oof, so I've put 40 hours into this game already. Have rolled all the classes on a MC now. Between that, using my companions and different subclasses, thought I share my experience and feedback with them.
Ranger(Beast Master)- My first character and who I really wanted to enjoyed, but was actually lacking. They're bit of a hybrid character so they shouldn't be best at something, I get that. The pets obviously need some balancing. Bear is so squishy while Giant Spider has high health, armor, damage, and cc. What I'd really like to see added is more interaction with my companion, like petting, "who's a good goblin melting spider? you are!", tossing a treat, or at least being able to name them. A pet heal that doesn't cost a spell slot and a pet revivify that does could be nice too. Make the pet feel more of a companion. Be nice if bear and spider could climb and use ladders as well.
Rogue- oh ho ho ho, wood elf rogue gets so many skills! I really like the big damage numbers with the thief, running across the battlefield as a shadow of death, but you are pretty much a one trick pony that just does sneak attack over and over. I rather have the extra toolkit of spells, "hello firebolt and magic missile", from arcane trickster than the dash stab hide combo. Pretty much any class that has magic missile is superior imo. I wish rogues were more masters of stealth though. Everyone seems too good at hiding. Maybe make some sight cone differences between rogue/non-rogue and Hide should be a full action for other classes and bonus action for rogue.
Cleric- This was definitely the most frustrating class for me. A lot of their spells require concentration. I'd typically override one of my spells with another and I wish there was a UI warning for that. Other times an enemy would hit me and that breaks concentration too. If I had a nickle for every time sacred flame or guiding bolt hit, I would have 2 nickles. The one useful thing on my clerics would be that long range bonus action heal, that's great for helping downed party members. Otherwise, healing spells don't really heal that much and I could just use potions or food that I have plenty of.
Wizard- A lot more fun than I was expecting. Spell slots didn't bog me down as much as I thought they would. I was still getting a lot done before having to long rest. It helps with how powerful firebolt and ray of frost are. Even when they miss, the surface effect still hits. Others have mentioned them being able to learn any spell which will probably be patched. You should also patch the ogre crown that sets your INT to 18. Maybe just have it be a flat +4 or +2 before power gamers start going after it with 8 INT wizards. So I think nerfing the cantrips and their surfaces would be fine. Maybe make other spells more likely to hit so Magic Missile isn't such a god send.
Fighter- Similar to rogue with the big damage numbers, but less hidey and more tanky this time. More strength for those sweet sweet shove kills is nice. Shoving people off cliffs is one my favorite feature in the game so far. Once the battle master subclass actually works(i.e. dice tracking and Riposte), I think it'll be just fun as Eldritch knight. I like the weapon specific actions we get now and maybe the fighter class can use those more than other classes. I'm in favor of bending d&d rules to provide more fun and versatility to classes.
Warlock- The edgy wizard. Plays pretty similar to wizard, but trades freedom of lots of spell slots for eldritch blast which is nice, but doesn't compete with rogue or rangers on damage, unless you get the evocation to turn it into a long range shove. Then there's the imp which helps balance their damage and the evocations. False life is useful and Many Faces could be very handy for Drow and Tieflings. I feel like this class is the most fair and doesn't really need tweaking. Maybe having 2 short rests per long rest would be nice.
Dodge is another action you add into the mix to help with having more options at our disposal. A taunt or distract would be really useful as well. Let's separate jump/disengage or make backstab modifier just be a rogue thing so there's less hoping over enemies for the extra hit chance. It looks weird and it didn't work for Anakin, shouldn't work for us. Could have a flanking bonus for having an ally next to your target. Yeah I'd be in favor of removing backstab and threatened bonuses. They're already hard enough to hit, they don't need that extra defense from "threatened" which I never did figure out what triggers that.
