What is your favorite D&D class?

Just a fun post that I figured could spark some discussion. What's your favorite class in D&D (or Pathfinder, since there's lots of overlap), and why?

For me, I tend to like most spellcasters, especially spontaneous ones. Part of it might be because all the spell management is a lot to keep track of, especially at higher levels, even if they give more flexibility. I love Bards a ton. Spellcasting through performance is such a cool idea. Not to mention the range of flexibility they offer while still being spontaneous casters, since spells aren't their sole purpose.

Sorcerers are also awesome, both because of the "simpler wizard" model of spellcasting (I know I'm oversimplifying), and because bloodlines are so cool for flavor and roleplaying.

For non-spellcasters, I'd have to say probably Rogue, due to the sneakiness, and the skill flexibility. I still like when I'm able to have some spells, so Arcane Tricksters are more so my type of Rogue.

So final verdict for favorite, probably Bard, Sorcerer, and Rogue, in no particular order.

I love the versatility of wizards. "Yes, I can solve this problem. Tomorrow." I played wizards almost exclusively until 3e.

Clerics have grown on me as their spell lists have filled out as editions progress. I love the diety-varying moral core, and the armor.

But really, paladins are my favorite. They're my first choice in any game, but I generally talk myself into playing something new. The Warpriest in Pathfinder is close, a blend of cleric and pally.

My favorite class is whichever one best suits the adventure and the party. Each class can really shine in multiple ways given the right adventure and party. I can literally think of a point where I'd want to play almost every core class. At a real world table, I'd probably say bard due to the free pass everyone gives you for taking over any NPC interaction with self-aggrandizement. In a game mechanics vacuum, I'd probably say druid. Druid might be the most versatile class, and they are full caster class.

I have played just about everything over the years, but I tend to play classes that are more chaotic such as rogues and warlocks, sometimes warlock/rogues.

Clerics are my favourite. I also enjoy dexterity based fighters...dual wielders or archers.

Paladins are my favorite always. I love playing heroic characters who want to do good in the world, so paladins are the obvious choice :P

I agree that I want to play a heroic character in games almost all the time, but unfortunately I always seem to be in the minority. I find that playing paladin ends up being a burden on a party that is filled with murderers, extortionists, and grave robbers.

I tend to choose character classes which cover gaps in a party. In my IRL games it seems everybody wants to play a spellcaster or rogue - which means I usually get stuck with fighter or barbarian. On here I have a cleric and a rogue - so they're nice changes.

That said, I quite like the everyman aspect to fighters. In a world where other characters can warp the very fabric of reality, there's something nice about being the down-to-earth party member who expresses wonder and surprise at the arcane world the DM presents.

In Pathfinder usually Witch
In D&D usually the Warlock

I prefer to play some sort of Gith, one who can stand his ground in melee and have have access to spells. Paladin, Fighter/Wiz and similar variants.

I want to have success with a warlock but haven't yet.

Is this past-me? I thought I told me stop using the time machine?

No seriously, there was like a seven or eight year window where no one would play a frontline in any game I would find/join. I played a barbarian and then several fighters in a row.

No. It's future you.
It turns out that discussing d&d character classes is much more important than killing Hitler.
Why? You'll find out, but put it this way...Oh, and on the whole "killing your great-grandfather" thing. I didn't do that - he's pretty cool once you get a few beers in him. Beside, if I did then it'd cause a temporal paradox which leads to a reality TV star becoming president of the US - so I figured it was best avoided.

Like runekydig I like gish characters that get to experience the drama of melee combat but have access to clever problem solving tools with spells.

I've been in a Warlock phase since 4E (being a servitor of Cthulhu will always please the cultist in me) but I'm branching out to try gish characters.

My favorite is the paladin, partly because my first character that made it past first level was a paladin, but mostly since I, like others in this thread, enjoy playing heroic characters. Second favorite is ranger.

I don't really have favorites per say as I managed to play successful characters of just about every classes. I also like to try new stuff all the time, so it's rare that I end up restricting myself to a single "preferred class".

I have a soft spot for multiclassing arcane and divine spellcasters. Not so much in 5e, but Maybe and Warlock/Sorc sometime.

I like martial classes, so Fighters, Paladins, Barbarians, and Rangers.

I also like spell casters like clerics and wizards. I think my favorite are either clerics or paladins, which is funny because I'm a total non-believer IRL.

Interesting how that happens. I'm agnostic, but I find the deities and divine followers of D&D/PF fascinating.

For 3e its Sorcerer and for 4e its Warlord

@Adam, that was funny.

@Belus312, I never got to play warlord much in 4e. I had one made, and we played half a session before it fell apart due to serious and crummy real life issues shutting us down. I especially wanted to see the "pacifist" warlord in action.

2e - Psionicist
3e - Psion
4e - Never played
5e - Wizard or Artificer

Never heard of Yuck. Is it a good class? What role does it plays?

A Yuck is like a ranger, but for ooze monsters instead of animals.

I'm not a huge fan of multi-classing, so I tend to play classes that can stay interesting for a lot of levels.

I also like to contribute, so I very much tend to fill the holes in the party roster. Nothing quite saps the fun as being a character who cannot really contribute to anything the party does because is always someone else in the party is so much better at things you can do.

That being said, some of my favorite character/classes I have played.

3x -- Warmage
4e -- Runepriest
5e -- Paladin and Wizard
Pathfinder -- Summoner and Gunslinger
Pathfinder 2e -- Barbarian
Starfinder -- Biohacker

I really, really enjoyed being a Factotum in D&D 3.5, it was one of the last classes put out there before they gave up on 3.5 and started forcing 4e down everyone's throats.

Other than that, a Paladin and a Sorcerer are always fun.

Not starting an edition war, but forcing the newest edition is what they do. Did the same thing with 3.5 after 3.0 and with 5th after 4E.

I wasn't trying to start one either. I was way too invested monetarily in 3.5 to be ready, or willing, to buy a lot of new books. It took a while before my group even moved to another system. Even if I had enjoyed 4E more, I was not ready for the sticker shock of spending all that cash on buying multiple books.

When I finally moved to Pathfinder, I bought books very, very slowly.

Tell me about it. Every time they push a new version and stop publishing older versions, there is a long debate at nearly every table on if/when to switch. I shudder to think about how much money I've spent over the decades trying to keep up with editions only to realize that I probably should not have.

I enjoyed 3.5 so much, I don't consider any of the spending a waste, thankfully. Even though it was a lot.

But when I started to get into other RPG systems, I pretty much stopped at the core books, until I'd played for at least a year, maybe two.

Factotum was a really fun class that isn't much discussed. Kinda a "everything in my toolbox" class, but of course a dilettante at best, and nowhere as good at them as the "real" people who did them. I wish they'd have made something similar for Pathfinder.

in ALL of D&D? wizards. however it varies through the editions..... And though 5th edition is very cinematic and flashy and fun.... it is also very broken.....

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.

I have been keen on Rogue combinations of Fighter and Spell casters.

I like playing the outdoor types, Barbarians and Rangers. I keep meaning to go outside my comfort zone and play a totally different type of character but it just doesn't happen....

Hey, those are mine, too! I'm rapidly warming up to enjoying all of them. I'm playing a grappling Fighter/Bard in a game, and I really want to try the homebrew Pugilist class. It sounds like a ton of fun, and I hear it's pretty well balanced.

I have only played a tiny bit of D&D...it was 3.5 a few years ago. But, I do like the Monk class. :)

Due to my love of creating backstory and rich characters, it’s definitely warlocks.

https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/is-your-dd-character-rare/
Here's a list with data taken from D&D online.

I never liked multi classing until 5e.

My favourite class has always been ranger. But the 5e ranger was really lacking, so I started multi classing as a ranger/fighter. Now I'm hooked on combos.

the best so far:

barbarian/monk - a dwarf who as a teenager was caught stealing a priceless gem to impress a girl, spent 100 years in an underground prison. He learned to fight, and to meditate, but he can't control his rage.

rouge/warlock - a halfling thief who poses as a neutral scout. But her lies are weak, and everyone knows she's actually a thief and smuggler. Except the lies are just to misdirect. She's really an evil warlock who's sold her soul and is collecting items for her demon lord.

The warlocks have great potential for a rich story, but so far I have never gotten it to work properly. My GM's seems to think that the difference between a cleric and a warlock is that the warlock is a damage dealer, not a healer. The relationship between the patron and the character takes time from the quest and the rest of the group.

For 3.5, definitely cleric. There are so many ways to make one, with a hundred+ different domains, plus all the various feats, and then the prestige classes on top.

For 5e, probably fighter, specifically the Eldritch Knight

Mostly played clerics in 2e and 3.5e, and occasionally a druid. My fave class at the moment though is the monk in 5e, Open Hand subclass.

In 5e it goes Rogue, Cleric, Ranger for the top three spots. I don't dislike any class, but I found Druid, Paladin, and Monk to be a bit disappointing when I tried them.

Rogue(Thief) and Fighter or a dual-class of such. In some circumstances - depending on the campaign setting - a wizard-fighter dual class can tick all the right boxes.

Haven't played much D&D 5e. But, I was always partial to the Cleric. :)

Half- Orc Monk. In 3.0 it could basically not be killed after 8th level. Also my favorite in Neverwinter Nights.

Weve had a couple of shout outside for the rogue, but no one has cited the reason I like them so much, which is there ability to drive the story forward. Those insane ability checks really let me take control of the narrative and drive the story forward in creative ways. I always feel that a rogue is a must in a party and if no one else in the group is playing one, I certainly will.

Factotum from 3.5 D&D, because I don't like the focus of the Rogue on combat, but I adore the skill-monkey role, so a more skill-focused role suits me just fine. 5e? Artificer I think, it's not as fun as the original Eberron one, but it's still a really solid and entertaining class.

I started with 3.5 and have mostly played 5e and I gotta say wizards have always been my favorite and I think they always will be. It's not because of how OP they can be, I just love the versatility. They're the "There's an app for that" class and I think that's great. There's a spell for picking locks, there's a spell for every skill check. Amazing spells for defence, terrifying spells for offense; there's even spells for healing (kinda). I'll never get tired of playing one because they can fill almost any role; even tanking! Bladesingers are badass, have great lore, and they're a fun challenge trying to make work as a tank.
Classic spells, complex spell management, familiars, counterspells, shields, misty steps; they've got it all. 👍

I highly recommend the "Crap Guide to [insert class name here]" videos. They're hilarious

Lets see if I can recall the classes I played most by edition.

BECMI - Fighter, don't think I made it past the E in BECMI so there was never a subclass there.
AD&D - Fighter, still, although I liked the Magic User I don't think I ever played in a game where I had one survive past level 2,
AD&D 2e - Mage, or Fighter/Mage as an Elf. After Kits became a thing Necromancers shot up my list, but that's still in that Mage category.
D&D 3.x - Monk, prior to this edition, the Monk had been rather unapproachable. However, I've always had a thing for well rounded characters, and Monk and Bard were always great 5th characters that could round our a party. Monk edged out Bard for me as I liked the idea of being completely playable gearless. (I guess we had too many prison breaks in prior editions.)
Pathfinder 1e - Still Monk, bot the Barbarian Titan Mauler holds a special place in my heart.
D&D 4e - N/A Missed this edition completely.
D&D 5e - Good question, I've only played a few games of 5e, but I have this idea for a non-Mage Mage using an arcane trickster/eldritch knight...
Pathfinder 2e - Full disclosure, Pathfinder's complexity got me to walk away from D&D for years. It was only recently I started playing 5e after seeing how scaled back it was from more resent editions.

Basic D&D is Thief. I played one to 10th level. Loved it.
AD&D is Ranger. A lot of variety available in how you want to play this type of character, no two are the same.
2nd Edition is Darksun Psionicist or Multiclassed Psionicist/Defiler
3.5 Edition is probably the Artificer of Ebberon
4.0 didn't play it. still haven't played it.
5e Warlock straight up.

I never really played 2e, but my favorite class was the Paladin, even though I had to cheat to roll one up.

During the 3.X era I had a thing for fighter/mage hybrids even though going full spellcaster was strictly better.

I have an undying love for the 4th edition Warlord, the like of which I may never see again.

Still bouncing around between 5e classes. I like the Paladin, but the Battlemaster Fighter at least gives me a little of the Warlord feel. Warlocks are like fighters that get out of combat abilities, so they're nice, too.

Halflings for me. I used to be all about Rangers, basically your stereotypical human ranger from the forest with lousy people skills thing.
In the last year or two I started getting into B/X and OSE and fell in love with the Halfling class. Having the advantages of ranged attack bonuses and hiding in the natural environment sort of makes them the rangers of Basic D&D anyway, and they can do some cool thief stuff if you like that.

I've only played dnd 5e so these are my favorite classes in dnd 5e that I have played so far:
1. Battlemaster Fighter
2. College of Lore Bard
3. Swashbuckler Rogue
4. Totem Warrior Barbarian
5. Way of Mercy Monk
6. Hexblade Warlock
7. Lotusden halfling Champion Fighter