I'm going to be ignoring glitches, as I don't feel they're relevant to this discussion.


Giant barbarian: I don't think I've explored it enough to give an adequate opinion of it.

College of Glamour bard: It's powerful, yep. Against anything that can be charmed, using Mantle of Inspiration on a tanky ally and purposefully provoking opportunity attacks is brutal. Since Charm is kind of it's whole thing, I'd love to see the whole "roll to seduce" cliche taken to it's logical conclusion. Add a level 11 ability that allows all creature types to be charmed, and an item in act 3 that allows Enchantment spells to be used on anything that is currently charmed. YOU'RE NOT A TRUE BARD UNTIL YOU'VE SEXED YOUR WAY THROUGH A FINAL BATTLE!

Death Domain cleric: Bonechill and Inflict Wounds are given new unlife by this subclass. Inescapable Destruction being acquired at level 6 makes a DD cleric's Bonechill incredibly powerful during act 2, and Inflict Wounds works well with Touch of Death for pretty good damage. Now if only there were a necrotic version of Divine Intervention.

Circle of Stars druid: Need to use it more.

Arcane Archer fighter: Arcane Shots are really good, but I think the Magic Arrow class feature is probaably underappreciated. It makes Arrows of Many Targets just that much more broken.

Drunken Master monk: I need to play it more.

Oath of the Crown paladin: I just haven't enjoyed it, and I really don't know why. Maybe I'll enjoy it more if I use a glamour bard alongside it, they seem like natural teammates.

Swarmkeeper ranger: Looks interesting, but I need to play it more.

Swashbuckler rogue: Love it, more than I thought I would. A rogue that can attack head-on. I still think Panache is an extremely weird ability, though. I never once imagined rogues would be casting based on their ability to tell people "yes" in a way they'd want to hear, I don't hate but I still think it's weird

Shadow Magic sorcerer: A bit one-note, but the gameplay loop of spending sorcery points on Eyes of Darkness and summoning Nimbus to recover sorcery points is interesting. It really feels like the whole class has Shadow Blade BECAUSE of this subclass. With no enchantment, you kind of NEED the advantage from hiding in Darkness to hit with it.

Hexblade warlock: I think it's in a weird place, and maybe I don't understand it. Using the full extent of it's level 10 abilities requires an unlikely(possible but unlikely) scenario where you curse an enemy with your first strike, kill it with your next, raise a Primodial Spectre, and then use your bonus action to curse a boss standing beside your immobile spectre. It doesn't line up at all. On the other hand, it seems like a braindead multiclass dip for bards and sorcerers, because Hexed Weapon is (currently) available at level 1, and that would let your weak-armed spellboi or singer can suddenly be better at swinging swords based on how much they smile. I think in the unlikely event that there is a Hexblade-specific item added, I'd like it to be one that enhances the Accursed Spirit by replacing the bottom tier with the mid tier, and leaving the mid and upper tiers alone.

Bladesinging wizard: Too good, too much going for it. Compared to other wizard subclasses it's fine, but I feel like it's trying to be an entire team by itself. And it's pretty decent at it. Having access to a level 5/6 Shadow Blade on top of everything else is overkill. I think changing Shadow Blade's classification so wielding it prevents using Bladesong would be a very reasonable nerf, there's just too much synergy for this subclass.


I'm starting a new campaign to give the barbarian, druid, monk, and ranger a more serious look. Hopefully I'll be able to make up my mind on them lol.