These class descriptions are meant for informative purposes and you can, of course, use your imagination in any way that you would like as you build and progress your character.

Ranking DnD 5e classes is a surprisingly difficult process. Mostly due to the fact that each class arguably has some great subclasses and some very under powered subclasses. For all intents and purposes, assume that I averaged these out into a base class rather than judging them based upon their best or worst subclass.

*Note: I often call what is considered to be 'abilities' in DnD 5e 'stats'. This is because calling your CON & DEX your abilities becomes very confusing when you're talking about the abilities that your 'abilities' effect.

13: Ranger

Play this if you want to fire a bow and mostly feel useless.

First and certainly least is a class that does not get a lot of love from the community. It is completely justified. Arguably the only thing the ranger has going for it is someone that really likes Lord of the Rings wanting to play Aragorn. Beyond that, the class has some severe downfalls. While you are traditionally a ranged damage dealer, you do not deal damage from a distance particularly well compared to other ranged classes or even a fighter with a bow. You have some spells but beyond Hunter's Mark spam nothing is very impressive. Your area of effect is severely lacking. On top of that, you are multi attribute dependent (MAD) in that you need to spread your stats between DEX, CON & WIS though wisdom does not have a hugely positive effect.

None of the archetypes are fascinating either unless you really like bees. Choose something else if you have 4 or less members in a party. Reasonable to try out if you have a full party of 5. The only time you'll feel useful and unique is a campaign that is specifically focused on tracking down enemies or traveling a ton and even then a druid is likely better than you. In general, not much to brag about.

12: Monk

Play this if you never want to get excited about finding armor or most weapons.

You trade armor and most weapons for a few interesting class specific extras. The trade off never really pays off in my opinion comparatively. In addition to this, the monk is very multi attribute dependent so you always end up sacrificing something that would have been extremely beneficial from a combat, roleplay or utility perspective. Each of the Monastic Traditions adds a special flavor to your character but you unfortunately do not have the stats to back up being a compelling addition to a party.

The monk utilizes something called 'ki' which is limited based upon your character level and allows you to do some unique things like knock down enemy combatants, but what you give up to get this always feels like a raw deal. As a DM I often find myself home brewing rules to make monks more effective combatants and that is a telltale sign that the class is not very good.

11: Artificer

Play this if you like tinkering and you want a huge challenge.

Ranking this class so low may get me in some hot water, but I could never get behind this one. It just feels very out of place in most settings. Perhaps it is based partially on the fact that when I DM guns are not allowed. With that being said, I just do not see the appeal of this class. I can see its merits but it seems like a very difficult class to master for anyone that is new to DnD that remains challenging to veterans.

They finish above other classes due to their spell casting, focus on intelligence and Infuse Item. Infuse Item allows you to tinker with a number of pieces of your equipment and basically add magical features. Some of these are quite powerful. You also have access to some interesting Artificer Specialist features that can turn you into a viable melee caster. The spell progression and spell selection are definitely not remarkable but they are also not anything to laugh at. All in all, a mediocre class that spreads itself thin and is very complicated to play.

10: Warlock

Play this if you want to be a party face and also an emo caricature that casts a single cantrip a lot.

The warlock has a lot of flavor and it is a strict Charisma based caster class. This gives you a lot of leeway with your stats and your build. The spell progression and number of spells available as a warlock make you pretty lackluster, but access to Eldritch Blast and variations of it makes you a viable ranged damage dealer. You also get access to some free spells that you can cast at will due to Eldritch Invocations.

You will likely get bored of constantly casting a cantrip. Your spell slots refill with a short rest but they are severely limited to the point where it will not make a huge difference. It is a tough argument to say that you are a full spell caster. Think of yourself as a great role playing character that can cast spells. One of your Otherworldly Patrons allows you to heal which makes you stellar, but a single very interesting subclass does not add a ton of weight. Hexblades are also incredibly over rated in my opinion.

9: Barbarian

Play this if you want to be a damage sink and absolute powerhouse in melee.

Barbarians would unarguably be the best tanks if it were not for their reliance on multiple attributes. The defining characteristic of the barbarian is their class-specific rage. Rage is amazing as it causes you to be resistant to physical damage (and all damage for one subclass); however, rage is very much strength based while your armor class is entirely dependent upon DEX and CON with Unarmored Defense. This is a huge issue because now you require a high DEX and CON to not get hurt but you need STR to deal damage.

Now that I have pointed that out, understand that due to these stat requirements you will not be much utility to your group outside of combat. You simply do not have the point spread available. Your base class does come with amazing capabilities in combat, however, like Danger Sense at level to functionally giving you advantage on all DEX saves. Feral Instinct provides you with advantage on initiative rolls at level 7 and Brutal Critical adds an extra hit die to criticals (two at 13 and three at 17). Let me stress again – you are a powerhouse in melee. You may twiddle your thumbs a lot outside of combat, though.

8: Druid

Play this if you want to use your brain to be valuable in every situation and control battlefields.

Druids do not get enough love in my opinion. A well played druid can absolutely change a campaign. With that being said, I would not recommend playing one unless you have at least 4 party members. You are a spell casting hero that can control an entire engagement, particularly if you roll a high initiative. You are not particularly squishy, either. In addition to this, you can shape shift into some amazingly helpful creatures for the sake of combat, roleplay & scouting.

Strangely enough, the base class here is great but most of the subclasses are lackluster and just add a little flavor. There is an exception to this rule (Moon) that completely changes the druid class from a full spell caster to a melee combatant full shape shifter with self-healing capabilities. Finally, with your high wisdom and that virtually being the only stat you are reliant on, you can be extremely helpful to your party with skills like Perception, Insight & Survival.

7: Rogue

Play this if you want to sneak, scout, loot, disguise yourself and deal immense single target melee damage.

The down side of this class is your reliance on sneak attack to deal most of your damage. With the very friendly 5e rules for sneak attack, however, this is not much of a negative. You have a plethora of skills available and you are very good at many of them; even exceptional at a few of them. You also really only have a single attribute you need to focus on which is DEX so you can mold this class into a very powerful roleplayer.

You have the ability to bounce around the battlefield, not take opportunity attacks, hide in the middle of combat, entirely negate area of effect damage and assassinate enemy combatants. My praises for this class are nearly limitless but a major drawback is being a bit squishy as a melee combatant. Most of your Roguish Archetypes just add a little flavor and some bonuses to an already amazing class but one allows you to cast limited spells as well which can be a ton of fun.

6: Sorcerer

Play this if you wanted to be a wizard but your party needed a face.

Sorcerers are incredibly powerful spell casters that have access to a lot of very damaging spells. In addition to this, your primary casting stat is CHA which will make you a wonderful party face. You have access to something called Sorcery Points which allows you to alter your spells in very unique ways using Metamagic. It also allows you to exchange spells of one level for spells of a different level entirely.

What you exchange for this versatility you lose in spell variety. Sorcerers have roughly half the number of spells available to learn compared to a wizard which is a big hit that they take. They miss out on some very powerful spells as well. The Sorcerous Origins are very interesting and add a ton of distinction to the character. One of them is game breakingly good and another one is game breakingly risky but very fun. There is even a Sorcerous Origin that allows you to cast healing spells (which is the good one). Generally a fantastic class that seems very complicated at first but is actually quite forgiving.

5: Fighter

Play this if you like wrecking house in combat and being very hard to kill.

Once you accept that you are not going to fundamentally alter the game by playing a fighter you can accept the fact that he is a staple in every party and highly enjoyable to boot. If you want to participate in melee combat and feel like you are owning the battlefield with a singular focus on taking the bad guys out, the fighter is for you. You just keep getting more attacks each round as you level up, maxing out at an amazing 5. You also have a built-in ability starting at level 2, Action Surge, that allows you to double your attacks for a single round every short rest. That means when you have 5 attacks per round and use this, you will have 10 attacks that round. Do the math on the potential damage. That is insane.

While there are admittedly some very boring or gimped Martial Archetypes, the majority are quite interesting and lean into a theme that helps you roleplay as well. One of them is absurdly overpowered as well which functionally changes your fighter into a battlefield controller without costing any of your damage output. You can wear any armor, use any weapons and use a shield. You can focus on either DEX or STR depending upon how you want to play and have extra stats to spread around for roleplaying purposes. They also make much better archers than rangers if you are into that sort of thing.

4: Cleric

Play this if you like keeping your party alive while also having plenty of damage dealing options.

You can keep your friends alive arguably better than anyone else. You can destroy your enemies with powerful spells. You can cure diseases and paralysis and remove curses and adverse effects. You can soak up damage on the front lines. You can even be a decent melee combatant in terms of damage dealing if you choose certain Divine Domains. While many people argue that you do not need a healer in your party in 5e, I tend to strongly disagree. Unless your DM is very potion friendly, having a cleric around is absolutely invaluable.

Clerics do not have a very bad choice for a Divine Domain. Most of their Divine Domains add significant power to an already powerful class providing you with access to spells and abilities that the base class would never see. Because of this, they move up a bit because everything feels genuine, unique and valuable. Your casting stat is WIS so that makes you quite useful with your Perception and Insight. Moreover, with a focus on big damage concentration spells you'll be motivated to pump your CON making you a great sponge in combat. Finally, this has my second favorite subclass in all of 5e (Grave).

3: Bard

Play this if you are up for a very rewarding challenge and you want to party face.

I find the bard to be a very challenging class for players to master. This is not because the class is under powered or has limited versatility; quite the opposite. It has such immense power and a vast array of efficacy that you will have trouble deciding how and when to become involved. You are a party face with an over abundance of abilities.

The bard has access to some fantastic spells and is a master at controlling an entire battlefield. No need for you to rush into combat if none of your combatants are moving or they are under your thrall. You also have access to healing spells and some of the Bard Colleges make you a viable melee combatant. None of the subclasses radically change the class but you do not need that. You are already uncommonly robust as a class.

2: Paladin

Play this if you want to be an unstoppable melee killing machine that can keep your friends alive. You can also party face.

This may get me in trouble but I absolutely love the paladin as a class and can not justify putting it further down this list. Far and away the best tank in my opinion while arguably being the best single target damage dealer at the same time. You have access to an extensive healing pool that you get to use at will and distribute in whatever way you want with Lay On Hands. You have access to some of the best impairment removing spells and you can raise the dead. You can wear any armor and use any weapon or shield you want on top of all of this making you not just a viable melee combatant but a wrecking ball and damage sponge.

If that were not enough, once you are done throwing your stats into CON & STR to be a melee monster, you get to focus on CHA and be a potential party face or simply fill in the gap for that missing charisma based ability your face is lacking (intimidation or persuasion). All of your Sacred Oaths add something wonderful and that extra zest you were looking for in an already dynamic and impressive class. You are not a spell caster necessarily so feel free to just use Divine Smite to deal ridiculous damage in melee. It adds 2d8 radiant damage in exchange for a level 1 spell slot and an extra 1d8 per slot above 1st level, up to 5d8 at 5th level. For all intents and purposes you double that against undead and fiends.

The icing on the cake is automatic immunity to disease with Divine Health and granting a bonus to saving throws to your party members with Aura of Protection in the base class. What is not to love?

1: Wizard

Play this if you want to change the world in nearly every encounter and you want to be remarkably versatile both in and out of combat.

This one will come as no surprise to anyone that has ever read about the wizard or played one. You are infinitely adaptable from day one and infinitely powerful later on. You have access to more spells by far than any other class. The fact that you are a pure spell caster is not a limitation by any stretch of the imagination. In combat you can control an entire battlefield, disable everyone or simply wipe your enemies off the face of the map. You are the supreme commander of any field of battle.

In addition to all of this you focus heavily on intelligence which is an invaluable stat from a roleplaying perspective in most campaigns. You even get some spells back on a short rest! Each Arcane Tradition can radically change your roleplaying and they all add something stimulating that opens the class up. I need not say more as your spell casting ability speaks for itself.