D&D: Five Of The Worst Subclasses In 5th Edition
Not every subclass is a winner. But these five are among the worst subclasses to pick in 5th Edition. Is your favorite here?
Every class in D&D 5th Edition has a pretty wide spread of subclasses. Whether these subclasses explore new ways to play the character, or just ways to deal more damage in specific instances, subclasses can really open up the game of 5th Edition.
As long as you don’t end up picking one of these. These five are, for whatever reason, among the worst subclasses in D&D.
Path of the Battlerager Barbarian
Path of the Battlerager is one of the worst options a Barbarian can pick. In a nutshell, a Battlerager (known canonically in Dwarvish as “axe idiot”), is a dwarf in a suit of bulky, spiky armor. You can only play this as a Dwarf, which is fine, because nobody really wants to play a Battlerager.
Their whole deal revolves around wearing spiked armor. Which means that the whole class doesn’t work if you don’t have spiked armor. And not only that, but when you are wearing spiked armor, you end up doing less damage and fighting for something relevant to do with your bonus action.
Banneret Fighter
The infamous Purple Dragon Knight. This is, hands down, the worst Fighter subclass out there in 5th Edition. And it’s not hard to see why. Despite their cool name, and the flavor text they evoke, they don’t actually get a lot of stuff that lets them live out the fantasy of being a cool knight.
Instead, what they gain is the ability to give hit points, up to their Fighter level, to three allied creatures within 60 feet. And this can only happen once per short rest, and then only if they’re already taking a Second Wind action. And that’s it until they hit 7th-level, when they gain the ability to… double their proficiency bonus on Persuasion checks, which means they need Charisma as well as Strength to make the most out of it.
Way of the Sun Soul Monk
The Way of the Sun Soul Monk is a very cool idea. Who wouldn’t want to play a Monk who can fire beams of radiant sunlight out of their hands?
However, this subclass does objectively less damage than just, picking up a short bow and shooting every chance you get. The damage is 1d6 + Dex mod for short bows, compared to a measly 1d4 + modifier for the Sun Soul Monk. And at higher levels, it doesn’t get much better either.
Undying Patron Warlock
The Undying Patron Warlock, despite being very cool, was just pushed out of the door before it was finished baking. WotC has since put out a much more viable alternative with the Undead Patron Warlock. The Undying Patron Warlock is all about using Spare the Dying and healing a very small number of hit points.
Which pales in comparison to the Undead Patron Warlock’s ability to transform into the specter of undeath itself, assuming a dread form to dispatch foes and cast spells from.
Alchemist Artificer
Alchemists have a big problem. Their primary feature is the Experimental Elixir, which is not only hard to use (you have an extremely limited number of uses, and selection of spells to pick from), but also is objectively worse than just casting a 1st level spell. Which Artificers can do.
What are your picks for worst subclasses in 5E?
