The Ranger is also a perennial D&D favourite of mine (I liked the 3.5 ranger for example) but even I am hard pressed to like this subclass (I don’t BTW).
Rogue (Assassin, Arcane Trickster)
Here we have moar damage vs a class that takes a while to get going and isn't even that good once it gets there. Still can be fun but I would rather play a lore bard instead of an arcane trickster and the assassin is really who cares and you could almost do the same thing in a different way with a high dex fighter. In fact the high dex fighter is likely still better. Otherwise see the Rogue:Thief as to why I do not find the Rogue to be that good.
Warlock
This is one of those classes where its relative power level can vary greatly from DM to DM just based on the short rest mechanic if nothing else. The main problem with this class appears to be that you are better off multi classing with it into almost any other class that staying with the class (or even starting as the class). For example the bladelock seems to be better off starting as a fighter and multi classing into the class while the Sorlock is one of the most dangerous builds in the game and has other fun things to do as well beside spamming eldritch blast. Probably one of the best multiclass options in the game due to the way eldritch blast scales, invocations work and how front loaded the class is with how hex and agonizing blast works.
I have broken the classes in the game into 3 tiers. Tier 1 is the most powerful tier, tier 3 not so much. I generally look at how useful the classes are overall not just in terms of DPR, nova capabilities etc. Also not I could be drastically wrong here this is a combination of gut feeling, what I have seen in the game and I do not rate the ability to deal lots of damage that high for various reasons.
Tier 1. These classes tend to be the most versatile or are the best at what they can do and do not suck at some of other things in the game. In general you are going to love to have these classes in the party almost regardless of how they are run assuming the player is somewhat adequate at playing 5E.
Tier 2. These classes are the bread and butter of the game. Assuming the player is not a muppet it is hard to go wrong with these classes and some builds of them may creep into tier 1 territory as the difference between a tier 1 and 2 class can be marginal.
Tier 3 Classes. These are the bottom feeding classes. Mostly they are either weak, a one trick pony class, do not work as conceived or otherwise take a bit of effort and system mastery to get going. Some of them can also be redeemed via multiclassing.
Tier 1
Bard (lore and valor).
The Lore bard is perhaps the most powerful class in the game and I thought it outclasses the valor bard (which it does). However as it turns out the valor bard is quite good as well. Skills, spells, social interaction, healing, bardic dice ll add up to a decent package in all the pillars (exploration, combat, social). Also a lot of versatility and can be built in multiple ways- buffer, blaster, healer etc and fun to play as well. Both of them have good multiclass options. Overall the Bard is pure win IMHO.
Cleric (Life, Light, Tempest).
The Cleric class has a great amount of variance in the various subclasses. The 3 best clerics IMHO are the Life, Light and Tempest clerics. One of them is the best single classed healer in the game (3rd or 4th best overall), the Light Cleric makes a great blaster and can do the usual cleric things (heal, buff, fight etc) while the Tempest Cleric has some decent granted abilities, any weapon and armor and some great spells when compared to the cleric spell list (Call Lighting, Destructive Wave, Thunder Wave) and is a decent hybrid character. Overall you can’t go to far wrong with these 3 subclasses although I personally find the life cleric a bit boring.
Paladin (Oath of the Ancients, Oath of Vengeance).
These 2 Paladins are the best of the warrior type classes IMHO and these two are the best of the Paladin options. Generally Paladins are good at single target damage and are great to have in the party due to their auras as 5E saving throws are a bit spotty. In effect just having a Paladin in the party more or less makes you proficient in all saving throws and buffs the current ones you already have. Throw in some great spells, smites, a fighting style and aura effects and Paladins are great. The Vengeance Paladin is better at damage, the Ancient one has better AoE and defensive options. I prefer the latter Paladin myself but both are great IMHO.
Ranger (Hunter)
The hunter ranger can actually beat the fighter in damage up to level 11 and even then is still competitive and can still in some situations beat the fighter at damage. You also have great skills, a decent spell list and a pile of abilities not all of which are useful but the basic chassis is so good I would not get to upset about it. One of the few cases in this game where I think you could build an effective dex based melee combatant. Overall a very good class in most pillars of the game and when you can use pass without trace to sneak a party of heavy armor wearing PCs through enemy lines strapped to a decent combat chassis I won’t complain to loudly.
Sorcerer (Dragon Favoured Soul, Storm).
The Sorcerer I think unfairly gets compared to a wizard. After seeing several classes of both of them in action I start to feel sorry for wizards. Sorcerers have metamagic and are the only primary spellcasting class proficient in con saves. Its not really until you start seeing twinned hastes and greater invisibilities in action you realize how powerful this class is and you also can excel in the social pillar of the game as well. The Favoured Souls and Storm sorcerers also have access to a lot more spells than the other Sorcerers and quickened bless or marrying destructive wave to arcane blast spells can be a potent package. I really like these Sorcerers.
Wizard (Abjurer,Diviner, Transmuter,)
These are the 3 best wizard to take. The 5E wizard does take a while to come online and is actually outclassed at some traditional wizard roles by the Sorcerer and Clerics. In 5E the wizard also has some of the worst saves in the game with a good intelligence save rarely if ever being used and while proficient in wisdom saves odds are the average wizards wisdom will not be that good so in effect the wizard class has no great saving throw. At high levels all wizards are some of the most powerful classes in the game but at low levels they kind of stink and are outclassed by Bards and Clerics. They are also one of the easiest classes in the game to replace. The best 3 wizards are still powerful for a variety of reasons, the other subclasses you can really live without.
Tier 2
Cleric (Death, Nature, Knowledge, Trickery, War)
These clerics are still quite good as they are still a primary spell caster. They just lack the power of the other 3 cleric subclasses IMHO and in some cases do not work as well as advertised such as the war cleric who is not actually that good at erm fighting. These clerics also tend to lack the powerful spell and abilities options of the other clerics compare channel divinity to radiant dawn or disciple of life for example and that is one of the better abilities on the tier 2 clerics.
Druid Land and Moon).
At the risk of getting hung drawn and quartered on the forums I have rated the Druids as a tier 2 class. People seem to think a moon druid is all sorts of broken which they kind of are- at level 2. From there it is all down hill for them as they are not really any good at combat, damage, magic, buffing, healing or much of anything apart from taking the hits and that is easy enough to deal with. In theory they can cast spells just like a land Druid but why bother? I think the land Druid is actually the more powerful Druid but that Druid is weaker at magic than most of the better options in the game and is one of the worst combatants in the game outside of using spells. To be fair the Moon Druid does pick up again around level 18 but I am not convinced it will actually matter that much by then and how often are you going to be in level 18+ games anyway. The land Druid would be rated higher if things like light clerics and tempest clerics did not exist as the superior Druidic blasting spells would matter more.
Fighter.
Fighters are very good at magic and a high level Eldritch Knight (14+ or so) might even squeak into tier 1. EKs do take a while to get going however. The Battle master Fighter I believe is overall the best fighter form level 1-20 while the Champion is simplistic but powerful enough and doesn’t require much effort to excel with. Fighters also get the most feats and attacks in the game. I suspect people may focus on damage a bit to much with fighters though as I think the Champion for example might be better off with the shield master and resilient (wisdom) feats than the polearm master+great weapon master feats. You might also be better off going dex based as well giving up some damage potential in return for not getting hosed at ranged encounters as going form 3 attacks per round at level 11-20 and dropping down to 1 attack (lobbing a spear or javelin) really does suck. Hence why I think the Battllemaster and Eldritch Knight are the better fighters YMMV. The class also shines in a team with spells such as foresight I suspect that will break the game in half at higher levels when combined with the fighter using sharpshooter/great weapon master.
Rogue (Thief)
Unfortunately the Rogue is the easiest class in the game to outright replace. It may be the best class in the gamea t skills but it has lost them as an exclusive ability. Any moderate to high dex PC can be good enough at spells and in some cases with the right back ground and spells can outright replace the rogue. For example guidance and enhance ability on a moderate dex anything with the criminal back ground can do the skill monkey thing. After that the Rogues damage and other abilities are not enough to save it. The thief makes it this far up the ist due to its fast hands ability and the way it interacts with various things in the 5E game such as potions and the healer feat which makes the Thief one of the best healers in the game. When the thief is one of the best healers in the game you may have a problem with class design IMHO.
Monk (Way of the Open Hand)
Monks have a long tradition of sucking in D&D going back to the 1970’s perhaps as it was not just a 3E thing. The 5E monk at least gets an A for effort as the designers did seem to try. The Way of the Open Hand is the “traditional” monk archtype from previous editions althogugh much like the Moon Druidit seems to peak at level 2 and go slowly downhill from there. The main problem is in a 4 man party what role can it fill (warrior, support, artillery, expert) and in a 5th man party you have better options. I’m not a fan of the monk due to genre beliefs but mechanically the Way of the Open Hand monk seems fine and I like the class from a mechanical standpoint more than quite a few subclasses.
Paladin (Oath of Devotion, Oathbreaker)
The devotion Paladin is the weakest IMHO of the 3 Oath Paladins and the Oathbreaker one seems to be more of an NPC class. It is still a Paladin though and just the saving throw bonus is enough by itself to save the class IMHO and you can still smite etc. It just lacks the offensive/defensive powers of the other 2 PHB Paladins although the Sacred Weapon ability is quite good. It also lacks the spell list options of the other Paladins whose spell lists I think are better.
Sorcerer (Wildmage)
The Wildmage is really hard to rate but it is still a primary caster. Even the negative effects of this class I feel can still be fun even with the remote chance you end up firewalling your own party and getting a TPK at low levels. At least you will remember that in 20 years time which makes for a great D&D moment IMHO. I liked the wild mage more in 2E where you had actual wild magic spells. Converting those spells and making them exclusive to the wildmage might actually be fun. Tides of Chaos is also a powerful ability and a wild mage mountain dwarf is on my list of things I would like to try assuming I can roll a 16 charisma on 4d6 drop the lowest.
Wizard
(Conjurer, Enchanter, Envoker, Illusionist, Necromancer)
At high levels these classes are still some of the most powerful I the game but what about all the other levels? I feel these wizards are outclassed by the other wizards and even other classes. I think I would rather have a light cleric for example or even a Paladin in the party over one of these wizards.
Tier 3
Barbarians (both of them).
It is kind of sad to see the 5E Barbarian more or less being a rehash of the 3E/4E Barbarian and still have most of the same issues those ones had. If D&D took place in a world where the campaign was a 10’ by 10’ room they would be a great class. They are nor bad as such just pigeonholed and I do not rate moar damage as a great class ability.
Monk (Way of Shadow, Way of the 4 Elements)
These monks do not offer that much to me that really stands out. You get to do some semi goofy stuff and throw the occasional elemental attack long after a spell caster has probably moved on or is scaling their slots. High marks for fun and in some campaigns something like the Shadowdancer Monk could really shine (urbane based thief guild type game) Once again high marks to the designers for trying but ye olde pile a heap of interesting looking abilities onto the Monk class and pray seems to have come up a bit short. I could be wrong of course but overall these 2 monks seem on the weak side of things.
Ranger (Beastmaster)
Some classes may be a little bit weak or one trick pony type thing but very few are outright bad. The beastmaster may be an exception. This subclass by now is notorious for being weak on online forums. How bad is it? I have a couple of players who do not have that much D&D experience and they missed 3E and 4E entirely. Those players also like RP type RPG’s over combat heavy games like D&D and even they thought this class was bad - and they like bad/goofy stuff. The Ranger is also a perennial D&D favourite of mine (I liked the 3.5 ranger for example) but even I am hard pressed to like this subclass (I don’t BTW).
Rogue (Assassin, Arcane Trickster)
Here we have moar damage vs a class that takes a while to get going and isn't even that good once it gets there. Still can be fun but I would rather play a lore bard instead of an arcane trickster and the assassin is really who cares and you could almost do the same thing in a different way with a high dex fighter. In fact the high dex fighter is likely still better. Otherwise see the Rogue:Thief as to why I do not find the Rogue to be that good.
Warlock
This is one of those classes where its relative power level can vary greatly from DM to DM just based on the short rest mechanic if nothing else. The main problem with this class appears to be that you are better off multi classing with it into almost any other class that staying with the class (or even starting as the class). For example the bladelock seems to be better off starting as a fighter and multi classing into the class while the Sorlock is one of the most dangerous builds in the game and has other fun things to do as well beside spamming eldritch blast. Probably one of the best multiclass options in the game due to the way eldritch blast scales, invocations work and how front loaded the class is with how hex and agonizing blast works.
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