Most Over/Underrated Class?

[Garresh]

It's been done to death. Let's do it again!

Three questions:

What do you think is the most overrated class or subclass?
What do you think is the most underrated class or subclass?
What class do you irrationally love or hate irrespective of power levels or reasons.


Keep in mind, something being highly regarded but genuinely GOOD isn't overrated, it's just popular. I'm talking things where their respect level is way off.

[Eldariel]

By whom? Where? These kinds of questions are meaningless without context, save the third (none in my case, as I tend to use classes as sets of mechanics I can combine to produce the character abilities I want). I certainly believe I'm rating most classes quite accurately right now, but it just so happens most experienced players would probably agree with my ratings.

If there were a poll to provide broad quantitative data, we'd have something to rip apart. Perhaps even compare player experience, playstyle, and the ratings as you'd expect some strong correlations there. As it stands though, it's hard to say anything without first having some ratings to comment on.

[Garresh]

I'll start. Remember this is opinion! The whole point is to throw out views that by definition will be controversial!

Most Overrated?

Warlock. It is too dependent on short rests which can screw up pacing or put constraints on the party. Also, the fact that hex takes up a spell slot means that they often will be wasting higher level spell slots on it(or darkness), which cripples their utility and focus on high level spell slots. I find them to be weak personally.


Most Underrated: Non-Moon Druid

Everyone focuses on Moon Druid. To be fair, it's insanely strong at low levels and at level 20. But I feel people undervalue the druid spell list. It actually has a TON of great "god wizard" style control spells, and utility. Damage is somewhat lacking but not terrible. The spell list makes for a top notch generalist. It lacks in skills, but still has a ton of out of combat utility. Remember, you don't need high CR wildshapes to be useful. Utility forms don't need moon druid. A Druid can be useful in literally any situation, without stepping on anyone's toes.


My Irrational Hatred? Bard.

I've gone off about this before, but in brief, I think their spell list is overrated and they rely too much on magical secrets. Their spells are powerful, but bore me. My distaste is so irrational I have legitimately played as a sorcerer, gotten expertise via a rogue dip, and flavored myself as a bard. I even took Vicious Mockery via Magic Initiate! So I'd say my opinions are fairly irrational. But good luck convincing me to change my mind! XD

[Garresh]

By whom? Where? These kinds of questions are meaningless without context, save the third (none in my case, as I tend to use classes as sets of mechanics I can combine to produce the character abilities I want). I certainly believe I'm rating most classes quite accurately right now, but it just so happens most experienced players would probably agree with my ratings.

If there were a poll to provide broad quantitative data, we'd have something to rip apart. Perhaps even compare player experience, playstyle, and the ratings as you'd expect some strong correlations there. As it stands though, it's hard to say anything without first having some ratings to comment on.

By you. Just what you've seen on forums or IRL. We will all have different and highly subjective experiences, so it's by no means scientific. This is more for fun than to gain any deeper knowledge. Just to give an example. In a group I'm DMing for now I have THREE Rangers. It's an outlier, so I don't think it's that bad. But in that case I might say Rangers are overrated(though not the highest for me). Even though they're a mediocre class that is poorly defined, I still see it played quite often.

[stoutstien]

I'll start. Remember this is opinion! The whole point is to throw out views that by definition will be controversial!

Most Overrated?

Warlock. It is too dependent on short rests which can screw up pacing or put constraints on the party. Also, the fact that hex takes up a spell slot means that they often will be wasting higher level spell slots on it(or darkness), which cripples their utility and focus on high level spell slots. I find them to be weak personally.


Most Underrated: Non-Moon Druid

Everyone focuses on Moon Druid. To be fair, it's insanely strong at low levels and at level 20. But I feel people undervalue the druid spell list. It actually has a TON of great "god wizard" style control spells, and utility. Damage is somewhat lacking but not terrible. The spell list makes for a top notch generalist. It lacks in skills, but still has a ton of out of combat utility. Remember, you don't need high CR wildshapes to be useful. Utility forms don't need moon druid. A Druid can be useful in literally any situation, without stepping on anyone's toes.


My Irrational Hatred? Bard.

I've gone off about this before, but in brief, I think their spell list is overrated and they rely too much on magical secrets. Their spells are powerful, but bore me. My distaste is so irrational I have legitimately played as a sorcerer, gotten expertise via a rogue dip, and flavored myself as a bard. I even took Vicious Mockery via Magic Initiate! So I'd say my opinions are fairly irrational. But good luck convincing me to change my mind! XD

Guessing you haven't seen a shepherd druid in play yet.

Overrated: assassin. None of the subclass actually works together very well.

Underrated: wild magic sorcerer. It's fun, powerful, unique, and absurd. Perfect for sorcerer.

[Garresh]

I'm playing a Shepherd druid right now actually. Still low level, but it seems fine so far. Just focusing more on controller type spells until I get summons online. Great emergency heals though.

[MustaKrakish]

Overrated: Hexblade. I think, that in the end, a fighter will do better.

Underrated: Rangers, they perform much better then it looks.

My Irrational Hatred? Monk. I don't get why it's not a fighter subclass, I don't understand why I need it in a party when I can have a fighter or a rogue. I just don't get this class.

[TheUser]

Overrated? Paladins.
Smites are great. Aura of protection? Amazing...if you group around them (which can have it's own set of shortcomings against AoE)
But I've had Paladin players be so frustrated with the fact that they are tied down to melee for smites, but with no extra mobility that they never play the class again.
They are also a bit MAD and while they pull some great burst damage they gas out fast.


Underrated? Necromancer Wizard.
Grim Harvest makes you -very- hearty when combined with the right spells (ones which deal damage in an area on the enemy's turn). A Wall of Fire that heals you for 24 damage is like getting a free fourth level Cure Wounds and all it took was killing 3 enemies.

It takes a lot of table experience to figure out the right amount of minions to adequately abuse the action economy without slowing down encounters too much and pissing off the entire table (DM included).
I used different colored paired d20s to help with quick advantage/disadvantage on my minions, never went above 4 skeletons (1 third level slot to keep them under your control is a small price to pay) and used my spells to restrain or debilitate large groups to help boost my group and my minions.
I've also been allowed to equip them with half-plate and crossbows so they could keep pace even in the later parts of second tier.
Hoods, some stuffed leaves in their clothes and masks makes it hard to discern in towns that they are indeed undead.

Remember that tier 1 and 2 are the hardest tiers for wizards to survive, and Necromancers trivialize both of them.

Command Undead is so-so....unless you recall that you have feeblemind. Non-caster Undead is yours for 30 days (you can feeblemind them again before the spell expires if you so choose on rest days and it's essentially permanent). Or y'know...a permanent immortal mummy lord...w/e

The rest is just cheese that isn't really necessary but breaks the class.

Inured to Undeath is also extremely poorly worded... as is Magic Jar; retaining class features means that most humanoids you possess get your 1d6+con per level in max HP added to the total they already have (unless they have class levels needing discounted) you also keep your inability to have your max HP reduced. Combined? Permanent max HP increases for possessing beefy boys. (Possessing a CR 9 champion will bring you up to 209 max HP). Of course, some may argue that "replacing" a higher number with a lower one doesn't count as a "reduction" but the feature has been described in sage advice as able to ignore having your max HP reduced from exhaustion (as opposed to necrotic damage + an effect), so it's thematically a catch-all on retaining any life force you manage grab. If an ally has Aid it's more gravy. If you make it to 17 and get Shapechange...Dragon Turtle for a bit and retain the max HP.


Irrational Love/Hate?
I love Sorcerers...mostly subtle spell. Half the community seems to be ok with quiet-casting as implicit or as a skill check which pretty much guts their strongest niche. So either they're amazing and OP or meh, depending on this facet.

[ezekielraiden]

Most Overrated: "Coffeelock" (because you didn't say I couldn't pick multiclass stuff!)
People act like it completely breaks the game open...but it really doesn't. There are only 24 hours in a day, and more importantly, no party (nor reasonable DM) is going to let you short rest 23 times. Yes, if you end up with a Warlock slot or two left over when you start a short rest, this gives you an efficient way to spend them...and that's really it. In the vast majority of situations, you aren't going to benefit that much. And since the two casting systems explicitly don't stack, getting to the real power options either means only dipping Sorcerer (so you have very few sorcery points and MM options) or only dipping Warlock (so you only have a couple of low-level slots). Either way, it's really not the HOLY $#!% AMAZING thing people make it out to be, and certainly not the "this is why multiclassing is BAD" that a significant portion fears it to be.

Most underrated: Shadow Monk
Everyone seems to either talk about how bad other (Four Elements) Monks are, or how impressive (Sun Soul) they are. The Shadow Monk is pretty brilliant though! It's one of the few game things I've seen that manages to capture enough of the "ninja" archetype to really work, and it's very evocative too. Sure, it's not the most powerful, nor is it as worthy of comment as the Four Elements that were pretty clearly not designed very well (not bad, but poorly designed and now nigh-uncorrectable because the PHB has become fixed.) But it reads like tons of fun, and everyone I know who's played one has loved the experience and effectiveness. This is less "hated when it should be loved" and more "ignored when it should be celebrated."

Personal hate: The Fighter.
I f**king hate the 5e Fighter, in particular how it (a) killed both of my favorite classes from the prior edition, and (b) constantly gets defenders who literally do not care about the function or effect of the rules as long as they sound right. And it is best that I say nothing more than that, because I am liable to say things I will come to regret.

Alternative personal hate I can actually discuss meaningfully: The Oath of Vengeance. Because they explicitly made it the 5e "Avenger" (they even refer to this name in the oath description), while keeping...essentially nothing of the 4e Avenger. Like, I can't think of a more open and blatant example of a "psyche, 4e fans!" than this in the actual printed rules. If you liked the 4e Avenger and see it in the Oath of Vengeance, more power to you, but I am both flabbergasted and deeply confused as to how you do so. It's become a heavily-armored, Strength-favoring, spell-wielding, smiting class that behaves like the crappy modern grimdark way that Batman gets written, instead of a crazy-armor-in-a-bathrobe, crazy-accuracy, holy assassin a la Ezio Auditore who hunts down traitors within their church. It's just a bitterly disappointing offering of what could have been an olive branch but instead feels like a slap in the face.

[stoutstien]

I'm playing a Shepherd druid right now actually. Still low level, but it seems fine so far. Just focusing more on controller type spells until I get summons online. Great emergency heals though.

Drop the bear spirit at the start of each day and your party's relative HP by 50%. It's like getting a better mass healing word that recharges every short rest.(the THP don't have a duration so they last until they take a long rest)

Later on use it before a short rest and keep the unicorn on tap for emergencies.

It out Heals the dream druid while simultaneously having Beefed up summons.

I like dream druids a lot but shepherd is a monster if played halfway decent.

[BloodSnake'sCha]

Overrated is assassin IMO. It is too unreliable to get your auto crit.

Underated is monk, I see people that can't understand the value of lockdown.

I truly hate the wizard class.
I can't point on why and how but I truly hate playing wizards(I am good with them in the party).

I truly love the bard and sorcerer.

Note:
I look at the classes a a bundles of features. Not as class. When I build my characters I look for the right features so I almost never play a single class(I do have 3 full class characters).

[TheUser]

My Irrational Hatred? Bard.

I've gone off about this before, but in brief, I think their spell list is overrated and they rely too much on magical secrets. Their spells are powerful, but bore me. My distaste is so irrational I have legitimately played as a sorcerer, gotten expertise via a rogue dip, and flavored myself as a bard. I even took Vicious Mockery via Magic Initiate! So I'd say my opinions are fairly irrational. But good luck convincing me to change my mind! XD

This is pretty much why I exclusively play Valor Bards.
Now it's a martial class without a fighting style but skill expertise and full spell slot progression.


Their spell list isn't phenominal but it has enough to be useful in many circumstances. Bane, Sleep, Faerie Fire, Heat Metal, Calm Emotions, Shatter, Phantasnal Force, Suggestion, Dispel Magic, Hypnotic Pattern, Fear, Plant Growth, Revivify, Dimension Door, Compulsion! Greater Restoration, Animate Objects, Modify Memory, Synaptic Static...
That's just off the top of my head.

Also cutting words in particular is very annoying because Bardic Inspiration is amazing for save boosts. I prefer it far more when it's doled out before/during fights to help botched saves.

[MaxWilson]

I second those who say the Paladin is Overrated, mostly by those who overestimate its smites but to a certain extent by those who overestimate its aura. The most overrated Paladin is the Paladin of Ancients--its aura doesn't do much of anything at all, because it only provides resistance specifically against spells, not against magical effects like breath weapons. Really dangerous spells don't do damage, they paralyze you or incapacitate you or charm/dominate/possess you or wall you away behind invisible force walls; and the spells that do do damage do much less damage than the monster abilities like beholder eye rays. So, even in spellcaster-heavy campaigns you'll still get more mileage out of Paladin of Devotion (immunity to charm!) instead of Paladin of Ancients (resistance to spell damage).

Barbarian is also somewhat overrated, especially Barb 20, but there's probably more people who look down on the Barb than the Paladin so the Paladin is more overrated.

Underrated? The Ranger.

What class do I hate? Clerics.

Command Undead is so-so....unless you recall that you have feeblemind. Non-caster Undead is yours for 30 days (you can feeblemind them again before the spell expires if you so choose on rest days and it's essentially permanent).

In practice you don't even need to renew the Feeblemind as long as the target doesn't have legendary resistance, because the renewed save is still an Int save and the target has Int 1 and probably no proficiency in Int saves = can't break free even on a natural 20.

However, this is not useful IMO for Command Undead since a Feebleminded target "can’t cast spells, activate magic items, understand language, or communicate in any intelligible way", so you can't make it actually do anything but follow you around (which means it will try to eat anyone who is not the Necromancer). I'd rather have a moderately-powerful undead like a Wraith that I can actually talk to than a Feebleminded Dracolich following me hungrily around everywhere like a creepy stalker.

[Xihirli]

But I've had Paladin players be so frustrated with the fact that they are tied down to melee for smites, but with no extra mobility that they never play the class again.

IME the Paladin gets the best mobility options of any class that likes melee in the Found Steeds. Think cunning action for a dash or disengage on a bonus action is amazing? How about no action, plus a base speed of sixty feet? Or ninety feet and flying later?
As far as mobility is concerned, rogues and monks get their BA dashes and disengages, Barbarians and Monks get flat movement increases, fighters get told to sit in the corner and cry, and Paladins get to summon a mount that makes them faster and more maneuverable than all of those.
My Eladrin Dexadin riding a giant goat always hit the enemy first in a party of three melee characters.

[Garresh]

Drop the bear spirit at the start of each day and your party's relative HP by 50%. It's like getting a better mass healing word that recharges every short rest.(the THP don't have a duration so they last until they take a long rest)

Later on use it before a short rest and keep the unicorn on tap for emergencies.

It out Heals the dream druid while simultaneously having Beefed up summons.

I like dream druids a lot but shepherd is a monster if played halfway decent.

It really is. XD
I love it.

[MrCharlie]

IME the Paladin gets the best mobility options of any class that likes melee in the Found Steeds. Think cunning action for a dash or disengage on a bonus action is amazing? How about no action, plus a base speed of sixty feet? Or ninety feet and flying later?
As far as mobility is concerned, rogues and monks get their BA dashes and disengages, Barbarians and Monks get flat movement increases, fighters get told to sit in the corner and cry, and Paladins get to summon a mount that makes them faster and more maneuverable than all of those.
My Eladrin Dexadin riding a giant goat always hit the enemy first in a party of three melee characters.

Paladins also get some spells which help; haste, misty step...Wait, you are playing a vengeance paladin again? If not, what's wrong with you?

All jests aside, this assumes A. Your steed can fit where you are and B. movement speed itself is the issue.

Particularly with high level play, vertical distances becomes a problem; strictly speaking a STR paladin can cover that a bit by climbing, and some paladins can use spells, but they lack a monks cheating abilities if they can't. In a somewhat similar vein, Rogues also get the ability to disengage for free, which is a somewhat similar issue Paladins can't really overcome.

That said, Paladins can still use javelins, just don't expect fantastic results. Barbarians and fighters have similar issues; it's just that Barbarians can throw javalins slightly better, and fighters can attack more times.

(BTW, a tip; Branding Smite and Banishing Smite can be used with ranged attacks, even if divine smite cannot. The damage per spell slot isn't great on branding, but it's something to consider; the other option is casting stuff like divine favor or magic weapon to even the field).

IME the Paladin gets the best mobility options of any class that likes melee in the Found Steeds. Think cunning action for a dash or disengage on a bonus action is amazing? How about no action, plus a base speed of sixty feet? Or ninety feet and flying later?
As far as mobility is concerned, rogues and monks get their BA dashes and disengages, Barbarians and Monks get flat movement increases, fighters get told to sit in the corner and cry, and Paladins get to summon a mount that makes them faster and more maneuverable than all of those.
My Eladrin Dexadin riding a giant goat always hit the enemy first in a party of three melee characters.

Paladins also get some spells which help; haste, misty step...Wait, you are playing a vengeance paladin again? If not, what's wrong with you?

All jests aside, this assumes A. Your steed can fit where you are and B. movement speed itself is the issue.

Particularly with high level play, vertical distances becomes a problem; strictly speaking a STR paladin can cover that a bit by climbing, and some paladins can use spells, but they lack a monks cheating abilities if they can't. In a somewhat similar vein, Rogues also get the ability to disengage for free, which is a somewhat similar issue Paladins can't really overcome.

That said, Paladins can still use javelins, just don't expect fantastic results. Barbarians and fighters have similar issues; it's just that Barbarians can throw javalins slightly better, and fighters can attack more times.

(BTW, a tip; Branding Smite and Banishing Smite can be used with ranged attacks, even if divine smite cannot. The damage per spell slot isn't great on branding, but it's something to consider; the other option is casting stuff like divine favor or magic weapon to even the field).

Underrated? The Ranger.

The only sense in which the ranger is underrated is in the sense that the ranger is even a class anymore. The ranger is a three to five level dip for other classes that want their xanathar archetype features (extra attack optional). Nothing more.

Also, Paladins; I agree paladins are somewhat overrated, but I actually disagree exactly with why. I find that people underrate the auras and spells and overrate the smites, particularly because you run out of smites at lower levels. Indeed, I find that in tier 1 I almost never smite, because commanding an enemy or increasing AC by 2 for an encounter are much more powerful. It isn't until tier 3 that you can really spam smites like there is no tomorrow. By contrast, the aura's are a constant bonus that works even when you are tapped out, and help distinguish you from a Fighter even without spells, for instance.

[diplomancer]

Paladins also get some spells which help; haste, misty step...Wait, you are playing a vengeance paladin again? If not, what's wrong with you?

All jests aside, this assumes A. Your steed can fit where you are and B. movement speed itself is the issue.

Particularly with high level play, vertical distances becomes a problem; strictly speaking a STR paladin can cover that a bit by climbing, and some paladins can use spells, but they lack a monks cheating abilities if they can't. In a somewhat similar vein, Rogues also get the ability to disengage for free, which is a somewhat similar issue Paladins can't really overcome.

That said, Paladins can still use javelins, just don't expect fantastic results. Barbarians and fighters have similar issues; it's just that Barbarians can throw javalins slightly better, and fighters can attack more times.

(BTW, a tip; Branding Smite and Banishing Smite can be used with ranged attacks, even if divine smite cannot. The damage per spell slot isn't great on branding, but it's something to consider; the other option is casting stuff like divine favor or magic weapon to even the field).

The fitting your steed in is an issue in some campaigns (though if you worry a lot about that you can always play a halfling Paladin).

About the vertical distances, that's where Paladins shine, because Greater steeds fly. And even before that, one of my most fun moments as a level 6 Ancients Paladin was misty-stepping myself and my steed on top of a flat roof where there were arches sniping at us. DM was like "wait, you can do that?"

[MrCharlie]

Greater steeds fly, though. And one of my most fun moments as a level 6 Ancients Paladin was misty-stepping myself and my steed on top of a flat roof where there were arches sniping at us. DM was like "wait, you can do that?"

Indeed; it's worth noting that by the time barbarians and fighters really pull ahead with their bonuses, Paladins have spells which help with their mobility more reliably. If your a devotion paladin with just core though, tough luck.

[diplomancer]

Indeed; it's worth noting that by the time barbarians and fighters really pull ahead with their bonuses, Paladins have spells which help with their mobility more reliably. If your a devotion paladin with just core though, tough luck.

In that case, ask your DM nicely to let find steed scale with spell level. I actually did that before Xanathar came out (CR1 for 3rd level, 2 for 4th and 3 for 5th), and DM was all for it. Xanathar came out before I reached level 13, so we just changed it to that

[Speely]

I can't think of any overrated classes or subclasses. Most of the ones that are mediocre are regarded rather poorly. I guess the closest I can come is the Assassin. It's not widely loved in my experience, but I have seen players overrate their abilities and struggle to chase situations in which those abilities are useful. The Rogue base class is so strong that it makes this almost a non-issue, though.

Underrated: Kensei Monk. This is an oft-maligned subclass that has performed really well for me, and I have had a blast playing one in both a fun and effective fashion.

[MeeposFire]

Assassin is certainly overrated by a lot of people. People act like it is super powered even though getting to use its best abilities is not easy.

I will say ranger is undervalued. Yes it does not do things like you want and you may not be happy with everything but people act like the class is not capable at the game and that is simply not true. It is not great or the best but it is certainly not as bad as many here like to act that it is.

[MrCharlie]

Assassin is certainly overrated by a lot of people. People act like it is super powered even though getting to use its best abilities is not easy.

I will say ranger is undervalued. Yes it does not do things like you want and you may not be happy with everything but people act like the class is not capable at the game and that is simply not true. It is not great or the best but it is certainly not as bad as many here like to act that it is.

The real reason people dump on the ranger is because there is little it does that's better than another class. Scout? Rogues. Wilderness expert? Druid+Rogues. Archer? Fighter+Rogue+Monk, even, are all better. Magic+wilderness scouting+archery? Arcane Trickster Rogue. And you can play this game all the way down; it's abilities are simply too lackluster to carve a niche out for itself. Even trying to build a unique combination fails.

The only thing it has going for it are a few unique abilities of it's subclasses, mostly relating to ambushes and vision, and animal companions. Animal companions are basically worthless, and the subclass abilities are easily gotten with a dip if you really need them.

Hence why the Ranger is useless. This isn't to say it's not capable of doing things, just that there is no reason to be a ranger specifically over anything else.

I find Monk to be an actual example of undervaluing; people emphasize damage when optimizing, but monks are actually some of the better condition givers in the game, and also survive a lot of things quite well. Also, sorcerers get undervalued, or at least used to, but their metamagic is a game changer.

Bladesingers are overvalued though. Simply not practical to use most of their abilities, and for what they can be used practically for there are better wizards, particularly abjuration.

[Danielqueue1]

Overrated, Battlemaster fighter. It's good, it's powerful, it's got versatility, but I'm getting tired of people on forums screeching about how anything that isn't a battlemaster is a "trap option." I'm pretty sure it's the same few people, over and over again, but it annoys me, especially when they happen to compare one class to a battlemaster who happened to somehow take all the options. (And with the +1 AC from fighting style it has better AC than [option being discussed] ... -half a post later- ... and with the archery fighting style it is better at ranged attacks! Anyone who picks [option being discussed] is intentionally nerfing themselves. -repeat adnauseum for a theoretical character who somehow has all of the combat manuevers at the same time)

Underrated Ranger. With hunter's mark, longbow hits harder than a greatsword, and the ranger doesn't have much to do with its bonus action anyway. It might not be too-tier optimized, but by no means is it the trash people rant about.

Also underrated, kensei monk. +3 flametongue anyone? it is very versatile, Sure it's not particularly specialized, but it checks all the boxes except spellcasting.

Irrationally hate, sorcadins. The first few times I've played with one the players were trying ro make the game all about themselves. I know that most people don't, act like that, but we are talking about irrational here.

[Pufferwockey]

The real reason people dump on the ranger is because there is little it does that's better than another class

This! Yes. Why couldn't I express that myself? I've made noise wishing there was an official, legit, non magic ranger option recently, but with or without spells, what I think of as a ranger should be The Skirmisher in some specific situations (possibly while ambushing or being ambushed) somehow. If you want to tie it to a favoured terrain (because the flavour wise it's good even though the mechanics are very unfun) then maybe just a choice between urban and everything else.

I can't think of any overrated classes or subclasses. Most of the ones that are mediocre are regarded rather poorly. I guess the closest I can come is the Assassin. It's not widely loved in my experience, but I have seen players overrate their abilities and struggle to chase situations in which those abilities are useful. The Rogue base class is so strong that it makes this almost a non-issue, though.

Underrated: Kensei Monk. This is an oft-maligned subclass that has performed really well for me, and I have had a blast playing one in both a fun and effective fashion.

Agreed. Breaking credibility to optimise really the only thing that starts to make certain classes seem way out of hand in my mind. Without that happing basically anything is playable. Even my poor, poor Ranger.

A propos kensai: Wood elf outlander kensai is a damn decent ersatz ranger of you're looking for something with a sort hinterlands mobile guerrilla/bounty hunter feel. Been playing one for a while and maybe other monk subclasses are way better, I don't know first hand, but i have no complaints with this one's performance.

Drop the bear spirit at the start of each day and your party's relative HP by 50%. It's like getting a better mass healing word that recharges every short rest.(the THP don't have a duration so they last until they take a long rest)

Later on use it before a short rest and keep the unicorn on tap for emergencies.

It out Heals the dream druid while simultaneously having Beefed up summons.

I like dream druids a lot but shepherd is a monster if played halfway decent.

Holy crap temporary hit points don't fade on a short rest? Wish I'd known that while my fiend bladelock was low level. Might have been a house rule.

Actually I'd recommend it as a house rule. At least in the case of a low level fiend warlock the dilema of weather or not its a good idea to short test and get a spell or two back but to lose 5-8 hit points when those points really count was actually a quite a bit of fun, and really added to the satisfaction of barely scraping through those first few levels.

[cZak]

Underrated? Necromancer Wizard.
<snip>

You have me intrigued with this
My main concern is to not bog town the time during sessions, but seems very cool

[EvilTwinSkippy]

OK, I'll give this a try...

Overrated: Arcane Trickster Rogues - Fun idea, but I've yet to see it work out well. Sneak attack can't be applied to spells, and their spell progression is so slow, their spells hardly ever account for much of anything. Add to that the Rogue's already busy action economy, you usually have to choose between being either a substandard Rogue (that gets no combat benefit from their subclass) or a fairly unimpressive spellcaster.

Underrated: Domain of Trickery Clerics - Everyone downgrades this option, but a) you're still a Cleric with all the tankiness and great support/damage spells that goes with, and b) you get some really terrific non-cleric spells added to your spell list, like Mirror Image, Pass without Trace, and Polymorph. Fun!

Irrational Hatred: Moon Druids! For those who don't want roleplay in their roleplaying game. "i r a grizzly bear. Rawr!"

[bc56]

Lets see here

Overrated: Battlemaster fighter.
Yeah, it's cool and flashy, but when it comes down to the line, it's not much better than champion and nowhere near as reliably effective.

Underrated: Non-hexblade bladelocks (and non-bladelock hexblades)
Pact of the blade is fun, and hexblade seems to take all the fun out of it, by being a very powerful archetype designed to synergize with the Pact of the Blade, but both of them are also good when coupled with other parts of the class. I had a Dragonborn fey bladelock who made an excellent tank by dropping fear effects on enemies, then beating them up with a big club.

Irrational hatred: Monks
Not really so irrational. They don't thematically fit in with the knights and wizards, and it gets slightly (more than slightly) on my nerves. They belong in at least a more Asian inspired setting, if not a more Asian inspired system entirely.

Irrational love: Paladins
Just on a thematic level, I love playing as the knight in shining armor, and even my non-paladin characters tend to have a level of paladininess, especially if they're martial classes.

[Lyracian]

It's been done to death. Let's do it again!

Why not; it is a bit of fun.

What do you think is the most overrated class or subclass?

Eldritch Blast Warlocks. It seems to be the staple can you get a better DPR that this.

What do you think is the most underrated class or subclass?

Pure Paladin because it is over shadowed by Sorsadin.

What class do you irrationally love or hate irrespective of power levels or reasons.

I LOVE Arcane Trickster; it is my default pick for games. I do play other characters but about half my 5th Ed characters are AT.
I HATE Warlocks. My first dislike is with heroes making pacts. The second is short rest spell slots. I tried a Celestial Warlock in one game but did not enjoy it.

[JellyPooga]

Class

Overrated Wizard.

Yeah, they've got a whole heap of versatility, but wqhen you really get down to brass tacks, there's not a lot they can do that other spellslingers can't do equally well, if not better, as well as having a bunch of other stuff. e.g. Bard is in many respects just good a caster as a Wizard, but has Expertise and Bardic Inspiration on top, or Cleric does the caster thing real good, but also gets to wear armour and wade in without having to build specifically for it. Wizard pays a high price for what it gets and I'm not convinced it's worth it.

Underrated: Rogue.

I don't care how highly anyone rates them, it's still not good enough. Yeah, I think they're that good

Irrational: Warlock.

I...just like them. l've even been disappointed by playing them, yet I still have a soft spot for their uniqueness.

Subclass

Overrated: Bear Totem (Barbarian)

I think it gets as much love aa it does because the language it uses is misleading, when the reality is that it'a situational, can easily be replicated or duplicated and isn't actually all that good anyway. Compared to the awesomesauce of the other totems, it baffles me that anyone springs for Bear.

Underrated: Thief (Rogue)

Everyone raves about Assassin (for no good reason I can agree with), Arcane Trickster (which is fair enough) ans Swashbuckler (because it's canned cheese), but Thief goes as unnoticed as perhaps, thematically, it should. It really shouldn't be underestimated just how good it really is, though (and that's ignoring my elevated opinion of Rogues), especially with a GM that allows or (better) encourages creative play.

Irrational: Undying Parron (Warlock)

It doesn't get much traction because its higher level abilities don't look all that tasty compared to other Patrons, but it also has an absolutely killer (if situational) 1st ability and a really rather good bonus spell list. I think it's worth more than many guides and opinions give it credit.

[TheUser]

The fitting your steed in is an issue in some campaigns (though if you worry a lot about that you can always play a halfling Paladin).

About the vertical distances, that's where Paladins shine, because Greater steeds fly. And even before that, one of my most fun moments as a level 6 Ancients Paladin was misty-stepping myself and my steed on top of a flat roof where there were arches sniping at us. DM was like "wait, you can do that?"

Find Greater Steed isn't available until level 13. By this point casters are teleporting hundreds of feet to gain distance and able to take a friend with them.... Heaven help you if you are trying to fly around and your Griffon and its -1 Cha save (+4 with your aura at max) eats a Banish while you're suspended 200ft in the air.

Even collateral damage like a dragon breath that hits you both for XX damage (even when you save) then claws that sucker and bam you're dropping out of the sky.

Find Greater Steed might be a nice boon for a paladin, but flourishes so much better with ranged characters who can use 300-600ft of range to their advantage while flying (the distance where they can keep the steed safe from all the other nonsense that can take them out).