Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 Tony_Vargas Apr 14, 2004 12:02:19	There have been a lot of best-to-worst 'rankings' of core classes. The idea being that some are more or less powerful than the others or more or less fun to play or appropriate to the game, or whatever. I'd like to take a different tack and rank them by 'balance.' Not overpowered-to-underpowered, which has already been done, but consistently balanced to easily 'broken.' Because, I think it's not so much that the classes aren't balanced --in a perfectly-run, core-only game, they're probably virtually perfectly balanced with each other -- but, that some are balanced in ways that are more sensitive to variations from the theoretical norm. Here is my list, from most consistently balanced to most likely to become imbalanced: Sorcerer: The Sorcerer's powers are tightly defined, tactically flexible, and potent - and they're all his. You can't even make a sorcerer too broken by bringing in scads of imbalanced non-core arcane spells, because of the few spells known. And, it's very hard to put a sorcerer in an untenable situation - he's always likely to have at least one effective spell, and he can just cast it repeatedly. Balanced: may appear weak in a game that favors other, less balanced characters, or strong in one that disfavors them. Fighter: The fighter's AC and ability to deal with magical threats are item dependent, making him prone to imbalance in either direction depending on the level of magic availability in the game. His core abilities are balanced, though, and even introducing whacky feats isn't likely to badly alter that balance - as the fighter can only have so many. Balanced, as long as there are some magic arms & armor to go around. Barbarian: the barbarian has tightly-defined abilities that are all his, and that are effective in most adventuring situations, so he's solid. But, it's very easy for a barbarian to become a pumped-STR, two-handed weapon killing machine. Add to that even higher HD than the fighter, and some good skills, and the Barb can easily become overpowered. OTOH, his one-dimensional combat abilities can also very easily get him killed. Balanced: but a bit skewed towards high melee damage. Ranger: Facing his favored enemy, on his own terms, the ranger rocks. Facing just about anything else, he rolls. The ranger has a cool set of abilities, but they can't always be brought to bear, and other warrior-types and skill-users can easily outstrip him. Still, his basic combat abilities save him from uselessness when things aren't going his way, and, even when they are, he's not insanely overpowered. Basically balanced, but can easily feel a little 'weak.' Paladin: Kicks evil tail like there's no tomorrow, and probably the best platform for mounted combat. The paladin suffers from Multiple Attribute Dependency - so will tend to be weak in low-stat campaigns and over-powered in higher stat ones. The focus on smiting evil isn't bad - there will usually be plenty of evil enemies, but the mounted-combat focus can be obviated by circumstance easily, and for long periods. Still, he has the hps, combat ability - not to mention immunities and save bonuses - to remain survivable and useful, even when not performing optimally. Reasonably balanced, in a good campaign, where stats are neither low nor inflated. Rogue: Rogues can do sick sneak attack damage, especially combined with two weapons, greater invisibility, rapid shot, etc... They have tons of skills. They also squish easy. Not a recipe for a balanced class, by any standard, but, neither an insanely abusive or hopelessly underpowered one, regardless of the setting. Balanced somewhat delicately: Can be allowed to run riot over encounters, or simply be killed a lot, depending on how the DM structures and runs encounters. Bard: Bards are like Clerics - they have a lot of abilities, many of which can aid the party. The Cleric, however, was placed at a level of power that assumed that much of his resources would be used to benefit other characters - that is, he was 'balanced high.' The Bard wasn't. If a Bard goes around healing/buffing his party, he'll be even more bored than a Cleric in the same boat - and less effective. Bards have to try really hard to take full advantage of their diverse abilities, and, if the campaign is one where the 'face' role isn't important - or, really, if /any one thing/ the Bard does isn't important - his other uses just don't add up to enough to be worthwhile. Imbalanced, with a tendency towards weakness, ameliorated only in campaigns where the full range of his abilities are frequently called for. Cleric: As long as he's busy healing and buffing his own party, the Cleric is a balanced, useful member of the team. Once he turns 'selfish' and decides buffing himself or casting offensive spells should be his primary duty - he flirts with grossness, while the whole party becomes less effective. The Cleric is only as balanced as the player is restrained. By the same token, if healing duties are too onerous, the Cleric can become little more than a hp 'battery' for everyone else. The Cleric is also stat dependent - needing everything but DEX, and feeling the lack of that quite keenly - in a very high-stat game, he will be overpowered, in a very low-stat game, he will suffer. Imbalanced, with a tendency towards either boredom or personal over-poweredness exacerbated by weakening the rest of the party at the same time. Druid: Weird and wonderful, a Druid can easily be overpowered once he reaches mid-level and starts casting spells while wildshaped, and the enemy can never even figure out why plants are attacking them and they're being struck by lightning. He can also die horribly before he gets there. The Druid is also less effective 'out of his element' and has to pull some hinky tricks to be survivable and effective - that also push him into being overpowered. Definitely not a balanced class. He also suffers from a lesser degree of the Cleric's healing issues. Imbalanced, with a tendency towards being weirdly-overpowered that can't easily be uncoupled from abilities he needs simply to be effective. Monk: The monk's abilities are pretty dependable, and can't be taken away, so, it should be a balanced class - but, it's stat dependence and the effects of items on campaign balance can leave it wildly imbalanced. A Monk in a high-stat campaign, loaded up on stat-boosters and AC items meant for arcanists can gain outrageous AC and other abilities, becoming outright imbalanced. Conversely, a monk in a high-magic game that doesn't feature a lot of monk-useable items can be outshined by everyone. Yet, a monk in a low-magic-item game can seem more effective than everyone else. He remains balanced only in the absolutely perfectly 'average' campaign, and, even then, it may be precarious. Imbalanced- with a tendency to be overpowered or ineffectual, depending on the campaign. Wizard: Depending on the campaign and the circumstance, the wizard can be curb-stomping deities, or lying in the gutter himself ("I used to be a great and mighty wiz ::hic:: wizard, but, then I lost my spellbooks..."). Able to abuse the heck out of any new spell, able to make any abusive magic item allowed in the campaign, able to customize spells and items for each encounter - the Wizard can become the king of broken combos and roll over anything. Deprived of his goodies, taken by surprise, at a loss for wealth and downtime - the Wizard can be about as effective as a commoner with a surprisingly large vocabulary. Wildly Imbalanced, and any balance achieved will be on a razor's edge - tends to either be nigh-godlike or nigh-useless (or suddenly dead), and can easily be both in one campaign (or even one encounter).
#2 Zardnaar Apr 17, 2004 9:26:53	Interesting way of looking at things. The Cleric, Druid and Wizard are the 3 most imbalanced class's. They either dominate or suck. I would probably rate the cleric as the number one class though as they can fill to many roles--tank, archer, undead destroyer, pure spellcaster (even more than the base abilities if min/maxed). The Druid is more or less a 2 trick pony (wildshape/summon), while the best wizard in the world still suffers from low hit points, bad fort save and often low AC- a fatal combination if the DMs feeling mean.