Seeing a fair amount of assumptions on how spells function in 5e, which is pretty different than 2e (ADND). In 5e, you can cast spells you have at a higher level, which enhance them. So this idea that circles 1-5 are garbage and only start getting good later is grossly mistaken. You can slot a fireball as a 6th level spell and deal 11d6 damage in a 20 foot radius. You can slot ray of sickness, a level 1 necromancy spell that deals 2d8 + makes the enemy poisoned (disadvantage) on attacks, slot it at level 6 and deal 8d8 damage + poison from 60 feet away. So before you begin to criticize the power curve, you may want to revisit some PNP as that is ultimately the base/foundation they are using for this game. Circles 2-5 are quite good, and while 5e doesn't have the broken spell mechanics of 2e, it's quite powerful none the less. But 5e is much more centered around a party and creates synergy around them far better than previous editions, especially 2-3.5, where it was much more about acute min/maxing of each character as a separate entity and less how they contributed to the overall strategy of the party. Druids are also much much better than 2e, in my opinion. Clerics are roughly the same minus the blunt weapon requirements, channel divinity and domains are much better and more versatile than 2e did. Not to mention, school specialization is finally good in 5e, and schools that were once garbage--looking at you divination--are actually awesome now due to portent, they all have unique class abilities that create the differentiation rather than you get this and you give up all this other stuff from the spell list.
PS: a 5e paladin is also 1000000000x better than a 2e paladin, the burst damage they can deal is insane
Last edited by zanos; 18/03/20 05:06 AM.
