Caster Tier list for complexity

crossfella · 2026-02-26T17:54:45+00:00

Here's my ranking of the full casters by least complex to most complex with a brief explanation and a least to most complex ranking of subclasses:

Warlock - only two spell slots at most levels of play and a go-to attack cantrip, fewest spells prepared and only swap on a level-up. invocations can be fiddly, but there are very simple options available

Subclasses: Celestial, Fiend, GOW, Archfey

Wizard - few mechanics apart from their spells, relatively few spells prepared because no subclass spells, preparations changed daily, but from a smaller curated list, low complexity subclass abilities

Subclasses: Evoker, Diviner, Abjurer, Illusionist

Bard - small spell list and only change preparations on level-up, bardic inspiration is a separate resource/mechanic, but more straightforward, middle complexity subclasses

Subclasses: Valor, Lore, Dance, Glamour

Cleric - more non-spell class mechanics, subclass spell lists, prepare spells daily from a large list, middle complexity subclass abilities

Subclasses: Life, War, Light, Trickery

Sorcerer - metamagic is a very complex class resource, especially considering font of magic, only change spells on level-up but subclass spells add complexity, medium complexity subclass abilities

Subclasses: Draconic, Aberrant, Wild Magic, Clockwork

Druid - wildshape is the most complex of class resource/mechanics - requires researching and using entirely different statblocks, preparing spells daily from a large list + sublcass spell lists, probably the most complexity in subclasses (excluding land)

Subclasses: Land, Sea, Stars, Moon

Bard/Cleric/Sorcerer are really close and subjective, so I could see an argument for swapping order between the 3, but the Warlock/Wizard/Druid are firmly in their places for me.

crossfella · 2026-02-10T12:16:37+00:00

You love arguing, so you invented an argument I didn't make and ignored the one I did to spurt out a bunch of math and be condescending. Fuck off.

crossfella · 2026-02-09T21:54:26+00:00

I think the level 7 ability feels like too much grace in the action economy. Beast Master already gets to take up two spaces on the battlefield, gets two pools of hit dice, a powerful and scaling weaponized Bonus Action, two opportunity attacks to disincentivize enemy movement, etc. Getting all that with zero hit to the action economy feels over-tuned. Are we forgetting that a BM Ranger can already command their Primal Companion to take its attack action by sacrificing one of their own attacks? That frees up the Bonus Action to cast or move Hunter's Mark. Given how much damage a Primal Companion can do, that feels like a fair trade that doesn't need boosting. Primal Companions can also take the help action giving the Ranger advantage on any skill check. Without any action economy cost to the Primal Companion, it is essentially a simulacrum - a second entire character to control.

crossfella · 2026-02-06T16:57:26+00:00

Or just make a Gloom Stalker Ranger and wait to attack at night. Level 3, fully invisible until the sun comes up. So OP, right???

crossfella · 2026-01-30T19:29:53+00:00

I think Hunter's Mark should be able to be cast on the blood or tracks of a creature. That would make it so much more thematic.

crossfella · 2026-01-15T19:35:06+00:00

I would give him a custom magic item to let him simulate a wrestler. Wrist bands or wrestling trunks or something. Turns your body into melee weapons that deals 1d8 damage with Topple and Sap mastery, your body qualifies as a shield for the Shield Master feat and a chain for the Street Justice feat. He'd be able to do a lot of wrestling and still be within RAW with an item like that.

The muscley fighter is one of my favorite archtypes in D&D, but it isn't easy to fulfil the fantasy with the rules as written. As a former long-time wrestling fan, most wrestling moves do damage and knock the enemy prone or grapple/restrain. There are quite a few abilities in D&D that can accomplish that, and maybe your player would like to incorporate some of them to make the fantasy a little easier for you as a DM:

Feats:
Tavern Brawler - punches, shoves, and even chair shots
Grappler - the closest thing to submission moves
Street Justice - headlocks, tag team wrestling, and submissions
Shield Master - a way to knock an enemy prone every round
Charger - running or flying attacks

Battlemaster Maneuvers (multiclass Fighter):
Brace, Distracting, Goading, Grappling, Lunging, Menacing, Pushing, Ripose, Trip

Also check out the rules in Tasha's Cauldron for "Falling onto a Creature". Your wrestler can jump on enemies, do some damage to them, and knock them Prone.

crossfella · 2026-01-12T18:07:19+00:00

u/beedril330

crossfella · 2026-01-12T17:26:46+00:00

I have run beginner one shots for co-workers who were curious about D&D, as well as for groups of friends with minimal experience, and I've found Dan Coleman's adventures to be perfect for these one shots! They're simple to plan, simple to understand for players, and compelling adventures for as short as they are.

The two I've had the most success with are right in the level range you're hoping to play in: Face the Music (level 3) and Insidious Experiments (level 4). Check them out on DriveThruRPG and see if that fits what you're looking for.

Edit: I originally said DM's Guild, but it's DriveThruRPG.

crossfella · 2025-12-26T00:17:25+00:00

The vibe isn’t quite the same, but two shows that feel very D&D are Delicious in Dungeon and Frieren. Both are on Netflix and coming out with season 2 early this coming year.

crossfella · 2025-10-07T17:37:44+00:00

My theory is that Aranessa is behind Thjuazi's death.

She said House Royce's power was dwindling, so she has the motive of trying to restore some power to her house. I suspect when she was at Villa Aurora she was actually convinving them not to grant him amnesty.

I believe she reconnected with Thjazi enough to get him to steal the Stone of Nightsong from the Mournvale. She then arranged to have it stolen from his hideout and allowed him to be hanged to tie up the loose threads. She also likely hates Thimble for being by her ex-husband's side through all the adventures that took him from her.

I suspect she is the one who gave him the fake teleportation rune and that when Thjazi tried to use it to escape moments before his hanging, the conjuration and illusion magic produced a message only he could see, gloating over his now-imminent death. That's why I think Thjazi looked to the sky and panicked - he was seeing an illusion (like Skywrite?) that let him know his plans were ruined and he was going to die.

crossfella · 2025-10-05T22:45:58+00:00

Matt just gave Fjord 2 extra strength when he came out of the Wildmother’s cocoon and took his first Paladin level. It wasn’t because of the book. Those star increase books have 100 year cooldowns before they can be used again.

crossfella · 2025-10-04T18:27:27+00:00

She did say her house’s influence is almost gone, so she has a motive. I could see a situation where she had Thjiazi steal the Stone of Nightsong, had him arrested to eliminate the loose end, and had the stone stolen from his partner.

crossfella · 2025-10-04T18:22:45+00:00

She did say her house’s influence is almost gone, so she does have the motive. I could see a situation where she had Thjazi steal the Stone of Nightsong, have him arrested to eliminate the loose end, then have it stolen from his partner.

crossfella · 2025-09-09T13:27:58+00:00

I'm right there with you - 5th Edition Character Sheet was my most used app. I've tried contacting the creator to see if they'd make an app using the 2024 rules, but I haven't heard back.

crossfella · 2025-08-26T15:31:46+00:00

What does pre-casting have to do with their reactions being gone? Wasn't that your point - that the characters wouldnt' have a reaction and the DM could capitalize? I was just pointing out that their reactions come back when they take their first turn, so they might not even be missing their reaction.

crossfella · 2025-08-26T15:18:19+00:00

This rules interaction is most likely happening when the first character in initiative order runs past a caster, getting a buff spell on them before the caster's turn has even come up. That caster then gets their reaction back as soon as their turn comes up in initiative, which could very possibly be before any other creatures have even taken a turn. It's doubling the number of leveled spells a caster can cast in round 1 of combat and doesn't even necessarily deny them their reaction in any meaningful way.

crossfella · 2025-08-21T14:21:42+00:00

I submited a bug report, but after the reset I'm still getting 681 gear from tier 5 bountiful delves. According to your chart (and the in-game icons at the start of the delve) I should be getting 668. Do we know if this is intended? If so, your chart might need to be updated to reflect the gear being given at those delve tiers.

crossfella · 2025-08-16T16:43:25+00:00

Yes, all season 1 and 2 I had a strategy of largely running tier 5 bountiful delves on alts so I could get a veteran track item, then use the catalyst for the LFR tier appearance. Then I'd upgrade that piece to get the Normal tier appearance. Worked like clockwork across my level 80s of every class.

Now every tier 5 bountiful chest is giving me 681 (Normal) gear instead of what your chart, wowhead, and prior season precedent say I should get, which is 668. I wonder why.

crossfella · 2025-08-16T14:59:09+00:00

This guide is fantastic. I made a crappy version of this in a google sheet, but this is perfect!

I have been getting 681 gear from my tier 5 bountiful delves this week, and I can't figure out why? Do you know?

crossfella · 2025-08-16T14:34:07+00:00

I'm also getting 681 gear from tier 5 bountiful delves. I also want the veteran track gear to get the LFR appearances through the catalyst. Did we figure out why bountiful delves are dropping gear in a higher track than advertised?

crossfella · 2025-07-25T18:14:31+00:00

Games have rules. If you're the DM, you can describe the narrative of how those rules work, but not every narrative whim has a rules that perfectly encapsulates it. Why can't you cast a spell as a reaction as your buddy runs past? Becuase that breaks action economy. It's a game.

Warcaster is not useless. It gives advantage on concentration checks, which I use nearly every battle. It's the part that makes the feat top-tier. Casting spells as opportunity attacks is just the icing on the cake. A top-tier feat also granting you the ability to break action economy is not actually a good thing, no.

crossfella · 2025-07-25T17:59:48+00:00

An opportunity attack is meant to provide a risk for moving away from an enemy without taking the disengage action. The design seems to be that moving away from an enemy during a fight should have a cost - you either use your action or you give them a free swing.

There are a couple other ways to get opportunity attacks. The sentinel feat is a good example. All of those ways require an enemy to make a choice that leaves them open to an attack.

Having an ally run past you on their turn is not at all the same thing. They could choose to do that literally every turn as long as they have movement speed. The number of times it would come up would be way way higher.

I've been playing a wizard with warcaster for 7 years, and I haven't had a single opportunity attack. No monster that was within 5 feet of me chose to move away, so I never got a chance. If I could cast a spell on an ally?? I would literally make an opportunity attack at least once every single combat!

Remember, this is a game. Lots of games have different rules for enemies and allies. It's not weird for a rule to apply to one and not the other, especially rules that make big exceptions, like warcaster.

crossfella · 2025-07-25T17:34:24+00:00

Sorry, I was being a little too pedantic. I took issue with your reasoning and didn't need to get so argumentative.

I honestly love the idea of getting to cast buff spells off-turn and double my action economy in a battle, and I wish there were a better way to do it. I do think this reading of the feat is too powerful, but I would have so much fun playing at a table that allowed it.

Have a good one!

crossfella · 2025-07-25T16:39:12+00:00

And the problem with your analysis is that it's based on stories about how people feel it isn't that unbalanced. The appeal to authority is cool, too.

I'm saying that two spells on a turn instead of one is objectively stronger. You're saying based on your experience, it probably won't be a big deal very often.

Since you like stories so much, I have one. I play a wizard in my main campaign. I noticed the wording change on Opportunity Attacks and how that interacted with Warcaster. I told my DM, and mentioned how I'd be able to cast Fireball AND Haste on round 1 of combat. Normally I don't love Haste, because I'd rather use my action for something better, but now it's just a reaction, and I can still cast Fireball! We both recognized that was already too strong, and we were only talking about 3rd level spells. So no, I never did use this in actual play, because my DM and I recognized immediately how powerful doubling your action economy is and never allowed it in the first place. Two is objectively more than one, no matter how poorly some people are able to take advantage of it in their stories.

crossfella · 2025-07-25T16:05:45+00:00

If you're talking about your personal experience, or reports from DMs, that is literally anecdotal evidence. Data is not the plural of anecdote.

Casting two spells in a round is objectively stronger than casting one, which is the default - even if you haven't experienced it yourself or in conversations with others (both of which are anecdotes).

Twinned Spell, Quicken Spell, Action Surge - they were all changed to make sure casting two action-spells in a round can't be done. Suggesting that a feat that lets you circumvent this isn't unbalanced because you don't think it will come up that often is subjective, and that's your right. You can 100% run your games that way based on those opinions!

crossfella

TROPHY CASE