There was a thread with the same title on that other site, but it was 2 years ago and there are 6 new classes in the game since then along with all the other new content and changes in meta thinking. And like the OP of that thread, I have players new to Pathfinder (and others new to TTRPGs), some of whom have expressed an interest in those new classes.
So, how would you rank the classes in terms of difficulty of play, as well as in terms of how much work they take outside the session?
I feel you.
On my table, I banned Alchemist, Summoner, Oracle, Psychic, Thaumaturge, Inventor and Kineticist. They are all more complex than the Wizard, which means “more complex than pratically a beginner box character”.
For anyone considering ranger, their complexity goes up if you go with animal companion or snare.
Snares in particular means trying to make them work in combat, and waiting lots of levels before they can work in combat. Or it means trying to anticipate combat and setting them up beforehand. And more options open up for snares with the advanced players guide because of ranger focus spells and because of the snare crafter archetype.
Snares are also a problem for players. If a GM suddenly likes and thinks seriously about snares, then enemies will use them. And enemies can potentially protect their base or whatever with snares ahead of time. It’s potentially brutal.
I like this summary of each class, it includes a ‘difficulty’ rating for each:
Here’s my ranking, in rough order. Starting with simplest and going to most complex.
I’d say that Alchemist, Summoner and Magus are the only truly complex classes, though.
- Fighter
- Rogue
- Ranger
- Champion
- Barbarian
- Gunslinger
- Monk
- Inventor
- Sorcerer
- Cleric
- Bard
- Investigator
- Swashbuckler
- Thaumaturge
- Psychic
- Oracle
- Druid
- Witch
- Wizard
- Alchemist
- Magus
- Summoner
Why do you consider summoner as complex class? Because in-play it is not really anymore complex than sorcerer or investigator.
It has the most complex action economy, but once you know how Act Together works it is really not too bad. Just a lot of options on the table at any given turn.
Why not Barb as the lowest if I may ask? Rage and go hit stuff, seems like the simplest class to play to me.
Nonat1s just did a tier list/compass meme video on this topic: https://youtu.be/EqyJHxXXoyQ
He ranks Oracle, Alchemist, and Summoner as being hard to play, and Fighter, Barbarian, and Champion as fairly easy to play.
just
99K views 10 months ago
Hmm. 🤔
Nah but seriously, thanks for the link. That was a really interesting video. I went ahead and watched a bunch more of that guy’s stuff too.
The Rules Lawyer is also pretty good, though his delivery is a bit drier.
I’ve been watching everything he’s put out since the OGL crisis. Do you know if he’s got a video on the subject of complexity?
