D&D 5e Caster Class Comparison
“Full Casters” - ​These have access to spells up to 9th-level and focus mainly on spellcasting.
Class PHB Definition Flavor & Usual Role
Bard “An inspiring Usually music-related, bards are
magician whose power probably the best buffers/debuffers
echoes the music of in the game. Your job? Inspire your
creation.” ​(pg. 51) party and make them feel (and be)
amazing. Also, you’re great at
basically every skill.
Cleric “A priestly champion A well-rounded caster, clerics
who wields divine sometimes like to wade into melee.
magic in service of a Each domain feels different and
higher power.” ​(pg. lets you do some cool stuff,
56) including some of the game’s best
healing and great support to boot.
Druid “A priest of the Old < Basically that. Druids are a great
Faith, wielding the nature-themed, well-rounded
powers of nature - caster, but if you go with Circle of
moonlight and plant the Moon, you’ll probably spend
growth, fire and most of your time fighting as a
lightning - and beast. Literally.
adopting animal
forms.”​ (pg. 64)
Sorcerer “A spellcaster who You didn’t ask for your magic; it
draws on inherent was bestowed on you. Maybe you
magic from a gift or have dragon blood. Maybe you got
bloodline.” ​(pg. 99) struck by lightning. You don’t
know a lot of magic, but what you
do know, you ​know​. Sorcerers
often make great damage-dealers.
Warlock “A wielder of magic Unlike a sorcerer, you ​did ​ask for
that is derived from a your magic. Specifically. Warlocks
bargain with an are a cool class with a creepy
extraplanar entity.” undertone that excel as
(pg. 105) high-damage blasters. They can
cast powerful spells, have the best
at-will damage of all the casters,
and their subclasses offer a lot of
variety.
Wizard “A scholarly You’ve worked hard to learn your
magic-user capable of magic, relying on your brains to see
manipulating the you through. Wizards are amazing
structures of reality.” at battlefield control, great at
(pg. 112) buffing and debuffing, and all
around a fantastic utility caster.
Your motto as a wizard is “there’s
a spell for that!”
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Mechanics
You have “Inspiration Dice” that
you can pass out to allies to make
them better. You memorize your
spells and can cast from the list
you’ve got memorized. Subclasses
give this class a lot of cool variety.
You pray every morning to your
chosen deity and can swap out
prepared spells as desired, choosing
from your class’ entire spell list.
Good for when you can plan ahead
for encounters and/or situations.
Like clerics, druids choose spells
daily, accessing the class’ entire
spell list. You can also Wild Shape,
changing your form into a beast to
fight or scout. Or just be a horse
walking around because why not.
Sorcerers have fewer spells to
choose from than some other
classes, but they can do cool stuff
and improve them using sorcerer
points. Like bards, sorcerers simply
acquire new spells as they level and
can cast from what they know.
You don’t have access to a lot of
spells or spell slots, but what you
do have hits hard. Unlike other
casters, warlocks regain their spell
slots after a short rest and cast
spells at the highest level possible,
using invocations for more power
and other magical effects. Hexblade
offers you a chance to be powerful
in melee, too.
Wizards learn spells by copying
them into their spellbook. Every
day, they choose a certain number
of spells from that book to prepare
and have ready. Wizards have
access to the most spells of any
caster class, and could theoretically
end up with the entire class’ spell
list in their spellbook, available for
preparation.
 D&D 5e Caster Class Comparison

“Half-Casters”
These have access to spells up to 5th level and usually do other things in addition to casting.

Class PHB Definition Flavor & Usual Role Mechanics

Paladin “A holy warrior bound to You’re on a quest for
a sacred oath.” ​(pg. 82) justice. Or vengeance. Or
something else. Most of
your magic is divine and
you’ll often use it to make
you smack baddies even
harder, or sometimes heal
and buff your allies.
You pray/meditate every
morning, choosing from
the class’ entire spell list.
Good for when you can
plan ahead for encounters
and/or situations.

Ranger “A warrior who uses Like druids, ranger’s Like bards and sorcerers,
martial prowess and spells are nature-themed. rangers memorize spells
nature magic to combat They’re usually used to as they go and can cast
threats on the edges of survive in the wilderness from what they know.
civilization.” ​(pg. 89) or, like paladins, improve
your combat skillz.

“Third-Casters”
These are subclasses that allow otherwise non-magic-using classes to get their magic ​on​.

Class PHB Definition Flavor & Usual Role Mechanics

Fighter: Eldritch Knight “The archetypal Eldritch You’re a fighter. Except You can memorize spells
Knight combines the magical. Your spells can from the wizard list,
martial mastery common make you harder to hit or focusing on abjuration
to all fighters with a you can use them for AoE (protection) and evocation
careful study of magic.” damage when needed. (damage). You cap out at
(pg. 74) 4th-level spells.

Monk: Way of the Four “You follow a monastic You’re a monk. Except You spend ki points to
Elements tradition that teaches you magical. You can dedicate cast spells from a specific
to harness the elements.” yourself to a single elemental-themed list. No
(pg. 80) element or you can use all spell slots required!
of ‘em (think Avatar: The
Last Airbender).

Rogue: Arcane “Some rogues enhance You’re a rogue. Except You can memorize spells
Trickster their fine-honed skills of magical. Why pickpocket from the wizard list,
stealth and agility with someone or disable a trap focusing on enchantment
magic, learning tricks of yourself when you can (like ​sleep​) and illusion
enchantment and use ​mage hand​? Want to (like ​invisibility​). You cap
illusion.” ​(pg. 97) be invisible ​and​ stabby? out at 4th-level spells.
This is the route for you.

Note: For Eldritch Knight and Arcane Trickster, you can filter ​https://www.dndbeyond.com/spells/class/wizard​ by
abjuration & evocation or enchantment & illusion respectively to see what spells are available to you.

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