Dungeons and Dragons is a fantasy role-playing game first published in 1974.
While it leans heavily on collaborative storytelling, it has, like all games, a set of rules that players adhere to so they can live their best lives and embody heroes of legend.
One player is the Dungeon Master who facilitates the game, controls the monsters and non-player characters, and narrates the story while the others fill their character sheets as they role-play adventuring characters such as an elf warlock or dwarf paladin.
Given the sheer immensity of races, classes, feats, and all-around concepts, it can be daunting to pick a combination that can pull its weight and be fun to boot.
Thanks to bound accuracy, no character is a bad character as long as you keep those main ability scores high, but some players prefer to optimize as their way of having fun, and, like all other playstyles, this is valid, too.
After delving through dark dungeons, slaying dangerous dragons, and surviving a dungeon inside of a dragon, we have made a list of some of the most powerful builds for banishing evil and getting rich at the same time!
Buckle up, and head straight towards the adventuring guild for tonight we share our 15 most powerful builds for 5th edition Dungeons & Dragons!
We’ll be drawing content from several supplements as well as using multi-class rules and feats, so make sure your table allows them beforehand.
15. The Wombo Combo!
Once a humble blacksmith, our artificer made a breakthrough in the archano-mechanical world. They now dodge those who wish to steal their research, always together with their newest creation, a faithful hound with a heart of steel.
The “Wombo-Combo” is a fun name for a build that makes the most out of the Battle Smith from Tasha's Cauldron of Everything. We’re going to play around with our Steel Defender to become an unbeatable duo!
A master of technology and teamwork, the Wombo-Combo brings a lot of utility to the table with the beautiful partnership of man and machine.
What the Wombo-Combo Excels in
- Single Stat Dependency. By infusing our weapons, the Wombo-Combo can rely solely on their Intelligence for attack and damage rolls!
- Multitasking. Our Steel Defender acts as an extension of ourselves, thus we can essentially have two characters at the same time that take teamwork to a whole different level.
- Locking down foes. By focusing on a single foe at a time, the Wombo-Combo can easily take down foes with deadly efficiency.
Full build details:
Race: High Elf.
Class: Artificer (Battle Smith)
Stats: Intelligence > Dexterity > Constitution > Everything else.
Feats: Warcaster & Sharpshooter.
Equipment: Crossbows & Light armor.
14. The Blurred fist.
Pushing their reflexes to the limit, our monk has trained their body to achieve great displays of speed. They wander the land seeking to perfect their skill at an outstanding rate, usually leaving their foes wondering what hit them.
The blurred fist is a catchy name for this monk build, which is one of my personal favorites. This build focuses on increasing our walking speed as much as we can to dominate the battlefield. It is worthy of note that feats are an optional rule in 5e, so make sure your DM allows them before building your blurred fist.
What the Blurred Fist Excels In:
- Battlefield presence. Increasing our speed allows us to participate in combat more actively, for we can run from foe to foe in the blink of an eye. This means you’ll have a movement speed of at least 60 feet which will allow you to cross great distances in a single turn.
- Reliable damage. Thanks to our feat selection, we will be putting out large amounts of damage in a relatively safe way. Now you can rain pain upon your foes like a tornado!
- Amazing role-play potential. By reaching increasingly higher speeds we can get away with incredible feats…like poking a sleeping dragon and getting out of its cave before it breathes fiery doom.
Full build details:
Race: Wood Elf.
Class: Monk (Way of the Open Hand).
Stats: Dexterity > Wisdom > Constitution > Everything else.
Feats: Mobile & Charger.
Equipment: Darts as a ranged weapon.
13. The Bearbarian.
Once a raider from the cold wastes, our Barbarian found enlightenment in the breath of the wild and spiritual growth. They look back to the friends they found in the beasts of the forest, but growl as the peace they worked so hard for is finally shattered…and it angers them.
This catchy wordplay works for this druid-barbarian multiclass. This multiclass gives us access to a plethora of options, but we’re going to focus on combining the destructive force of a barbarian’s rage with the shape-shifting powers of a circle of the Moon druid.
We postpone picking our barbarian primal path for access to the Combat Wild Shape feature from the druid class. This build also gives us some more utility outside of combat and an extremely powerful beast form that will benefit from our rage.
What the Bearbarian Excels in
- Amazing durability. Access to Combat Wild Shape gives our bearbarian the ability to rage and transform into a beast in combat. This means you’ll essentially have more Hit Points since you’ll assume the beast’s statistics, and any exceeding damage that takes you to 0 will just carry over to your normal Hit Points.
- Potent Beast Form. Since you retain your class features while in beast shape, your damage resistance from raging, as well as your unarmored defense, carry over into your Wild Shape.
- Druidic Magic. Our dip intro druid means that we’ll have more utility, damage and healing spells otherwise outside of our grasp.
Full build details:
Race: Firbolg.
Class: Barbarian 3 (bear totem), Druid 17 (Circle of the Moon).
Stats: Wisdom > Strength > Constitution > Dexterity > Charisma > Intelligence.
Feats: We recommend taking Ability Score Increases instead.
Equipment: Two-handed weapons & no armor.
12. The Castigator
A devout follower of the goddess of magic, our cleric found salvation in the teachings of the scriptures and growth through the art of magic. When horrors plot to tarnish the magic they have sworn to protect, divine judgment descends upon them.
The Castigator is a very powerful build that focuses on the Arcana Domain from the Sword Coast Adventurer’s Guide. The Arcana Domain gives us the ability to cast some spells from the wizard class, bolstering our already powerful repertoire.
We’ll play around with the Crusher and Warcaster feats, so make sure your Dungeon Master allows them if you want to play the Castigator.
What the Castigator Excels In:
- More cantrips. The Arcana domain gives your cleric two cantrips from the wizard spell list which you can cast with your wisdom, giving you more tools to play with.
- Punishing sinners. We’ll pick the Booming Blade cantrip. This, combined with the Spiritual Weapon and Spirit Guardians spells lets you output a whole world of hurt.
- In the thick of it. Right in the vanguard is where the Castigator shines. This means your cleric will be the wall between the foes and the party, and with you at the front, victory is assured.
Full build details:
Race: Hill Dwarf.
Class: Cleric (Arcane Domain).
Stats: Wisdom > Strength > Constitution > Everything else.
Feats: Warcaster & Crusher.
Equipment: Medium Armor & Shield.
11. The Sorcadin
Capable of impossible things since birth, our paladin discovered they were blessed by their deity from a young age. Now, they endeavor to nurture that gift and spread the word of their god across the land.
The “Sorcadin” is a wordplay for this paladin – sorcerer multiclass. The multiclass broadens our options by a lot, but we’re going to focus on combining the powerful ability to smite their foes of the paladin with the reliable casting of the divine soul sorcerer from Xanathar’s Guide to Everything.
We postpone our Extra Attack feature in exchange for buffs and smite fuel from the sorcerer spell list. This build also gains us access to an emergency buff, Meta-magic, and more.
Since multiclassing is an optional rule in 5th edition, make sure your table uses it before making a sorcadin.
What the Sorcadin Excels in
- Smite for days! Since the paladin’s Divine Smite feature uses spell slots as its fuel, multiclassing into sorcerer greatly increases the amount of smites we can do in a day.
- Cantrips. Paladins don’t usually get cantrips, multiclassing lets us pick some for more ranged options as well as to bolster our melee ferocity.
- Extra healing and utility. A single level of Divine Soul sorcerer gives us access to the shield spell and the ability to add 2d4 to a saving throw once per rest!
Full build details:
Race: Half-elf.
Class: Paladin (Oath of Vengeance) 6, Sorcerer (Divine Soul) 14
Stats: Strength > Charisma > Constitution > Everything else.
Feats: Warcaster.
Equipment: Heavy armor & two-handed weapons.
10. The Eldritch Battery.
Be not afraid, said the non-Euclidean angel which revealed itself to our Warlock. After that fateful meeting, they unlocked the divinity kept within them, wielding magic from the outside as well as from the inside.
The Eldritch Battery is a Sorcerer–Warlock multiclass, which is probably the most complicated out of the five builds.
We exchange some of our spell progression for better healing capabilities as well as a considerable boost to our spells per day.
Keep in mind that multiclassing is an optional rule in 5th edition, so make sure that your table allows it before building your Eldritch Battery.
What the Eldritch Battery Excels in
- Extra healing and utility. Multiclassing into sorcerer gives our Eldritch Battery 4 new cantrips to play with as well as 2 more spells.
- More Spells per day. By taking some levels in sorcerer, we can now convert our warlock spell slots into sorcery points and then into sorcerer spell slots after every short rest.
- Low maintenance. Unlike most spellcasters, the Eldritch Battery can go on longer without a proper full rest thanks to its ability to recycle its warlock spells slots.
Full build details:
Race: Half-elf.
Class: Warlock (Celestial patron) 18, Sorcerer (Divine soul) 2.
Stats: Charisma > Dexterity > Everything else.
Feats: War Caster & Resilient.
Equipment: Light armor.
9. The Constellation.
Once an astronomer, our druid found solace far beyond the sky’s rim. Now one with the starlit patterns that draw the universe, they harness the powers of the cosmos
The “Constellation” is a powerful all-rounder build that has both offense, defense, and support packed into a powerful spell-caster that dominates the battlefield with the Circle of Stars from Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything.
If you enjoy supporting your party and throwing spells left and right, the “Constellation” is the right build for you.
What the Constellation Excels in.
- Extra Healing: By harnessing the power of a life-giving constellation, our healing spells can heal an extra target!
- More Spells: Just by picking the circle of Stars, we get a powerful spellcasting focus that lets us cast Guiding Bolt without expending spell slots a couple of times before resting!
Full build details:
Race: Wood Elf.
Class: Druid (Circle of the Stars).
Stats: Wisdom > Dexterity > Everything else.
Feats: Warcaster & Resilient.
Equipment: Light or medium armor & Shield.
8. The Beast Within.
Here it is, the most potent melee build for the Blood hunter.
The “Beast Within” makes the most out of the Order of the Lycan features…and it lets you be a freaking werewolf! (or werebeaver, if that’s what you’re into).
Besides making for some interesting roleplaying, this subclass gives you a bonus to AC, damage resistances like a barbarian, a reliable, two-weapon fighting-like style of combat that is compatible with your crimson rite, and tons more.
As you level up, the drawbacks from the subclass become insignificant if you want to go Dexterity-based.
There is no way to go wrong with the Order of the Lycan, you just need to pick a race that increases your Dexterity and either Wisdom or Constitution.
We recommend picking either Wood Elf or Stout Halfling.
What the Beast Within Excels In:
- Dark potential: As the name implies, you get to on the form of a Lycanthrope!
- High Damage: Reliable damage output and tons of endurance.
- Wolf-blooded: Sporadic urges to howl at the moon.
Full build details:
Race: Wood Elf or Stout Halfling.
Class: Blood Hunter, Order of the Lycan.
Stats: Dexterity > Constitution > Wisdom > Everything else.
Equipment: Light armor.
Feats: If your game uses feats then Tough is an excellent choice to further increase your endurance.
7. The Walking Stick.
Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything made bladesingers an amazing multiclass choice thanks to their front-loaded kit.
Since the tradition was developed by elves, we can’t avoid thinking of it as a Dexterity-centric class, but it doesn’t have to be that way.
That’s where the “Walking Stick” comes in. By multiclassing Battle Smith Artificer with Bladesinging wizard, you can have a Single Attribute Dependant combatant who whacks the life out of their enemies with their cane.
Take three levels in Battle Smith Artificer. With these changes, you gain the ability to enchant your weapon of choice (a quarterstaff for this build), a powerful companion in the form of the Steel Defender, and the ability to make your melee attacks use Intelligence!
But wait, there’s more! By picking up the Polearm Master feat you can now attack with your bonus action with your quarterstaff as well as the ability to make opportunity attacks against foes who enter your reach.
By the time you grab warcaster, enemies will fear even going near you since you can now strike them with spells when they come close to you!
What the Walking Stick Excels In:
- Single Attribute Dependent (SAD): All you need to make this build work wonders is a high Intelligence score!
- Backup: With the Steel Defender and a Familiar, you’ll have a little army of your own.
Full build details:
Race: Variant Human for the bonus feat at 1st level.
Class: Battle Smith Artificer from levels 1 to 3, then take your first level in wizard. From here on, you’ll only be taking levels in the wizard class.
Feats: Polearm Master & Warcaster.
Stats: Intelligence > Everything else.
Equipment: Light armor & Quarterstaff.
Main Spells: Booming Blade, Green Flame blade, Spirit Shroud.
6. The Cannoneer
An adept at hurling energy, projectile, and explosions on the battlefield, our artificer feels right at home in the middle of a warzone.
The “Cannoneer” is a classic blaster build that takes advantage of 5th edition’s action economy to dish out as much damage as it can.
We’ll be using the Artillerist from Tasha's Cauldron of Everything to get ourselves a powerful turret that complements our battle style.
What the Cannoneer Excels in
- Action Economy. The Eldritch Cannon feature requires a bonus action to activate, meaning that we’ll always have something to do to maximize our turns.
- Elemental Damage. Cantrips are a Cannoneer’s best friend, letting us hurl which damage our foes hate the most.
- The right tool for the job. While powerful at range, the Cannoneer loses none of the artificer’s main draw, their ability to adapt to many situations.
Full build details:
Race: Owlin.
Class: Artificer (Artillerist).
Stats: Intelligence > Dexterity > Everything else.
Feats: Spell Sniper & Elemental adept.
Equipment: Light armor since medium armor hampers our flight.
5. The Shadow Stalker
No longer truly sane, our monk opened their mind to the void between the stars…and it listened. They now hear its ceaseless whispers as the shadows of the void creep ever closer.
The Shadow Stalker build will probably be the most complex of the five builds (although not too much). We will have to multiclass to do it, so check with your DM beforehand if it’s allowed. We’re going to focus on combining the Way of the Shadow with the Warlock class.
We will exchange some of our monk progression for access to magic spells to boost our arsenal, and most importantly, eldritch invocations. This build also gains us a familiar who can serve as a loyal scout and even a companion in combat.
It is important to keep in mind that this build will require a three-level dip into the Warlock class, so make sure your campaign is going to last enough sessions to truly enjoy its potential.
What the Shadow Stalker Excels In.
- Guerrilla Warfare. We’ll make liberal use of the Darkness spell, letting you pummel down your foes without them even knowing what is happening.
- Extra utility. Our dip in Warlock gives you the ability to cast spells and choose eldritch invocations. Now your monk can blast their foes with magic and whisper into the minds of others.
- Maintaining concentration spells. This build focuses on toying around with the darkness spell, so your Monk is going to be more than capable of keeping it going!
Full build details:
Race: Half-elf.
Class: Warlock (Great Old One & Pact of the Chain) 3, Monk (Way of Shadow) 17.
Stats: Dexterity > Charisma > Constitution > Wisdom > Everything else.
Feats: Warcaster & Resilient.
Equipment: You won’t need weapons or armor with this build.
4. The Wrathful Angel
Delivering divine judgment on those that dare mock the word of their god, our barbarian cleaves a path through the horde of heretics that stand in their path. The Wrathful Angel is a barbarian who brings the ire of the gods to bear.
We will focus on raising our damage to match our holy (or unholy) wrath by picking the Zealot, a primal path from Xanathar's Guide to Everything. The Zealot gives our barbarian a notable increase in damage which allows them to eradicate their foes swiftly. As you gain levels, you will also be able to punish your foes from beyond 0 Hit Points.
What the Wrathful Angel Excels In
- Melting through your enemies' Hit Points. While raging, our first attack every turn gets a powerful damage bonus damage which, combined with a two-handed weapon, amounts to large piles of bodies at your barbarian’s feet.
- Greater resistance. With this build, our barbarian will become resistant to both radiant and necrotic damage. This means you’ll stay on your feet longer when facing off a wider array of foes!
- Denying death. As you gain levels, you’ll unlock the ability to facilitate your resurrection as well as simply ignore the fact that you should be dying for a bit.
Full build details:
Race: Fallen Aasimar.
Class: Barbarian (Path of the Zealot).
Stats: Strength > Constitution > Everything else.
Feats: Great Weapon Master & Tough.
Equipment: Two-handed weapons and light or medium armor.
3. The Bladelock.
Cleaving through foes with their glaive as often as they vaporize them with a spell, the “Bladelock” is a fun build that focuses on dominating the battlefield as a frontline battler.
By selecting the Hexblade patron from Xanathar’s Guide to Everything, we get rid of the melee warlock’s multi-attribute dependence and can focus strictly on charisma for combat. As you gain more levels, you will grow your repertoire of options and can mix and match your play style.
What the Bladelock Excels In
- A mix of sword and sorcery. While the Pact of the Blade was always available, now our Bladelock can rush into the field of battle relying only on their ferocity!
- Being durable. The Hexblade patron gives our Bladelock medium armor and shield proficiencies. This means that you’ll have 16 to 18 Armor Class (AC) depending on your ability scores.
- Battlefield presence. Rather than using Eldritch Blast as your main source of damage, you can choose how to engage your enemy in a way that benefits you!
Full build details:
Race: Tiefling (Bloodline of Levistus).
Class: Warlock (Hexblade Patron).
Stats: Charisma > Constitution > Dexterity > Everything else.
Feats: Warcaster & Resilient.
Equipment: Medium Armor & Shield.
2. The Speartan.
Withstanding a crashing wave of foes as they protect the path of the Thermopylae as they pierce the only hope of their enemies is where the “Speartan” shines the most.
The “Speartan” is a fun nickname for this powerful fighter build that focuses on locking down foes in melee combat, striking them to death with unrelenting strikes as they struggle to beat your Armor Class!
With the Polearm Master feat, we can punish foes that enter our melee reach with an opportunity attack, and even use our bonus action to make an extra attack with the butt of our weapon.
This only becomes better and better by choosing the Battle Master archetype at level 3. Maneuvers broaden our combat versatility by turning our attacks into tools to dominate the battlefield.
Since we can only choose the Maneuvers are level 3, we recommend choosing Trip Attack, Goading Attack, and Bait and Switch since they complement the “Speartan” build nicely.
Once you reach level 4, the Sentinel field will turn you into the ultimate wall that your allies can rely on.
What the Speartan Excels in.
- Locking Down foes: By combining the Polearm Master and Sentinel feats, you can deny foes access to allies you protect.
- Early Fun: If your game uses feats and variant human, you can enjoy the core gist of this built as early as level 1!
- Combat Versatility: Combat maneuvers give us an ocean of possibilities to alter the flow of battle.
Full build details:
Race: Variant Human for the 1st level feat.
Class: Fighter (Battlemaster).
Stats: Strength > Constitution > Everything else.
Feats: Polearm Master & Sentinel.
Equipment: Heavy Armor, Shields & spear.
1. The Time Lord.
Fun, straightforward, and the bane of all dungeon masters, the “Timelord” is a powerful wizard build that specializes in modifying the outcome of dice rolls to your advantage!
By enrolling our Halfling into a wizardry school, grabbing a doctorate in either Divination or Chronurgy, work our way towards the lucky feat and dedicate most of our spell slots for casting silvery barbs.
What the Time Lord Excels In
- Coming in clutch: more often than not, a single die roll can change the outcome of the whole campaign, don’t let it be up to luck!
- Top tier support: Sure, anyone likes flight or throwing fireballs, but no wizard is as appreciated as the one that uplifts their allies by making their attacks land.
Full build details:
Race: Stout Halfling.
Class: Wizard (Divination or Chronurgy schools)
Stats: Intelligence > Everything else.
Feats: Lucky & Bountiful Luck (Racial feat).
Equipment: A crystal ball for dramatic effect.
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