D&D 5E Saving Throw Rank

[Iry]

This is very subjective on multiple levels, but what order would you rank saving throws in your own game?

For me it would probably be... Wisdom, Constitution, Dexterity, Charisma, Strength, Intelligence

I know some people value Dexterity less because it's just HP damage, but just HP damage has fewer balance implications when I am designing an encounter. So it's more likely to show up.

 

[Shiroiken]

I generally don't worry about it as a DM, but IME as a player Constitution is the highest priority, because they can often do disastrous things to a character that eventually lead to death (not to mention Concentration for spellcasters). Wisdom is after that, since they tend to take you out of a fight, hurting the group overall. Dex is almost always just damage, so while it's not ignored, it's the lowest of the "big 3." After that Strength sometimes comes into play, but really most of the time the "little 3" are fairly irrelevant.

I truly and honestly wish they would have killed the "sacred cow" of Fortitude, Reflexes, and Willpower, and made all the saves important. The best aspect of this IMO would make the min/max philosophy much harder, since you'd always have a weakness somewhere. As it stands now, you can often dump Str, Int, or Cha depending on your class/build.

 

[Don Durito]

I truly and honestly wish they would have killed the "sacred cow" of Fortitude, Reflexes, and Willpower, and made all the saves important. The best aspect of this IMO would make the min/max philosophy much harder, since you'd always have a weakness somewhere. As it stands now, you can often dump Str, Int, or Cha depending on your class/build.

It was a long time dead. They just resurrected it.

 

[Ogre Mage]

For primary casters: Constitution, Wisdom, Dexterity, Charisma, Strength, Intelligence.

For others PCs I agree with the OP.

 

[Horwath]

They should raise all DCs by 1 point and return to the 3 saves but with all 6 abilities.

FORT: str+con
REF: dex+int
WIS: wis+cha

that way every dumped ability will affect you saves and balanced characters in abilities will have their strength in little above average saving throws.

 

[Shiroiken]

It was a long time dead. They just resurrected it.

Fortitude, Reflexes, and Willpower were all in 3E and 4E. Admittedly 4E used them as defenses, since they used saving throws for a different mechanic, but it was basically the same thing.

 

[Don Durito]

Fortitude, Reflexes, and Willpower were all in 3E and 4E. Admittedly 4E used them as defenses, since they used saving throws for a different mechanic, but it was basically the same thing.

In 4E though they were not based exclusively on Con Dex and Wis which seemed to be what the poster I was responding to was complaining about.
And there are plenty of other veresions of D&D. 13th Age took the 4E defences and broke them down further into just Physical and Mental. Castles and Crusades beat 5E to the bunch by over 10 years in converting saves to abilities scores and distributed them better.

 

[Shiroiken]

In 4E though they were not based exclusively on Con Dex and Wis which seemed to be what the poster I was responding to was complaining about.

That was me, and it was actually the opposite of what I wanted. 4E allowed you to ignore 3 ability scores for defense purposes, since you didn't need Dex if you were a Wizard, or Wis if you were a Bard. I love having 6 saving throws, I just don't like the notion of 3 useful and 3 occasional. With all 6 being useful, it means that every character will have a weakness somewhere that can be exploited by an enemy (conversely true with monsters for the PCs).

 

[DND_Reborn]

This is very subjective on multiple levels, but what order would you rank saving throws in your own game?

For me it would probably be... Wisdom, Constitution, Dexterity, Charisma, Strength, Intelligence

I know some people value Dexterity less because it's just HP damage, but just HP damage has fewer balance implications when I am designing an encounter. So it's more likely to show up.

In our game, I would say:

1. CON
2. DEX (very close to 1st, though)
3. WIS
4. STR
5. INT
6. CHA

 

[jmartkdr2]

In our game, I would say:

1. CON
2. DEX (very close to 1st, though)
3. WIS
4. STR
5. INT
6. CHA

This is what I'd use for the most part - except I'd switch charisma and intelligence since banishment comes up more than phantasmal killer.