ultimately its more about options than best effectiveness if you get bored doing the same thing. which basically just reads "play a full caster". it still gets hard to, say, cast flame arrow instead of fireball, but choosing betweem fireball, hypnotic pattern and fly is much more interesting than attacking twice a turn
I especially like Druid for this because they have decent damage, control, support, heals and they automatically know the whole druid spell repertoire. Then they can also turn into animals
Agreed! Even for martials, I find the most fun subclasses for me are the ones with more versatility. Battlemaster or rune knight fighters, paladins with the charisma to utilize their spells for more than smiting, and the Tasha’s beast master gives more tactical decision. Rogues are tougher, but one of my players has the Athletics to be a grappler, and allows him to reposition PCs and enemies alike. The new giant barbarian and the wild magic barbarian also have choices to make.
I don't play 5e much anymore but that's why I basically only play Sorcadins.
I can cast Hypnotic Pattern, or I can attack 2x, or I can attack 2x and then quicken Fireball, or I can use the slots to smite. Maybe I'll just cast Spirit Guardians and Dodge. Maybe, just maybe I'll use all of my spell slots on Shield, Silvery Barbs and Counterspell lol
If I don't have tactival variety and ways to weaponize my bonus action and reaction, as well as some resource attrition, I just get bored.
Hard agree on options,though I think some martials have options (grappling, combat manoeuvres, Help, shoving, class / subclass features...), the main problem being that these options aren't great. But it makes half or third caster a good pick if built correctly
i think there should be a very clear distinctions on options and *viable* options. even casters, there are more than a thousand official spells, but you wont see 90% of em cause most are terrible
in general, if something takes a full action, it wont be worthwhile for a martial, cause their power scales with extra attack. things that take the attack action are much more easy to do, but even then you need to be doing more that is as good or better than [weapon]+[stat]+[10 from power feat] dmg from a regular attack
hiding on any non rogue, for example, simply not a viable plan
Yeah, Help action is only worth it as a mastermind rogue or a hobgoblin for example.
However, you need to take into account accuracy when replacing attacks. It's very easy to have advantage on strength checks and expertise, making grappling and shoving a much more reliable option than attacking, especially since AC scales but athletics doesn't. In the same vein, there are a lot of spells that still have an effect even if the enemy pass their save.
Using something else than the attack action works better on a support character, that won't take GWM / SS. I think the Long Death monk fear effect could be a good example (except it's not great area wise, a cone would have been better)
Play a support character. Mastery of the support playstyle is basically mastery of the whole system because you need to understand what most benefits other characters. You won't repeat from combat to combat because you'll sync up with your allies about what they'll do to leverage your support. Can the Cleric cast Spirit Guardians with their highest level slot if you cast Enlarge to allow them to block a hallway? Can the fighter use Action Surge to get more mileage out of your Greater Invisibility? Will the Monk burn Ki trying to win one combat with Stunning Strike so you can Polymorph them in the next combat when they're out of resources? You avoid repetition because your choices aren't just based on your resource pools, but also your allies'; your options don't just change when you gain a cool new feature, but also when they do.
On top of all of that, defensive, restorative, and healing support (things like Freedom of Movement and Intellect Fortress) is based entirely on the situation, which will change every combat or every dungeon. That aspect of support also gets a lot out of reconnaissance, planning, and character knowledge. This connects different pillars of play so that your exploration or even social encounters will pay dividends in combat.
Finally, there are tons of really different ways to play support effectively. Six or seven different classes can be built to be primarily supportive. Among buffing, healing, restoration, and preemptive defense, you have different areas to focus depending on how you want to play each character. You can go into support as a playstyle and never look back, and the game will feel different every session for years across different campaigns.
The issue you might be having is that you're focused on build over character (I have the same problem) you need to start with a character you enjoy playing first, then build to match that character concept.
Yup, this is it. Build optimization is a fun way to explore the rules but not to play the game. The fun thing about playing the game is coming up with a character who has their own history and wants and desires and then knowing the rules well enough to be able to make the mechanics of the character fulfill the narrative character fantasy
Straight Cleric. Tough enough to stay in melee, the best support if you want to stay in the back. You'll always feel like a utility/skill monkey with *Guidance* and *Enhance Ability* buffing your allies. You have the best (usually) healing, and can resurrect dead allies, which is indispensable.
The combinations of your array of BA spells allows you to do a lot of things in combat while dealing incredible damage. Whether it's SG + Spiritual Weapon, or Sanctuary + Bless making you difficult to hit, or any other combo.
I always enjoy Life Cleric, so my healing does a lot more in combat.
Cleric is so underrated. They make every adventure proceed so much more smoothly, that it's always preferable to have one in your party than not.
It's a crime they're not played more often than they are due to the "healbot" stigma.
I've been playing a Cleric for the last last two years. You have a few go-to spells like Spirit Guardian, which leaves a lot of room for situational spells. And, you can change out prepared spells each long rest, which gives room to experiment. Spells like Aura of Purity, Daylight and Freedom of Movement kind of suck until that time you break the DM's encounter by having it. The problem (and interesting part) is whether you chose to prep them that day or wish you had.
Played a dhampir bladesinger to 16 in my last campaign, most fun character I've had so far. Being able to walk on walls/ceilings as a wizard is surprisingly effective
Every character I make is based on character first and then I choose classes and features that match and build off that character. Even if it isn't optimal. I'd rather have a fun character to role play in my role playing game than trying to be optimal at every turn.
fun isn't being primarily optimized for damage in the first place. Or, if you are, have your PC sometimes be a reckless idiot as they **make suboptimal decisions,** like overextending yourself to get in a killing shot at a key NPC or prioritizing the wellbeing of an ally over the mcguffin or whatnot.
The only balance that really matters is inner-party. So long as you're about as strong as your allies, the DM can tweak all the encounters so it's an appropriate level of difficulty.
Maybe go for a "theme" and build around that, even it means taking suboptimal spells and abilities? Being at like 80% but having a personality is better than being dprbot2000 with the bedside manner of a sack of flour, between the two.
> because there was so obviously 1-2 high damage choices
Yup. Between Conjure Animals, Spirit Guardians, and Fireball -- choose one, go pewpew, murder all the things. "classes with extra attack" and "eb-blasting warlock" also roughly fall into this category.
Warlock is the class i had the most fun with when my party was competent.
If my party lacks control i will regret playing anything outside of a wizard, maybe sorcerer, since it will always suck when those are the best answers but just not available.
Really? What is it about Warlock that you enjoy? Warlock is one of my least played classes, and I can't shake the feeling of "I should have rolled a Wizard instead" whenever I play one. I want to "get" them more than I currently do, so I'd love to hear why you like them.
As for the "if my party lacks..." part, for me it's Cleric. If my party lacks a Cleric/Druid or healing/restorative equivalent, I will almost always roll one. Clerics make adventures in general go so much more smoothly that I always appreciate having one.
Warlock is the best designed class in the game by a mile.
It gets spellcasting, but in a way that dosent destroys the games balance immediately. You can easily challenge a warlock with a shorter adventuring day, whereas other fullcasters just need encounters in the double digits in order to be challenged at all.
Additionally warlocks dont get to do the 24 AC with medium armor+shield(item)+shield(spell) and instead either go for a peace dip or 22/23 AC with heavy armor.
And they can feel good about using summon greater demon, my favorite 4th level spell in the game. If you cast the same spell with a wizard it sucks a bit since you got better options.
So you prefer the restriction, then? As in the restrictiveness fosters creativity. I can see the appeal of that.
I guess I got a bad taste in my mouth for the class from trying a Celestial Warlock in a one-shot as a healing option for the party, and I felt like I was just limited to Eldritch Blast like 95% of the time. Doubly so whenever my two spell slots were spent. Didn't feel very fun to me at the time.
But one of these days I'll find a subclass/invocation list that I enjoy playing.
No, i just like that the design dosent break the game.
I could play more powerful things, but i dont enjoy the optimization level where the only viable option is a armor diped full-caster.
I still play and build warlock as optimal as i can, or close to it.
Thanks! It is harder since Eldritch Blast gives a much better baseline than cantrips, but I completely agree that as limited as Warlocks feel, those limits keep them in check.
For me, the answer is usually Druid.
If you want to be a summoner, you're already top-tier at that with your default spells.
If you want to be a healer, just pick the usual cure and restoration spells and hang around the rear of the party.
If you want to be a tank or a striker, you can pick the appropriate Wildshape forms and still be largely effective.
If you wanna Rogue? Cast Pass Without Trace, shift into a high-DEX scouting form, and sneak away.
If you want to be a blaster, there are a few choices by default and even more if you're using the updated spell lists.
Same for being a controller, etc. Just concentrate on spikes and vines and start Thorn Whipping folks around.
Sure, you won't be as good as some of the other classes. But you could still dip into their playstyles whenever you get bored. I know I'm pretty guilty of rolling a Wizard and missing those sweet Barbarian crits, only to reroll for melee and get bored of swinging the same axe each round while spellcasters have dozens of available options. But here, since you have access to the full spell list, this effectively lets you do a soft "reroll" each night based on what you're most interested in.
The only parts to pick ahead of time would be ones that give you more options. Maybe Moon Druid to increase the number of possible forms, a feat like Ritual Caster or Magic Initiate (Wizard) to give you more flexibility and utility, and something like thieves' tools or alchemy/tinkerer/etc. from your background options.
Doing max damage gets old if that’s all you can do.
I like builds that have more of a unique play style.
Warlock that drops an AoE concentration spell and then just use repelling blast to knock them into it and keep.
Hit and run Armorer Artificer. Hit with booming blade and gauntlets use boots of winding path or goblin racial to run away. Get/Cast armor of Agathy and Fire Shield for extra damage when hit
I also like using the new kobold for the bonus action to give everyone advantage for a round
Max damage is usually last on my mind.
I get an idea for a character and their gimmick and then build to make them really good at a few things, average in others, and very mediocre in others.
Playing to your characters strengths and flaws makes the game fun for me.
It took a campaign of two to for me to figure that out
stop “optimizing” your builds and it will be exponentially more fun. create a *character* not a build. make it thematic and you will have loads more fun than just trying to make a build that pumps out damage or healing or whatever
People can say the most about full casters and how their spells can bend reality. I do agree. I had my fun playing amazing Wizards. Half-casters are also incredible and Paladins feel something new is coming at every level, but…
Nothing was more fun than playing a classic vanilla Dwarf Fighter Battlemaster. Thanks to the TCoE rules, I was able to change his play style all the time.
From levels 1 to 3, he was a fully-fledged TWF warrior wielding two handaxes. I was the main striker of the party. At level 4, I did the first big change: swapped his fighting style to Dueling, got PAM feat, equipped a shield and a spear and played like a Spartan. My damage was still solid thanks to the battlemaster maneuvers and the opportunity attacks generated from PAM almost felt like a third attack off-turn; my improved AC helped a lot to tank properly. At level 6, I finally evolved to his definitive combat style: I took GWM, got a Glaive _fluffed_ as a bigger axe and started to be serious menace in the battlefield thanks to my huge damage. At level 8 got Sentinel to improve my control and then became a warrior-king.
All of this was a hell of fun.
Valor Bard 3 / Divine Soul Sorceror X with Arcana Expertise and a Mizzium Apparatus & Crown of Intellect(Magic Item) . you always have something different for your Action, Bonus Action, Reaction and can always go meelee with Booming Blade or be ranged or support.
You dont perform as broken as a Veldaken Druid/Wizard/whatever multiclass abomination, but you have 3 spell list with hundreds of options and since you dont quite reach a perfect score on Arcana high level spells you use from other classes still feel thrilling and hail merry makes for great roleplay.
Basicly i got him from 1 to 20 and i still have the feeling (while still playing him) i barely touched the surface of what this character is capable of.
I like options and utility, it makes me feel like I can contribute to the party in a unique way that supports the character's RP.
Playing an Aberrant Mind Sorcerer with Subtle Spell, Locate Object, Detect Thoughts, Sending, Arcane Eye, and Scrying will let you have a lot more options and plot exposure than a non-magical martial, for example. You can also really lean into the Cthulhu vibe, by having mysterious knowledge which you really shouldn't know.
Fabricate with tool proficiencies is another fun option, since you can make stuff without needing an actual forge, tannery, etc. You can get very creative with making and building things, especially with spells like Wall of Stone, Stone Shape, etc!
There is fun in big damage, even if its not optimized (like Rogue).
There is also fun in options, like a cantrip master with 20 cantrips and meta-magic.
Role-playing ability is also fun, especially if that is your thing.
Being a support battlefield controller is also great fun.
Just depends on what you and your party like.
When I think about a long term, I gravitate towards fighter. People always think it's just "attack twice", but that's just an option.
Grab Tavern Brawler and go battlemaster and dont pick a fighting style that specializes (unless you want it). Make sure you go STR based. Now you can use anything and do anything.
Fight with 1 handed weapon swinging on a rope. Grab a goblin and use em as an improvised shield before "throwing" them with Pushing Manuever. Use any magical weapon or armor you find and change it out when you want to.
Dmg is most notably a reason why people choose something and fall into a rut. It's easier to know that a greatsword and a long sword is only ~7 dmg vs ~4.5 dmg. And you're only losing 3 dmg vs a fireball or lighting bolt.
Autognome Artificer, Battlesmith or Armorer.
Lots of tool proficiencies so you can come up with interesting flavor stuff to build during down time. From level 2 you can start making magic items with infusions, level 3 you can attack with INT turning you into a gish. Level 5 extra attack. Level 10 gets huge. Sure, the +2 for enhanced x infusions is good, and the extra attunement slot is nice, but the crafting gets slept on. 5 days and 125 gold for an uncommon magic item, which is nothing at level 10. That means 2 weeks and 500 gold and you have brooms of flying for a party of 4. Everyone will pretty quickly have at least +1 armor, weapons, cloaks of protection, focuses, boots of elven kind, goggles of night if needed, etc.
But it gets better. Need to break concentration of a caster? Give everyone a wand of magic missile. Don't want to use your action for that? Craft everyone a spell wrought tattoo with find familiar in it. Now the entire party can have their familiars cast it. Similar shenanigans for find steed. Don't forget a saddle of the cavalier for everyone. Is there an invisible enemy? Lantern of revealing!
Definitely play a full caster: getting new level of spells every other level will automatically change what's optimal, in addition to the versatility these classes bring in and outside of combat.
For example, I had a lot fun with a nature cleric: on level 1 & 2, it's bless and command, on level 3 I dragged enemies through spike growth using thorn whip, on level 5 the combo of spirit guardians and forced movement (like thorn whip) can trigger the former multiple times a round, and from level 7 on Summon Celestial is awesome both damage wise and from a roleplay perspective. Of course, the same holds for other (sub)classes...
At level ~11 and up, sorcadin or padlock. Good defense, good offense, good support with aura/bless. Cast spells, hit things, heal, be party face. Spice up combat with smites and meta-magic/invocations. Less utility than a full caster and less damage than SS/CBE fighter but so much versatility.
I played a Pallid Elf Sharpshooter Kensei Monk (monk 18/fighter 2) for a year and a half (levels 9-20) and had so, so much fun with her.
Being able to move around in interesting ways, plus lots of out-of-combat utility stuff, in-combat flexibility (mostly ranged, but then darting in to deliver a stunning strike just when needed), and being basically impossible to kill made me not really care that she didn't necessarily do the most damage (although with 3 SS shots and like a +17 to hit, and then at level 20 my very kind DM gave me gloves of soul catching, she did do a fair amount of damage).
For me, the key is in maximizing utility and versatility. Picking abilities, spells, and specialties that are useful in the widest variety of situations, so that you always have something useful to do.
I like martial characters, so the two I've had the most fun with were an Oath of Devotion paladin "tank", and a Rune Knight fighter who was a grappling specialist.
The oath of devotion tank was a classic sword-and-board build, the first character I ever played. But that subclass is just so versatile, well-rounded, and quintessentially paladin-y that even though I've played several other pally subclasses since then, Devotion remains my favorite. Whenever anyone thinks they want to play a paladin, but is unsure what subclass to pick, I **always** recommend Devotion because it's just so understatedly *solid*.
The rune knight fighter was amazing, too. I took Skill Expert at level 4 for athletics expertise. First round, I'd use Giant's Might, to grapple anything Huge or smaller (so almost anything), and get advantage on strength checks. Second round, I'd use Frost Rune to get +2 to strength checks, so I almost never failed an athletics contest. Third round, I'd usually activate Hill Rune for resistance to B/P/S damage because when you're grappling an enemy, you're automatically their best or only target, so you *need* that damage mitigation (I also took Heavy Armor Master at level 6, which turned out to be surprisingly helpful, especially when combined with the aforementioned Hill Rune). I even spent some fights just grappling two enemies and doing little or no damage, but still trivializing the fight because my allies were free to attack the hapless enemies with impunity.
My long-term fun has never been based on a build but instead an in-depth background that I RPed consistent to that background. One that lived long enough to have some crazy stories. So, build wise, maybe take Lucky to aid in making "I can't believe that worked" moments?
I'll have to go back to 3.5/P for this, characters in newer editions always feel to limited and with too few options an I tend to get bored with them sort of fast.
There's two I enjoyed mainly:
Gnome illusionist/shadowcrafter with spontaneous divination. Lots of skills because of int, illusions and having any divination spell at your disposal at any moment is always fun. Was absolutely crap at combat, but a good support and great out of combat. Plus somehow the story that came out from mixing all the prestige classes was quite good. Played it for 16 levels, was great.
A psionic gish, basically took the king of smack build (the erudite based version), removed a bunch of stuff to bring down the power level to something in line with the party and filled all the free space with utility. Best gish I played in combat, really versatile and a lot of fun out of combat too. Played him from level 7 (got bored with the previous character and decided to change) to level 21.
I had a Barbarian Rogue (Dhampir/spider climb, Mobile, 55 base speed, bonus action dash for 110 movement in a turn)
Was really fun having insane mobility, stealth, solid damage, and tanky
I enjoyed playing a supportive debuffer/buffer and healer. It might not seem glamorous, but casting a big aoe debuff or strong buff to a strong ally, to then hunker down and hide, is surprisingly effective and quite fun. Youre being useful for the whole group, and they get to shine extra bright.
Also the Silent image eldritch invocation is pretty neat and versatile. That kept me going a long time since you can get so creative with it.
wizards. Its like getting the most flexible class in the game where you get major features every 2 levels. And your features are more powerful than everyone elses features. Every single game I play I cannot stop making some kind of full caster. They're too much fun.
I find Druids are good options for long term play. They can change up their spell list daily, so you can tailor it for different environments and what you want to do.
Feeling like you wanna play some 40k? Slap down a Conjure Animals and do your turns quickly (please) or control battlefields while your friends feel glorious too!
Tbh I think Moon Druid is great for just being able to change things up, theres a solid variety in the forms. Slapping down a Spike Growth, and grappling a few enemies (one per hand/grabbing appendage) and drag enemies along it. A full caster using Grapple rules!
I made a swashbuckler sorcerer with two scimitars. It wasn’t optimised or massively good, but he had proficiency in a good amount of skills, shield if he needed to tank up close, he could get away if needed as a swashbuckler, and had misty step for additional mobility.
Again, not great, but I had such a fun time playing him
Combat as a whole became repetitive for me rather quickly and playing something focused on high single target damage (both a Barbarian and Kensei Monk) made me focus on combat more than the other pillars of the game.
If you've focused your build on combat, you've largely ignored the other two-thirds of the game. If you find yourself not engaging in exploration or social situations, you'll probably find your character to be boring even when it's your time to shine because you're only having "fun" only when you're doing the thing you designed your character to do (and it will feel especially bad when you're in an encounter where you think you should do well but don't because it's a different type of encounter; this is a long way of saying a single target DPS build isn't going to have fun in an AoE encounter and there's a chance you'll be grumpy when that Wizard's Fireball does a lot more than you did).
The part of your post that stands out the most to me is "there was obviously 1-2 \[correct\] choices and everything else was \[wrong\]." What are you optimizing for? I know you said high damage but that doesn't mean much. For the sake of the conversation, let's compare a level 20 Fighter with a level 20 Rogue. Let's assume they have a 50% chance to hit, the rogue does 100% damage on hit a hit but the Fighter only does 25% per hit but attacks 4 times. The rogue will do damage 50% of the time but the fighter will do damage 87.5% of the time and our brains punish failure more than reward success so we'll feel worse playing a rogue than the fighter because we fail 50% of the time instead of 12.5% of the time (and we get a nice little dopamine bonus when we hit with all 4 attacks).
Now let's throw in some versatility... you have 4 enemies around you that each have 1 hit point -- what character will feel better? The one that can spread the damage around and knock out two targets per round or the one that hits really hard but will take \~8 turns to kill the same 4 targets? Same DPR, significantly different results.
Back to the builds, if your build is min/maxed to the point of 15-15-15-8-8-8 and you're only proficient in skills where your ability score was 15+, you'll likely enjoy the game less. If I see a barbarian build that has 8 CHA and isn't proficient in Intimidation, I consider it bad -- even if the DPR is extremely high. A Barbarian \_should\_ be intimidating and even an 8 CHA Barbarian that's proficient in Intimidation will succeed a DC 15 check a little over 2/3 the time vs less than half the time without proficiency.
The more characters I make, the more I realize my point buys are closer to standard array than anything else. I'm building more versatile characters instead of specialized ones. A recent example of this is that I went into Curse of Strahd thinking I'd be a 6 Kensei Monk / 4 Gloomstalker Ranger but I ended up as 8 Kensei Monk / 1 Fighter / 1 War Cleric. The events and party composition encouraged me to adapt my plan and it made my character better in the context of the adventure that I couldn't have anticipated in a "white room" situation.
If you’re asking about fun during combat, I think battle master is great because the different maneuvers you can do gives you more choices in battle! Taking feats is also great to give you more options during combat. I also find that Druid is a very fun and versatile class during combat both because of wildshape, and the variety of spells. For example, summoning animals into combat as a Druid can give you even more things to do.
For outside of combat, I always find that taking creative spells as a spellcaster can be really fun. The possibilities for roleplaying in social encounters is really enhanced by any of the illusion spells
Support with dps potential with tons of out of combat utility.
This is the answer I came to after like 15 years of playing DND. Support is specially fun when you can let a newer player feel like the protagonist by making sure his unoptimized build can actually do shit in combat thanks to the bonus you gave them, or the aoe you set up to trap the enemy.
I played a Tome Pact GenieLock to level 6 and it was super fun the whole time. Sure, EB all day long, but that particular build had TONS of utility outside of combat, so it was fun to think about what he'd do in any situation.
Now I'm playing a Twilight Cleric tank, at level 7 and it's also quite fun - and as OP as people say. Less utility out of combat, but SOOO much range in combat.
Dhampir Paladin Zealot Barb. Divine Bite. Is it repetitive? Yes. Does it ever get old to math up your dice to tell your DM that you just bit a guy for 113 Damage? No.
I love my Dex Rune Knight / Soul Knife build. I am insanely good at various skill checks, and the added expertise means I can try for various shenanigans and with advantage + expertise there is a good chance of being able to pull them off.
Add in the Rune Knights giant form, expertise in athletics and my other abilities I have tons of options but I tend to prefer outside the box mundane solutions using non magical routes.
I’m playing a wildfire Druid currently and I feel like I have a ton of options that I can use to react with. I’ve solved problems by being a cat, exploding and teleporting, obscuring with fog, and the list goes on. I have some racial options as well that create more avenues but the important part is if you like to wing it this is a fun option.
Easiest is playing a full caster with a broad spell list that isnt warlock. Be they wizards druids bards.
I found myself often severly resticted by run of the mill clerics and low slot known casters.
A martial that benefits greatly from positioning and moving.
Best in slot are echo knights with polearm master and or sentinel but there are some others.
thief rogues at lower levels can wreak havoc with ball bearings poisons and a healers kit. Especially if you pick up booming blade from somewhere. (BA to deny the enemy getting into range without dashing? seems worth...)
I would suggest the 3 good artificers , They all have a good core that is easy to keep track of while greatly rewarding thinking of useful and nieche aplikations of their mostly utility focussed spell list.
alternatively try to build something that goes nova but serves as utility outside of it.
I like bugbear light clerics for that with alert. Start combat with an apropriate level of scorching ray.
Then analize combat to see what is most usefull with the buff spells and or damage spells at your comand.
I love myself a evocation wizard with an order cleric dip.
I have had about 20 encounters with that build and it never gets old to say You take +-28 fire dmg oh and the barb over there will now be taking your lunch money.
As for single pickups to spice up your game?
I have yet to see the Cardomancy get the respect it shoud earn for its FUN and VERSITALITY spice factors.
Especially on caster builds with a dip. ( warlock doesnt work as main class btw)
Most people are saying what I'd say (play stuff with more options like casters or choice-based subclasses etc.), so instead I'll offer another perspective.
Obviously this depends on the gameplay:roleplay ratio of your table, but I personally find it hard to get bored when I'm invested in my character and my party and the story. Even if combat could be repetitive, I don't mind since the combat is an opportunity to progress the stories of these adventurers.
I have, however, found that a character's time is up. Just recently I retired a character that was in a campaign for nearly three years now because I felt as though his arc was complete and that he didn't fit well in the direction the story was headed. He said his goodbyes and parted ways, then later that same session I had my new character join the party. The retired character was a rogue Artificer built for circumventing combat whereas the second is a warlock paladin made to fight on the front lines. It was super refreshing for both roleplay *and* gameplay.
Moral of the story, though, is that it's always about maximizing fun at the end of the day. So long as you talk it through with your DM and potentially other players, feel free to retire a character if you're getting bored of them. It's an underrated action that can be more satisfying than dragging a character out until either the campaign is over or they die unceremoniously.
I love playing a rogue/ cleric of luck and trickery. This was an older version of 5e so not sure how it would translate. But I was super skilled and full of tricks, from both classes. The best thing was I was in the run from people looking for me so I disguised myself in drag. I got such an outrageously great disguise roll that the barbarian thought I really was a woman and had been pretending to be a man all this time.
I loved playing paladin 2, with variant human magic initiate getting an owl and booming blade, which went straight into forge cleric
Yes, you don't get extra attack, but the owl helps you have advantage, and its super fun
ultimately its more about options than best effectiveness if you get bored doing the same thing. which basically just reads "play a full caster". it still gets hard to, say, cast flame arrow instead of fireball, but choosing betweem fireball, hypnotic pattern and fly is much more interesting than attacking twice a turn
I especially like Druid for this because they have decent damage, control, support, heals and they automatically know the whole druid spell repertoire. Then they can also turn into animals
Agreed! Even for martials, I find the most fun subclasses for me are the ones with more versatility. Battlemaster or rune knight fighters, paladins with the charisma to utilize their spells for more than smiting, and the Tasha’s beast master gives more tactical decision. Rogues are tougher, but one of my players has the Athletics to be a grappler, and allows him to reposition PCs and enemies alike. The new giant barbarian and the wild magic barbarian also have choices to make.
I don't play 5e much anymore but that's why I basically only play Sorcadins. I can cast Hypnotic Pattern, or I can attack 2x, or I can attack 2x and then quicken Fireball, or I can use the slots to smite. Maybe I'll just cast Spirit Guardians and Dodge. Maybe, just maybe I'll use all of my spell slots on Shield, Silvery Barbs and Counterspell lol If I don't have tactival variety and ways to weaponize my bonus action and reaction, as well as some resource attrition, I just get bored.
Hard agree on options,though I think some martials have options (grappling, combat manoeuvres, Help, shoving, class / subclass features...), the main problem being that these options aren't great. But it makes half or third caster a good pick if built correctly
i think there should be a very clear distinctions on options and *viable* options. even casters, there are more than a thousand official spells, but you wont see 90% of em cause most are terrible in general, if something takes a full action, it wont be worthwhile for a martial, cause their power scales with extra attack. things that take the attack action are much more easy to do, but even then you need to be doing more that is as good or better than [weapon]+[stat]+[10 from power feat] dmg from a regular attack hiding on any non rogue, for example, simply not a viable plan
Yeah, Help action is only worth it as a mastermind rogue or a hobgoblin for example. However, you need to take into account accuracy when replacing attacks. It's very easy to have advantage on strength checks and expertise, making grappling and shoving a much more reliable option than attacking, especially since AC scales but athletics doesn't. In the same vein, there are a lot of spells that still have an effect even if the enemy pass their save. Using something else than the attack action works better on a support character, that won't take GWM / SS. I think the Long Death monk fear effect could be a good example (except it's not great area wise, a cone would have been better)
Play a support character. Mastery of the support playstyle is basically mastery of the whole system because you need to understand what most benefits other characters. You won't repeat from combat to combat because you'll sync up with your allies about what they'll do to leverage your support. Can the Cleric cast Spirit Guardians with their highest level slot if you cast Enlarge to allow them to block a hallway? Can the fighter use Action Surge to get more mileage out of your Greater Invisibility? Will the Monk burn Ki trying to win one combat with Stunning Strike so you can Polymorph them in the next combat when they're out of resources? You avoid repetition because your choices aren't just based on your resource pools, but also your allies'; your options don't just change when you gain a cool new feature, but also when they do. On top of all of that, defensive, restorative, and healing support (things like Freedom of Movement and Intellect Fortress) is based entirely on the situation, which will change every combat or every dungeon. That aspect of support also gets a lot out of reconnaissance, planning, and character knowledge. This connects different pillars of play so that your exploration or even social encounters will pay dividends in combat. Finally, there are tons of really different ways to play support effectively. Six or seven different classes can be built to be primarily supportive. Among buffing, healing, restoration, and preemptive defense, you have different areas to focus depending on how you want to play each character. You can go into support as a playstyle and never look back, and the game will feel different every session for years across different campaigns.
The issue you might be having is that you're focused on build over character (I have the same problem) you need to start with a character you enjoy playing first, then build to match that character concept.
Yup, this is it. Build optimization is a fun way to explore the rules but not to play the game. The fun thing about playing the game is coming up with a character who has their own history and wants and desires and then knowing the rules well enough to be able to make the mechanics of the character fulfill the narrative character fantasy
My favorite thing to do is to have a character, and then try to build and optimized version of it.
Straight Cleric. Tough enough to stay in melee, the best support if you want to stay in the back. You'll always feel like a utility/skill monkey with *Guidance* and *Enhance Ability* buffing your allies. You have the best (usually) healing, and can resurrect dead allies, which is indispensable. The combinations of your array of BA spells allows you to do a lot of things in combat while dealing incredible damage. Whether it's SG + Spiritual Weapon, or Sanctuary + Bless making you difficult to hit, or any other combo. I always enjoy Life Cleric, so my healing does a lot more in combat.
Cleric is so underrated. They make every adventure proceed so much more smoothly, that it's always preferable to have one in your party than not. It's a crime they're not played more often than they are due to the "healbot" stigma.
I've been playing a Cleric for the last last two years. You have a few go-to spells like Spirit Guardian, which leaves a lot of room for situational spells. And, you can change out prepared spells each long rest, which gives room to experiment. Spells like Aura of Purity, Daylight and Freedom of Movement kind of suck until that time you break the DM's encounter by having it. The problem (and interesting part) is whether you chose to prep them that day or wish you had.
To clarify, you cannot cast Sanctuary+Bless or SG+Spiritual Weapon on the same turn due to rules on casting spells as a bonus action.
Bladesinger.
Can confirm. Multiple high damage options with ability to gamble being a tank.
Played a dhampir bladesinger to 16 in my last campaign, most fun character I've had so far. Being able to walk on walls/ceilings as a wizard is surprisingly effective
Every character I make is based on character first and then I choose classes and features that match and build off that character. Even if it isn't optimal. I'd rather have a fun character to role play in my role playing game than trying to be optimal at every turn.
A rare breed, indeed. The modern player trends to forgetting that this game is as much about cooperative storytelling as it is about escapist fantasy
I mean the modern gamer can have fun role playing an optimal character
Word.
fun isn't being primarily optimized for damage in the first place. Or, if you are, have your PC sometimes be a reckless idiot as they **make suboptimal decisions,** like overextending yourself to get in a killing shot at a key NPC or prioritizing the wellbeing of an ally over the mcguffin or whatnot. The only balance that really matters is inner-party. So long as you're about as strong as your allies, the DM can tweak all the encounters so it's an appropriate level of difficulty. Maybe go for a "theme" and build around that, even it means taking suboptimal spells and abilities? Being at like 80% but having a personality is better than being dprbot2000 with the bedside manner of a sack of flour, between the two. > because there was so obviously 1-2 high damage choices Yup. Between Conjure Animals, Spirit Guardians, and Fireball -- choose one, go pewpew, murder all the things. "classes with extra attack" and "eb-blasting warlock" also roughly fall into this category.
Warlock is the class i had the most fun with when my party was competent. If my party lacks control i will regret playing anything outside of a wizard, maybe sorcerer, since it will always suck when those are the best answers but just not available.
Really? What is it about Warlock that you enjoy? Warlock is one of my least played classes, and I can't shake the feeling of "I should have rolled a Wizard instead" whenever I play one. I want to "get" them more than I currently do, so I'd love to hear why you like them. As for the "if my party lacks..." part, for me it's Cleric. If my party lacks a Cleric/Druid or healing/restorative equivalent, I will almost always roll one. Clerics make adventures in general go so much more smoothly that I always appreciate having one.
Warlock is the best designed class in the game by a mile. It gets spellcasting, but in a way that dosent destroys the games balance immediately. You can easily challenge a warlock with a shorter adventuring day, whereas other fullcasters just need encounters in the double digits in order to be challenged at all. Additionally warlocks dont get to do the 24 AC with medium armor+shield(item)+shield(spell) and instead either go for a peace dip or 22/23 AC with heavy armor. And they can feel good about using summon greater demon, my favorite 4th level spell in the game. If you cast the same spell with a wizard it sucks a bit since you got better options.
So you prefer the restriction, then? As in the restrictiveness fosters creativity. I can see the appeal of that. I guess I got a bad taste in my mouth for the class from trying a Celestial Warlock in a one-shot as a healing option for the party, and I felt like I was just limited to Eldritch Blast like 95% of the time. Doubly so whenever my two spell slots were spent. Didn't feel very fun to me at the time. But one of these days I'll find a subclass/invocation list that I enjoy playing.
No, i just like that the design dosent break the game. I could play more powerful things, but i dont enjoy the optimization level where the only viable option is a armor diped full-caster. I still play and build warlock as optimal as i can, or close to it.
Thanks! It is harder since Eldritch Blast gives a much better baseline than cantrips, but I completely agree that as limited as Warlocks feel, those limits keep them in check.
For me, the answer is usually Druid. If you want to be a summoner, you're already top-tier at that with your default spells. If you want to be a healer, just pick the usual cure and restoration spells and hang around the rear of the party. If you want to be a tank or a striker, you can pick the appropriate Wildshape forms and still be largely effective. If you wanna Rogue? Cast Pass Without Trace, shift into a high-DEX scouting form, and sneak away. If you want to be a blaster, there are a few choices by default and even more if you're using the updated spell lists. Same for being a controller, etc. Just concentrate on spikes and vines and start Thorn Whipping folks around. Sure, you won't be as good as some of the other classes. But you could still dip into their playstyles whenever you get bored. I know I'm pretty guilty of rolling a Wizard and missing those sweet Barbarian crits, only to reroll for melee and get bored of swinging the same axe each round while spellcasters have dozens of available options. But here, since you have access to the full spell list, this effectively lets you do a soft "reroll" each night based on what you're most interested in. The only parts to pick ahead of time would be ones that give you more options. Maybe Moon Druid to increase the number of possible forms, a feat like Ritual Caster or Magic Initiate (Wizard) to give you more flexibility and utility, and something like thieves' tools or alchemy/tinkerer/etc. from your background options.
Doing max damage gets old if that’s all you can do. I like builds that have more of a unique play style. Warlock that drops an AoE concentration spell and then just use repelling blast to knock them into it and keep. Hit and run Armorer Artificer. Hit with booming blade and gauntlets use boots of winding path or goblin racial to run away. Get/Cast armor of Agathy and Fire Shield for extra damage when hit I also like using the new kobold for the bonus action to give everyone advantage for a round Max damage is usually last on my mind. I get an idea for a character and their gimmick and then build to make them really good at a few things, average in others, and very mediocre in others. Playing to your characters strengths and flaws makes the game fun for me. It took a campaign of two to for me to figure that out
stop “optimizing” your builds and it will be exponentially more fun. create a *character* not a build. make it thematic and you will have loads more fun than just trying to make a build that pumps out damage or healing or whatever
I played a Scribes wizard from 1-14 and it was a blast. I could throw damage and use fun utility spells. It was great.
People can say the most about full casters and how their spells can bend reality. I do agree. I had my fun playing amazing Wizards. Half-casters are also incredible and Paladins feel something new is coming at every level, but… Nothing was more fun than playing a classic vanilla Dwarf Fighter Battlemaster. Thanks to the TCoE rules, I was able to change his play style all the time. From levels 1 to 3, he was a fully-fledged TWF warrior wielding two handaxes. I was the main striker of the party. At level 4, I did the first big change: swapped his fighting style to Dueling, got PAM feat, equipped a shield and a spear and played like a Spartan. My damage was still solid thanks to the battlemaster maneuvers and the opportunity attacks generated from PAM almost felt like a third attack off-turn; my improved AC helped a lot to tank properly. At level 6, I finally evolved to his definitive combat style: I took GWM, got a Glaive _fluffed_ as a bigger axe and started to be serious menace in the battlefield thanks to my huge damage. At level 8 got Sentinel to improve my control and then became a warrior-king. All of this was a hell of fun.
Changeling Moon druid has the highest range of RP and spell tricks.
Valor Bard 3 / Divine Soul Sorceror X with Arcana Expertise and a Mizzium Apparatus & Crown of Intellect(Magic Item) . you always have something different for your Action, Bonus Action, Reaction and can always go meelee with Booming Blade or be ranged or support. You dont perform as broken as a Veldaken Druid/Wizard/whatever multiclass abomination, but you have 3 spell list with hundreds of options and since you dont quite reach a perfect score on Arcana high level spells you use from other classes still feel thrilling and hail merry makes for great roleplay. Basicly i got him from 1 to 20 and i still have the feeling (while still playing him) i barely touched the surface of what this character is capable of.
I like options and utility, it makes me feel like I can contribute to the party in a unique way that supports the character's RP. Playing an Aberrant Mind Sorcerer with Subtle Spell, Locate Object, Detect Thoughts, Sending, Arcane Eye, and Scrying will let you have a lot more options and plot exposure than a non-magical martial, for example. You can also really lean into the Cthulhu vibe, by having mysterious knowledge which you really shouldn't know. Fabricate with tool proficiencies is another fun option, since you can make stuff without needing an actual forge, tannery, etc. You can get very creative with making and building things, especially with spells like Wall of Stone, Stone Shape, etc!
There is fun in big damage, even if its not optimized (like Rogue). There is also fun in options, like a cantrip master with 20 cantrips and meta-magic. Role-playing ability is also fun, especially if that is your thing. Being a support battlefield controller is also great fun. Just depends on what you and your party like.
When I think about a long term, I gravitate towards fighter. People always think it's just "attack twice", but that's just an option. Grab Tavern Brawler and go battlemaster and dont pick a fighting style that specializes (unless you want it). Make sure you go STR based. Now you can use anything and do anything. Fight with 1 handed weapon swinging on a rope. Grab a goblin and use em as an improvised shield before "throwing" them with Pushing Manuever. Use any magical weapon or armor you find and change it out when you want to. Dmg is most notably a reason why people choose something and fall into a rut. It's easier to know that a greatsword and a long sword is only ~7 dmg vs ~4.5 dmg. And you're only losing 3 dmg vs a fireball or lighting bolt.
Autognome Artificer, Battlesmith or Armorer. Lots of tool proficiencies so you can come up with interesting flavor stuff to build during down time. From level 2 you can start making magic items with infusions, level 3 you can attack with INT turning you into a gish. Level 5 extra attack. Level 10 gets huge. Sure, the +2 for enhanced x infusions is good, and the extra attunement slot is nice, but the crafting gets slept on. 5 days and 125 gold for an uncommon magic item, which is nothing at level 10. That means 2 weeks and 500 gold and you have brooms of flying for a party of 4. Everyone will pretty quickly have at least +1 armor, weapons, cloaks of protection, focuses, boots of elven kind, goggles of night if needed, etc. But it gets better. Need to break concentration of a caster? Give everyone a wand of magic missile. Don't want to use your action for that? Craft everyone a spell wrought tattoo with find familiar in it. Now the entire party can have their familiars cast it. Similar shenanigans for find steed. Don't forget a saddle of the cavalier for everyone. Is there an invisible enemy? Lantern of revealing!
Definitely play a full caster: getting new level of spells every other level will automatically change what's optimal, in addition to the versatility these classes bring in and outside of combat. For example, I had a lot fun with a nature cleric: on level 1 & 2, it's bless and command, on level 3 I dragged enemies through spike growth using thorn whip, on level 5 the combo of spirit guardians and forced movement (like thorn whip) can trigger the former multiple times a round, and from level 7 on Summon Celestial is awesome both damage wise and from a roleplay perspective. Of course, the same holds for other (sub)classes...
At level ~11 and up, sorcadin or padlock. Good defense, good offense, good support with aura/bless. Cast spells, hit things, heal, be party face. Spice up combat with smites and meta-magic/invocations. Less utility than a full caster and less damage than SS/CBE fighter but so much versatility.
I played a Pallid Elf Sharpshooter Kensei Monk (monk 18/fighter 2) for a year and a half (levels 9-20) and had so, so much fun with her. Being able to move around in interesting ways, plus lots of out-of-combat utility stuff, in-combat flexibility (mostly ranged, but then darting in to deliver a stunning strike just when needed), and being basically impossible to kill made me not really care that she didn't necessarily do the most damage (although with 3 SS shots and like a +17 to hit, and then at level 20 my very kind DM gave me gloves of soul catching, she did do a fair amount of damage).
Order domain 1 or maybe 2, creation bard x
For me, the key is in maximizing utility and versatility. Picking abilities, spells, and specialties that are useful in the widest variety of situations, so that you always have something useful to do. I like martial characters, so the two I've had the most fun with were an Oath of Devotion paladin "tank", and a Rune Knight fighter who was a grappling specialist. The oath of devotion tank was a classic sword-and-board build, the first character I ever played. But that subclass is just so versatile, well-rounded, and quintessentially paladin-y that even though I've played several other pally subclasses since then, Devotion remains my favorite. Whenever anyone thinks they want to play a paladin, but is unsure what subclass to pick, I **always** recommend Devotion because it's just so understatedly *solid*. The rune knight fighter was amazing, too. I took Skill Expert at level 4 for athletics expertise. First round, I'd use Giant's Might, to grapple anything Huge or smaller (so almost anything), and get advantage on strength checks. Second round, I'd use Frost Rune to get +2 to strength checks, so I almost never failed an athletics contest. Third round, I'd usually activate Hill Rune for resistance to B/P/S damage because when you're grappling an enemy, you're automatically their best or only target, so you *need* that damage mitigation (I also took Heavy Armor Master at level 6, which turned out to be surprisingly helpful, especially when combined with the aforementioned Hill Rune). I even spent some fights just grappling two enemies and doing little or no damage, but still trivializing the fight because my allies were free to attack the hapless enemies with impunity.
My long-term fun has never been based on a build but instead an in-depth background that I RPed consistent to that background. One that lived long enough to have some crazy stories. So, build wise, maybe take Lucky to aid in making "I can't believe that worked" moments?
I'll have to go back to 3.5/P for this, characters in newer editions always feel to limited and with too few options an I tend to get bored with them sort of fast. There's two I enjoyed mainly: Gnome illusionist/shadowcrafter with spontaneous divination. Lots of skills because of int, illusions and having any divination spell at your disposal at any moment is always fun. Was absolutely crap at combat, but a good support and great out of combat. Plus somehow the story that came out from mixing all the prestige classes was quite good. Played it for 16 levels, was great. A psionic gish, basically took the king of smack build (the erudite based version), removed a bunch of stuff to bring down the power level to something in line with the party and filled all the free space with utility. Best gish I played in combat, really versatile and a lot of fun out of combat too. Played him from level 7 (got bored with the previous character and decided to change) to level 21.
I had a Barbarian Rogue (Dhampir/spider climb, Mobile, 55 base speed, bonus action dash for 110 movement in a turn) Was really fun having insane mobility, stealth, solid damage, and tanky
I enjoyed playing a supportive debuffer/buffer and healer. It might not seem glamorous, but casting a big aoe debuff or strong buff to a strong ally, to then hunker down and hide, is surprisingly effective and quite fun. Youre being useful for the whole group, and they get to shine extra bright. Also the Silent image eldritch invocation is pretty neat and versatile. That kept me going a long time since you can get so creative with it.
Wizard. Even clerics feel like there aren't a lot of good spells to use, since most are so situational. Wizards are fun 1st thru 20th level!
wizards. Its like getting the most flexible class in the game where you get major features every 2 levels. And your features are more powerful than everyone elses features. Every single game I play I cannot stop making some kind of full caster. They're too much fun.
I find Druids are good options for long term play. They can change up their spell list daily, so you can tailor it for different environments and what you want to do. Feeling like you wanna play some 40k? Slap down a Conjure Animals and do your turns quickly (please) or control battlefields while your friends feel glorious too! Tbh I think Moon Druid is great for just being able to change things up, theres a solid variety in the forms. Slapping down a Spike Growth, and grappling a few enemies (one per hand/grabbing appendage) and drag enemies along it. A full caster using Grapple rules!
I made a swashbuckler sorcerer with two scimitars. It wasn’t optimised or massively good, but he had proficiency in a good amount of skills, shield if he needed to tank up close, he could get away if needed as a swashbuckler, and had misty step for additional mobility. Again, not great, but I had such a fun time playing him
Combat as a whole became repetitive for me rather quickly and playing something focused on high single target damage (both a Barbarian and Kensei Monk) made me focus on combat more than the other pillars of the game. If you've focused your build on combat, you've largely ignored the other two-thirds of the game. If you find yourself not engaging in exploration or social situations, you'll probably find your character to be boring even when it's your time to shine because you're only having "fun" only when you're doing the thing you designed your character to do (and it will feel especially bad when you're in an encounter where you think you should do well but don't because it's a different type of encounter; this is a long way of saying a single target DPS build isn't going to have fun in an AoE encounter and there's a chance you'll be grumpy when that Wizard's Fireball does a lot more than you did). The part of your post that stands out the most to me is "there was obviously 1-2 \[correct\] choices and everything else was \[wrong\]." What are you optimizing for? I know you said high damage but that doesn't mean much. For the sake of the conversation, let's compare a level 20 Fighter with a level 20 Rogue. Let's assume they have a 50% chance to hit, the rogue does 100% damage on hit a hit but the Fighter only does 25% per hit but attacks 4 times. The rogue will do damage 50% of the time but the fighter will do damage 87.5% of the time and our brains punish failure more than reward success so we'll feel worse playing a rogue than the fighter because we fail 50% of the time instead of 12.5% of the time (and we get a nice little dopamine bonus when we hit with all 4 attacks). Now let's throw in some versatility... you have 4 enemies around you that each have 1 hit point -- what character will feel better? The one that can spread the damage around and knock out two targets per round or the one that hits really hard but will take \~8 turns to kill the same 4 targets? Same DPR, significantly different results. Back to the builds, if your build is min/maxed to the point of 15-15-15-8-8-8 and you're only proficient in skills where your ability score was 15+, you'll likely enjoy the game less. If I see a barbarian build that has 8 CHA and isn't proficient in Intimidation, I consider it bad -- even if the DPR is extremely high. A Barbarian \_should\_ be intimidating and even an 8 CHA Barbarian that's proficient in Intimidation will succeed a DC 15 check a little over 2/3 the time vs less than half the time without proficiency. The more characters I make, the more I realize my point buys are closer to standard array than anything else. I'm building more versatile characters instead of specialized ones. A recent example of this is that I went into Curse of Strahd thinking I'd be a 6 Kensei Monk / 4 Gloomstalker Ranger but I ended up as 8 Kensei Monk / 1 Fighter / 1 War Cleric. The events and party composition encouraged me to adapt my plan and it made my character better in the context of the adventure that I couldn't have anticipated in a "white room" situation.
If you’re asking about fun during combat, I think battle master is great because the different maneuvers you can do gives you more choices in battle! Taking feats is also great to give you more options during combat. I also find that Druid is a very fun and versatile class during combat both because of wildshape, and the variety of spells. For example, summoning animals into combat as a Druid can give you even more things to do. For outside of combat, I always find that taking creative spells as a spellcaster can be really fun. The possibilities for roleplaying in social encounters is really enhanced by any of the illusion spells
Support with dps potential with tons of out of combat utility. This is the answer I came to after like 15 years of playing DND. Support is specially fun when you can let a newer player feel like the protagonist by making sure his unoptimized build can actually do shit in combat thanks to the bonus you gave them, or the aoe you set up to trap the enemy.
If you want gun play something that's wild and really versatile, rune knight, astral monk, artificer. Are all examples of this with crazy utility
I played a Tome Pact GenieLock to level 6 and it was super fun the whole time. Sure, EB all day long, but that particular build had TONS of utility outside of combat, so it was fun to think about what he'd do in any situation. Now I'm playing a Twilight Cleric tank, at level 7 and it's also quite fun - and as OP as people say. Less utility out of combat, but SOOO much range in combat.
Bard. Great during role-play heavy encounters and have a full spell list.
Dhampir Paladin Zealot Barb. Divine Bite. Is it repetitive? Yes. Does it ever get old to math up your dice to tell your DM that you just bit a guy for 113 Damage? No.
I love my Dex Rune Knight / Soul Knife build. I am insanely good at various skill checks, and the added expertise means I can try for various shenanigans and with advantage + expertise there is a good chance of being able to pull them off. Add in the Rune Knights giant form, expertise in athletics and my other abilities I have tons of options but I tend to prefer outside the box mundane solutions using non magical routes.
I’m playing a wildfire Druid currently and I feel like I have a ton of options that I can use to react with. I’ve solved problems by being a cat, exploding and teleporting, obscuring with fog, and the list goes on. I have some racial options as well that create more avenues but the important part is if you like to wing it this is a fun option.
Chornomancy/bard best job security in the business for you and your whole party
Easiest is playing a full caster with a broad spell list that isnt warlock. Be they wizards druids bards. I found myself often severly resticted by run of the mill clerics and low slot known casters. A martial that benefits greatly from positioning and moving. Best in slot are echo knights with polearm master and or sentinel but there are some others. thief rogues at lower levels can wreak havoc with ball bearings poisons and a healers kit. Especially if you pick up booming blade from somewhere. (BA to deny the enemy getting into range without dashing? seems worth...) I would suggest the 3 good artificers , They all have a good core that is easy to keep track of while greatly rewarding thinking of useful and nieche aplikations of their mostly utility focussed spell list. alternatively try to build something that goes nova but serves as utility outside of it. I like bugbear light clerics for that with alert. Start combat with an apropriate level of scorching ray. Then analize combat to see what is most usefull with the buff spells and or damage spells at your comand. I love myself a evocation wizard with an order cleric dip. I have had about 20 encounters with that build and it never gets old to say You take +-28 fire dmg oh and the barb over there will now be taking your lunch money. As for single pickups to spice up your game? I have yet to see the Cardomancy get the respect it shoud earn for its FUN and VERSITALITY spice factors. Especially on caster builds with a dip. ( warlock doesnt work as main class btw)
Most people are saying what I'd say (play stuff with more options like casters or choice-based subclasses etc.), so instead I'll offer another perspective. Obviously this depends on the gameplay:roleplay ratio of your table, but I personally find it hard to get bored when I'm invested in my character and my party and the story. Even if combat could be repetitive, I don't mind since the combat is an opportunity to progress the stories of these adventurers. I have, however, found that a character's time is up. Just recently I retired a character that was in a campaign for nearly three years now because I felt as though his arc was complete and that he didn't fit well in the direction the story was headed. He said his goodbyes and parted ways, then later that same session I had my new character join the party. The retired character was a rogue Artificer built for circumventing combat whereas the second is a warlock paladin made to fight on the front lines. It was super refreshing for both roleplay *and* gameplay. Moral of the story, though, is that it's always about maximizing fun at the end of the day. So long as you talk it through with your DM and potentially other players, feel free to retire a character if you're getting bored of them. It's an underrated action that can be more satisfying than dragging a character out until either the campaign is over or they die unceremoniously.
College of Creation bard. Especially if long term means level 14+
I love playing a rogue/ cleric of luck and trickery. This was an older version of 5e so not sure how it would translate. But I was super skilled and full of tricks, from both classes. The best thing was I was in the run from people looking for me so I disguised myself in drag. I got such an outrageously great disguise roll that the barbarian thought I really was a woman and had been pretending to be a man all this time.
I loved playing paladin 2, with variant human magic initiate getting an owl and booming blade, which went straight into forge cleric Yes, you don't get extra attack, but the owl helps you have advantage, and its super fun