The 5e Dungeons & Dragons rules have been in play for more than seven years, giving players ample time to identify the most powerful character builds in D&D. New players continue to discover D&D for the first time, and though the rules of the current edition are very accessible, knowing how to make an effective character is not always intuitive. The gap between optimized character builds and less thought-out builds is significant in the modern rules of D&D. With a few basic pointers, players can create characters that contribute in and out of battle. Almost any D&D character can be enjoyable to play, even with a less than optimal build, but poorly planned characters may stand out as underpowered if playing alongside some of D&D’s more effective character builds.
Dungeons & Dragons is fundamentally a heroic fantasy game, and combat is an expected part of the D&D experience. One of the best combat-oriented builds is a Polearm wielding D&D Barbarian/Fighter multiclass. Given that many enemies in the Monster Manual have large amounts of hit points, an effective damage dealer can make a difference between a fight that is brisk and enjoyable, and one that drags out to tedium. The Polearm master, a consistent D&D damage-dealer and tank, begins as a Variant Human with the Barbarian class and selects Polearm Master as the bonus feat granted by its race.
The next feat choice is Great Weapon Master, which combined with a polearm weapon creates a D&D character that can make an additional attack as a bonus action and add 10 points to damage with every hit in exchange for a penalty to accuracy. The Barbarian class feature Reckless Attack helps increase accuracy, and Rage ensures survivability. A multiclass split of Barbarian 8/Fighter 12 allows for the best of both worlds, with the additional attack granted at Fighter 11 and a good number of Feats. If the Dungeon Master permits it, the Unearthed Arcana Fighter combat style Tunnel Fighter allows the player to exchange their bonus action to enter a stance where Opportunity Attacks do not use their Reaction, an excellent synergy with Polearm Master in situations where multiple enemies are closing to melee range.
Hand Crossbows And Polearm Weapons Are Used In Many Of D&D's Best Builds
A ranged damage dealer can provide more consistent damage than a melee character, as there are fewer cases where enemies are out of their reach. A D&D hand crossbow build, with a Rogue/Fighter multiclass, offers devastating ranged damage and out of combat versatility thanks to the Rogue’s focus on skill Expertise. This build should begin its career as a Variant Human with the Crossbow Expert Feat and should start as Rogue before multiclassing to Fighter. The next feat selection should be Sharpshooter, which paired with Crossbow Expert produces similar results to the Polearm Master build.
The Ranger is an iconic ranged character class, and though the revised D&D ranger class is an improvement over the original, it still falls behind a Fighter in of ranged damage. The Archery fighting style from the Fighter class helps offset the penalty to accuracy in exchange for the 10 points of bonus damage per attack that Sharpshooter offers. A final split of Rogue 9/Fighter 11 or Rogue 15/Fighter 5 will yield the best balance between skills and damage. If the group contains several melee characters to help guarantee Sneak Attack chances, more Rogue levels become a safer bet. Otherwise, a more Fighter-intensive build will yield more consistent results. The Fighter’s Action Surge ability allows for heavy damage rounds with multiple attacks each fight, assuming the party is able to take a Short Rest in between encounters.
An armored D&D spellcaster, combining one Fighter level with a spellcasting class, yields an ideal compromise between durability and magical effectiveness. Starting with one level in Fighter provides armor proficiencies as well as Constitution saving throw proficiency, which is crucial for Concentration checks. The character will lag one level behind on gaining access to new spells compared to a pure spellcaster build, but the tradeoff is usually worth it, as wearing the best medium armor and a shield makes surviving encounters more likely. Increasing the caster’s primary attribute to 20 should be made a priority, followed by feats like Warcaster, Elemental Adept for damage-oriented casters, and universally helpful feats like Toughness and Lucky. Some casters may take a different approach, as Clerics already begin with medium armor proficiency, Sorcerers gain Constitution save proficiency, and Artificers have both.
D&D Battle Bards & Skill Masters Offer Versatility Outside Of Combat
More experienced players looking for a versatile character can build a D&D battle Bard, which follows similar principles to the builds that leverage Polearm Master and Crossbow Expert. The College of Valor subclass gives the Bard the Extra Attack feature, while the Bard’s Magical Secrets feature lets it learn valuable buff spells not normally on the Bard spell list. Melee-focused battle Bards can learn Haste, which combined with Extra Attack and Polearm Master allows them to attack four times per round. Ranged Bards can do the same, or they can learn the Ranger spell Swift Quiver which allows for two bonus action attacks when using a ranged weapon. The latter approach can yield superior damage when combined with a Longbow and attuned Bracers of Archery.
One of the most complex Dungeons & Dragons character build approaches that offers unconventional power, entirely focused outside of combat, is a D&D skill master. There are 18 skills in 5e D&D, and a skill master can become proficient in every one of them, with Expertise in more than half offering double their proficiency bonus to checks. The build should include 11 Rogue levels for the Reliable Talent feature which treats proficient skill check rolls of 9 or lower as a 10. The Scout subclass for Rogue adds two skill proficiencies along with Expertise.
One cleric level with the Knowledge Domain adds another two proficient, Expertise-enhanced skills. Multiclassing further for three Bard levels with the College of Lore subclass adds a total of four skills and two Expertise selections. The final five levels should be Ranger with the Fey Wanderer subclass, a D&D subclass with great hidden benefits, adding a total of four proficient skills as well as adding the character’s Wisdom bonus to all Charisma checks. The best race for a D&D skill master is Variant Human or Half-Elf, either of which can take the Prodigy feat for an additional skill and Expertise choice.
The multiclassing rules of 5e D&D require some guidance, as the player will need to consider the minimum statistic requirements for all classes they plan to incorporate into their build. Effective multiclass combinations can yield excellent results, as with the ranged Rogue/Fighter, the polearm-based Barbarian/Fighter, or the complex Rogue 11/Ranger 5/Bard 3/Cleric 1 skill master. Many of D&D’s most powerful builds make use of the synergy between several Feats as well as different class features. A character engaging in multiclassing without a very specific build in mind will often end up weaker than a single-classed character, however. Even when starting at level 1, players should plan ahead to ensure their character will continue to contribute up until level 20, and potentially beyond into the realm of selecting Dungeons & Dragons’ best Epic boons.
