Greetings, 3WD-verse! DM Chris here. Over our many combined years at the table, we’ve created characters in every D&D 5e class available, as well as most subclasses, both published and UA. Looking back across the myriad campaigns, I decided to share my favorite subclass for each class.
It wasn’t easy. I chose these from my personal experiences, but as with any list you are encouraged to disagree and let us know what your favorite subclasses are. D&D, and TTRPG’s in general, are a lot like food — it can be as fun to discuss as to participate. So without further ado, Part I of DM Chris’ Favorite Subclasses.
Artificer
Favorite Subclass: Armorer
You basically get to be Iron Man. Need I say more? The Artificer class, officially released in Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything, is a breath of fresh air for characters who like to craft and build. Although each of the Artificer’s subclasses adds to that feel, I’ve chosen the Armorer as my favorite. A spellcaster who can wear and buff heavy armor is already pretty good, but choose the Infiltrator Armor Model at 3rd level and now a lot of the liability armor brings when the party is sneaking around is nullified with the advantage to Stealth checks (raising it to a normal roll for you medium and heavy armor wearers). On top of a gradually improving set of armor that is part of you.
In mine and DM Tony’s initial campaign to build out our homebrew world, The Further, I multiclassed my dwarven war priest, Fargrim Frostbeard, into Artificer to play into his crafting side. The Armorer subclass added a nice touch, especially for a dwarf who loved to work at the forge, plus you get an extra attack at 5th level and the ability to buff individual parts of your armor at 9th level.
Barbarian
Favorite Subclass: Path of the Totem Warrior (Bear)
In 5e’s bounded accuracy system, which you’ll hear me refer to endlessly, hit points are what make the man (or woman, or monster, etc.). The Barbarian class already starts with an impressive d12 hit dice, and the amazing feature that is Rage. Extra damage, advantage on Strength checks, and the almost magical resistance to bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage. That’s half damage to the layman. Now, let’s take that to a ridic level and give you resistance to everything but psychic damage. Enter the Bear Totem. Short of an Illithid invasion, you’re not going to encounter psychic damage on a regular basis. So stand in front, you unbelievable tough guy.
The classic Curse of Strahd campaign we’ve discussed ad nauseum had what still counts for me as the perfect example of this. Hawk Morgan, DM Tony’s Barbarian. Not only did he and DM Dave cook up some enhanced wrestling rules to enhance his early-80’s WWF wrestling flair, but I could count on Hawk to always be there. For a bit of perspective, the only time he went down in the entire campaign was during the epic final battle against Vampyr, the Star of Blood. And that was a quick nap ended by healing magic on the next turn. This might actually be the most OP subclass there is, if staying alive is your goal.
Bard
Favorite Subclass: College of Eloquence
The Bard has for too long been forced to choose between being more like a wizard (College of Lore) or a fighter (College of Valor). There have been other subclasses released, but it wasn’t until the introduction of the College of Eloquence in Tasha’s that a Bard could finally be more like a Bard. With Silver Tongue you’ll never have to worry about failing Persuasion and Deception checks, Unsettling Words is useful with the amount of Bard spells that require saving throws, and Unfailing Inspiration means that when you give someone a bardic inspiration die they get to use it until they succeed.
When we were preparing for DM Dave’s Shadow of the Dragon Queen campaign, I knew my character, Rasgueado Vilhuela, was going to play a Bard. The only question was subclass. Both the Lore and Valor Colleges offered a quality experience, but I wanted him to lean into the charismatic potential of the class. So, College of Eloquence was the choice. Once Ras hit 3rd level, I grabbed Expertise on my Deception and Persuasion skills. Now that he’s passed 5th, he can’t roll anything less than a dirty 20 when using those skills. ‘Nuff said.
Cleric
Favorite Subclass: War Domain
Clerics are a lot of fun to play. If you haven’t tried already, I encourage you to give it a shot. There are a lot of subclasses available to suit different play styles, but I am a big fan of the War Domain. Here is a caster who knows how to mix it up. I love playing a support role as much as the next guy, but the combination of the War Priest feature, which gives you a limited pool of extra attacks based on your Wisdom modifier, and Guided Strike/War God’s Blessing, which lets you use your Channel Divinity to add a ridic + 10 to either yours or another’s attack roll, is hard to beat. Plus, it has one of the best additional spell lists in the Cleric subclasses.
It was a toss-up which character I would highlight here. The previously mentioned Fargrim Frostbeard is my boy, but I decided to go in a different direction. Sometimes seeing a class/subclass played can help you see it even better. Our female cleric in the Shadow of the Dragon Queen campaign, Eeva, played by our friend Scott, is a great example of what makes the War Domain so cool. She may be a healer, but don’t get on her wrong side. And on top of that, Scott’s regular use of the War God’s Blessing to buff other players shows how this is a perfect combination of offense and support. War, yeah. What is it good for? A whole lot, apparently.
Druid
Favorite Subclass: Circle of the Moon
When I first saw someone play a Moon Druid, I scrambled back to the PHB to read more about it. Because I’m going to be frank — the Druid class never really did it for me. Always seemed, like the Ranger, to be an echo of other classes I’d rather play. But on that fateful day, I saw how playing one could be a lot of fun. Imagine for a moment that when the battle starts and your initiative order comes up you start by saying, “I’m going to transform into a Dire Wolf.” That alone is almost cool enough, but when you add in the additional hit points you gain from the beast forms and the ability to heal yourself using a spell slot as a bonus action while transformed, then you’re a lot like a Bear Totem Barbarian — you’re just actually a bear.
I was going to talk about my character, Sköll, from DM Tony’s current campaign, Journey to Ragnarok, but he’ll be back when we talk about Monk (he’s another multiclasser). Better to highlight the character that brought this to my attention. Our late leader DM Thorin’s Moon Druid, Hannibal, from DM Dave’s homebrewed but unfortunately ill-fated Slaver’s Bay campaign. When he changed into a Dire Wolf and ate a bad guy, I was geeked out. But then when Hannibal turned into a spider and infiltrated a temple, I was convinced that this is an amazing utility subclass. You’ll be tempted to go big, but remember the power of small, too.
Final Thoughts
To Be Continued…
Please let me know how you think I’m doing in the comments. Lists are meant to be discussed and dissected. See you in two weeks with Part II – Fighter through Rogue.
And, as always, if you’re rolling new hit points for your 3rd Level Subclass, be sure to check out our affiliate link at FanRoll Dice to receive 10% off your entire order!
Stay amazing 🤩 Great read, better info. Thank you.
Thanks, Walter!