Kobold Think Tank
Tabletop RPG advice for little dragons

Party Roles and Composition in DnD 5e

by Brandon Gregory

Illustration of an arctic halfling ranger wielding a club

When thinking about party composition in DnD 5e, there are common roles party members can fill. There are roles you can fill in combat and out of combat, and both are worth considering for your character. For instance, a Rogue is a good striker and infiltrator. Fighter abilities lean much more toward combat, but Fighters have some flexibility with their builds, allowing you to allocate stats and pick feats to fill an exploration role.

Contents
  1. Battle Roles
    1. Blaster
    2. Controller
    3. Striker
    4. Support
    5. Tank
  2. Exploration Roles
    1. Face
    2. Infiltration
    3. Knowledge
    4. Scout
    5. Utility
  3. Party Composition Tips

Battle Roles

Sooner or later, even the most roleplay-heavy DnD parties get into combat. While playing a jack-of-all-trades has its merits, focusing on one or two roles and building a character for those is usually more effective. For instance, the Wizard spell list can be overwhelming, but knowing that you’re focusing on control spells helps give you a direction. Thinking about what roles you want to play in battle can give you focus not only on your character build but also on your tactics. There are five basic roles most characters can play in battle.

Blaster

A Blaster can attack an area of multiple opponents (known as area of effect damage, or AOE). This role is almost exclusively filled by spellcasters like Clerics, Sorcerers, and Wizards, although a few Paladin and Barbarian subclasses dabble in this.

Blasters excel at wiping out groups of weaker opponents and can turn some encounters into a cakewalk. They typically use limited resources (like spell slots) and have to make a tactical choice about when and where to use their blasting spells.

A good litmus test for this is seeing who has access to the Fireball spell. The list is:

Other classes might have other blasting spells, and some magic items can grant access to Fireball, but the above classes are generally great Blasters.

Other good blasting spells include:

Is a Blaster Fun?

Blasters are great at doing damage and can have a huge impact on a party. Any class can take down a single opponent, but if you’re facing five smaller opponents, even dedicated damage dealers like Fighters can struggle. That’s where you shine. Opening combat with a well-placed Fireball is both fun and impactful. This is one where playing with miniatures or a virtual tabletop can make things much more fun, as enemy placement makes a big difference for blasters.

Good Blaster Classes

Cleric, Sorcerer, and Wizard top the list, all of which can make excellent Blasters. Druids and Warlocks can be built to be Blasters, but don’t have as many options as the top-tier Blasters. Past that, a few odd subclasses, like the Artillerist Artificer, get some blasting spells, but half-casters get spells much later in the game than full-casters. That coveted Fireball spell may be underwhelming at level 9 rather than level 5.

For more detailed build information, check out my article on Blaster Casters in DnD 5e.

Workarounds for Not Having a Blaster

Some magic items give access to one blasting spell, which gives any character some blasting potential. Your Ranger may excel at taking down single targets, but give them a Wand of Fireballs and their versatility just went up quite a bit.

Controller

A Controller keeps enemies from engaging the party or fighting at full strength. This role is usually filled by spellcasters, but some martial characters can do this too. Controlling involves taking enemies out of the fight or making parts of the map hazardous or difficult to move across.

Most pure spellcasting classes (especially Druid, Wizard, and Bard) have control spells and can support a Controller build. Spellcasters with control spells can shut down an entire area of enemies, removing them from battle until the party is ready to deal with them. Some half-casters, such as an Oath of Redemption Paladin, have access to these spells too. Monks have Stunning Strike and can make terribly effective Controllers, albeit for one target at a time.

Don’t underestimate the power of grapples. A strong character with a good Athletics score can grapple one or more opponents, achieving the same effect as Hold Person/Creature. Once grappled, a creature can be shoved onto the ground. Standing takes half of a creature’s movement, and a creature’s movement becomes 0 when grappled, so creatures that are both prone and grappled can’t get up without a successful athletics check to escape the grapple.

Area control involves locking down parts of the battle area rather than individual opponents. Spells like Create Bonfire, Spike Growth, and Moonbeam can make parts of a map hazardous for opponents, giving them a good reason to avoid it. Melee fighters with the Sentinel feat can stop opponents from moving past them, providing a sort of area control as well.

Good control spells include:

Is a Controller Fun?

More than any other role, controllers are strategic and allow you to play the battlefield like a game of chess. Controllers can shut down a single enemy or a whole party, which can be even more important than dealing damage quickly. No matter who you have in your party, there will be times when controlling the enemy party will be more important than hitting them really hard, whether you’re playing offensively or defensively.

Good Controller Classes

Bards, Druids, Warlocks, and Wizards top the list, gaining many control spells. Monks and Paladins (especially the Oath of Redemption subclass) gain some good control options but can’t handle as many targets as spellcasters.

For more detailed build information, check out my article on Control Casters in DnD 5e.

Workarounds

Some magic items, like Wand of Web, give access to some control spells. Also, any character with a good Athletics score can grapple opponents and provide some control options in a pinch.

Striker

Strikers are your main damage dealers, specializing in attacking a single target. There are many ways to achieve this. Many classes excel in this role, and every class has at least one subclass that excels in dealing damage. There are two ways to build this: sustained and nova damage.

Sustained damage characters will continue to do good damage with any number of fights, with either little reliance on limited resources or quick replenishment (on short rest). They can be relied on to do good damage in just about any situation. Fighters, Warlocks, Barbarians, Monks, and Rogues are all good at this.

Nova damage characters have much higher damage potential when needed, but limited resources, so they need to ration it out. They make tactical choices about which enemies to take down quickly. Paladins, Sorcerers, and Wizards are the most clear-cut examples of nova damage characters, but any character that can use a limited resource to boost their damage falls into this category. For example, Berserker Barbarians have to manage levels of exhaustion to gain a bonus to their attack output and have some nova damage potential based on calculated risk.

Is a Striker Fun?

Dealing damage is fun and every party needs someone good at it. Building a striker is straightforward, so you’ll probably want to think about what you can do outside of doing damage. That said, a character who hits really hard will always have time to shine.

Good Striker Classes

Many classes are good at this. On the martial side, Barbarians, Fighters, Paladins, Rangers, and Rogues are all good at this, but Monks do a decent job as well. For spellcasters, Sorcerers, Warlocks, and Wizards are great Strikers, with Warlocks excelling at the role due to their Eldritch Blast cantrip, which allows them to save their spell slots for other purposes.

Workarounds for Not Having a Striker

There aren’t many good workarounds for the Striker role. You need at least one in your party.

Support

Support characters help teammates in battle in various ways. This can involve healing spells, buffs, or other ways of making teammates more effective.

Healing is important, but not as important as in many video games. It’s generally difficult (and inadvisable) to keep up with healing allies in the middle of a fight. Healing is for quick saves when a character is near death (or has just been knocked out). It’s usually better to get the party to do more damage and end fights quickly than to keep everyone healed through the fight. In that sense, buffs can be just as important as healing for a support character.

Buffs include spells and abilities that increase skills or saving throws, allow allies to take extra actions, or grant advantage on attack rolls. Many spellcasters have buff options, but martial characters can shove an opponent prone to grant advantage to allies. Paladins also have auras, which grant benefits to any ally within range.

Is a Support Character Fun?

Support can sound boring, but DnD 5e anticipated that by making every support character good at something besides support. Clerics have excellent healing but are also tanky and do great damage. Druids have good healing but are also amazing with control spells. Bards are great buffers and healers but also serve as jacks of all trades who can fill in for any role in a party. Playing a character dedicated to support and nothing else might be boring, but it’s easy to make a support character who can also do other stuff well.

Good Support Classes

Clerics, Bards, and Druids are the most archetypal Support characters, but other classes can fill this role in odd ways. Paladins have auras that can buff nearby teammates, and the Mastermind Rogue and Wolf Totem Barbarian have mechanics to grant allies advantage on attack rolls. Warlocks and Sorcerers have subclasses that grant support abilities.

Workarounds for Not Having a Support

Some races, such as Aasimar and Bugbear, have support features. The Healer feat allows a character to heal an ally using a Healer’s Kit, which has broad uses but is really useful to the Thief Rogue (who can use an item as a bonus action), allowing them to be combat medics. Additionally, characters with high Athletics scores can grapple and shove opponents to grant advantage to their allies on melee attacks (but not ranged attacks). Feats like Shield Master allow you to shove as a bonus action, making it easier to fit into play. The Crusher feat also gives allies advantage on attacks whenever you make a critical hit on an opponent, which isn’t exactly reliable, but can be a nice bonus if you have a character that focuses on critical hits like a Barbarian or Champion Fighter.

Tank

Tanks take the hits so teammates don’t have to. This usually involves a high Constitution score, and good tanks have methods of increasing their threat.

Beware the Tank Fallacy. You can build a highly defensive character that can withstand any damage, but there’s nothing to stop an enemy from running right past you and attacking the wizard behind you. If a smart opponent sees someone in heavy armor and a wizard in robes behind them, they will almost certainly try for the wizard.

To be an effective tank, you need some way of getting enemies to focus on you. This can be accomplished, perhaps counterintuitively, by doing lots of damage to make yourself a greater threat to the enemy force. Some subclasses, such as the Ancestral Guardian Barbarian, Cavalier Fighter, and Armorer Artificer, have mechanics for incentivizing opponents to target them instead of their teammates.

Is a Tank Fun?

Being a good tank is kind of like playing bass: you can do some amazing work, but your job is to make the whole band play better together. Taking or avoiding huge amounts of damage can be fun, but tanking is also kind of a support role because it allows your back-line party members to do their thing without getting killed.

Good Tank Classes

Barbarians are excellent tanks, with Paladins and Fighters following closely behind, although many other classes can be built to take hits. Circle of the Moon Druids can wildshape into tanky animals, and Rangers and Monks can be built defensively. The Armorer Artificer can also be a great tank.

If you’re looking for more detail, read my article on Tank Builds in DnD 5e.

Workarounds for Not Having a Tank

Giving a frontline character magic items like the Staff of Defense or Ring of Spell Storing that enable them to cast defensive magic can help make a non-Tank frontline character, like a Monk, into a passable tank.

Exploration Roles

These roles cover things your party usually has to do out of combat.

Face

Faces are good in social encounters, particularly with convincing someone to do or believe something. Usually requires a high Charisma stat and/or good scores in Persuasion, Deception, and Intimidation.

Bards are known for being great Faces, but any character with a high Charisma score can achieve this. Paladins, Sorcerers, and Warlocks all need Charisma for class features, but Rogues, Fighters, and even Barbarians can all have high Charisma scores if built that way. Some subclasses, such as the Rune Knight Fighter, grant advantage on skill checks for social encounters, and they can be effective faces too. Other subclasses, like the Fey Wanderer or Samurai, grant bonuses to social skills based on other stats.

Is a Face Fun?

If you’re interested in being a social character and influencing NPCs, being a face makes that a lot more gratifying and rewarding. You may think of something brilliant for your character to say, but if you botch your Persuasion roll, an NPC might still distrust you. There will be some games without a real social aspect, but most games involve conversations with NPCs, and being a face makes that much easier.

Infiltration

Infiltration characters excel in stealth, breaking & entering, and general trickery. (Disarming traps falls here too.) This usually requires a high Dexterity stat and proficiency with Thieves’ Tools. A decent Investigation skill can be helpful.

There’s one class that’s all about this: Rogues. Every Rogue is good at this. Many other classes have subclasses with some Rogue-ish qualities, like the Trickery Cleric and Shadow Monk, but you can also build most characters to have these proficiencies if desired. Some character backgrounds, such as Criminal, will grant proficiency in Thieves’ Tools.

Armorer Artificers can also choose the Infiltrator model armor to increase their stealth capabilities. They can craft items that increase other infiltration skills, like Gloves of Thievery, and they get some utility magic options.

Some spells can grant these abilities too, such as Knock to open locks and Pass Without Trace to make the party good at sneaking, so some spellcasters can fill this role, assuming they can spare the spell slots.

Is an Infiltration Character Fun?

This is a role that’s party-reliant. Stealth, lockpicking, and pickpocketing can all be fun, but they may not work for every party. Coordinate with your party to see how you will all handle stealth. If no one else wants to take the subtle approach, you might find your special skills wasted. You might also have a party that’s sneaky and can use that a lot. Even in games without a lot of stealth, having one character who’s good at it can be useful.

Knowledge

Knowledge characters know facts about the things your party encounters. In D&D, having a successful roll in a knowledge skill allows you to ask the DM for hints. This usually requires a good Intelligence stat, but proficiency or expertise in knowledge skills can work as well.

Classes that rely on intelligence are natural fits here. Wizards and Artificers top the list, but some subclasses, like the Arcane Archer Fighter or Arcane Trickster Rogue, also need it. Other classes don’t explicitly need high intelligence, but can still work well as Knowledge types, such as the Knowledge Cleric or some Bards.

It’s also possible to be good at just one knowledge skill, even if you’re not broadly good at all of them. Rangers, for instance, often pick Nature as a skill proficiency, even though they may not know much about royal lineages or magic effects.

Is a Knowledge Character Fun?

Knowledge is an interesting niche because most characters aren’t good at intelligence skills. Being good at knowledge skills often puts you in a unique position to get more lore and story for your party. Investigation is another useful skill that not many characters will be great at. Searching for traps is always useful, but if your DM makes you roll Investigation to find things while searching, you can help move things along when other characters fail.

Scout

Scout characters cover stealth, perception, and tracking skills. This usually involves a high Wisdom stat and/or Perception skill. Survival and Stealth skills help.

One class is the undisputed king of this, and that is Ranger. Other classes can be built to fill this role, provided they have good scores in Stealth and Perception. (Monks and Rogues can make very decent Scouts.) Some magical spells, like Arcane Eye or Beast Sense, can also be used to scout.

Scouting doesn’t necessarily happen in every D&D game, but it’s as useful as you and your DM make it. If you have scouting skills or want to be a scout, make sure your DM knows this and allows you opportunities to shine.

Is a Scout Fun?

Like infiltration, scout is a role that depends on your party and DM. You may find yourself scouting ahead a lot to see what you’re up against, or you may find yourself not scouting at all. That said, Perception is probably the most rolled skill in the game, so being good at it is always helpful.

Utility

Utility is, essentially, things you can do outside of combat, and Utility characters are good at doing a wide variety of things. This can mean having a lot of skill proficiencies, but having a wide variety of useful spells can also give some good utility. Tool proficiencies may also come into play, but not as often.

For magical utility, Wizards are the top pick because they get access to more spells than anyone, allowing them to take niche spells that other classes couldn’t afford a spot for. Artificers get a lot of great utility spells as well, despite being half-casters, and they pick up a lot of tool proficiencies as well. Knowledge Clerics can also use their Channel Divinity to give themselves temporary proficiency with any skill or tool.

Rogues and Bards get more skill proficiencies than any other class, making them excellent Utility characters. Bards in particular get half-proficiency for every skill, gaining at least a small bonus for every skill.

Several feats grant more skills:

Characters can also multiclass and take a few levels of Bard or Rogue to gain some skill proficiencies, or Wizard to gain some low-level utility spells.

Surprisingly, really strong characters can have a lot of utility, even without a lot of proficiencies. A portable ram can open doors with strength, a hammer and pitons (along with a good Athletics score) can find a way up a sheer cliff for the entire party, and a crowbar can apply advantage in many situations.

There are many useful utility spells—too many to list and talk about—but here are some of the notable ones:

Is a Utility Character Fun?

Having a tool for every job gives you a lot of versatility to solve problems in ways that other characters can’t. There may be someone in your party who uses Fireball as a utility spell, and your Barbarian may have an actual hammer, but there are a lot of problems in DnD that are not nails. Utility is a role that’s often overlooked in a party, but if you’re good at it, you’ll always have something to do.

Party Composition Tips

Most parties, especially small ones, will have gaps, and that’s OK. Not every party needs a tank, a support caster, and a control caster, and many parties can survive without some of the exploration roles.

That said, every party will eventually face all of these challenges. If there are gaps in your party, think about what you will do in those situations. If you want to plan your party to have the best coverage, here are some tips.

Please note: these are tips, not rules. There will be situations and parties where you ignore these, and that’s OK. DnD 5e is a forgiving enough system that you don’t need 100% coverage on all roles to play the game, and you can make just about any party work. That said, here are some tips and considerations for a balanced party composition at your table.

Diversify

A common complaint I hear from parties where two or more characters are doing the same thing (like a Fighter and Barbarian) is that one feels outclassed by the other. This can make one or both characters feel redundant, and also lead to some gaps in what your party is capable of. However, this doesn’t mean that you can’t play similar types of characters.

If your party wants to play with two Fighters, think about how you can make them different. Maybe one is an agile fencer and the other is a strong defender. Maybe one is an archer and the other melee. You can make one of them a decent support character by choosing Purple Dragon Knight as a subclass. You can also focus on different mental stats, having one be perceptive and insightful while the other is good at talking to people.

The same is true with any class. Bards can focus on healing or control spells. Warlocks and Sorcerers have a variety of subclasses and can make decent healers with some builds. Rangers can be built to use Wisdom as their main stat with the Druidic Warrior fighting style, making them controllers and healers. Clerics and Wizards can cover a lot of different roles.

Don’t fret if two people in your party want to play the same class—just figure out how to add differences to allow each of them to shine in different situations.

Think About the Front Line

Parties can survive without a real tank or defender, but there will be times you’re going toe to toe with an enemy party. That means someone in your group will be on the front line. If there’s no front line, everyone’s on the front line, so tank or not, make sure someone can survive that.

In my first DnD campaign, I played a Monk while my companions were a Bard and a Ranger. This put me on the front line. Monks are not great tanks, but I did well at keeping the enemy’s front line off of my companions. The challenge wasn’t surviving; it was feeling like I was good at my role. Sitting on the front line doesn’t play to a Monk’s strengths. I spent a lot of sessions wishing I was a Barbarian.

Think about who’s going to be on the front line when enemies close in. Your Bard may want to play a support character, but if they get stuck on the front line, it may change how they build their character. You’ll probably be able to make anything work, just make sure that whoever it is in your party knows that they’ll be doing that and feels comfortable with their character choice.

Don’t Neglect Support and Control Roles

Parties don’t necessarily need a dedicated supporter or controller, but having one can make your lives easier. You can play the game without these roles, but think about what you’ll do in situations where they’d be useful.

Of course having a Cleric, Bard, or Druid will help with healing, but there are other ways to do that. Everyone can carry potions and drink them when needed. (There’s a popular house rule that allows you to drink a potion as a bonus action, which helps.) Taking short rests between combat encounters is probably preferable to in-combat healing. But many other types of characters can help with this too.

Thief Rogues with the Healer feat can easily take on support roles, and Artificers, Paladins, and Rangers can heal with some of their spells. Many other classes have subclasses that can help provide support, such as the Celestial Warlock, the Purple Dragon Knight Fighter, or the Way of Mercy Monk. For buffs, Wolf Totem Barbarians can grant advantage to other melee characters in the party, and Paladins have auras that grant a variety of effects.

Control isn’t always a role people think of, particularly if they’re new to tabletop gaming, but it can make fights much easier. If you get swarmed by a bunch of weaker foes, it doesn’t matter how hard your Paladin or Barbarian hit—you’re going to get hit a lot. Being able to take out a whole area of foes until you’re ready to deal with them can be a lifesaver.

Make Sure You Can Kill Your Enemies

No matter what kind of campaign you’re running, you will eventually be thrust into combat. You’ll need a way to defeat your enemies, which means you will have to be able to do some damage. Every class has some way of dealing damage, so make sure someone in your party (preferably several) can get some serious hits in when it counts.

You’ll want to prioritize damage over healing, as killing your enemies faster means you take less damage, and you can take a short rest rather than use spell slots for healing. Spend your limited healing resources when someone else is going to stop dealing damage—like if they go down in a fight. Support characters can all do more urgent things, like dealing damage, helping others do more damage, or preventing the enemy from dealing damage.

Think about what resources your party needs to keep going throughout an adventuring day. If all your damage dealers are Wizards and Paladins, running out of spell slots will make things much more difficult. Think about how to ration your resources in case an adventuring day goes longer than expected. This is where classes like Warlock and Fighter are really strong. Keeping up with damage throughout a long day can be a lifesaver.

If you’re playing a class that needs frequent short rests (Warlock, Monk, Fighter), communicate that to your team. If you see another player playing one of these classes, you might think about playing one too to encourage the party to take short rests to be at their best.

Play to Your Strengths

Look at what your party is good at and adapt your strategies. If you have a bunch of martial characters but no utility characters, look for ways to solve your problems with Strength (carry pitons, ropes, a grappling hook, a portable ram, etc.). If no one in your party has high Strength, look at spells (like Floating Disk) or mundane items (like a donkey and cart) that can help if you need it. Carrying a crowbar can also help with this.

Stealth is a big consideration for parties. If your whole party is sneaky, use that to your advantage. If there’s just one character who’s bad at stealth, like a Paladin in plate mail, other characters like a Ranger, Druid, or Trickery Cleric can make it easier for them to pass their checks. Coordinate with your party. If half the party builds for stealth and half the party doesn’t, it can make for a frustrating experience.

Look at what other members of your party are good at. If you have to pass a hard persuasion or deception check, it’s better to let a Bard or Warlock handle that unless you have a high Charisma score. Of course, anyone can jump in on things, but if a task is important, look at who in your party would be best at it.

About the Author

Brandon Gregory

Photo of Brandon Gregory

Brandon Gregory is a web developer and writer in the Kansas City area. He's been playing TTRPGs since 2020 and is involved in the disability-related TTRPG podcast Tales from the Crips. He's into classic movies, mental health, and, of course, DnD. Also, he's in a band. One time, they rocked so hard it killed a man.