D&D 5E What PC classes to take to round out this party?

[Olaf the Stout]

Last session my PC and another PC were turned to stone. Our final fate remains unresolved, but it is likely that both PCs are dead for all intents and purposes.

So that means that we may need to create new PCs. I was previously playing a Dark Elf Swashbuckler Rogue, while the other guy was playing a Wood Elf Ranger (unsure of his sub-class).

The remaining party members are:
Dwarf Fighter
Human Cleric
Tiefling Warlock

With that current party make-up, what 2 classes would work well to round out the party?

Both the PHB and SCAG are available options (possibly Volo’s as well). In terms of what the party needs, someone with the ability to deal ranged damage would be very useful (the Ranger primarily used his Long Bow). Either a Rogue, or someone with the ability to find traps like the Rogue can would also help.

Beyond that, I think both of us are pretty open to most options.

 

[Jester David]

A skill monkey would be good. Either a bard to also serve as "the face" or a rogue. Artificer from Unearthed Arcana might be neat.

5th member could be almost anything. Paladin to have some extra tanking and healing is good.

 

[jaelis]

I'd say, play a class that interests you. I agree that one of you should have a decent dex and thieves' tools, but that works with many characters. And other than that you're already doing fine.

 

[Shiroiken]

In general, I find at least 1 primary and 1 supplemental tank and healer are pretty much optimal for a 5 person party. At least one AoE, Artillery/Archer, stealth specialist, trap specialist, and social specialist are also optimal. A wilderness specialist and lore specialist are useful, depending on the type of campaign, but by no means mandatory.

It really depends on the layout of the other three. Is the dwarf melee or an archer? The cleric can provide healing, but unless Life Domain more healing is useful. Additionally, there are cleric builds for melee (supplemental tank) or for AoE or Artillery that affect the parties makeup. The warlock could be a blade-lock (meaning melee) or the usual Artillery, but either way could be a social specialist or not. I'd suggest looking at what the group is missing and finding a character that can fill the role that you want to play. For specialists, most classes can perform these roles, since they're based on backgrounds (even if some classes work better at them than others).

 

[Olaf the Stout]

In general, I find at least 1 primary and 1 supplemental tank and healer are pretty much optimal for a 5 person party. At least one AoE, Artillery/Archer, stealth specialist, trap specialist, and social specialist are also optimal. A wilderness specialist and lore specialist are useful, depending on the type of campaign, but by no means mandatory.

It really depends on the layout of the other three. Is the dwarf melee or an archer? The cleric can provide healing, but unless Life Domain more healing is useful. Additionally, there are cleric builds for melee (supplemental tank) or for AoE or Artillery that affect the parties makeup. The warlock could be a blade-lock (meaning melee) or the usual Artillery, but either way could be a social specialist or not. I'd suggest looking at what the group is missing and finding a character that can fill the role that you want to play. For specialists, most classes can perform these roles, since they're based on backgrounds (even if some classes work better at them than others).

The Dwarf is melee.

I don't know what domain the Cleric has, but I don't think it's the Life domain. She typically is melee-based, but a number of her spells are AoE attacks.

The Sorcerer typically attacks at range and does everything he can to stay out of melee with any bad guys.

 

[Sword of Spirit]

Pretty much any combination of classes can work, depending on the campaign and how you want your play experience to go.

Since campaigns differ so greatly, you'll want to know (if it isn't intended to be a surprise) what sort of stuff to expect. Wilderness, urban, dungeons?

Armed with that knowledge, you can decide what sort of party you want to play, and what sort of capabilities you're willing to give up. You might decide that you don't really need any wilderness skills or social skills, or maybe you want to trust 5e's generous healing rules and not have any primary healer. Back in the 2e era, the splat-books even had advice on running a single class campaign (ie, all fighters, or all wizards, etc).

If you are mostly aiming to cover your bases, there are many, many ways of doing that. You could always go really classic and have a halfling rogue and an elf wizard.

 

[Horwath]

Rogue, scout subclass from UA, can fill in nicely as skill monkey, both for social and wilderness skills.
You can take one level of fighter for little better armor, minor heal and fighting style.

Paladin, ofc can be great as secondary tank/damage/healer and later gives some great utility(vow of the ancients)

 

[Li Shenron]

Rogue is the obvious choice, as you'll almost have an iconic quartet.

You can always assess your trapfinding and/or social interaction needs separately, by picking an appropriate background. So for example if you know that in your campaign there is a frequent need for someone with proficiency in thieve's tools, you don't need to force the 4th player to be a Rogue.

 

[Wednesday Boy]

Rather than fill the mechanical gaps in the party, if there is a theme to your party (a gladiator guild, members of a secret society, resistance fighters from the dwarf/human/tiefling alliance, etc) you could look to classes that would fit the theme well.

 

[CapnZapp]

The answer is always the same: more mobile fighters with Crossbow Expert and Sharpshooter.

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