In previous editions, I always liked playing the agile scoundrel who could handle itself in a fight. In 3.5, the game quickly became dominated by magic. Rogues were my first go-to, but I quickly learned that if there's plenty of stuff out there that is immune to sneak attack, all you are is a peasant with a knife. I really disliked that about the rogue, and I am happy later editions didn't fall into the immunity pit. Instead, I really liked the factotum; the ultimate jack of all trades, so they could do a little bit of everything and could make really sassy scoundrels.
Ironically, my longest-played 3.5 character was supposed to be for a oneshot; a Favored Soul of Helm (He Who Is Ever Watchful!), built completely for defense (himself, and then the party). By no means all-powerful, but a really tough nut to crack and the person who stood at the front to hopefully keep the baddies from the squishies. It was actually quite fun to play.
Pathfinder brought a breath of fresh air. Only when I started playing Pathfinder did I realize how bland some of the 3.5 classes were, with dead levels everywhere and such. At first Pathfinder only had the base stuff, but I did play a rogue and considered it vastly improved, even if it still had some of the old flaws. But it was the new classes they came up with. First the summoner, but later I really loved the Investigator, which is in my book the ultimate skillmonkey in Pathfinder. It made me sad I never had tried the alchemist which I mistook for something else (I thought they focused in bombs, while in reality they're as close as you can get to a Witcher). But the Investigator could be decent in a fight, had plenty of magic to beef itself up, and had tons and tons of skills which they could boost rolls for. Decent in combat, a powerhouse at everything else, which is often how I prefer my characters.
I tried and disliked 4E so I'll skip that.
But in 5th edition, much to my surprise, I fell completely in love with the fighter. Super easy mechanics, still a badass. Although the warlock is a close second, which surprised me even more as when I first read it, I thought the class really must suck. But that was because I mistook the warlock for a squishy caster, while in reality it is actually one of the more beefy casters out there, with plenty of options to make them into quite fun combatants. But the fighter.. I don't know. It's just so nice and simple to pick up, skills really aren't as big of a thing as they used to be in 3.5/Pathfinder so skill monkeys don't excel as much as they used to over the baseline. That allows me to play class types I previously never explored.
