were defined and how they progressed. [...] The difference in the character classes now focused on what powers they had and what they could do". Appelcline wrote that the addition of warlock and warlord to the 4th Edition base classes was "surprising" and "with so many new races and classes, it's not surprising that some classics got dropped. The [...] assassin, bard, and druid were all classics that were missing from the class list. This generated even more controversy, and the designers later said that they regretted not saying that the first Player's Handbook was just a starting place for D&D 4E". In the AV Club's review of the 5th Edition, Samantha Nelson wrote: "Just like in 4th Edition, there are several versions of each class, which provide a high level of diversity in the party. [...] But the different character classes play far more like 3.5 than 4th Edition. [...] Many of the classes have been radically improved. There isn't a single leveling up where the only benefit is a few more hit points. Each new benchmark unlocks some new component of your class, rewarding your dedication to one path over the course of the game’s 20 levels". In SLUG Magazine's review of the 5th Edition Player's Handbook (2014), Henry Glasheen wrote: "I didn't feel like any race was unduly pidgeonholed into one class or another [...]. Classes are deeper now, with more meaningful customization options and a more modest progression. Multiclassing is still available, but it seems like the development team has found a way to balance the overpowered multiclassing opportunities of D&D 3.5 while avoiding the convoluted clusterfuck that was multiclassing in 4th Edition. In most cases, you'll want to stick to your starting class, but there are some interesting multiclass builds that I certainly want to try out". Screen Rant rated the wizard class as the most powerful class and the ranger class as the least powerful of the base 12 character classes in 5th Edition. Gus Wezerek, for FiveThirtyEight, reported that of the 5th edition "class and race combinations per 100,000 characters that players created on D&D Beyond from" August 15 to September 15, 2017, fighters were the most created at 13,906 total, followed by rogues (11,307) and wizards (9,855). Druids were the least created at 6,328 total. Wezerek wrote "When I started playing 'Dungeons & Dragons' five years ago, I never would have chosen