I know the idea of a 6e is something that's out of the question as of know, but with all of the changes in methodology in balance. To me I feel a power creep in the newer content compared to the PHB class content that I feel is making them a bit dated. I personally feel that if WotC did something like a 5.5e or revised classes could help, but just thinking of this got me thinking of the kind of features that could help rebalance the game. I know that everyone has their own opinions on the subject, but I'm just curious on what other people feel needs addressing. Like here's a few ideas that come to mind for me...
Make melee sneak attack more viable than ranged - I don't know if this is an issue for my group or if other people have this issue, but how rogues get sneak attack feels like it benefits ranged rogues more than melee. I understand that melee can use sneak attacks on opportunity attacks, but I just feel that ranged is just (if not more viable) than melee because they don't have to be in their targets face. Plus even if you go with the TWF rogue why would u want to see if you second attack crits if you already hit with your first attack? One idea that I've heard groups do, is a ranged sneak attack don't happen if they have an ally within 5ft of the target and must have the advantage to obtain sneak attack damage. Though with how the rules are now, I prefer to not nerf a player when the rules clearly states how sneak attack works. Recently, what my group is trying is, "sneak attacks with a melee weapon can reroll a 1 on damage rolls once," so basically a weapon variant of elemental adapt.
Change the Ranger - I know I know, everyone has their own idea on how to "fix" the ranger, whether if its the class as a whole or just the beastmaster subclass. I am also aware that WotC is working with Larian Studios to help with this for the Baldur's Gate 3 game, since the ranger for 5e doesn't fit well for a video game setting right now. I can go on for a while on what can make the ranger better (since it's my favorite archetype and have though about this for awhile), but a good start would be the favored enemy/terrain feature to actually have a benefit in combat.
Change the Sorcerer - There's a number of things that should be done to help the sorcerer which I feel the aberrant mind subclass addresses. Such as additional spells through learned spells via subclass, and I love the idea of being able to spend sorc points to cast your subclass spell list, which can then be flavored differently depending on the subclass (such as the aberrant mind getting an auto subtle spell when casted in that manner). Which leads to another thing I've always felt weird about sorcerer. This might just me having a personal gripe about the class, but I feel that it would help separate the sorcerer from the other casters if they could cast better than other casters without a focus. Hear me out, but why does a natural born (or innate / however you get your magic) caster need a focus? I understand the point of they use the focuses to empower their magical potential, but I just think it weird.
Change the Monk - I'm taking the word of my DM on this one, but he's adamant that the only thing that monk bring to a party is their stunning strike which bums him out cause it's one of his favorite archtypes. Since they scale poorly, and there isn't much of magic item's to help them scale either.
Please help the berserker barb - The barbarian class itself is fine, but I love beserkers too much to not see this subclass given some love. I have several ideas of how to help out this subclass such as, with one example being the subclass capstone they can move up to half their movement to make the attack as a reaction.
Allow warlock to choose their spellcasting modifier - This is an idea that my group is pondering, but we feel that the warlock should be able to choose their spellcasting modifier between int, wis, or cha. Hear me out, not all warlocks gain power through their patron in the same manner, such as a warlock who's patron is a devil could make a deal with that devil, which then the Cha modifier would make sense, but then why would a warlock who got their power by discovering and researching the teachings of a great old one not be INT? The more my group thought about this, the more we liked the idea since this allows the warlock to be flexible and continue to fit the mold of a way for other classes to gain quick power without having to worry about multiple spellcasting stats.
Fix certain Capstone abilities - There are a number of capstones that bug my either because they are either underwhelming or just straight of up suck. To name a few Bard, Warlock, and the other classes that I stated needs to be redone are ones that immediately come to mind and to a lesser extent wizard. I personally feel that the wizard capstone isn't that bad, this is something that is the opinion of the rest of my group. Each capstone feature has their place, but they don't feel good enough for a final ability. Like with the bard, the level 14 feature for college of swords is more comparable to a level 20 feature than the bard's actual capstone.
Strength needs to be more viable - Once again, not sure if this is just something of my group or not, but I feel that with the exception of using str based weapons there's very little use for strength. This is likely cause of Dex being the super stat that it is, but if you're not using a character that uses str for weapons I see not reason to have a str score higher than 10.
Change up Circle of the land - Overall, I love the idea of circle of the land, but now with newer circles also coming with a prepared spell list. I just feel that its making this subclass less and less viable. I'm not sure what I'd do to improve this subclass, but I love the caster druid too much to let it fall behind. (and yes I love the wildfire druid, cause I feel that it embodies what a fire based caster druid can be)
Well, these are only the first things that come to mind, there's probably other things I can think of later on. So, just curious if ya'll agree with these points, disagree, or have other ideas on topics that should be addressed too. If there's something that you'd want me to expand on let me know and I can elaborate on them.
My group hasn't dealt with it the grappling mechanics much, but from what I've seen of it. it could use some more flushing out cause it seemed a bit tacked on as a feature/action.
I can completely get on board with this idea. Personally, what my group has done for this, is to give them more starting cantrips. It might not being as versatile as having more leveled spells, but having additional on command spells really helps the RP and feel of a caster.
For the pet character changes, WotC seem to have to together for the newer stuff, such as the artificer and wildfire druid companions but that makes the older pets based classes like beast master ranger fall further behind. Personally, I feel that the ranger's beast companion should be a choice feature rather than a subclass. Like they could be like, you can have a beast companion or gain X features, first thing that comes to mind would be a buff to favored enemy/terrain.
huh... what do you mean by your third point? Like you mean if something was hit be a ranged attacked they can use their reaction to reduce damage? Cause I'm getting the impression of a dodge mechanic
I like that idea, but not sure how they'd make it work without having one-handed weapons fall behind (without using a shield). Maybe a one-handed weapon would be more accurate, at the cost of potential damage?
I can completely get on board with this idea. Personally, what my group has done for this, is to give them more starting cantrips. It might not being as versatile as having more leveled spells, but having additional on command spells really helps the RP and feel of a caster.
The classes that are most starved for spells known already have more cantrips than most. It doesn't make up for the low versatility in my opinion.
huh... what do you mean by your third point? Like you mean if something was hit be a ranged attacked they can use their reaction to reduce damage? Cause I'm getting the impression of a dodge mechanic
I'm assuming you mean my fourth point. Some situations like being blinded make it easier for other people to hit you but doesn't impede your ability to defend against save-based spells in any way. It's uninuitive for players.
I like that idea, but not sure how they'd make it work without having one-handed weapons fall behind (without using a shield). Maybe a one-handed weapon would be more accurate, at the cost of potential damage?
Extra Attack is the reason TWF falls behind so I just compensate for that. My house rule is once you get Extra Attack (and you're not a monk) you get an extra d4 damage to melee weapon attacks with the Attack action while using TWF.
I think INT needs a buff even more than STR. For most classes INT is just for investigation. At least STR is used for carry weight, weapons, and heavy armor in addition to Athletics (which is used for movement and grappling).
Even something as simple as extra languages or tool proficiencies equal to your INT mod will at least make it as useful as STR.
Fair enough, but I mostly didn't worry about it because of Int being more of a lore based stat. Though, I know that in previous editions or in pathfinder having a higher int would grant you bonuses.
I think INT needs a buff even more than STR. For most classes INT is just for investigation. At least STR is used for carry weight, weapons, and heavy armor in addition to Athletics (which is used for movement and grappling).
Even something as simple as extra languages or tool proficiencies equal to your INT mod will at least make it as useful as STR.
Although it makes DDB give my players fits*, as one of our house rules, greater than standard intelligence grants an additional +1 modifier to a ability (either skill or tool proficiency) check. So a PC with a 15 INT has two +1 modifiers they can add to either an ability check with as skill or tool (they could even place both of the modifiers in the same thing if they wished.) This change urges Players to carefully consider their "dump stat" when using Standard Array and or Point Buy, although my table has different stat generation rules preferring to roll using the Big Damn Heroes Method TM.
*Yes, I know how to manipulate it in the system but some of my players are not that interested in doing a deep dive into the character generator and just pencil in a new modifier.
The question is "why shouldn't it?" None of the other fighting styles have their performance drop off over time and TWF is presented as an equally viable alternative for fighters. They woudn't add a fighting style for it if it wasn't something fighters are supposed to be good at; compare to the paladin and ranger, which are each missing styles.
There's no historical basis or real life logic that goes into D&D's TWF rules so while they're arbitrarily deciding that having a second weapon increases your offense they might as well arbitrarily decide it's comparable to using a weapon with both hands in the long run.
Back to the OPs statement, I agree somethings have got to change.
Rangers need to be reworked. UA Ranger Beast Master was a great option and I am displeased it never made it into Xanthar's. For my money the Beastmaster's action should not be used to make his companion take an action. This should be a Bonus Action, with the written text indicating that the pet completes that action until either the task is complete, or the Ranger countermands the order. Putting the Animal Companion on the level of a summoned elemental or creature is what we are aiming for. Moreover the companion level algorithm needs to scale so that a Tier 3-4 Ranger's Companion is truly terrifying in combat. Make Hunter's Mark as a spell disapear and replace it with a class ability like Channel Divinity that refreshes on a long rest.
Sorcerors need to be reworked. In my house rules, Sorcerors are the "mutants" of the arcane classes. They do not require training to gain their abilities, and the crutches and other tools used by Wizards and Clerics such as material components are unnecessary. They still use Vocal and Somatic components because of play balance with Counterspelling, and the thematic use of "shaping magic". I would also reintroduce some of the 3.x flavor and grant them light armor proficiency, all simple weapons, and a d8 Hit Die. After all they have the proficiency in CON saves already IIRC, Sorcerors are hardy.
The Warlock Rising above my general antipathy for the class and a particular Patron (Hexblade), I think that they need to be an INT based caster. DnD currently has two superstats -DEX and CHA. Making Warlocks an INT based caster changes the dynamic I feel for the better. Make HEX a class ability similar to Channel Divinity that refreshes on a LONG rest. Next, DELETE Hexblade Patron martial abilities that come onboard before level 3. As it stands the Patron is too tempting a dip for level one with the majority of powers being granted at level one. The best option would be to place the martial aspects of the Patron within the Blade Subclass and move the other abilities to level 6, 11 and 19 as per standard subclass rules.
Capstone Abilites Just find something new for Bards, Monks and Sorcerors. Each of those capstone does nothing interesting. Druids get unlimited Wildshape! FREE HPs! Let Bardic Inspiration be unlimited as well, but don't stop there. Maybe allow them to use a reaction to counterspell- EVERY TURN! Allow the Sorceror to completely ignore the Components rules like a 20th level Druid, making them ALSO immune to counterspelling, in addition to recharging 5 Sorcery Points a Turn automatically. Make a 20th Level Sorceror a force of nature. Maybe allow 20th level Monks to break the rules and Stun the unstunnable or knock prone mobs that are immune to such effects. Allow them to say that their martial arts are so potent that they can Stun Lock a Dragon or hit a devil with a flaming fist so powerful it burns them. Heck, going with the bad touch idea, let them have a Dim Mak 5-Finger Death Punch and just knock the souls outta things as a SAVE or suck check that they can apply AFTER a successful strike as a bonus action.
I agree with what you are saying about the various classes. The two things I would like fixed are; clarity regarding reach weapons. If a bunch of goblins armed with short swords attack a shield wall armed with spears, well it just wouldn't end well. Maybe that would over complicate things but a little more reach weapon realism would not be amiss. 2. more clarity involving mounted combat, the horse archer, the heavy cav charge, how difficult it would be to shoot from or at moving horses, or attacking the mount. It just seems like it leaves a ton to the DM to figure out (sure that is the DMs job, but still I like pretty clear rules for combat, lots of looseness everywhere else).
Your group may make it so by ignoring weight and encumbrance. But that is a DM choice, not a balance issue. I know a lot of groups ignore jumping like it doesn't exist. But when there's difficult terrain, you can potentially bypass a square or two of movement penalty by jumping into the difficult terrain. And so on... STR is ignored by most that don't use STR weapons because people choose to not use all the rules.
CON is pretty important too for concentration saves, how long you can hold your breath, how many days you can go without eating, your overall HP. Stats can be made important. There are rules and mechanics for each of them.
WIS is pretty important for Perception and Insight.
INT is pretty important for Investigation, History, Religion, etc...
Someone said CHA is a power stat. For some tables that focus on combat and less on exploration and social situations, CHA becomes a dump stat.
Balance can be achieved with respect to stats if the DM creates encounters that include mechanics that involve each stat. (Not every encounter has to touch every stat)
The idea of class balance is lunacy. There are so many combinations of class + subclass, multi-classing, equipment, feats and so on that the concept of equally balanced classes is bonkers.
Fighters, Barbarians, Monks can all be insanely beefy in the early levels. In contrast a Wizard is a one dimensional weakling at those early levels.
Monks start strong and gradually increase in power. Wizards start weak and continuously grow in power, becoming very powerful in the later levels.
Is that not balance? Keep in mind the large majority of games played never reach level 20. Probably never reach tier 4 for that matter. A balance pass to make a monk more powerful at the later levels could be justification for someone else to demand wizards become more powerful at the early levels.
Do you know what that cycle creates? Power creep. Then monsters end up too weak and need to be revamped. And.... so on and so on.
I think the classes are all pretty well balanced.
Now, there may be a case for some subclasses and/or abilities to get fixed, but a whole class?
* Rangers should, at least, have the option to get a concentration buff similar to that of Bladesingers, though perhaps at a higher level. Rangers are full contact combat casters (say that 3X fast!). Their ability to maintain concentration spells should be on par with the Paladin, at least, if they have taken the same feats.
It seems to be me that part of fixing the Ranger is expanding on exploration rules. The PHB says that Exploration is one of the 3 tiers of plays, next to combat and social interaction, but there are so few rules written for it that many Ranger abilities are superfluous. Either that, or hire people to write a lot more modules that utilize outdoor exploration.
* I would also favor a printed optional rule that makes character background material matter to the rest of the game. There should be a few easy to use simple rules that actively engage the Bonds, Ideals, and Flaws part of the PC's backstory. It would be optional b/c not all DMs or parties care about backstory, but it should be printed in the DMG at the very least so that DMs who like that sort of mental-emotional engagement from their players can use it and have a basis to encourage their players to be more than a set of combat stats and abilities. Perhaps playing to bonds, ideals and flaws enables slightly better hit point recovery or allows for an additional use of a long rest ability. IOW, it would be involved in the mechanics of day-to-day play, not just something completely tacked on, like inspiration.
* Expanded optional rules for flight and underwater movement. Maneuvering in the air or underwater are just assumed to be the same as land movement. Homebrew rules to change that currently vastly differ from one another. Having a set of optional rules to refer to would be helpful for all-underwater or heavily aerial campaigns. There should be a difference between the movement of a hummingbird and a dragon while airborne other than movement speed. Also, this should weaken many PC flight options so that Aarokocra PCs become more viable for DMs to handle at low levels of play.
* Get rid of the racial favoritism re: Elves and Orcs. We know it's there: Bladesingers and Arcane Archers are special "only for Elves and Half-Elves" sub-classes. Meanwhile, there is no mechanical benefit to playing an Orc vs. playing a Half-Orc. Half-Elves get some benefits that Elves don't, so why is an Orc PC so much less useful than a Half-Orc PC? All this amounts to WotC simply reinvigorating the Tolkien-esque ideas of racial superiority/inferiority, but claiming to wash their hands of it at the same time.
* Better spell-slot-to-Sorcery-Point conversion ratio plus not having to have a spell focus to cast most spells. I would say that concerns about the DM's abiliity to incapacitate Sorcerer can be easily fixed by also adding a rule that a Sorcerer with the Poisoned or Exhausted condition cannot use themselves as a spellcasting focus.
The question is "why shouldn't it?" None of the other fighting styles have their performance drop off over time and TWF is presented as an equally viable alternative for fighters.
Dueling and Protection fall into the same category of losing damage over time.
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Dueling and Protection fall into the same category of losing damage over time.
They're nowhere close to being in the same category as TWF style. Dueling scales perfectly linearly with the number of attacks you have and monsters deal more damage per attack (and often have nastier add-ons to their hits) the higher up the CR scale you go, so Protection remains ever-relevant. TWF style gives you a fixed amount of additional damage that starts out competitive but can't keep up with the bigger damage per hit of two-handed weapons in the long run.
TWF is inherently less flexible overall than just using a two-handed weapon too:
You lose twice as many attunement slots if you want to have cool magic weapons like a Frost Brand (and the attunement rules prevent you from having a matching set if that's something you're into.)
You can't use either hand for anything other than fighting unless you sheathe or drop a weapon. Extra problematic for spellcasters and yet another reason why melee builds are sub-optimal for rangers even though TWF is supposed to be thematic for them.
But the bigger problem is that not only does TWF fail to keep up, many of these problems won't be obvious at first glance to a starting player.
The only class where TWF is fairly competitive all throughout is the Rogue, because they only get 1 attack, can't use shields or two-handed melee weapons effectively and having a second shot at Sneak Attack is a huge deal. And even then, Crossbow Expert does roughly the same thing from a safer distance while giving you the benefits of the Fighting Style for free (and you don't even have to deal with that pesky disadvantage from having an enemy next to you either.)
It is true that TWF drops in power over time more than other fighting styles, but it starts with more power. TWF is stronger than other fighting styles for the first 10 levels, then drops behind them at level 11.
If TWF gets a buff for later levels then GWF will need a buff for earlier levels, and protection will need a buff too.
And that is only for fighter because of extra attacks. With only 1 extra attack, all fighting styles are pretty much equal. With no extra attacks TWF is the strongest.
It is true that TWF drops in power over time more than other fighting styles, but it starts with more power.
Strictly speaking true, but we're talking about a mere 1.66 damage lead per turn that's costing you a bonus action, a free hand, and weaker opportunity attacks. Any turn where an opportunity attack comes up a 2H fighter will immediately close the gap, and any turn where you want to use your bonus action for something else the TWF fighter immediately falls behind. So even at 1st level it's not that much better and 100% of the benefits depend on continuing to burn your bonus actions.
If feats are on the table then Polearm Master or Great Weapon Master are way better than anything a TWF user can hope to get.
No matter how I slice it, the fact that it's the least flexible fighting style, falls off at higher levels and requires expending an extra resource rankles me for something that's presented as an equal alternative to sword-and-shield or two-handed weapons.
Just adding an extra d4 to the Attack action when Extra Attack rolls around keeps them fairly neck-and-neck at all levels and removes some of the pressure on using that bonus action. TWF keeps its slight edge if you're willing to burn that bonus action, but doesn't fall ridiculously behind when you don't. Also helps keep them more even when Action Surge and Haste are in play.
If TWF gets a buff for later levels then GWF will need a buff for earlier levels, and protection will need a buff too.
I still haven't seen an argument for why Protection FS would need a buff at higher levels.
Rogues are actually best off when using two weapon fighting because it gives them another opportunity to get sneak attack damage. The ranged rogue is next best because it can sometimes bonus action hide then attack with advantage. One handed attack as in with a rapier is the real poorer option here. Honestly I'd like to see them fix this issue.
Hunters are a mess, especially the PHB ones. Beastmaster in particular. If there were to be a 5.5e I would hope they'd fix that mess.
Sorcerers all seem to be basically the same. There differences don't really change the way the sorcerer plays all that much. At least that's how it seems.
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I know the idea of a 6e is something that's out of the question as of know, but with all of the changes in methodology in balance. To me I feel a power creep in the newer content compared to the PHB class content that I feel is making them a bit dated. I personally feel that if WotC did something like a 5.5e or revised classes could help, but just thinking of this got me thinking of the kind of features that could help rebalance the game. I know that everyone has their own opinions on the subject, but I'm just curious on what other people feel needs addressing. Like here's a few ideas that come to mind for me...
Well, these are only the first things that come to mind, there's probably other things I can think of later on. So, just curious if ya'll agree with these points, disagree, or have other ideas on topics that should be addressed too. If there's something that you'd want me to expand on let me know and I can elaborate on them.
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Definitely agree with those points...
My group hasn't dealt with it the grappling mechanics much, but from what I've seen of it. it could use some more flushing out cause it seemed a bit tacked on as a feature/action.
I can completely get on board with this idea. Personally, what my group has done for this, is to give them more starting cantrips. It might not being as versatile as having more leveled spells, but having additional on command spells really helps the RP and feel of a caster.
For the pet character changes, WotC seem to have to together for the newer stuff, such as the artificer and wildfire druid companions but that makes the older pets based classes like beast master ranger fall further behind. Personally, I feel that the ranger's beast companion should be a choice feature rather than a subclass. Like they could be like, you can have a beast companion or gain X features, first thing that comes to mind would be a buff to favored enemy/terrain.
huh... what do you mean by your third point? Like you mean if something was hit be a ranged attacked they can use their reaction to reduce damage? Cause I'm getting the impression of a dodge mechanic
I like that idea, but not sure how they'd make it work without having one-handed weapons fall behind (without using a shield). Maybe a one-handed weapon would be more accurate, at the cost of potential damage?
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The classes that are most starved for spells known already have more cantrips than most. It doesn't make up for the low versatility in my opinion.
I'm assuming you mean my fourth point. Some situations like being blinded make it easier for other people to hit you but doesn't impede your ability to defend against save-based spells in any way. It's uninuitive for players.
Extra Attack is the reason TWF falls behind so I just compensate for that. My house rule is once you get Extra Attack (and you're not a monk) you get an extra d4 damage to melee weapon attacks with the Attack action while using TWF.
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I think INT needs a buff even more than STR. For most classes INT is just for investigation. At least STR is used for carry weight, weapons, and heavy armor in addition to Athletics (which is used for movement and grappling).
Even something as simple as extra languages or tool proficiencies equal to your INT mod will at least make it as useful as STR.
Fair enough, but I mostly didn't worry about it because of Int being more of a lore based stat. Though, I know that in previous editions or in pathfinder having a higher int would grant you bonuses.
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Why does it have to?
"Sooner or later, your Players are going to smash your railroad into a sandbox."
-Vedexent
"real life is a super high CR."
-OboeLauren
"............anybody got any potatoes? We could drop a potato in each hole an' see which ones get viciously mauled by horrible monsters?"
-Ilyara Thundertale
Although it makes DDB give my players fits*, as one of our house rules, greater than standard intelligence grants an additional +1 modifier to a ability (either skill or tool proficiency) check. So a PC with a 15 INT has two +1 modifiers they can add to either an ability check with as skill or tool (they could even place both of the modifiers in the same thing if they wished.) This change urges Players to carefully consider their "dump stat" when using Standard Array and or Point Buy, although my table has different stat generation rules preferring to roll using the Big Damn Heroes Method TM.
*Yes, I know how to manipulate it in the system but some of my players are not that interested in doing a deep dive into the character generator and just pencil in a new modifier.
The question is "why shouldn't it?" None of the other fighting styles have their performance drop off over time and TWF is presented as an equally viable alternative for fighters. They woudn't add a fighting style for it if it wasn't something fighters are supposed to be good at; compare to the paladin and ranger, which are each missing styles.
There's no historical basis or real life logic that goes into D&D's TWF rules so while they're arbitrarily deciding that having a second weapon increases your offense they might as well arbitrarily decide it's comparable to using a weapon with both hands in the long run.
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Back to the OPs statement, I agree somethings have got to change.
Rangers need to be reworked. UA Ranger Beast Master was a great option and I am displeased it never made it into Xanthar's. For my money the Beastmaster's action should not be used to make his companion take an action. This should be a Bonus Action, with the written text indicating that the pet completes that action until either the task is complete, or the Ranger countermands the order. Putting the Animal Companion on the level of a summoned elemental or creature is what we are aiming for. Moreover the companion level algorithm needs to scale so that a Tier 3-4 Ranger's Companion is truly terrifying in combat. Make Hunter's Mark as a spell disapear and replace it with a class ability like Channel Divinity that refreshes on a long rest.
Sorcerors need to be reworked. In my house rules, Sorcerors are the "mutants" of the arcane classes. They do not require training to gain their abilities, and the crutches and other tools used by Wizards and Clerics such as material components are unnecessary. They still use Vocal and Somatic components because of play balance with Counterspelling, and the thematic use of "shaping magic". I would also reintroduce some of the 3.x flavor and grant them light armor proficiency, all simple weapons, and a d8 Hit Die. After all they have the proficiency in CON saves already IIRC, Sorcerors are hardy.
The Warlock Rising above my general antipathy for the class and a particular Patron (Hexblade), I think that they need to be an INT based caster. DnD currently has two superstats -DEX and CHA. Making Warlocks an INT based caster changes the dynamic I feel for the better. Make HEX a class ability similar to Channel Divinity that refreshes on a LONG rest. Next, DELETE Hexblade Patron martial abilities that come onboard before level 3. As it stands the Patron is too tempting a dip for level one with the majority of powers being granted at level one. The best option would be to place the martial aspects of the Patron within the Blade Subclass and move the other abilities to level 6, 11 and 19 as per standard subclass rules.
Capstone Abilites Just find something new for Bards, Monks and Sorcerors. Each of those capstone does nothing interesting. Druids get unlimited Wildshape! FREE HPs! Let Bardic Inspiration be unlimited as well, but don't stop there. Maybe allow them to use a reaction to counterspell- EVERY TURN! Allow the Sorceror to completely ignore the Components rules like a 20th level Druid, making them ALSO immune to counterspelling, in addition to recharging 5 Sorcery Points a Turn automatically. Make a 20th Level Sorceror a force of nature. Maybe allow 20th level Monks to break the rules and Stun the unstunnable or knock prone mobs that are immune to such effects. Allow them to say that their martial arts are so potent that they can Stun Lock a Dragon or hit a devil with a flaming fist so powerful it burns them. Heck, going with the bad touch idea, let them have a Dim Mak 5-Finger Death Punch and just knock the souls outta things as a SAVE or suck check that they can apply AFTER a successful strike as a bonus action.
I agree with what you are saying about the various classes. The two things I would like fixed are; clarity regarding reach weapons. If a bunch of goblins armed with short swords attack a shield wall armed with spears, well it just wouldn't end well. Maybe that would over complicate things but a little more reach weapon realism would not be amiss. 2. more clarity involving mounted combat, the horse archer, the heavy cav charge, how difficult it would be to shoot from or at moving horses, or attacking the mount. It just seems like it leaves a ton to the DM to figure out (sure that is the DMs job, but still I like pretty clear rules for combat, lots of looseness everywhere else).
STR is not a dump stat.
Your group may make it so by ignoring weight and encumbrance. But that is a DM choice, not a balance issue. I know a lot of groups ignore jumping like it doesn't exist. But when there's difficult terrain, you can potentially bypass a square or two of movement penalty by jumping into the difficult terrain. And so on... STR is ignored by most that don't use STR weapons because people choose to not use all the rules.
CON is pretty important too for concentration saves, how long you can hold your breath, how many days you can go without eating, your overall HP. Stats can be made important. There are rules and mechanics for each of them.
WIS is pretty important for Perception and Insight.
INT is pretty important for Investigation, History, Religion, etc...
Someone said CHA is a power stat. For some tables that focus on combat and less on exploration and social situations, CHA becomes a dump stat.
Balance can be achieved with respect to stats if the DM creates encounters that include mechanics that involve each stat. (Not every encounter has to touch every stat)
The idea of class balance is lunacy. There are so many combinations of class + subclass, multi-classing, equipment, feats and so on that the concept of equally balanced classes is bonkers.
Fighters, Barbarians, Monks can all be insanely beefy in the early levels. In contrast a Wizard is a one dimensional weakling at those early levels.
Monks start strong and gradually increase in power. Wizards start weak and continuously grow in power, becoming very powerful in the later levels.
Is that not balance? Keep in mind the large majority of games played never reach level 20. Probably never reach tier 4 for that matter. A balance pass to make a monk more powerful at the later levels could be justification for someone else to demand wizards become more powerful at the early levels.
Do you know what that cycle creates? Power creep. Then monsters end up too weak and need to be revamped. And.... so on and so on.
I think the classes are all pretty well balanced.
Now, there may be a case for some subclasses and/or abilities to get fixed, but a whole class?
I like most of FallenPhoenix's ideas.
I would add that :
* Rangers should, at least, have the option to get a concentration buff similar to that of Bladesingers, though perhaps at a higher level. Rangers are full contact combat casters (say that 3X fast!). Their ability to maintain concentration spells should be on par with the Paladin, at least, if they have taken the same feats.
It seems to be me that part of fixing the Ranger is expanding on exploration rules. The PHB says that Exploration is one of the 3 tiers of plays, next to combat and social interaction, but there are so few rules written for it that many Ranger abilities are superfluous. Either that, or hire people to write a lot more modules that utilize outdoor exploration.
* I would also favor a printed optional rule that makes character background material matter to the rest of the game. There should be a few easy to use simple rules that actively engage the Bonds, Ideals, and Flaws part of the PC's backstory. It would be optional b/c not all DMs or parties care about backstory, but it should be printed in the DMG at the very least so that DMs who like that sort of mental-emotional engagement from their players can use it and have a basis to encourage their players to be more than a set of combat stats and abilities. Perhaps playing to bonds, ideals and flaws enables slightly better hit point recovery or allows for an additional use of a long rest ability. IOW, it would be involved in the mechanics of day-to-day play, not just something completely tacked on, like inspiration.
* Expanded optional rules for flight and underwater movement. Maneuvering in the air or underwater are just assumed to be the same as land movement. Homebrew rules to change that currently vastly differ from one another. Having a set of optional rules to refer to would be helpful for all-underwater or heavily aerial campaigns. There should be a difference between the movement of a hummingbird and a dragon while airborne other than movement speed. Also, this should weaken many PC flight options so that Aarokocra PCs become more viable for DMs to handle at low levels of play.
* Get rid of the racial favoritism re: Elves and Orcs. We know it's there: Bladesingers and Arcane Archers are special "only for Elves and Half-Elves" sub-classes. Meanwhile, there is no mechanical benefit to playing an Orc vs. playing a Half-Orc. Half-Elves get some benefits that Elves don't, so why is an Orc PC so much less useful than a Half-Orc PC? All this amounts to WotC simply reinvigorating the Tolkien-esque ideas of racial superiority/inferiority, but claiming to wash their hands of it at the same time.
* Better spell-slot-to-Sorcery-Point conversion ratio plus not having to have a spell focus to cast most spells. I would say that concerns about the DM's abiliity to incapacitate Sorcerer can be easily fixed by also adding a rule that a Sorcerer with the Poisoned or Exhausted condition cannot use themselves as a spellcasting focus.
Dueling and Protection fall into the same category of losing damage over time.
"Sooner or later, your Players are going to smash your railroad into a sandbox."
-Vedexent
"real life is a super high CR."
-OboeLauren
"............anybody got any potatoes? We could drop a potato in each hole an' see which ones get viciously mauled by horrible monsters?"
-Ilyara Thundertale
They're nowhere close to being in the same category as TWF style. Dueling scales perfectly linearly with the number of attacks you have and monsters deal more damage per attack (and often have nastier add-ons to their hits) the higher up the CR scale you go, so Protection remains ever-relevant. TWF style gives you a fixed amount of additional damage that starts out competitive but can't keep up with the bigger damage per hit of two-handed weapons in the long run.
TWF is inherently less flexible overall than just using a two-handed weapon too:
But the bigger problem is that not only does TWF fail to keep up, many of these problems won't be obvious at first glance to a starting player.
The only class where TWF is fairly competitive all throughout is the Rogue, because they only get 1 attack, can't use shields or two-handed melee weapons effectively and having a second shot at Sneak Attack is a huge deal. And even then, Crossbow Expert does roughly the same thing from a safer distance while giving you the benefits of the Fighting Style for free (and you don't even have to deal with that pesky disadvantage from having an enemy next to you either.)
The Forum Infestation (TM)
It is true that TWF drops in power over time more than other fighting styles, but it starts with more power. TWF is stronger than other fighting styles for the first 10 levels, then drops behind them at level 11.
If TWF gets a buff for later levels then GWF will need a buff for earlier levels, and protection will need a buff too.
And that is only for fighter because of extra attacks. With only 1 extra attack, all fighting styles are pretty much equal. With no extra attacks TWF is the strongest.
Strictly speaking true, but we're talking about a mere 1.66 damage lead per turn that's costing you a bonus action, a free hand, and weaker opportunity attacks. Any turn where an opportunity attack comes up a 2H fighter will immediately close the gap, and any turn where you want to use your bonus action for something else the TWF fighter immediately falls behind. So even at 1st level it's not that much better and 100% of the benefits depend on continuing to burn your bonus actions.
If feats are on the table then Polearm Master or Great Weapon Master are way better than anything a TWF user can hope to get.
No matter how I slice it, the fact that it's the least flexible fighting style, falls off at higher levels and requires expending an extra resource rankles me for something that's presented as an equal alternative to sword-and-shield or two-handed weapons.
Just adding an extra d4 to the Attack action when Extra Attack rolls around keeps them fairly neck-and-neck at all levels and removes some of the pressure on using that bonus action. TWF keeps its slight edge if you're willing to burn that bonus action, but doesn't fall ridiculously behind when you don't. Also helps keep them more even when Action Surge and Haste are in play.
I still haven't seen an argument for why Protection FS would need a buff at higher levels.
The Forum Infestation (TM)
You know what, I was completely misremembering what protection FS did. It scales fine, ignore that.
Rogues are actually best off when using two weapon fighting because it gives them another opportunity to get sneak attack damage. The ranged rogue is next best because it can sometimes bonus action hide then attack with advantage. One handed attack as in with a rapier is the real poorer option here. Honestly I'd like to see them fix this issue.
Hunters are a mess, especially the PHB ones. Beastmaster in particular. If there were to be a 5.5e I would hope they'd fix that mess.
Sorcerers all seem to be basically the same. There differences don't really change the way the sorcerer plays all that much. At least that's how it seems.