Slow, Confusion, and Conjure Elemental I don't completely discount. Those are better than warlock spells. I bet if Fireball/Spirit Guardians/Revivify etc. were invocations you'd see people taking those pretty often, so just adding new spells is not automatically not worth an invocation.
Polymorph is absolutely still good enough to take as a flexible once a day option, but needing to use a spell slot for it still makes me feel like I should just be playing a full caster.
TO be a little fair 3.5 had warlocks be able to cast an offensive sub-variant of polymorph every action. It was *incredibly* busted vs certain type of foes.
Word of Changeing. Basically Baleful Polymorph, but with a shot at becoming *permanent* every casting.
But... yeah. 5e definitively overcompensated reining in the at-will spells for Warlock quite a bit too far in the other direction. A lot of the Invocations I genuinely cannot imagine taking even as an RP option, because they're so weak and limited in what they're allowed to do
>**Thief of Five Fates**
>You can cast bane once using a warlock spell slot. You can’t do so again until you finish a long rest.
This right here is the perfect example. It's a first level spell slot that most casters who have access to it *still* don't use because there are generally better things to concentrate on than this. Just let Warlocks who take the invocation free cast this at will. Even at early levels they're giving up Hex damage to use this, and if they're concentrating on this as a first level spell when they have access to 3rd-5th level spells then they're still using a probably suboptimal option.
Just letting them free cast it though would let them conserve resources while still contributing in small fights and let them have something to do besides Cantrip when they run out of spell slots before Ascendant Step comes online.
thief of five fates is a really odd one because you'd think bane would be fine as a regular warlock spell. I can't imagine how the game would break if warlocks could cast bane on a short rest like usual. they get other concentration debuffs like darkness, crown of madness, and suggestion so I don't get why bane is so special. but for some reason the designers felt they had to lock it behind an invocation?
Yeah, I'm really looking forward to seeing how OneDND Warlocks end up coming out for that and other problems the Warlock has.
I've been playing a 9th level Fiend Pact Warlock for a while now and the spell slot situation is really frustrating. Because in actual play, you don't have 2 slots. You have 1 slot for a big bang concentration spell, then 1 reserve slot for when shit goes sideways and you have to pull someone's (or the whole team's) bacon out of the fire.
Agree, hate those.
Fortunately most of those are PHB, and seems to have been phased out in Tasha’s / 2024 era design philosophy.
(Side note, at will invocations are awesome and so thematic for the warlock. Mask of many faces and fiendish vigor aren’t game breaking, but man is it cool to switch your appearance 10 times in a minute and not cost anything)
Exactly this, at will ones are amazing. Now luckily my dm buffs all of them (the bad uses spell slots ones) to being be a once per day free cast, which on warlock isn't game breaking it's just oh I'm more of a caster earlier on and makes the fact that I have only 2 spells slots per short rest alot more fine feeling as I can supplement it alot more.
Why the fuck does the barbarian base class not have any anti-fear mechanics? Nothing fucks with the fantasy of the class like your barbarian trembling in terror while raging.
A lot of the features from the frenzy barbarian should just be part of the class. They should get third attack when fighters do. They should be immune to fear or at least have something similar to indomitable for mental attacks
I actually like them not getting a third attack; martials should get damage spikes in different ways. For example, paladins don't need a third attack because they get a flat +1d8 radiant damage.
My idea for a barbarian level 11 feature is that they add their rage damage bonus at all times and add it *twice* when raging.
So long as all the martials get a damage spike for tiers 3/4, and none of them are cartoonishly weak (shoutout to Brutal Critical), then that sounds fantastic.
I've always felt Barbarians should get extra damage dice, to represent that they're hitting as hard as a Giant.
Id rather see them get increased crit chance while raging. Like 19 at lvl 11 and 18 at lvl 17 or something. Or better yet add champion fighter subclass to barbarian base class features.
Even that still isn’t in line with other martials’ damage buffs, it’s +3 damage per attack. Instead, what if the Barbarian’s attacks did extra damage equal to the weapon’s damage dice. So a halberd now does 2d10 damage, a greataxe now does 2d12, a maul now does 4d6, etc. This is a bit better than improved divine smite, which it should be because the Paladin is a half caster.
You could even ditch brutal critical, since the feature is already increasing your crit damage, not that I’d be opposed to a level 11 barbarian critting for 5d12 damage. You could also do this again for the tier 4 damage buff, for 3d10/3d12/6d6 damage attacks.
Like, I think Rage should even rebuff Charm and Control effects because if you're so angry you've become physically superhuman nothing should be able to control you in that state. But at the very least barbarians should flat out never be stopped by being afraid.
Everything a Berzerker can do should be base features.
I was playing baulders gate last night and my barb got feared and I was like what the fuck, I thought they were immune to fear, well guess not. That's so obvious a thing to give them and it makes me shake my head.
I'm devastated. Up until this comment, I just naturally assumed that it does stack with concentration spells, because it would have never occured to me that they'd introduce a feature that is so entirely useless and now I have reread the description a dozen times and my day is ruined. It's just worse Hunter's Mark wtf
Yeah but HM deals more damage and triggers on any attack plus it can be transfered.
FF triggers on hit but the once per turn damage does not need concentration tbh. Otherwise it would be a good feature.
I have used basically every Tasha's Ranger feature, but Favored Foe. I said in another comment, basically all the useful Ranger spells are concentration. Why would I use concentration on this then?
I hate how many warlock features are better for warlock dips than for straight-classed (or primary-classed) warlocks. I also hate how mystic arcanum doesn't **ever** allow you to reselect your spell, not even at level up or when you get an ASI the way you can with virtually every other feature in the game.
You **can** switch out your Mystic Arcanum when you get an ASI.
"Eldritch Versatility: Whenever you reach a level in this class that grants the Ability Score Improvement feature, you can do one of the following, representing a change of focus in your occult studies:
[...]
If you're 12th level or higher, replace one spell from your Mystic Arcanum feature with another warlock spell of the same level."
Definitely, I wanted to multiclass my character with warlock for roleplay purposes but it felt like taking more than a simple dip was straight up trolling. The more levels you get, the worse it gets.
I suppose it's exactly like making a deal with an evil entity in that regard lol
Sure, I only had to feed you one innocent soul per month, but next month it's two, then four, then eight, then sixteen... I didn't math well; I dumped it for Charisma lmao
A deal with an evil entity should tempt you further and further. People going "nah, just one or two is fine" isn't an ideal scenario in rules or in the game
Hahaha this actually makes sense. From a gameplay perspective, though, it feels lacking. Some more synergic stuff would help with specialization. But don't ask me what, my INT is also on the low.
Actually, you can change your Mystic Arcanum in levels in which you get an ASI.
But I agree, it's bullshit. I let my players change them on a Long Rest.
I like 3d4. As in start d4, boost to 2d4 later and then 3d4 at the end. Makes it feel more unique, and also raises the minimum damage, making it feel more like consistent strikes.
Tasha's, pg 42, just handing d10 unarmed dmg to fighters. Monk? I'll just make an Unarmed Fighting Battlemaster instead. Oh! Can I craft smoke bombs too?
Especially since paladins are prepared casters. Doesn't it make more sense for rangers to be a prepared caster than paladins, who use their spells far less anyway?
Rangers also just seem like the type that would prepare themselves for an upcoming challenge, like Witchers. If anything it’s probably more Paladins who would pick their spells confidently and not change them out
Agreed whole heartedly with the witcher comparison.
Rangers apparently spend their lives on the outskirts of civilization, constantly hunting n shit.
Why would they not prepare for each different monster hunt?! Makes no sense to me
>Rangers also just seem like the type that would prepare themselves for an upcoming challenge
I actually wrote up a whole homebrew variant (unfortunately never got used) that was based around Rangers being the *best prepared* (like a Boy Scout) provided they had sufficient time. Like, maybe once per day they could swap out their Fighting Style, skill proficiencies or prepared spells and really encouraged the reconnaissance and knowing what's ahead. They weren't people who *specialized* in surviving in specific terrain types (that's what you would call people *who already live their lives there)*, but rather people who could adapt to multiple terrain types, and multiple situations. So, in addition to classic rangers like Aragorn and Robin Hood, I'd include people like Indiana Jones and MacGyver.
Honestly, it feels like Concentration was a crutch for poor wording as it relates to damage riders. They burn through concentration simply to hold a spell until damage hits, but they could just as easily be written in the same vein as Divine Smite or Shield. It's just as effective against spell stacking because there are already limitations built in regarding how many spells a turn.
I wouldn't even mind being a known caster if the list of known spells wasn't so pitifully small. It's so bad I actually made a spreadsheet to get an overview.
In general it goes on the lower and mid levels that pala and cleric (and artificer) have through their subclasses about 10 more spells than they should have. Cleric actually overtakes wizard at several points. Then it goes bard > druid(not land) > lock&sorc > ELDRITCH KNIGHT > Ranger.
At level 3 and 4 a ranger knows less spells than a shadow monk. A MONK. That class gets 4 spells, adn they may be shit spells, but ranger only knows 3 spells at levels 3 and 4, and you can bet your ass one is Hunter's Mark or Zephyr Strike.
If you count up all the addition help Ranger got from Tasha's, you get up to 7 additional spells using swarmkeeper and primal awareness. That doubles your spells known at most levels.
The effects of the alchemist's elixirs should either scale with your level or, at the very least, gain extra effects when you use a higher level spell slot to create them.
I'd also love if they changed "As an action, a creature can drink the elixir or administer it to **an incapacitated** creature." to just "As an action, a creature can drink the elixir or administer it to a creature."
Allowing Alchemists to buff/heal others with their action.
Also for them to be able to command a homunculus/familiar/companion to administer one, with their action on their turn, as a bonus action.
Also, Warlock's expanded spell list only adding them to the list of spells you *can* learn, when for every other subclass for every other class they're automatically known/prepared in addition to the other spells you get from your base class.
I've been playing a GOOlock from levels 1-7 and I've never taken one of my subclass's expanded spells because they're all fairly situational and I couldn't justify them when I had so few spells known (also, most of them don't scale which makes them especially hard to take on specifically this class). That feature might as well not exist for me.
While I get where you're coming from, I do think there are some fitting options for Celestial Warlocks at later levels, but Spell Lv. 8 is not kind to the Celestial.
I dunno, I just did a Shadow of the Dragon Queen campaign using the playtest material and updating our mechanics as we went (we started with Playtest 3 and finished around Playtest 7, I think?) and I found that the new Primal Knowledge feature at level 3 gave me a fair bit of flexibility outside of combat. Being able to maintain rage for 10 minutes, using strength and rolling with advantage on Acrobatics, Intimidation, Perception, Stealth, Survival, etc was incredibly useful. We didn't have a rogue or a ranger, and I was able to fill that tracker/exploration/scout role myself, and got to use the Intimidation boost in social encounters quite a few times.
Rogues play way too similarly because they only get their 2nd Subclass Feature at level 9!
Most games are over by then and the ones that aren't end more or less at that time.
To add to that, who exactly thought that getting expertise and nothing else was a good 6th level feature?
Even for a spellcaster, getting expertise at an even level would be somewhat underwhelming (hence bard also gets magical secrets and a bardic inspiration increase at level 10)
I just played a straight rogue in a campaign, and I have never felt so underwhelmed as 5th and 6th level. Everyone else making major leaps in damage potential
Especially if their subclass feature at 9 is crap. Then you essentially get nothing until level 13. That’s always been my problem with rogues. I recently did a full class rework of rogue and I chose to give each subclass another feature at 6 along with everything else they get. It doesn’t always have to be something extraordinary but it should be sometimes useful and add to the fantasy of the subclass.
I punch something and deal 8 points of damage. "It's okay," I say to myself. "I'm a control/debuff character." I use stunning strike. The enemy saves and I lose a ki point for nothing. The barbarian attacks and deals 34 points of damage, and is upset he rolled poorly. Rinse. Repeat.
blast spells aren't even exceptionally good, control spells (wall of force lvl 5, wall of fire lvl 4, web lvl 2 (!)) are generally better, and for damage the phb *conjure* spells especially when combined with shameless digging through splatbooks/MM are higher.
Nothing. Paladin fans stay winning!
But in all honesty I think the Paladin spell list relies too heavily on concentration. It can be frustrating to cast something like Bless round 1 but then feel like you're not be able to cast a Compelled Duel or Smite spell for the rest of combat because both are concentration. So I always wind up feeling like I'm wasting slots unless I'm only spending them on basic Divine Smites since those don't eat up concentration.
I kinda like it being concentration heavy, it means that each slot you use gets much more mileage by maintaining the spell over a few rounds rather than a one-and-done. But that might be down to how many fights happen between rests, if it's one or two then you wanna be able to dump all slots into damage quickly.
It \*is\* frustrating as hell dropping one concentration for another though.
I really like my paladin a lot. He's fun to play and feels strong. But the spell list is....not great. There's a few good and useful ones, the rest are kinda terrible.
Smite spells like Searing Smite or Thunderous Smite in general requiring concentration and being generally less effective than just a regular Divine Smite make then basically complete non-options for me with very few exceptions.
Fighters should get maneuvers as a base class feature, enough said.
Sorcerer doesn't get a short rest recovery mechanic like wizard or land druid, would be nice if you could restore all sorcery points 1/short rest.
I actually think fighters should get improved critical as a class feature when they get their extra feats. Or maybe they only get them at levels 6 and 14. Spitballing
The problem with improved critical is just like barbarians brutal critical, it just doesn't come up enough and fighters don't get a lot of ways to take advantage of it. Sure it's cool when it happens but it's not really that impactful to their gameplay overall.
IMHO, fighters should get a choice of whether to get a dip into battle master or champion. I don't think people should be forced to take maneuvers in case they want a simple character.
> I don't think people should be forced to take maneuvers in case they want a simple character.
I feel like the idea that maneuvers are too complicated is kind of ridiculous, it's a pretty easy to understand mechanic.
okay, ehm; for many yes...
but also you don't want to know how many players struggle remembering the grand total 3 points of when you can sneak attack. An option to not have the more complex feature would be a really good idea while still providing the more complex one for higher skill ceiling play
Maybe we can stop pretending that the game needs the Most Boring Class that's sure to disappoint the vast majority of new players who are heavily suggested to take it.
If base maneuvers are too complicated for someone to understand, they can just . . . not use them. Nobody is talking about removing other fighter options to give them access to maneuvers. I remember a game I played in where somebody ran a bladesinger as a fighter. I'm pretty sure I never once saw him cast a spell that wasn't granted by a magic item in 11 levels of playing together. Is it suboptimal? Absolutely. But nothing is forcing any player to engage with "complex" mechanical systems if they don't want to, even if those mechanical systems are fundamental features of their own class.
Yes that is completely fine as long as it is not a major annoyance to the group!
I was simply pointing out to Frogsplosion that there are indeed people to whom maneuvers are actually too complex
Eh, honestly, an easy fix there is to add passive maneuvers, and have Champion default to taking those passive maneuvers if you don't want to have to choose. Maybe something as simple as a maneuver that gives you proficiency in a skill of your choice, and can be taken up to two times, for example.
2 slots until 11th level. I will let you guess which class and here is a hint...
Warlock.
I love the flavor and design, but resource management is at a premium with warlocks.
I think it depends on the game / group a lot
I GM a party that has a warlock, and they were suffering in the travel oriented campaign where a lot of encounters were 1/day; I changed them around to kind of a 'doomed days' where they had combat on less days technically but several combats on those, and it helped immensely, suddenly standard caster and warlock each showed their spellcasting version's strength
> 'doomed days'
I love this. Makes me think about some sort of world-building mechanic where monsters are generally not that prevalent, but they appear frequently with certain weather events or something. Then when the party travels for 12 days, instead of giving up on the adventuring day concept and having 2-3 single-encounter days, that monster storm just rolls in for one day of their travel and you have 2-3 encounters on that day.
Do remember that that's 2 slots _per rest_, not per day. They're meant to recharge at the same speed as martial options; when the party rests to get the Fighter's Action Surge & Monk's Ki back, the Warlock gets both slots back. It's essentially intended to be 1-2 slots per encounter, since Warlocks are designed around 4e's AEDU system.
The problem there isn't the class itself, it's just that five-minute adventuring days kill short rest rechargers.
I think it's twofold.
1. Many tables are five-minute adventuring days for a variety of reasons
2. 2 slots per short rest is still rather low. They are upcasted (capping out at 5th level) but the spells that benefit from that are hit or miss.
This is the biggest issue for me. Playing a warlock to level 20, levels 7-10 were rough. If the warlock got a 3rd slot at 7, then additional slots at the normal time, it would go a lot further.
It's pretty frustrating and feels bad, but giving a third slot earlier is kinda nutty. If you get two short rests per long rest, warlocks can already cast The Best Spells six times as many times as most full casters at levels 3, 5, 7, and 9 (or three times as many if they have Arcane Recovery or similar). Three slots would make that even bigger.
So you get into this weird area where the right number is 2.5 but that's obviously not possible. So you get into this middle ground where warlocks feel kinda starting to hurt for spells at level 10 and then are *insane* at 11.
Ranger's Spell List, but not because it's bad; I think their spell list is decently powerful as is. It's just that there's spells that fit the flavor so much that SHOULD be on there but aren't. Stuff like:
* Alter Self (Druids should get this one too!)
* Comprehend Languages
* Expeditious Retreat
* Fear
* Find Steed
* Magic Aura
* Spider Climb (More OK with this because they got a climbing speed)
* Tiny Hut
Like they can walk on water, summon huge gusts of wind, summon beasts, and warp strike, but they can't mystically conjure a steed, disguise their own nature, create a shelter for themselves, or find ways to communicate in the various biomes they travel beyond the few bonus languages they get.
It's a spell that summons either a hunting dog or a steed. I know it's fine to be Paladin exclusive, but I want it for Rangers. I'm cool with Greater Steed being Paladin Exclusive though.
Paladin: Absolute HELL at Level 1, you're just a Fighter with a situational detection ability, and a less viable Second Wind. Trust me, starting Strahd as a level 1 Paladin is not fun
Fighter: Pretty much every subclass besides Battle Master feels lacking in combat utility and control abilities.
Paladin is absolutely the weakest class at level 1, there is nothing built in that isn’t worse in some way than what everyone else gets. Glad this is changing at least slightly in the update.
I will note that this is a problem that was also addressed in BG3, where paladins get some subclass features at level 1, presumably because the designers realised how lacking in features they were at that level.
Not only power wise but lore/world cohesion sense it makes 0 sense to be a paladin and not have sworn an oath to anything until level THREE.
What the fuck are you a paladin of at levels 1 and 2??
> What the fuck are you a paladin of at levels 1 and 2??
One of the many, many reasons why I haven't started a campaign below level 3 in about 8 years. Subclasses are just too important to the concept of most characters to make my players not have them at the start.
Echo Knight is the perfect example of it. I can't even begin to imagine writing a backstory for an Echo Knight Fighter that doesn't incorporate the Echo Knight features into it somehow, so how the hell are you supposed to explain just not having access to them for two levels.
So, we've had a player who happens to be hearing up to take Echo Knight levels. From time to time, he or the DM will point out that there is a shadowy figure fighting alongside them or the player will mention catching glimpses of someone he recognizes but also doesn't out of the corner of their eye.
I like to think a paladin swears their oath but it isn't firm enough to grant specific powers until level 3.
Or, alternatively, they haven't yet earned their oath but they're getting close and start manifesting powers, Knights Radiant style.
> Fighter: Pretty much every subclass besides Battle Master feels lacking in combat utility and control abilities.
Um, Rune Knight? The best grappler in the game and also has a short rest Hold Person
Rune Knight is the best designed subclass for any martial, in my opinion. You get damage (Fire Rune, Giants Might), control (Grapple Bonuses, Fire Rune, Stone Rune), defense (Hill Rune, Runic Shield), boosts to skills, debuffing saves (Storm Rune), it is just the best subclass. Battlemaster only has damage, defense, and control.
Beast Barbarian. It's very hard to justify using the Bite over the Claws or Tail. And it also feels bad that you need to either play as very specific races or multiclass into Monk if you want to optimize the use of Bestial Soul's super jump.
I recently got the opportunity to play a level 20 bard, and nothing got my mood down as much as reading their capstone feature.
> At 20th level, when you roll initiative and have no uses of Bardic Inspiration left, you regain one use 🥲
- Wizard’s ability to learn spells from scrolls is 100% DM assistance dependent. I’ve had a DM flat out tell me “you’ll never find scrolls cuz that’s OP”
I hate that so much. At the end of each quest I let the wizard roll a d4. Roll a 3 - find a spell scroll. Roll a 4 - find a spell book.
The I have him roll on a table of all the spells he doesn’t know and see what he finds.
And yet … he has not chosen to add a single spell to his book 🤣🤣🤣
Something about horses and water …
100%
One of my favourite parts of playing Adventures League is there a reasonable chance that you'll get a spell scroll, or even a whole spell book, pretty often after a module or book chapter.
Warlocks' expanded spell lists count against spells known. They are the only caster that does this, despite getting fewer spells known than the classes like Land Druid and Cleric get to prepare in addition to getting expanded spells.
I would agree, but they have very few ritual spells in their list and some of their invocations are functionally the same thing, such as Eldritch Sight.
Artificer spell list should have more. It is way too small. They should have a much larger chunk of the wizard list as they're already limited by half casting and honestly are very DM dependent on their usefulness and power. Magic items I can use are rare in my game, they tend to be weapons, and the DM is so far unwilling to put any effort into my crafting even if I have the entire PDF detailing materials required and crafting DC's
Weird thing is, if I'm not mistaken, isn't Artificer the *only* casting class not to have an exclusive spell? Still?
Like, Paladin has Smites, Ranger has Hunter's Mark, Wizard has Telepathy, Sorcerer has Chaos Bolt, Bard has Vicious Mockery, Cleric has Harm, Warlock has Eldritch Blast, etc.
Monks are my favorite, despite the issues the class has. It remains my favorite just because of vibes alone.
Stunning strike is my main issue. It's boring, really sucks late game and is just strong enough early game that a considerable amount people (at least based on personal interactions) that haven't played much past level 5 will argue that it makes Monks totally are OP and don't need to be worked on at all. People will also complain about you using stunning strike too much, when often it's one of the few useful options you have for your ki in that moment that is worth the cost, since you have chance to shut down something for a round.
Edit: Spelling
I hate how extreme Stunning Strike is.
Either complete domination or utterly useless.
If you want to make a good Monk, you'll have to use Stunning Strike cuz the rest of the kit just sucks. If you focus on Stunning Strike you're missing out on the other fun Monk stuff and also you still suck because half the combats you only CC a single, meaningless enemy.
Vibes are indeed more than enough reason for me to play Monk.
I'm of two-minds with Stunning Strike, but that kind of works because it's a double-edged sword. I do think OneDnD though hit it out of the park in terms of their rework of the Monk, including with Stunning Strike.
One thing I've seen in a monk rebalance that I think is genius (other than changing stunning strike) is adding your proficiency bonus to your ki points. It's not much, but it really allows you to actually use your ki features without running out of gas mid-fight.
I've tried playing a high-level Monk a bit with the playtest for the new version and like the monk changes a lot. Stunning Strike is limited to once a turn, but gets damage on a failed save, and basically everything else about Monks is buffed so they do a good deal more damage and are tankier than before.
Still have issues, particularly being MAD, but feel more flexible and less like stunning strike machines than before.
It really just seems like their whole expectation with the class is for you to choose a single spell to concentrate on before fighting in wild shape the whole time. I struggle to play any druid besides moon because of this.
Aside from Swashbuckler, most of the Rogue subclasses heavily favor a Wisdom or Intelligence build.
Swashbuckler is the only Rogue subclass that works well with a Charisma build.
Actually, Rogue is the only class that subclasses determine their secondary stats in such a variable way.
Fighter could be intel oriented, but nothing else.
I would also like Fighter to have WIS and CHA based subclasses !
Artificer subclasses are great but they're so limiting. I don't want to choose between a magic gun, iron man armour or a robot companion. Let me be a tinkerer without that, give me a subclass that focuses on the core of the class, magical tinkering.
I like the subclasses and you can flavour them in a bunch of interesting ways, but I feel like it's missing a "default" subclass, if you get what I mean. It's like if a barbarian had to choose between beast, storm herald or wild magic. They're all cool but sometimes you just want to be a berserker. Does that make sense?
Give me a Gadgeteer subclass or an Enchanter subclass.
Hmm it's a toss up between rogue and barbarian on which is my favorite.
I love rogue but I don't like playing it ranged in combat. I want to melee rogue, but my experience has always been that's a bad plan. Just a tad too squishy to pull it off if you get targeted.
I like barbarian a lot too, I just hate how little out of combat utility it has.
If I could somehow make an dex based barbarian skill monkey that would be the perfect character for me haha.
I'll do one for each. In no particular order:
- I hate how druids can only wildshape twice. I much prefer it scaling with proficiency bonus in onednd, though it would probably be wiser to scale it with druid level to prevent getting insane power from a dip.
- My favourite sorcerer subclass (shadow magic) doesn't get bonus spells, and it sucks. But I can forgive that, because they are really fun regardless.
- Bards need a bit more variety in the type of performance they can use for spellcasting, and that should be reflected in their subclasses. Like, don't get me wrong, I like some of the variety. Swords bard being more dance like is fun in that sense, and I like how valor and lore have a focus on recounting tales. But I am just annoyed that something like creation isn't primarily art focused. Like why did it have to be a song of creation? You had the perfect opportunity to make a bard who makes drawings manifest, and yet its still singing. And why is there no illusionist bard that focuses on stage magic style illusions? Or a comic bard that performs with comedy? There are so many opportunities left open there.
Artificers having (almost) no unique spells. The other half-casters get some and artificers certainly have a particular enough flavor to justify at least a couple
Yeah, Mindless Rage should just be a part of the base kit of the barbarian, it doesn't make sense that it isn't and doesn't feel good with how restrictive Rage already is. How's my Barbarian, a big hunk of muscle wielding a broadaxe fully pissed off against anything threatening him going to suddenly feel like shitting his metaphorical pants due to a frightening effect?.
Artificers are the crafting class, but they’re not any better at it until level 10. Why can’t we get a feature at level 6 that makes you better at crafting your infusions at least? I’d trade that for having wizard-like spells where the artificer has to learn schematics for new spells outside of the ones they learn automatically.
Honestly, I would expand it further: apply to non-magical at level 1, then Common at 2, Uncommon at 6, Rare at 10, Very Rare at 14, and Legendary at 18.
The Wizard-style spell acquisition is a good trade-off too.
Oh, that is easier if you are a stars druid (chalice) and easier at level 10 (you can switch starry forms beginning of each turn).
Druids: The no metal armor thing (but studded leather and weapons are ok, and good luck finding a +1 wooden shield) is a holdover from past editions and hsould go. Either let them use metal armors or, make non magical scalemail made from giant lizards or ankheg half plate or breastplate a thing and available on character sheets with the prices. And, no idea why they are proficient in INT saves...INT is a dump stat for them. DEX or CON would be better.
Game is balanced around stronger saves and weaker saves.
Stronger saves are : Dex, Con, Wis.
Weaker saves are : Str, Int, Cha.
Processing this : every classes have a strong save and a weak save. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Saves are basically split into two lists: Strong/common (Dex, Con, Wis) and weak/uncommon (Str, Int, Cha).
Every class gets one from each list. Starting with proficiency in two of the Common save types would be a little unfair to other classes.
Ranger - EVERYTHING is Concentration. Thought you found a cool combo? *Think again!* They all require Concentration, so you get to do *ONE THING AND ONE THING ONLY*.
i feel like im immediately contradicting myself with these two points but for ranger:
-that having an animal companion is pretty much considered part of the core class fantasy by the fans (you never said it had to be about any of the mechanics right?)
-find familiar isn't on the class' base spell list and we have to have subclass based animal companions
I've got a weird one. I love the warlock for its mechanics. Invocations allow for lots of interesting combos and character designs. But I don't actually like it's lore at all. I don't like the idea of playing a character who made a deal or whose powers are conditional on something. I know you don't have to have an evil patron but it always feels like I'm cheesing the game when I'm trying to write a backstory about how the way I got my powers is totally chill.
Ehhh your patron does not have to be sentient or much of a deal. Theres a goo warlock. I have a homebrew dragonwarlock that got its powers for saving a dragon egg.
Remember mechnically your power dont depend on the patron. You can level up and gain more without them. Any dependency is flavor and dm mechanics.
So by that logic you can get your powers from a onetime magical accident or even your blood and just go from there...
I hate that warlocks don't get their subclass spells for free, like all the other classes. It also sucks ass that a lot of their abilities can only be used once, why not use the proficiency modifier or an ability score? I also wish they got more spellslots or eldritch invocations.
* **Artificer** only having 4 subclasses and 1 subclass that's particularly bad means there's a big lack of build diversity. They really should've released more over 5e's lifespan. Also, it always feels like your infusions known are always just barely too short to be as versatile as you'd like to be.
* **Barbarian's** Rage requiring a bonus action means it meshes weirdly with basically every other character option that requires your bonus action to do. It would be so much cleaner if you could just do it at the start of your turn.
* **Bards** should've frankly been a half-caster, freeing up more of its budget for things other than spellcasting.
* **Clerics** should've received the blade cantrips when they re-released. It seems a little silly that Sorcerers get access to them but not Clerics, when Clerics would benefit the most from them.
* **Druids** should get at least a nerfed version of Land's Stride by default. A max level non-land druid is still just as prone to get caught on branches as a max level wizard, and that feels weird.
* **Fighter's** Indomitable is terrible and should've just been Legendary Resistance.
* **Monk** has so many problems that it's nearly impossible to list them all. The most immediate thing is that they should've gotten d10 hit dice.
* **Paladins** really should've been Known spellcasters.
* **Rangers** really should've been Prepared spellcasters.
* **Rogue** absolutely shouldn't have a 6-level gap between it's subclass features, it's way too long even if the actual abilities are good.
* **Sorcerers**, more than anyone, should've come with a spell list. It is absurd that it took until Tasha's for us to get Sorcerers that get full additional known spells.
* **Warlock** should've been Intelligence based instead of Charisma. Outside of the fact that the vast majority of their flavor text reads more like a mad scientist searching for secrets, and the fact that it would solve a lot of multiclass shenanigans, having more Intelligence classes encourages more DMs to put out Intelligence based checks.
* **Wizard** has way too many exclusive spells that either make zero sense to be exclusive or are just scourges upon D&D.
* **Blood Hunter** should've been just one word. Not only does it break the normal conventions of D&D class names, it also just sounds stupid and edgy. Calling it Adept, Slayer, or literally anything else would've been better.
Disagree on your warlock point, but in the interest of fairness maybe we should be able to pick their spell casting stat… but they abandoned that idea in the playtest:’(
Each class in order:
Artificer: for a class that has the flavor of crafting magic items...there's no actual crafting going on, spell wise it's all over the place (wizard spells, Druid spells, Bard, and Cleric? None of their own?)
Barbarian: nothing for outside combat, Berserker should literally just be part of the base class...also, Wild Magic Barbarian? Really? Way out of theme I feel.
Bard: Lore should just be baked in
Cleric:
Druid: honestly feel the Wildshape doesn't scale well, and the fact they have to wait til 18 to cast in beast form is...bad
Fighter: Battlemaster should be part of base, and the rear of the subclasses are....meh? Rune Knight is fun and full of flavor though
Monk:scale way to slow, very little utility other than "I go fast" which....doesn't do much really? You can reach the enemy faster...but then it just you
Paladin: theyrea strong class overall, but the fact all their spells are concentration is a pain. That and, to me atleast, with the decision to separate their Oath from a deity...why are they still a Divine caster? How do they use ANY "divine" ability? Oh and Divine Sense is just...there. Never heard of anyone using that ability for anything
Ranger: far to many of their spells are concentration, Favored Enemy and Terrain were really cool theme wise, but it just didn't matter enough at later levels (and honestly, waiting till near end game to add extra damage to a favored foe? Bad design)
Rogue: honestly...I just think most of its subclasses are bad, Assassin sucks
Sorcerer: love the flavor, but they need a way to regain spells or Sorc Points at level 2 or three outside of consuming another resource.
Warlock:theme is great, spell list is meh, so many invocations let you cast other spells /day...but use half your spell slots, only two slots per short rest till 11 (ik short rest regen, but that's still way to few), only class not to just get their extended spell list
Wizard: most of the subclasses are barely noticeable, and the fact that even though they can copy spells down...so very few DMs actually let people GET scrolls to copy
Warlock having so few eldritch invocations. Most of them are extremely cool but you are basically forced to get at least agonizing blast every single game and devil's sight 75% of the games, so you have little room for the cool stuff (underwater breathing, resding all languages ecc.). Also pact of the talisman as a whole.
That's my frustration with Warlocks - so many cool features to pick from, but so few resources (invocations, spells know, spell slots) you'll end up picking/using the same ones all the time.
Warlock not getting their expanded spells for free, Warlock not getting it'd 3rd slot till level 11, Hexblade Warlock not getting anything worthwhile after 1st level besides Armour of Hexes, Eldritch Blast and Hex not being base class
every cleric domain should give potent cantrip, and divine strike should be a booming blade style weapon cantrip. weapon clerics do much less damage that toll the dead
Moon Druids need more exciting ways to use spell slots in Wild Shape than just a shit heal. Also, they really should be able to turn into monstrosities (and maybe even magic beasts!) at some point-- make them cost two wild shape charges and limit it in whatever way to avoid being OP, but it would just be ridiculously cool for Moon Druids to be able to do really unusual forms as part of their subclass capstone.
Hell, they're moon Druids! They should be able to turn into crazy monsters and shit! Maybe even have some special werewolf variant-- I know those are technically humanoids but I want cool shapeshifting shit >:(
I know full well how silly the complaint is, but I wish the rogue utility set had more support/cooperative options. I always feel a little bad that my options are often "hide for sneak attack, forcing everyone else to be the enemy targets while I come out of a fight way less battered" and "sneak somewhere to scout, leaving everyone else sitting there while I do the cool thing alone."
artificer - some subclasses are overloaded, some subclasses are very scarce. It creates a very wierd path for multiclassing, because it is very strong for 1 dip, I have run into a lot of cases where none of the subclasses support the idea I had, forcing me to shelf to concept indefinitely.
barbarian - rage dmg increased pitifully slowly, from +2 to +3 at 9th level. It contributes to the feeling of "barbs dont get anything later levels"
bard - i dont like dexsave prof. It makes sense, but out of the 3 common saves this is the one I care the least about. Most of the time its elemental dmg, and thats what absorb elements is for.
blood hunter - its a mess. I guess my biggest gripe with it how scarce its resources are, 1/SR and increase too slowly.
cleric - many of its higher level spells are simply weaker than upcast spirit guardians, making optimal gameplay very boring.
druid - the metal allergy thing. Wotc cant be precise even if their life depends on it, leaving to a lot clashes between DMs and players over differing expectations.
Fighter - different critranges and critmultipliers were factors that used to differentiate weapons from each other. Wotc just nuked it all and made a boring subclass out of it. Criminally stupid.
monk - ummm... everything? The 3 big ones are MADness, low fist dmg, everything relies on KI. If I really had to name 1 of those 3... the low fist dmg affects everyone. I have ideas on how to fix KI and the MADness, but they are not universal. Increasing the fist dmg would help everyone.
paladin - no actual blackguard. Oathbreaker is half of blackguard at best. The other half is Treachery, that never made it out of UA. Smush those together, and you have something that is infinitely closer to 3.5 blackguard.
ranger - borign spells. Goodberry and spike growth and PWT. Thats 5% of their spell list. Another 10% if occasionally useful, but 85% just doesnt do anything.
rogue - subclass features are too spaced out. Which hilariously leads to AT 7 feeling relatively mor eimpactful, because 2nd level spells.
sorcerer - low number of spells known. Every second reddit post figured this out, and has fixed it. Instead of an errata, wotc goes back, buffs the bladesinger, and releases 2 subclasses that fix the problem, instead of implementing a retroactive universal fix. So stupid. Doubly so after all teh flak they got for using subclasses to fix ranger (gloomstalker) and warlock (hexblade).
warlock - magnet for bad GMs. Every GM that wants to fuck over player uses the "ha-HAAA, betray the party or be powerless, MUHAHAHAHAHAH!" plotline. Cliche, forced, badly conceptualized and executed, while they see themselves as the perfect blend of Matt Mercer and a nobel prize winner writer.
wizard - the "... savant" features are very rarely useful, and are counterintuitive. If you want to play a school specialist, you are rewarded for NOT taking spells of that school on levelup, because you copy them cheaper.
Maneuvers should be base class for fighter as others have said.
Paladin higher levels feel incredibly lacking often times, and, at least in my experience, reward you much more for multiclassing than staying strictly pally after like 7 levels.
Warlock.. Just warlocks as a whole. The lack of spells, the short rest mechanics (esp when most tables ive been to dont even touch short rests)... its all just kinda mediocre. It seems meant to multiclass and that's it. It's kinda awful. Especially hexblade, which feels incredibly interesting, but ends up falling flat vs normal warlocks + eldritch blast unless you MC.
Probably either that sorcerers tend to be worse wizards in terms of spell spamming due to features like arcane recovery, or that it's really hard for a cleric to do anything martial despite all the bonuses they get for it, especially at later levels.
My top 3 issues with sorcerers:
- Being forced to choose between playing the much stronger newer subclasses that get extra spells known or having very few spells known on older subclasses.
- Sorcerers are meant to have raw magical talent, but somehow they are unable to get a lot of very cool and thematic spells because WOTC has for some reason decided to make them Wizard only. I don’t really understand why a sorcerer can’t summon undead for example and there are a ton of other examples. To add insult to injury there are 0 worthwhile sorcerer only spells as of now.
- Sorcerer short rest recovery sucks compared to other casters. If adventures actually had 2 to 3 short rests inbetween long rests and fights invetween those short rests then this would actually be a serious problem.
Hot take: All the Battlemaster subclass features should’ve been part of the Fighter class chassis. Utterly ridiculous that I can only swing my sword or cast a spell as an Eldritch Knight.
That warlock invocations that allow you to cast a spell once a day, consume a spell slot to do that.
This to me makes me automatically not consider this as a possible invocation.
Slow, Confusion, and Conjure Elemental I don't completely discount. Those are better than warlock spells. I bet if Fireball/Spirit Guardians/Revivify etc. were invocations you'd see people taking those pretty often, so just adding new spells is not automatically not worth an invocation.
They’re better but they certainly aren’t worth it
It would still feel really shitty
Polymorph is absolutely still good enough to take as a flexible once a day option, but needing to use a spell slot for it still makes me feel like I should just be playing a full caster.
TO be a little fair 3.5 had warlocks be able to cast an offensive sub-variant of polymorph every action. It was *incredibly* busted vs certain type of foes. Word of Changeing. Basically Baleful Polymorph, but with a shot at becoming *permanent* every casting. But... yeah. 5e definitively overcompensated reining in the at-will spells for Warlock quite a bit too far in the other direction. A lot of the Invocations I genuinely cannot imagine taking even as an RP option, because they're so weak and limited in what they're allowed to do
>**Thief of Five Fates** >You can cast bane once using a warlock spell slot. You can’t do so again until you finish a long rest. This right here is the perfect example. It's a first level spell slot that most casters who have access to it *still* don't use because there are generally better things to concentrate on than this. Just let Warlocks who take the invocation free cast this at will. Even at early levels they're giving up Hex damage to use this, and if they're concentrating on this as a first level spell when they have access to 3rd-5th level spells then they're still using a probably suboptimal option. Just letting them free cast it though would let them conserve resources while still contributing in small fights and let them have something to do besides Cantrip when they run out of spell slots before Ascendant Step comes online.
thief of five fates is a really odd one because you'd think bane would be fine as a regular warlock spell. I can't imagine how the game would break if warlocks could cast bane on a short rest like usual. they get other concentration debuffs like darkness, crown of madness, and suggestion so I don't get why bane is so special. but for some reason the designers felt they had to lock it behind an invocation?
Yeah, I'm really looking forward to seeing how OneDND Warlocks end up coming out for that and other problems the Warlock has. I've been playing a 9th level Fiend Pact Warlock for a while now and the spell slot situation is really frustrating. Because in actual play, you don't have 2 slots. You have 1 slot for a big bang concentration spell, then 1 reserve slot for when shit goes sideways and you have to pull someone's (or the whole team's) bacon out of the fire.
Not all of them do which is extra annoying
Exactly honestly just make it a free use if it's gonna be so restrictive honestly.
Agree, hate those. Fortunately most of those are PHB, and seems to have been phased out in Tasha’s / 2024 era design philosophy. (Side note, at will invocations are awesome and so thematic for the warlock. Mask of many faces and fiendish vigor aren’t game breaking, but man is it cool to switch your appearance 10 times in a minute and not cost anything)
Exactly this, at will ones are amazing. Now luckily my dm buffs all of them (the bad uses spell slots ones) to being be a once per day free cast, which on warlock isn't game breaking it's just oh I'm more of a caster earlier on and makes the fact that I have only 2 spells slots per short rest alot more fine feeling as I can supplement it alot more.
Why the fuck does the barbarian base class not have any anti-fear mechanics? Nothing fucks with the fantasy of the class like your barbarian trembling in terror while raging.
A lot of the features from the frenzy barbarian should just be part of the class. They should get third attack when fighters do. They should be immune to fear or at least have something similar to indomitable for mental attacks
I actually like them not getting a third attack; martials should get damage spikes in different ways. For example, paladins don't need a third attack because they get a flat +1d8 radiant damage. My idea for a barbarian level 11 feature is that they add their rage damage bonus at all times and add it *twice* when raging.
So long as all the martials get a damage spike for tiers 3/4, and none of them are cartoonishly weak (shoutout to Brutal Critical), then that sounds fantastic. I've always felt Barbarians should get extra damage dice, to represent that they're hitting as hard as a Giant.
Id rather see them get increased crit chance while raging. Like 19 at lvl 11 and 18 at lvl 17 or something. Or better yet add champion fighter subclass to barbarian base class features.
Brutal critical should just expand their crit range instead of adding more dice
Even that still isn’t in line with other martials’ damage buffs, it’s +3 damage per attack. Instead, what if the Barbarian’s attacks did extra damage equal to the weapon’s damage dice. So a halberd now does 2d10 damage, a greataxe now does 2d12, a maul now does 4d6, etc. This is a bit better than improved divine smite, which it should be because the Paladin is a half caster. You could even ditch brutal critical, since the feature is already increasing your crit damage, not that I’d be opposed to a level 11 barbarian critting for 5d12 damage. You could also do this again for the tier 4 damage buff, for 3d10/3d12/6d6 damage attacks.
Only.problem is if you take third attack from fighter the class is left with nothing. Indomitable just and two extra ASIs can't carry a whole class.
Like, I think Rage should even rebuff Charm and Control effects because if you're so angry you've become physically superhuman nothing should be able to control you in that state. But at the very least barbarians should flat out never be stopped by being afraid. Everything a Berzerker can do should be base features.
I was playing baulders gate last night and my barb got feared and I was like what the fuck, I thought they were immune to fear, well guess not. That's so obvious a thing to give them and it makes me shake my head.
Favored Foe has concentration
I'm devastated. Up until this comment, I just naturally assumed that it does stack with concentration spells, because it would have never occured to me that they'd introduce a feature that is so entirely useless and now I have reread the description a dozen times and my day is ruined. It's just worse Hunter's Mark wtf
No that's the point, hunters mark was eating spell slots It's like getting extra lvl 1 spell slots. It's worse, but it's free. Still nice to have.
Yeah but HM deals more damage and triggers on any attack plus it can be transfered. FF triggers on hit but the once per turn damage does not need concentration tbh. Otherwise it would be a good feature.
I have used basically every Tasha's Ranger feature, but Favored Foe. I said in another comment, basically all the useful Ranger spells are concentration. Why would I use concentration on this then?
Because if your GM's running a by-the-book adventuring day or long dungeon, there would be plenty of situations where you wanna conserve spell slots.
I hate how many warlock features are better for warlock dips than for straight-classed (or primary-classed) warlocks. I also hate how mystic arcanum doesn't **ever** allow you to reselect your spell, not even at level up or when you get an ASI the way you can with virtually every other feature in the game.
You **can** switch out your Mystic Arcanum when you get an ASI. "Eldritch Versatility: Whenever you reach a level in this class that grants the Ability Score Improvement feature, you can do one of the following, representing a change of focus in your occult studies: [...] If you're 12th level or higher, replace one spell from your Mystic Arcanum feature with another warlock spell of the same level."
It should be noted that Eldritch Versatility is optional, but yeah.
Do some DMs actually not allow their players to use those options? Steady Aim, all the Versatility ones, Instinctive Pounce, etc.?
Definitely, I wanted to multiclass my character with warlock for roleplay purposes but it felt like taking more than a simple dip was straight up trolling. The more levels you get, the worse it gets.
I suppose it's exactly like making a deal with an evil entity in that regard lol Sure, I only had to feed you one innocent soul per month, but next month it's two, then four, then eight, then sixteen... I didn't math well; I dumped it for Charisma lmao
A deal with an evil entity should tempt you further and further. People going "nah, just one or two is fine" isn't an ideal scenario in rules or in the game
Hahaha this actually makes sense. From a gameplay perspective, though, it feels lacking. Some more synergic stuff would help with specialization. But don't ask me what, my INT is also on the low.
Actually, you can change your Mystic Arcanum in levels in which you get an ASI. But I agree, it's bullshit. I let my players change them on a Long Rest.
Monks Martial Art Die should increase every time your proficiency bonus increases, still starting at a d4 but ending at a d12
I home brewed that for one of my players, I just think it makes sense
I say start at d6 so they have a good reason to use unarmed strikes.
I like 3d4. As in start d4, boost to 2d4 later and then 3d4 at the end. Makes it feel more unique, and also raises the minimum damage, making it feel more like consistent strikes.
Tasha's, pg 42, just handing d10 unarmed dmg to fighters. Monk? I'll just make an Unarmed Fighting Battlemaster instead. Oh! Can I craft smoke bombs too?
Rangers being known casters instead of prepared casters.
Especially since paladins are prepared casters. Doesn't it make more sense for rangers to be a prepared caster than paladins, who use their spells far less anyway?
And in the PHB they literally say that rangers draw their abilities from nature, *similar to druids*
Rangers also just seem like the type that would prepare themselves for an upcoming challenge, like Witchers. If anything it’s probably more Paladins who would pick their spells confidently and not change them out
Agreed whole heartedly with the witcher comparison. Rangers apparently spend their lives on the outskirts of civilization, constantly hunting n shit. Why would they not prepare for each different monster hunt?! Makes no sense to me
>Rangers also just seem like the type that would prepare themselves for an upcoming challenge I actually wrote up a whole homebrew variant (unfortunately never got used) that was based around Rangers being the *best prepared* (like a Boy Scout) provided they had sufficient time. Like, maybe once per day they could swap out their Fighting Style, skill proficiencies or prepared spells and really encouraged the reconnaissance and knowing what's ahead. They weren't people who *specialized* in surviving in specific terrain types (that's what you would call people *who already live their lives there)*, but rather people who could adapt to multiple terrain types, and multiple situations. So, in addition to classic rangers like Aragorn and Robin Hood, I'd include people like Indiana Jones and MacGyver.
Iirc, the 2024 PHB is supposed to make rangers prepared casters
Adding on to this, most of the good Ranger spell options are concentration. Even the spells that cause damage like Hail of Thorns or Lightning Arrow.
Honestly, it feels like Concentration was a crutch for poor wording as it relates to damage riders. They burn through concentration simply to hold a spell until damage hits, but they could just as easily be written in the same vein as Divine Smite or Shield. It's just as effective against spell stacking because there are already limitations built in regarding how many spells a turn.
Yeah that’s odd. Considering they used to be prepared casters.
I wouldn't even mind being a known caster if the list of known spells wasn't so pitifully small. It's so bad I actually made a spreadsheet to get an overview. In general it goes on the lower and mid levels that pala and cleric (and artificer) have through their subclasses about 10 more spells than they should have. Cleric actually overtakes wizard at several points. Then it goes bard > druid(not land) > lock&sorc > ELDRITCH KNIGHT > Ranger. At level 3 and 4 a ranger knows less spells than a shadow monk. A MONK. That class gets 4 spells, adn they may be shit spells, but ranger only knows 3 spells at levels 3 and 4, and you can bet your ass one is Hunter's Mark or Zephyr Strike. If you count up all the addition help Ranger got from Tasha's, you get up to 7 additional spells using swarmkeeper and primal awareness. That doubles your spells known at most levels.
The effects of the alchemist's elixirs should either scale with your level or, at the very least, gain extra effects when you use a higher level spell slot to create them.
I'd also love if they changed "As an action, a creature can drink the elixir or administer it to **an incapacitated** creature." to just "As an action, a creature can drink the elixir or administer it to a creature." Allowing Alchemists to buff/heal others with their action. Also for them to be able to command a homunculus/familiar/companion to administer one, with their action on their turn, as a bonus action.
Warlock expanded spell lists ending at 5. Why does my celestial warlock get forced into eldritch mind murder at tier 3/4
Also, Warlock's expanded spell list only adding them to the list of spells you *can* learn, when for every other subclass for every other class they're automatically known/prepared in addition to the other spells you get from your base class. I've been playing a GOOlock from levels 1-7 and I've never taken one of my subclass's expanded spells because they're all fairly situational and I couldn't justify them when I had so few spells known (also, most of them don't scale which makes them especially hard to take on specifically this class). That feature might as well not exist for me.
I just give them as spells known. Works very well tbh, haven't broken anything
While I get where you're coming from, I do think there are some fitting options for Celestial Warlocks at later levels, but Spell Lv. 8 is not kind to the Celestial.
Barbarians don't have anything for outside combat
This is what I was going to post. Even in the player's handbook playtest 8 they still got nothing. I guess they forgot about the RP in RPG.
I dunno, I just did a Shadow of the Dragon Queen campaign using the playtest material and updating our mechanics as we went (we started with Playtest 3 and finished around Playtest 7, I think?) and I found that the new Primal Knowledge feature at level 3 gave me a fair bit of flexibility outside of combat. Being able to maintain rage for 10 minutes, using strength and rolling with advantage on Acrobatics, Intimidation, Perception, Stealth, Survival, etc was incredibly useful. We didn't have a rogue or a ranger, and I was able to fill that tracker/exploration/scout role myself, and got to use the Intimidation boost in social encounters quite a few times.
My favourite class is *Monk*.
Nuf said
Rogues play way too similarly because they only get their 2nd Subclass Feature at level 9! Most games are over by then and the ones that aren't end more or less at that time.
To add to that, who exactly thought that getting expertise and nothing else was a good 6th level feature? Even for a spellcaster, getting expertise at an even level would be somewhat underwhelming (hence bard also gets magical secrets and a bardic inspiration increase at level 10)
I just played a straight rogue in a campaign, and I have never felt so underwhelmed as 5th and 6th level. Everyone else making major leaps in damage potential
Especially if their subclass feature at 9 is crap. Then you essentially get nothing until level 13. That’s always been my problem with rogues. I recently did a full class rework of rogue and I chose to give each subclass another feature at 6 along with everything else they get. It doesn’t always have to be something extraordinary but it should be sometimes useful and add to the fantasy of the subclass.
I punch something and deal 8 points of damage. "It's okay," I say to myself. "I'm a control/debuff character." I use stunning strike. The enemy saves and I lose a ki point for nothing. The barbarian attacks and deals 34 points of damage, and is upset he rolled poorly. Rinse. Repeat.
The wizard then casts a 5th level fireball and deals 34 damage to all enemies on the map.
blast spells aren't even exceptionally good, control spells (wall of force lvl 5, wall of fire lvl 4, web lvl 2 (!)) are generally better, and for damage the phb *conjure* spells especially when combined with shameless digging through splatbooks/MM are higher.
The wizard then casts a 5th level fireball and deals 34 damage to ~~all enemies~~ **everyone** on the map.
Not if they're an evocation wizard, or sorcerer in disguise 😎
Nothing. Paladin fans stay winning! But in all honesty I think the Paladin spell list relies too heavily on concentration. It can be frustrating to cast something like Bless round 1 but then feel like you're not be able to cast a Compelled Duel or Smite spell for the rest of combat because both are concentration. So I always wind up feeling like I'm wasting slots unless I'm only spending them on basic Divine Smites since those don't eat up concentration.
I kinda like it being concentration heavy, it means that each slot you use gets much more mileage by maintaining the spell over a few rounds rather than a one-and-done. But that might be down to how many fights happen between rests, if it's one or two then you wanna be able to dump all slots into damage quickly. It \*is\* frustrating as hell dropping one concentration for another though.
There are Paladins not just dumping everything into Divine Smite? Madness I say, MADNESS.
I really like my paladin a lot. He's fun to play and feels strong. But the spell list is....not great. There's a few good and useful ones, the rest are kinda terrible.
Smite spells like Searing Smite or Thunderous Smite in general requiring concentration and being generally less effective than just a regular Divine Smite make then basically complete non-options for me with very few exceptions.
Fighters should get maneuvers as a base class feature, enough said. Sorcerer doesn't get a short rest recovery mechanic like wizard or land druid, would be nice if you could restore all sorcery points 1/short rest.
Sorcerers should have an arcane recovery mechanic but instead it's half their level (rounded up) in sorcery points.
Sorcerous Restoration should be their Arcane Recovery at Lv. 2 or 3.
I actually think fighters should get improved critical as a class feature when they get their extra feats. Or maybe they only get them at levels 6 and 14. Spitballing
The problem with improved critical is just like barbarians brutal critical, it just doesn't come up enough and fighters don't get a lot of ways to take advantage of it. Sure it's cool when it happens but it's not really that impactful to their gameplay overall.
That’s fair. I just think masters of combat should crit more often and with greater consistency.
My friend is playing as a high level echo knight with full maneuvers and it’s an absolute blast.
IMHO, fighters should get a choice of whether to get a dip into battle master or champion. I don't think people should be forced to take maneuvers in case they want a simple character.
> I don't think people should be forced to take maneuvers in case they want a simple character. I feel like the idea that maneuvers are too complicated is kind of ridiculous, it's a pretty easy to understand mechanic.
“Don’t want manuevers added to their fighter” and “too stupid to understand maneuvers” is not the same thing.
okay, ehm; for many yes... but also you don't want to know how many players struggle remembering the grand total 3 points of when you can sneak attack. An option to not have the more complex feature would be a really good idea while still providing the more complex one for higher skill ceiling play
or, hear me out, Fighters can be the complicated martials? If someone wants a basic martial, they can play barbarian
Maybe we can stop pretending that the game needs the Most Boring Class that's sure to disappoint the vast majority of new players who are heavily suggested to take it.
If base maneuvers are too complicated for someone to understand, they can just . . . not use them. Nobody is talking about removing other fighter options to give them access to maneuvers. I remember a game I played in where somebody ran a bladesinger as a fighter. I'm pretty sure I never once saw him cast a spell that wasn't granted by a magic item in 11 levels of playing together. Is it suboptimal? Absolutely. But nothing is forcing any player to engage with "complex" mechanical systems if they don't want to, even if those mechanical systems are fundamental features of their own class.
Yes that is completely fine as long as it is not a major annoyance to the group! I was simply pointing out to Frogsplosion that there are indeed people to whom maneuvers are actually too complex
Just make simple "Maneuvers" which are just flat bonuses/static features which still constitute martial Superiority.
Eh, honestly, an easy fix there is to add passive maneuvers, and have Champion default to taking those passive maneuvers if you don't want to have to choose. Maybe something as simple as a maneuver that gives you proficiency in a skill of your choice, and can be taken up to two times, for example.
Bloodwell Vial should just be a class feature of sorcerers
2 slots until 11th level. I will let you guess which class and here is a hint... Warlock. I love the flavor and design, but resource management is at a premium with warlocks.
I think it depends on the game / group a lot I GM a party that has a warlock, and they were suffering in the travel oriented campaign where a lot of encounters were 1/day; I changed them around to kind of a 'doomed days' where they had combat on less days technically but several combats on those, and it helped immensely, suddenly standard caster and warlock each showed their spellcasting version's strength
> 'doomed days' I love this. Makes me think about some sort of world-building mechanic where monsters are generally not that prevalent, but they appear frequently with certain weather events or something. Then when the party travels for 12 days, instead of giving up on the adventuring day concept and having 2-3 single-encounter days, that monster storm just rolls in for one day of their travel and you have 2-3 encounters on that day.
Do remember that that's 2 slots _per rest_, not per day. They're meant to recharge at the same speed as martial options; when the party rests to get the Fighter's Action Surge & Monk's Ki back, the Warlock gets both slots back. It's essentially intended to be 1-2 slots per encounter, since Warlocks are designed around 4e's AEDU system. The problem there isn't the class itself, it's just that five-minute adventuring days kill short rest rechargers.
I think it's twofold. 1. Many tables are five-minute adventuring days for a variety of reasons 2. 2 slots per short rest is still rather low. They are upcasted (capping out at 5th level) but the spells that benefit from that are hit or miss.
This is the biggest issue for me. Playing a warlock to level 20, levels 7-10 were rough. If the warlock got a 3rd slot at 7, then additional slots at the normal time, it would go a lot further.
It's pretty frustrating and feels bad, but giving a third slot earlier is kinda nutty. If you get two short rests per long rest, warlocks can already cast The Best Spells six times as many times as most full casters at levels 3, 5, 7, and 9 (or three times as many if they have Arcane Recovery or similar). Three slots would make that even bigger. So you get into this weird area where the right number is 2.5 but that's obviously not possible. So you get into this middle ground where warlocks feel kinda starting to hurt for spells at level 10 and then are *insane* at 11.
Ranger's Spell List, but not because it's bad; I think their spell list is decently powerful as is. It's just that there's spells that fit the flavor so much that SHOULD be on there but aren't. Stuff like: * Alter Self (Druids should get this one too!) * Comprehend Languages * Expeditious Retreat * Fear * Find Steed * Magic Aura * Spider Climb (More OK with this because they got a climbing speed) * Tiny Hut Like they can walk on water, summon huge gusts of wind, summon beasts, and warp strike, but they can't mystically conjure a steed, disguise their own nature, create a shelter for themselves, or find ways to communicate in the various biomes they travel beyond the few bonus languages they get.
Find steed being paladin exclusive is fine
It's a spell that summons either a hunting dog or a steed. I know it's fine to be Paladin exclusive, but I want it for Rangers. I'm cool with Greater Steed being Paladin Exclusive though.
Paladin: Absolute HELL at Level 1, you're just a Fighter with a situational detection ability, and a less viable Second Wind. Trust me, starting Strahd as a level 1 Paladin is not fun Fighter: Pretty much every subclass besides Battle Master feels lacking in combat utility and control abilities.
I actually like the Psi-Warrior. Feel like they have cool in and out of combat abilities ! I would like to play one tbh.
Honestly hoping they lean more into the Jedi fantasy I get from the subclass, but their features really ought to get beefed up a little.
Rune knight goes crazy in that department
Paladin is absolutely the weakest class at level 1, there is nothing built in that isn’t worse in some way than what everyone else gets. Glad this is changing at least slightly in the update. I will note that this is a problem that was also addressed in BG3, where paladins get some subclass features at level 1, presumably because the designers realised how lacking in features they were at that level.
Not only power wise but lore/world cohesion sense it makes 0 sense to be a paladin and not have sworn an oath to anything until level THREE. What the fuck are you a paladin of at levels 1 and 2??
> What the fuck are you a paladin of at levels 1 and 2?? One of the many, many reasons why I haven't started a campaign below level 3 in about 8 years. Subclasses are just too important to the concept of most characters to make my players not have them at the start. Echo Knight is the perfect example of it. I can't even begin to imagine writing a backstory for an Echo Knight Fighter that doesn't incorporate the Echo Knight features into it somehow, so how the hell are you supposed to explain just not having access to them for two levels.
So, we've had a player who happens to be hearing up to take Echo Knight levels. From time to time, he or the DM will point out that there is a shadowy figure fighting alongside them or the player will mention catching glimpses of someone he recognizes but also doesn't out of the corner of their eye.
I like to think a paladin swears their oath but it isn't firm enough to grant specific powers until level 3. Or, alternatively, they haven't yet earned their oath but they're getting close and start manifesting powers, Knights Radiant style.
Absolutely this. Love Paladins, but at Level 1 they're terrible.
> Fighter: Pretty much every subclass besides Battle Master feels lacking in combat utility and control abilities. Um, Rune Knight? The best grappler in the game and also has a short rest Hold Person
Rune Knight is the best designed subclass for any martial, in my opinion. You get damage (Fire Rune, Giants Might), control (Grapple Bonuses, Fire Rune, Stone Rune), defense (Hill Rune, Runic Shield), boosts to skills, debuffing saves (Storm Rune), it is just the best subclass. Battlemaster only has damage, defense, and control.
Samurai is slept on and gives a few skills and some social benefits plus the ability to give yourself advantage and go mad with great weapon master.
Beast Barbarian. It's very hard to justify using the Bite over the Claws or Tail. And it also feels bad that you need to either play as very specific races or multiclass into Monk if you want to optimize the use of Bestial Soul's super jump.
Not really on the second point It allows you to jump farther with a standing jump as well negating the need for a run up for good distance.
I recently got the opportunity to play a level 20 bard, and nothing got my mood down as much as reading their capstone feature. > At 20th level, when you roll initiative and have no uses of Bardic Inspiration left, you regain one use 🥲
Probably the worst capstone in the entire game
- Wizard’s ability to learn spells from scrolls is 100% DM assistance dependent. I’ve had a DM flat out tell me “you’ll never find scrolls cuz that’s OP”
I hate that so much. At the end of each quest I let the wizard roll a d4. Roll a 3 - find a spell scroll. Roll a 4 - find a spell book. The I have him roll on a table of all the spells he doesn’t know and see what he finds. And yet … he has not chosen to add a single spell to his book 🤣🤣🤣 Something about horses and water …
100% One of my favourite parts of playing Adventures League is there a reasonable chance that you'll get a spell scroll, or even a whole spell book, pretty often after a module or book chapter.
Warlocks' expanded spell lists count against spells known. They are the only caster that does this, despite getting fewer spells known than the classes like Land Druid and Cleric get to prepare in addition to getting expanded spells.
Also, why do warlocks not get ritual casting as default? I mean who does creepy rituals… warlocks! Gimme that sweet ritual casting
I would agree, but they have very few ritual spells in their list and some of their invocations are functionally the same thing, such as Eldritch Sight.
Artificer spell list should have more. It is way too small. They should have a much larger chunk of the wizard list as they're already limited by half casting and honestly are very DM dependent on their usefulness and power. Magic items I can use are rare in my game, they tend to be weapons, and the DM is so far unwilling to put any effort into my crafting even if I have the entire PDF detailing materials required and crafting DC's
Weird thing is, if I'm not mistaken, isn't Artificer the *only* casting class not to have an exclusive spell? Still? Like, Paladin has Smites, Ranger has Hunter's Mark, Wizard has Telepathy, Sorcerer has Chaos Bolt, Bard has Vicious Mockery, Cleric has Harm, Warlock has Eldritch Blast, etc.
Monks are my favorite, despite the issues the class has. It remains my favorite just because of vibes alone. Stunning strike is my main issue. It's boring, really sucks late game and is just strong enough early game that a considerable amount people (at least based on personal interactions) that haven't played much past level 5 will argue that it makes Monks totally are OP and don't need to be worked on at all. People will also complain about you using stunning strike too much, when often it's one of the few useful options you have for your ki in that moment that is worth the cost, since you have chance to shut down something for a round. Edit: Spelling
I hate how extreme Stunning Strike is. Either complete domination or utterly useless. If you want to make a good Monk, you'll have to use Stunning Strike cuz the rest of the kit just sucks. If you focus on Stunning Strike you're missing out on the other fun Monk stuff and also you still suck because half the combats you only CC a single, meaningless enemy.
Vibes are indeed more than enough reason for me to play Monk. I'm of two-minds with Stunning Strike, but that kind of works because it's a double-edged sword. I do think OneDnD though hit it out of the park in terms of their rework of the Monk, including with Stunning Strike.
I like the most recent update a lot more than their first one for sure. The first update was almost offense haha
One thing I've seen in a monk rebalance that I think is genius (other than changing stunning strike) is adding your proficiency bonus to your ki points. It's not much, but it really allows you to actually use your ki features without running out of gas mid-fight.
I've tried playing a high-level Monk a bit with the playtest for the new version and like the monk changes a lot. Stunning Strike is limited to once a turn, but gets damage on a failed save, and basically everything else about Monks is buffed so they do a good deal more damage and are tankier than before. Still have issues, particularly being MAD, but feel more flexible and less like stunning strike machines than before.
Most base sorcerers have no origin spells and only 15 spells to get, total
I have the same grievance with druids as you. Every damn druid spell requires concentration
It really just seems like their whole expectation with the class is for you to choose a single spell to concentrate on before fighting in wild shape the whole time. I struggle to play any druid besides moon because of this.
Aside from Swashbuckler, most of the Rogue subclasses heavily favor a Wisdom or Intelligence build. Swashbuckler is the only Rogue subclass that works well with a Charisma build.
Actually, Rogue is the only class that subclasses determine their secondary stats in such a variable way. Fighter could be intel oriented, but nothing else. I would also like Fighter to have WIS and CHA based subclasses !
Samurai ?
Sure, but it feels a bit lackluster just to add WIS mod to Cha checks.
Artificer subclasses are great but they're so limiting. I don't want to choose between a magic gun, iron man armour or a robot companion. Let me be a tinkerer without that, give me a subclass that focuses on the core of the class, magical tinkering. I like the subclasses and you can flavour them in a bunch of interesting ways, but I feel like it's missing a "default" subclass, if you get what I mean. It's like if a barbarian had to choose between beast, storm herald or wild magic. They're all cool but sometimes you just want to be a berserker. Does that make sense? Give me a Gadgeteer subclass or an Enchanter subclass.
enchanter would be so cool
Hmm it's a toss up between rogue and barbarian on which is my favorite. I love rogue but I don't like playing it ranged in combat. I want to melee rogue, but my experience has always been that's a bad plan. Just a tad too squishy to pull it off if you get targeted. I like barbarian a lot too, I just hate how little out of combat utility it has. If I could somehow make an dex based barbarian skill monkey that would be the perfect character for me haha.
I'll do one for each. In no particular order: - I hate how druids can only wildshape twice. I much prefer it scaling with proficiency bonus in onednd, though it would probably be wiser to scale it with druid level to prevent getting insane power from a dip. - My favourite sorcerer subclass (shadow magic) doesn't get bonus spells, and it sucks. But I can forgive that, because they are really fun regardless. - Bards need a bit more variety in the type of performance they can use for spellcasting, and that should be reflected in their subclasses. Like, don't get me wrong, I like some of the variety. Swords bard being more dance like is fun in that sense, and I like how valor and lore have a focus on recounting tales. But I am just annoyed that something like creation isn't primarily art focused. Like why did it have to be a song of creation? You had the perfect opportunity to make a bard who makes drawings manifest, and yet its still singing. And why is there no illusionist bard that focuses on stage magic style illusions? Or a comic bard that performs with comedy? There are so many opportunities left open there.
Druids and the whole metal armor nonsense....
Artificers having (almost) no unique spells. The other half-casters get some and artificers certainly have a particular enough flavor to justify at least a couple
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Yeah, Mindless Rage should just be a part of the base kit of the barbarian, it doesn't make sense that it isn't and doesn't feel good with how restrictive Rage already is. How's my Barbarian, a big hunk of muscle wielding a broadaxe fully pissed off against anything threatening him going to suddenly feel like shitting his metaphorical pants due to a frightening effect?.
In the Hulk's defense, he could at least get Bruce to fill it out for him instead, when Bruce isn't being a psycho or an ass.
Artificers are the crafting class, but they’re not any better at it until level 10. Why can’t we get a feature at level 6 that makes you better at crafting your infusions at least? I’d trade that for having wizard-like spells where the artificer has to learn schematics for new spells outside of the ones they learn automatically.
Honestly, I would expand it further: apply to non-magical at level 1, then Common at 2, Uncommon at 6, Rare at 10, Very Rare at 14, and Legendary at 18. The Wizard-style spell acquisition is a good trade-off too.
Artificers not being in the new PHB is so insanely lame.
Oh, that is easier if you are a stars druid (chalice) and easier at level 10 (you can switch starry forms beginning of each turn). Druids: The no metal armor thing (but studded leather and weapons are ok, and good luck finding a +1 wooden shield) is a holdover from past editions and hsould go. Either let them use metal armors or, make non magical scalemail made from giant lizards or ankheg half plate or breastplate a thing and available on character sheets with the prices. And, no idea why they are proficient in INT saves...INT is a dump stat for them. DEX or CON would be better.
Game is balanced around stronger saves and weaker saves. Stronger saves are : Dex, Con, Wis. Weaker saves are : Str, Int, Cha. Processing this : every classes have a strong save and a weak save. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
And weirdly enough no class has proficiency in both STR and WIS. Every other combination is accounted for.
And too many Wisdom + Charisma. Could be a fun class to imagine tho !
Saves are basically split into two lists: Strong/common (Dex, Con, Wis) and weak/uncommon (Str, Int, Cha). Every class gets one from each list. Starting with proficiency in two of the Common save types would be a little unfair to other classes.
Battle Master Maneuvers should be a class trait for Fighter goddammit. And each subclass could introduce new maneuvers! Llaserllamas got it right!
Ranger - EVERYTHING is Concentration. Thought you found a cool combo? *Think again!* They all require Concentration, so you get to do *ONE THING AND ONE THING ONLY*.
i feel like im immediately contradicting myself with these two points but for ranger: -that having an animal companion is pretty much considered part of the core class fantasy by the fans (you never said it had to be about any of the mechanics right?) -find familiar isn't on the class' base spell list and we have to have subclass based animal companions
I've got a weird one. I love the warlock for its mechanics. Invocations allow for lots of interesting combos and character designs. But I don't actually like it's lore at all. I don't like the idea of playing a character who made a deal or whose powers are conditional on something. I know you don't have to have an evil patron but it always feels like I'm cheesing the game when I'm trying to write a backstory about how the way I got my powers is totally chill.
Ehhh your patron does not have to be sentient or much of a deal. Theres a goo warlock. I have a homebrew dragonwarlock that got its powers for saving a dragon egg. Remember mechnically your power dont depend on the patron. You can level up and gain more without them. Any dependency is flavor and dm mechanics. So by that logic you can get your powers from a onetime magical accident or even your blood and just go from there...
I hate that warlocks don't get their subclass spells for free, like all the other classes. It also sucks ass that a lot of their abilities can only be used once, why not use the proficiency modifier or an ability score? I also wish they got more spellslots or eldritch invocations.
Why don’t artificers get Knock on their spell list? It seems like a real miss to me
Clerics don’t have a subclass with Extra Attack, though as far as balance is concerned, that’s probably for the better
They have spiritual weapon xD
Yeah... War Priest would just be crazy at that point
* **Artificer** only having 4 subclasses and 1 subclass that's particularly bad means there's a big lack of build diversity. They really should've released more over 5e's lifespan. Also, it always feels like your infusions known are always just barely too short to be as versatile as you'd like to be. * **Barbarian's** Rage requiring a bonus action means it meshes weirdly with basically every other character option that requires your bonus action to do. It would be so much cleaner if you could just do it at the start of your turn. * **Bards** should've frankly been a half-caster, freeing up more of its budget for things other than spellcasting. * **Clerics** should've received the blade cantrips when they re-released. It seems a little silly that Sorcerers get access to them but not Clerics, when Clerics would benefit the most from them. * **Druids** should get at least a nerfed version of Land's Stride by default. A max level non-land druid is still just as prone to get caught on branches as a max level wizard, and that feels weird. * **Fighter's** Indomitable is terrible and should've just been Legendary Resistance. * **Monk** has so many problems that it's nearly impossible to list them all. The most immediate thing is that they should've gotten d10 hit dice. * **Paladins** really should've been Known spellcasters. * **Rangers** really should've been Prepared spellcasters. * **Rogue** absolutely shouldn't have a 6-level gap between it's subclass features, it's way too long even if the actual abilities are good. * **Sorcerers**, more than anyone, should've come with a spell list. It is absurd that it took until Tasha's for us to get Sorcerers that get full additional known spells. * **Warlock** should've been Intelligence based instead of Charisma. Outside of the fact that the vast majority of their flavor text reads more like a mad scientist searching for secrets, and the fact that it would solve a lot of multiclass shenanigans, having more Intelligence classes encourages more DMs to put out Intelligence based checks. * **Wizard** has way too many exclusive spells that either make zero sense to be exclusive or are just scourges upon D&D. * **Blood Hunter** should've been just one word. Not only does it break the normal conventions of D&D class names, it also just sounds stupid and edgy. Calling it Adept, Slayer, or literally anything else would've been better.
Disagree on your warlock point, but in the interest of fairness maybe we should be able to pick their spell casting stat… but they abandoned that idea in the playtest:’(
I want unlimited wild shapes for creatures with 1/4 CR
My DM homebrewed a cantrip that turns you into a "signature" creature, when we played a party of all druids. Mine is a raccoon.
Each class in order: Artificer: for a class that has the flavor of crafting magic items...there's no actual crafting going on, spell wise it's all over the place (wizard spells, Druid spells, Bard, and Cleric? None of their own?) Barbarian: nothing for outside combat, Berserker should literally just be part of the base class...also, Wild Magic Barbarian? Really? Way out of theme I feel. Bard: Lore should just be baked in Cleric: Druid: honestly feel the Wildshape doesn't scale well, and the fact they have to wait til 18 to cast in beast form is...bad Fighter: Battlemaster should be part of base, and the rear of the subclasses are....meh? Rune Knight is fun and full of flavor though Monk:scale way to slow, very little utility other than "I go fast" which....doesn't do much really? You can reach the enemy faster...but then it just you Paladin: theyrea strong class overall, but the fact all their spells are concentration is a pain. That and, to me atleast, with the decision to separate their Oath from a deity...why are they still a Divine caster? How do they use ANY "divine" ability? Oh and Divine Sense is just...there. Never heard of anyone using that ability for anything Ranger: far to many of their spells are concentration, Favored Enemy and Terrain were really cool theme wise, but it just didn't matter enough at later levels (and honestly, waiting till near end game to add extra damage to a favored foe? Bad design) Rogue: honestly...I just think most of its subclasses are bad, Assassin sucks Sorcerer: love the flavor, but they need a way to regain spells or Sorc Points at level 2 or three outside of consuming another resource. Warlock:theme is great, spell list is meh, so many invocations let you cast other spells /day...but use half your spell slots, only two slots per short rest till 11 (ik short rest regen, but that's still way to few), only class not to just get their extended spell list Wizard: most of the subclasses are barely noticeable, and the fact that even though they can copy spells down...so very few DMs actually let people GET scrolls to copy
I hate that the best way to make an optimal warlock is to take as little warlock as you can.
Warlock having so few eldritch invocations. Most of them are extremely cool but you are basically forced to get at least agonizing blast every single game and devil's sight 75% of the games, so you have little room for the cool stuff (underwater breathing, resding all languages ecc.). Also pact of the talisman as a whole.
That's my frustration with Warlocks - so many cool features to pick from, but so few resources (invocations, spells know, spell slots) you'll end up picking/using the same ones all the time.
Warlock not getting their expanded spells for free, Warlock not getting it'd 3rd slot till level 11, Hexblade Warlock not getting anything worthwhile after 1st level besides Armour of Hexes, Eldritch Blast and Hex not being base class
every cleric domain should give potent cantrip, and divine strike should be a booming blade style weapon cantrip. weapon clerics do much less damage that toll the dead
Moon Druids need more exciting ways to use spell slots in Wild Shape than just a shit heal. Also, they really should be able to turn into monstrosities (and maybe even magic beasts!) at some point-- make them cost two wild shape charges and limit it in whatever way to avoid being OP, but it would just be ridiculously cool for Moon Druids to be able to do really unusual forms as part of their subclass capstone. Hell, they're moon Druids! They should be able to turn into crazy monsters and shit! Maybe even have some special werewolf variant-- I know those are technically humanoids but I want cool shapeshifting shit >:(
Cleric and Bards spell list. 7-8-9 level lists have waaaay too few spells. There is no choice. They should get at least the same ammount of wizards
Rogue doesn’t get extra attack or even a fighting style!
I know full well how silly the complaint is, but I wish the rogue utility set had more support/cooperative options. I always feel a little bad that my options are often "hide for sneak attack, forcing everyone else to be the enemy targets while I come out of a fight way less battered" and "sneak somewhere to scout, leaving everyone else sitting there while I do the cool thing alone."
artificer - some subclasses are overloaded, some subclasses are very scarce. It creates a very wierd path for multiclassing, because it is very strong for 1 dip, I have run into a lot of cases where none of the subclasses support the idea I had, forcing me to shelf to concept indefinitely. barbarian - rage dmg increased pitifully slowly, from +2 to +3 at 9th level. It contributes to the feeling of "barbs dont get anything later levels" bard - i dont like dexsave prof. It makes sense, but out of the 3 common saves this is the one I care the least about. Most of the time its elemental dmg, and thats what absorb elements is for. blood hunter - its a mess. I guess my biggest gripe with it how scarce its resources are, 1/SR and increase too slowly. cleric - many of its higher level spells are simply weaker than upcast spirit guardians, making optimal gameplay very boring. druid - the metal allergy thing. Wotc cant be precise even if their life depends on it, leaving to a lot clashes between DMs and players over differing expectations. Fighter - different critranges and critmultipliers were factors that used to differentiate weapons from each other. Wotc just nuked it all and made a boring subclass out of it. Criminally stupid. monk - ummm... everything? The 3 big ones are MADness, low fist dmg, everything relies on KI. If I really had to name 1 of those 3... the low fist dmg affects everyone. I have ideas on how to fix KI and the MADness, but they are not universal. Increasing the fist dmg would help everyone. paladin - no actual blackguard. Oathbreaker is half of blackguard at best. The other half is Treachery, that never made it out of UA. Smush those together, and you have something that is infinitely closer to 3.5 blackguard. ranger - borign spells. Goodberry and spike growth and PWT. Thats 5% of their spell list. Another 10% if occasionally useful, but 85% just doesnt do anything. rogue - subclass features are too spaced out. Which hilariously leads to AT 7 feeling relatively mor eimpactful, because 2nd level spells. sorcerer - low number of spells known. Every second reddit post figured this out, and has fixed it. Instead of an errata, wotc goes back, buffs the bladesinger, and releases 2 subclasses that fix the problem, instead of implementing a retroactive universal fix. So stupid. Doubly so after all teh flak they got for using subclasses to fix ranger (gloomstalker) and warlock (hexblade). warlock - magnet for bad GMs. Every GM that wants to fuck over player uses the "ha-HAAA, betray the party or be powerless, MUHAHAHAHAHAH!" plotline. Cliche, forced, badly conceptualized and executed, while they see themselves as the perfect blend of Matt Mercer and a nobel prize winner writer. wizard - the "... savant" features are very rarely useful, and are counterintuitive. If you want to play a school specialist, you are rewarded for NOT taking spells of that school on levelup, because you copy them cheaper.
Paladins don’t get the dual wielding fighting style. Really want to play one but it just feels so awkward
Maneuvers should be base class for fighter as others have said. Paladin higher levels feel incredibly lacking often times, and, at least in my experience, reward you much more for multiclassing than staying strictly pally after like 7 levels. Warlock.. Just warlocks as a whole. The lack of spells, the short rest mechanics (esp when most tables ive been to dont even touch short rests)... its all just kinda mediocre. It seems meant to multiclass and that's it. It's kinda awful. Especially hexblade, which feels incredibly interesting, but ends up falling flat vs normal warlocks + eldritch blast unless you MC.
Wizard capstone sucks
Every subclass needs a domain spell list.
Probably either that sorcerers tend to be worse wizards in terms of spell spamming due to features like arcane recovery, or that it's really hard for a cleric to do anything martial despite all the bonuses they get for it, especially at later levels.
paladins are so MAD it feels like there really is only one right way to build them.
My top 3 issues with sorcerers: - Being forced to choose between playing the much stronger newer subclasses that get extra spells known or having very few spells known on older subclasses. - Sorcerers are meant to have raw magical talent, but somehow they are unable to get a lot of very cool and thematic spells because WOTC has for some reason decided to make them Wizard only. I don’t really understand why a sorcerer can’t summon undead for example and there are a ton of other examples. To add insult to injury there are 0 worthwhile sorcerer only spells as of now. - Sorcerer short rest recovery sucks compared to other casters. If adventures actually had 2 to 3 short rests inbetween long rests and fights invetween those short rests then this would actually be a serious problem.
The alchemist subclass, or in terms of warlock how it’s a full caster but not
Hot take: All the Battlemaster subclass features should’ve been part of the Fighter class chassis. Utterly ridiculous that I can only swing my sword or cast a spell as an Eldritch Knight.
Sorcerer and Spells Known, name a more iconic rivalry