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Easiest Class to Play?

Post/Author/DateTime Post
#1
dabutcher
Jul 29, 2009 14:53:45 Just an out-of-the-blue question, what's the easiest class to play in 4e?

I'm personally thinking Warden or Barbarian, but I could be wrong.
#2
sewood
Jul 29, 2009 14:58:59 Bow ranger. Twin Strike your way to lvl 30.

Edit: Ninja'ed!
#3
oxybe
Jul 29, 2009 14:58:58 archer ranger: shoot, shoot, shoot, sho- (crap he's near me...) move, shoot, shoot, shoot...
#4
corncob
Jul 29, 2009 15:08:11 Dragon Sorcerer. It's like a bow ranger but you do't even have to remember to quarry your target before you shoot or how many times you can deal the extra damage in a round
#5
Seeker95
Jul 29, 2009 15:48:46 In my opinion, 4e has made all of the classes equally easy to play. I would suggest that the only "harder" classes to play are the ones that involve companions, and even that is harder only in that you have to decide which part of you gets to act -- you or the companion.
#6
vitkiraven
Jul 29, 2009 17:15:04 Starting out it might not be hard to be a barbarian, but after a while, adding up the charge benefits, remembering the free actions that your attacks that you might generate, arguing about charges and actions, it can get to be a hassle...
#7
wrecan
Jul 29, 2009 17:18:02 I once asked the Optimization Forum to help me design a character that was "point and click". We concluded archer ranger was the optimal choice for the player who didn't want to think too hard.

You can find the final build [thread=1130843]here[/thread].
#8
williamhm75
Jul 29, 2009 17:38:11 yeah archer ranger would be eay.
#9
UnknownMourner
Jul 29, 2009 17:46:05 Sorcerer for sure. No minor action to get your class benefits. Just print your cards and start melting faces.
#10
Orzel
Jul 29, 2009 18:36:16 Archery ranger

I taught a 4 year old how to play one when my friend went to the store during a game. I really didn't have to actually teach anything except shoot and move back.
#11
x3nth10n
Jul 29, 2009 18:39:53 I think probably archer or sorcerer, though some archery skills are based on off-actions whereas the sorcerer has less of that. Also, its easier (imo) to do the damage boosts for sorcerer. No prime shot (not that it comes up often unless you really really work at it anyway).
#12
Kensan_Oni
Jul 29, 2009 18:42:08 I tend to like Warlocks for "autopilot" characters.
#13
stormknight
Jul 29, 2009 18:52:08 Wizard, if you ignore the memorized spells (which isn't that interesting anyway). No marking or quarrying or tons of odd situational stuff.
#14
wrecan
Jul 29, 2009 18:54:28 Quarrying isn't that hard. Pick a target; kill the target.
#15
gregt_314
Jul 29, 2009 18:55:39 Definitely bow rangers. Write a large card that says, "By which I mean Twin Strike", hold it up in front of you, and then just say, "Pew pew! Pew pew!" whenever someone looks at you.
#16
warlawk
Jul 29, 2009 19:55:32 If only this were a question that had been asked dozens of times before and discussed to death previously...

[Horse Dies]
/You attack horse
/You attack horse
/You attack horse
#17
Ore
Jul 29, 2009 20:05:08 Any ranged striker is the easiest to play.

That is not to say that you don't need skill to play them well. It takes an intelligent and creative person to master any class imho. However, it is really hard to play a ranged striker wrong. And plenty of time staying away from enemies while dealing damage gives plenty of opportunity to learn the rest of the game.
#18
glaive_21842
Jul 29, 2009 20:52:01 I have to agree with the rest of the people here. Archery ranger really is the easiest. The entire hunters quarry thing really isn't all that hard since you can only place it on the closest enemy anyways. Just place it and kill it. Even the killing part is easy. Just shoot a bunch and hurt stuff. Nuff said. Also, their dailies and encounter powers can pretty much be summed up as "Shoot a bunch, hurt stuff more". The only thing "hard" about that is just remembering what you add...but then if that's hard, one asks why you're playing a game so heavily rooted in basic math in the first place...

I have to disagree with dragon sorcs being easy. Sure you don't have to "remember" a mechanic, but you do have to consider optimal positioning for area attacks. That's way harder than "Who's closest? Okay, he dies." Also, with sorcerer encounters and dailies, they have all sorts of little riders and status effects which are balanced around the sorcerer's strengths. If you can, or aren't willing to, use them to the best of your ability, then you're just selling yourself short.
#19
powercat
Jul 29, 2009 22:15:38 Sorcerers have a few other things to worry about, too. Mostly energy resistances and targeting different defenses.
#20
Qube
Jul 30, 2009 3:22:35
Quarrying isn't that hard. Pick a target; kill the target.

IIRC quarrying is the closest target. (can give problems with the non-euclidian geomerty)
#21
Pundrake_the_Mad
Jul 30, 2009 15:08:30 Warlocks easy? Most of my friends would differ, as would I. I'm playing one (Fey/4th) in our campaign now, but the rest of our group looked at the class and shuddered....

To be fair, some warlock types aren't so complicated.

Briefly:

Infernalock: not so hard. Kill stuff, keep track of temp HP's and status effects.

Starlock: lots of status effects, and the pact boon is a floating bonus which has to be allocated each time it's used. Most of the time this will go to an attack roll (duh!) but not always.

Feylock: lots of status effects, extra moves which come up at odd times, and not much damage. Rather difficult to play well, in my experience.

Darklock: somewhat easier. Kill stuff, keep track of dark spiral aura and status effects.

Vestigelock: Huh??? Pact boon can change with each daily power used, along with the 'augment' to your at-will. Is there any class more complex than this?

So yeah, I'd recommend the Infernalock or Darklock if you want a 'simple' warlock, but I'd also agree with the above posts that there are other classes which are simpler and easier to play all around, especially the archery Ranger.

PtM
#22
MusicOfCreation
Jul 30, 2009 21:20:18 Archery Rangers are pretty much as easy as it gets with other ranged strikers coming up behind. Hardest would be leaders and controllers with Shaman/Druid being the hardest and Cleric/Invoker being the easiest. Defenders and Rogues are ahead of leaders/controllers, but behind Avengers and Melee Rangers in level of easiness.
#23
glaive_21842
Jul 30, 2009 21:54:53
Archery Rangers are pretty much as easy as it gets with other ranged strikers coming up behind. Hardest would be leaders and controllers with Shaman/Druid being the hardest and Cleric/Invoker being the easiest. Defenders and Rogues are ahead of leaders/controllers, but behind Avengers and Melee Rangers in level of easiness.

While it is quite true that clerics are the easiest of the supposedly hard, I'd have to differ on that. While it is true that leaders tend towards harder to understand mechanics, the cleric's potential easiness is on par with some of the easiest classes in the game. While they are a bit more involved than an archer ranger, its still very straight forward. Make an attack and give somebody THP? Not hard to mess up unless the recipient forgot they had THP (but that's not really your problem). Make an attack and give an attack buff? Not hard to mess up unless the recipient forgets he got buffed (once again, not really your problem). Party defender bloodied? Time for teh healz!

Of course, this doesn't necessarily apply to other leaders. Those free shifts the cunning bard gives out can look almost completely useless up front, but can be quite useful in the right hands/situations. That's really that sort of thing that you actually need to avoid when searching for an easy class. You should rethink anything where the benefits aren't immediately obvious or are situational.

Of course, you can always go on autopilot and play an archer ranger.
#24
KoboldWithTnT
Jul 31, 2009 20:40:14 Just about any class that stays away from melee, doesn't really need to use its move action (or minor).
So really, controllers aren't easy, most melee aren't easy, tough positioning in melee always depends on how the DM runs his monsters.
Leaders need to move around a little, sometimes they're melee, sometimes they have short range, some others might be lucky enough to be able to stay put, but they all use their minor action most of the time.
Really, strikers aren't that hard, they're like defenders, but easier, no mark to keep track (tough it's not hard on it's own, it's just something more to do), they don't always need to remember if they have their immediate action available or not (fighters and wardens actually do, oh my).
Really, if you want the easiest of them all, my vote would be on a ranged cold sorcerer. No real need to move unless something gets close, easy CA with the cold feats, nice static damage that applies to every target that you happen to hit. Yea, it fits my definition of easy.
Tough the archer ranger isn't far from a cold sorcerer, an archer ranger still has to quarry and sometimes they might want to get their little prime short, beside this, archers normally have single target powers which makes managing their striker bonus damage easy.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 dabutcher Jul 29, 2009 14:53:45	Just an out-of-the-blue question, what's the easiest class to play in 4e? I'm personally thinking Warden or Barbarian, but I could be wrong.
#2 sewood Jul 29, 2009 14:58:59	Bow ranger. Twin Strike your way to lvl 30. Edit: Ninja'ed!
#3 oxybe Jul 29, 2009 14:58:58	archer ranger: shoot, shoot, shoot, sho- (crap he's near me...) move, shoot, shoot, shoot...
#4 corncob Jul 29, 2009 15:08:11	Dragon Sorcerer. It's like a bow ranger but you do't even have to remember to quarry your target before you shoot or how many times you can deal the extra damage in a round
#5 Seeker95 Jul 29, 2009 15:48:46	In my opinion, 4e has made all of the classes equally easy to play. I would suggest that the only "harder" classes to play are the ones that involve companions, and even that is harder only in that you have to decide which part of you gets to act -- you or the companion.
#6 vitkiraven Jul 29, 2009 17:15:04	Starting out it might not be hard to be a barbarian, but after a while, adding up the charge benefits, remembering the free actions that your attacks that you might generate, arguing about charges and actions, it can get to be a hassle...
#7 wrecan Jul 29, 2009 17:18:02	I once asked the Optimization Forum to help me design a character that was "point and click". We concluded archer ranger was the optimal choice for the player who didn't want to think too hard. You can find the final build [thread=1130843]here[/thread].
#8 williamhm75 Jul 29, 2009 17:38:11	yeah archer ranger would be eay.
#9 UnknownMourner Jul 29, 2009 17:46:05	Sorcerer for sure. No minor action to get your class benefits. Just print your cards and start melting faces.
#10 Orzel Jul 29, 2009 18:36:16	Archery ranger I taught a 4 year old how to play one when my friend went to the store during a game. I really didn't have to actually teach anything except shoot and move back.
#11 x3nth10n Jul 29, 2009 18:39:53	I think probably archer or sorcerer, though some archery skills are based on off-actions whereas the sorcerer has less of that. Also, its easier (imo) to do the damage boosts for sorcerer. No prime shot (not that it comes up often unless you really really work at it anyway).
#12 Kensan_Oni Jul 29, 2009 18:42:08	I tend to like Warlocks for "autopilot" characters.
#13 stormknight Jul 29, 2009 18:52:08	Wizard, if you ignore the memorized spells (which isn't that interesting anyway). No marking or quarrying or tons of odd situational stuff.
#14 wrecan Jul 29, 2009 18:54:28	Quarrying isn't that hard. Pick a target; kill the target.
#15 gregt_314 Jul 29, 2009 18:55:39	Definitely bow rangers. Write a large card that says, "By which I mean Twin Strike", hold it up in front of you, and then just say, "Pew pew! Pew pew!" whenever someone looks at you.
#16 warlawk Jul 29, 2009 19:55:32	If only this were a question that had been asked dozens of times before and discussed to death previously... [Horse Dies] /You attack horse /You attack horse /You attack horse
#17 Ore Jul 29, 2009 20:05:08	Any ranged striker is the easiest to play. That is not to say that you don't need skill to play them well. It takes an intelligent and creative person to master any class imho. However, it is really hard to play a ranged striker wrong. And plenty of time staying away from enemies while dealing damage gives plenty of opportunity to learn the rest of the game.
#18 glaive_21842 Jul 29, 2009 20:52:01	I have to agree with the rest of the people here. Archery ranger really is the easiest. The entire hunters quarry thing really isn't all that hard since you can only place it on the closest enemy anyways. Just place it and kill it. Even the killing part is easy. Just shoot a bunch and hurt stuff. Nuff said. Also, their dailies and encounter powers can pretty much be summed up as "Shoot a bunch, hurt stuff more". The only thing "hard" about that is just remembering what you add...but then if that's hard, one asks why you're playing a game so heavily rooted in basic math in the first place... I have to disagree with dragon sorcs being easy. Sure you don't have to "remember" a mechanic, but you do have to consider optimal positioning for area attacks. That's way harder than "Who's closest? Okay, he dies." Also, with sorcerer encounters and dailies, they have all sorts of little riders and status effects which are balanced around the sorcerer's strengths. If you can, or aren't willing to, use them to the best of your ability, then you're just selling yourself short.
#19 powercat Jul 29, 2009 22:15:38	Sorcerers have a few other things to worry about, too. Mostly energy resistances and targeting different defenses.
#20 Qube Jul 30, 2009 3:22:35	Quarrying isn't that hard. Pick a target; kill the target. IIRC quarrying is the closest target. (can give problems with the non-euclidian geomerty)
#21 Pundrake_the_Mad Jul 30, 2009 15:08:30	Warlocks easy? Most of my friends would differ, as would I. I'm playing one (Fey/4th) in our campaign now, but the rest of our group looked at the class and shuddered.... To be fair, some warlock types aren't so complicated. Briefly: Infernalock: not so hard. Kill stuff, keep track of temp HP's and status effects. Starlock: lots of status effects, and the pact boon is a floating bonus which has to be allocated each time it's used. Most of the time this will go to an attack roll (duh!) but not always. Feylock: lots of status effects, extra moves which come up at odd times, and not much damage. Rather difficult to play well, in my experience. Darklock: somewhat easier. Kill stuff, keep track of dark spiral aura and status effects. Vestigelock: Huh??? Pact boon can change with each daily power used, along with the 'augment' to your at-will. Is there any class more complex than this? So yeah, I'd recommend the Infernalock or Darklock if you want a 'simple' warlock, but I'd also agree with the above posts that there are other classes which are simpler and easier to play all around, especially the archery Ranger. PtM
#22 MusicOfCreation Jul 30, 2009 21:20:18	Archery Rangers are pretty much as easy as it gets with other ranged strikers coming up behind. Hardest would be leaders and controllers with Shaman/Druid being the hardest and Cleric/Invoker being the easiest. Defenders and Rogues are ahead of leaders/controllers, but behind Avengers and Melee Rangers in level of easiness.
#23 glaive_21842 Jul 30, 2009 21:54:53	Archery Rangers are pretty much as easy as it gets with other ranged strikers coming up behind. Hardest would be leaders and controllers with Shaman/Druid being the hardest and Cleric/Invoker being the easiest. Defenders and Rogues are ahead of leaders/controllers, but behind Avengers and Melee Rangers in level of easiness. While it is quite true that clerics are the easiest of the supposedly hard, I'd have to differ on that. While it is true that leaders tend towards harder to understand mechanics, the cleric's potential easiness is on par with some of the easiest classes in the game. While they are a bit more involved than an archer ranger, its still very straight forward. Make an attack and give somebody THP? Not hard to mess up unless the recipient forgot they had THP (but that's not really your problem). Make an attack and give an attack buff? Not hard to mess up unless the recipient forgets he got buffed (once again, not really your problem). Party defender bloodied? Time for teh healz! Of course, this doesn't necessarily apply to other leaders. Those free shifts the cunning bard gives out can look almost completely useless up front, but can be quite useful in the right hands/situations. That's really that sort of thing that you actually need to avoid when searching for an easy class. You should rethink anything where the benefits aren't immediately obvious or are situational. Of course, you can always go on autopilot and play an archer ranger.
#24 KoboldWithTnT Jul 31, 2009 20:40:14	Just about any class that stays away from melee, doesn't really need to use its move action (or minor). So really, controllers aren't easy, most melee aren't easy, tough positioning in melee always depends on how the DM runs his monsters. Leaders need to move around a little, sometimes they're melee, sometimes they have short range, some others might be lucky enough to be able to stay put, but they all use their minor action most of the time. Really, strikers aren't that hard, they're like defenders, but easier, no mark to keep track (tough it's not hard on it's own, it's just something more to do), they don't always need to remember if they have their immediate action available or not (fighters and wardens actually do, oh my). Really, if you want the easiest of them all, my vote would be on a ranged cold sorcerer. No real need to move unless something gets close, easy CA with the cold feats, nice static damage that applies to every target that you happen to hit. Yea, it fits my definition of easy. Tough the archer ranger isn't far from a cold sorcerer, an archer ranger still has to quarry and sometimes they might want to get their little prime short, beside this, archers normally have single target powers which makes managing their striker bonus damage easy.