D&D 3.5E is Peak Wizards D&D

For me, D&D 3.5E will always be the peak Wizards D&D. D&D 4E was a betrayal, and D&D 5E was the "we're sorry" edition that gave everyone far too much personal power. D&D 5E's power level is about the same as 4E, so it is the same genre of "superhero game," but it pretends to be a classic dungeon crawler, which it isn't.

Even Pathfinder 1e amplified character power by a considerable degree. These were the heady days of D&D 4E, Pathfinder 1e, and D&D 5E. Games threw more and more power at players to get them to play. It felt like power gaming unleashed, and 5E promised players an easy time and no deaths. Over the years, the power levels grew, and the only escape was earlier editions of the game, the OSR, and other games that delivered classic dungeon experiences.

D&D 3.5E has a higher power level than TSR AD&D, and D&D 3.5E is a different game. It is the best version of Wizards D&D, crafted by a team of legendary designers and abandoned in its prime. Pathfinder 1e should have never been needed; this version had another ten-strong years to go, or more.

AD&D is my all-time "best game ever."

D&D 3.5E is Wizards trying to recreate the magic with their own system and applying that character-builder logic for which their games are famous. The character building in D&D 3.5E is better than 5E, especially with prestige classes. Being able to build into and activate a prestige class is fantastic.

D&D 3.5E, without Pathfinder 1e confusing the power level, is a solid, playable game. It feels like a miniatures game. It has a tactical depth and complexity pleasing to a wargamer and tabletop dungeon crawl enthusiast. The skills are dungeon-focused. The game feels like a clash of good and evil, played on dungeon tiles with metal miniatures.

There are no "cantrip blaster" spells. Death is real. This game is very engaging at the "fun" levels of play. Limit minions! Martials need buffs, but when haven't they? Don't ignore some monsters' Spell Resistance! Also, pay close attention to threatened squares, spell casting, and attacks of opportunity.

Many people criticize caster power in D&D 3.5E, but much comes from the theater of the mind players who play fast and loose with spellcasters. As a DM, know that caster players will do and say anything to be allowed to cast a spell or have a ruling in their favor. Ask for concentration checks if you feel they are justified, and a failed roll means the spell is lost. Generally, martial characters are the only ones who get to play "fast and loose" - casters get extra scrutiny, and there are "RP consequences" of using magic too flippantly. Also, do not skimp on enemy casters; what is good for the party is good for the monsters.

There are martial exploits, too; be careful of some silly ones. Ban cheese.

Compared to D&D 5E, all these miniatures and combat rules seem daunting. But they are much more rewarding than "Rules Light" 5E, which presents as a dungeon game but puts as much work into the gritty table mechanics as FATE would. There is a difference between sitting around a table "saying what we do" in a dungeon room versus being on the 5-foot squares and realizing the goblin with the spear threatens your caster and can poke their eye out if you cast a spell.

5E is full of "fa la la" theater-of-the-mind play styles that allow players to get away with far too much, and it increases character power exponentially. It becomes harder to play and referee because of things that would happen in D&D 3.5E. Enemy AoOs on spell casting don't occur in 5E, and if they do in 5E, the referee gets accused of "being unfair." It is all fair if it happens on the map and it is clear what rule applies.

If you are a hardcore VTT player, D&D 3.5E has the rules you want and need. It is a masterwork figures combat game. Your build needs to "prove itself" and work on the tabletop.

D&D 3.5E is one of the best "dungeon miniature games" ever.

The game leaned so hard into tabletop play it felt like a wargame. Even Pathfinder 1e felt like it stepped back from tactical play, and D&D 3.5E feels more like Shadowdark's turn-by-turn exploration with figures than many modern games do. The examples, cover, line of sight, flanking, attacks of opportunity, all of this stuff invented the genre far before VTTs. You could play D&D with figures before this, but this was different in detail and tight tactical rules.

It also has Eberron, the better version of Golarion. Seriously, even steampunk Golarion in Pathfinder 2E has nothing on Eberron. Eberron was made to be everything D&D and everything cool. D&D meets classic Final Fantasy, Ironpunk, and Heavy Metal with World of Warcraft thrown in.

And the full implementation of the Forgotten Realms in 3.5E is nothing to laugh at. This is peak Forgotten Realms, classic high fantasy before Spelljammer threw spaceships into the mix.

Was the game unbalanced and broken past level ten? Every Wizards game is. So you can tweak and adjust characters to slice off the cheese, ban combos, and agree not to use powers. Limit minions to something reasonable. The game was still made in the era where "you fix it," just like an OSR game, so fix it!

D&D 3.5E was made by a different team at Wizards that expected you to hack and change the rules. To ban certain combos. And disallow some spells if you want. This was still designed in the classical era when the individual styles of player groups were held in higher regard than "the company."

If D&D 4E was "a fixed 3.5E," - we would have never had a reason to even have a D&D 5E or a D&D 5.5E. Killing off D&D 3.5E was the worst mistake the Wizards owners ever made.

The 3.5E engine is strong, robust, and a fantastic feat of game design.

It is the "real" Wizards version of D&D.