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The Most Banned Classes in D&D Explained

Elminster Explains

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In the world of Dungeons & Dragons, certain subclasses have earned notorious reputations that lead Dungeon Masters to restrict or outright ban them from their tables. Options like the Gloom Stalker Ranger and the Hexblade Warlock are frequently restricted because their front-loaded abilities create game-breaking multiclass combinations with Rogues and Paladins. Meanwhile, the Echo Knight Fighter and the Chronurgy Wizard frustrate encounter design by fundamentally breaking the established rules of action economy and spellcasting limits. Other overwhelmingly powerful choices, such as the Peace Domain and Twilight Domain Clerics, provide such massive defensive and numerical buffs that they completely remove the intended tension from combat.

Beyond raw numerical power, many tables enforce bans based on narrative disruptions and setting inconsistencies. The Oathbreaker Paladin and the Artificer are routinely excluded simply because their inherent evil alignments or highly magical technological aesthetics do not fit the desired tone of a traditional campaign. Similarly, the Divination Wizard and the Undead Warlock face heavy restrictions for abilities that encourage extreme metagaming or safely bypass the high stakes of horror adventures. Finally, ambitious but unofficial options like the abandoned playtest Mystic and Matthew Mercer’s third-party Blood Hunter remain widely prohibited because they lack the rigorous mechanical testing of official published rulebooks.

Covered in this video:
Gloom Stalker Ranger, Xanathar's Guide to Everything, Dread Ambusher, Umbral Sight, Assassin Rogue, Assassinate, Echo Knight Fighter, Explorer's Guide to Wildemount, Matthew Mercer, Manifest Echo, Unleash Incarnation, Echo Avatar, Shadow Martyr, Haste spell, Hexblade Warlock, Hex Warrior, Hexblade's Curse, Paladlock, Sorlock, Accursed Specter, The Undead Warlock, Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft, Form of Dread, Grave Touched, Spirit Projection, Necrotic Husk, Peace Domain Cleric, Tasha's Cauldron of Everything, RPGBot, Emboldening Bond, Bless spell, Protective Bond, Twilight Domain Cleric, Twilight Sanctuary, Channel Divinity, Eclipse of the Sun, Divination Wizard, Portent, Expert Divination, The Third Eye, Chronurgy Wizard, Arcane Abeyance, Fireball, Chronal Shift, Temporal Awareness, Convergent Future, Oathbreaker Paladin, Dungeon Master's Guide, Control Undead, Dreadful Aspect, Aura of Hatred, Baldur's Gate 3, Mystic class, Unearthed Arcana, Psionic Options Revisited, psionic energy die, Soulknife Rogue, Aberrant Mind Sorcerer, Psi Warrior Fighter, Artificer, Eberron: Rising from the Last War, Alchemist, Armorer, Artillerist, Battle Smith, Infuse Item, Blood Hunter, D&D Beyond, Order of the Ghostslayer, Order of the Lycan, Order of the Mutant, Order of the Profane Soul, Hunter's Bane, Blood Curse

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20 Comments

@grimmr.3428 1 hour ago

You can make a neet multi-class with the barbarian subclass that crates ghost of ancestors when raged and the undead warlock. With a cool headcannon too

@neighslayer768 3 days ago

Artificer clashing with setting is why my DM allowed it. Letting the equivalent of a 1930s gun smith sell weapons to 1530s pesants in the setting of Dragonlance is making for some fun role play.

@LordDarque 3 days ago

Otohan Thull from Critical Role was a Psi Fighter with Echo Knight abilities.
Good lord she was scary.

@chakatBombshell 3 days ago (edited)

I can't think of any of these being banned in a game except for mystic. All of these sub-classes actually make it fun and interesting and I'd argue that older subclasses should be brought up to par. (they did stuff like arcane archer, beastmaster and most monk subclasses so badly) Never complain about multiclassing especially since in 5e a lot of classes have terrible capstones anyway so a dip in cleric, warlock, rouge or barbarian should be expected if they are planning builds and those who aren't deserve to be able to make cool gimmicks since 5e super lacks older editions ability to make a character unique.

@RavinerPayne-p1w 3 days ago

12:54 It just flips the fear onto the DM.

@DillonDees 18 hours ago

This was made two days ago. Gloomstalker note, there aren’t surprise rounds in 5.5e if you’re playing that version fyi.

@henrykdodwel6913 3 days ago

Ai video and channel

@Nathan_Payne 3 days ago (edited)

To the DMs who ban these options: "I’m an insecure sadist who wants to ensure players don’t have fun, so I can freely torment them while they use weak subclasses."😈

I’m serious—these are the worst Dungeon Masters! Don’t play with them!

@RavinerPayne-p1w 3 days ago

35:46 I always just imagined making the infused item stuff requires some study for some, items to be sacrificed and materials for the others.

@MatanLevkowich 1 day ago

For those DMs and players who wants to include the Artificer but are lacking the imagination of how it can be integrated to a low tech world, Celebrimbor from the middle earth is a great reference to an artificer in a low tech setting.

@Axoomer 3 days ago (edited)

Aren't we getting Mystic (Psion) next year? And Divination Wizard was in the 2014 PHB from what I remember? Why is the author spreading misinformation?

@ИванДанилов-ю6с 3 days ago

Really? Undead warlock? One of the only choices NOT to suffer? I think that gets banned by the same DMs, who bans everything but the PHB due to "balance"

@leodouskyronActual 3 days ago

Mystic is very likely coming out in the Dark Sun books.

@hoi-polloi1863 13 hours ago

I always wondered about this whole "one level dip into Warlock" business. How does the patron feel about this?
Malagor the Fiend: Dude. You don't "dip" into selling your soul, ya feel me?
Pella the Archfey: Why do you want to learn fencing? You should spend more time thinking about *me*.
The Great Old One: You've seen the screaming silence between the stars. Ya just don't come back from that.
Gene the Genie: I ... wish you would stop doing that.

@RavinerPayne-p1w 3 days ago

28:32 But you can write a wild backstory but lose it all when you become the lvl 1 Oathbreaker.

@dessel_op 3 days ago

Is the original voiceover AI?

@hasseo195 3 days ago

Undeadm Warlock?
That is curtrently my favored warlock.

@joelhastings622 1 day ago

My Gloomstalker is a Drow who is part warlock so he has Devilsight, so what was his first played encounter....a couple devils that started the fight in the dark of the underdark outside of his movement. So good first round and can see me. But when when you, everything was done to neutralize this character.

@r.downgrade5836 1 day ago (edited)

Most of this is completely solved by:
1) Banning Multi-classing
2) Allowing only PHB, Volo's, Xanathar's, and SCAG.

That said, your AI Slop is showing. Divination Wizard is in the PHB. Also, you can't guarantee what you will roll for Portent. It is almost never banned, outside of campaign flavor.

@xanaxthemagician12 11 minutes ago

DMs nowadays are kinda...stupid. I master since THAC0 was around and I never had a problem with any powerful classes-mix. DMs can bend the rules so, why do not implement a piercing damage resistance? Surely is can be justified like "the enemy fears long range attacks and ambushes, to they blablablabla".
The problem nowadays in D&D is that DM are scared to make players unhappy or to kill them. That's just stupid.