Filthy Casual or Min/Max Power Gamer?

[Jeff Kaos]

With the Pathfinder games, more than pretty much any other cRPG, I see way more in depth class builds online. Probably because of how impossibly deep the character customization is. The more I play this game and look up suggestions the more I realize that I might be in the minority as the type of person playing the game. Because I play on Normal difficulty and pretty much just auto-level the companions and build my Main Character in a way that I envision in my head without really worrying about class optimization. But when I look up anything about the game, especially build ideas, it's like other players run everything through a dozen Excel spreadsheets to figure out the most perfect way to 1-shot kill every encounter in the game. But then I was wondering if people like me, who just toss stuff against the wall and sees what sticks, just don't post as much?

So, I'm just sort of curious how many people drill deep into the character customization to build the ultimate power party (or just follow build suggestions they find online that lay this out) and how many people are running a Ranger with 2 bastard swords and chainmail armor?

I honestly have no issue with either and when I look up some of the highly optimized builds (Sword Saint tanks in particular) I'm sometimes enticed to follow them but then I figure that A: I don't really have the time to spend doing that for each character and B: I'm usually only playing on Normal difficulty and if I can't complete the game in Normal doing whatever crazy thing I want then I'm probably making more mistakes with other mechanics besides character builds.

[HydraLord]

Hi there.

As a matter of fact i do play like you...more a role playing...for example i do love snake people in fantasy world, as hydras and druids too; to build my druid i spent the first level to choose a class that allow me to pick a snake/serpentine background, not a waste, but not the optimal option neither; my serpentine bloodrager/azata goes as a spelleater, for regeneration purposes (even as you have necklaces, the sword of valour and azata path to regen) because i see fit regen for that kind of creature and character...losing some great bloodrager traits of other subclasses.
Some party members with their own behaviour, make me think them as fit for some other classes that the ones they started with, so i build them that way.
The real thing here is that you may play like role playing, but as difficulty grows, the availability of free choices path goes thinner and thinner; as enemies get stronger and stronger more accurate build should be done taken every advantage of synergy between classes, skills, traits, armor and spells.
I play on core, and truth be told i know that some optional build make some hard fights into a easy ones, and some companions that i killed (roleplaying) will make excelent tools for some situations...still i enjoy the game this way (currently doing a run mostly withouth arcane caster or clerics...reached chapter 4 so far...not an easy journey, but a fun one).

Have fun

[THAC0]

Alot of ppl are mix
when a RPG takes about 200 hours or more or less (depending on play style and such) on a first playthough ppl tend to look up online builds

i agree most guildes (especly for this game) are Trash tier
2H Fighter for example is super simple and prob the easyer to get though this game on unfair / in terms of understanding
yes mutation warrior is kooling looking and all but itsn ot as simple and such
but ppl tend to bash simple builds coz there boring
however in this game with mythic abilitys and such i find even a simple build like 2H Fighter super fun i legit had way more fun with it then i thought possible was the most impressed with it
is it my fav class? No im also having a bit of fun trying out differnt builds with Warpriest i doubt it be my fav class but its the Spicy flavor i have in this game currently
due to how the class works you tend to not look at damage values on weapons as much as you do on a normal character and thus you tend to look at special effects more

thus some weapons like Club or Short Bow or such look super sweet in a Warpriest hands
however I do like the way long bladed weapons look in this game
and how some Battleaxes look as well
but the Glavie to me is just Sweet AF looking and its pretty fun to use and there is a glaive that can help the Warpriest out later on in the story via relic making which is kinda neat but ...

there is also a build i loved in Pathfinder kingmaker i havnt made yet
the Slayer Shield Basher
the problem i have is I have no idea what type of weapon i wanna put with it and if i wanna go Azata coz that was a fun mythic path or try out one of the 3 mythic paths i havnt tryed out all that much
(Swarm/Legend/Golden Dragon) the problem is Swarm kills teams mates i hate solo play thoughs Legend is 2 f-in late and Golden Dragon path seems 2 dumb for my liking and also 2 late, its one reason why i dislike/hated devil mythic path its 2 late ... its like might as well just stay what i was originaly

Aoen was kinda cool but more of a Jerk ward i didnt like it much
to me Demon for Evil
Angel was fun but i like Azata more then anything ...

[Deo]

Well, looking at achievements - 48% of game buyers completed Act 1. 36% of those 48% completed Act 2. So, if 100 people bought the game, only 48 of them completed Act 1, and only 17(!) completed Act 2.

You are at least playing. Play as you see fit. Do you feel kinda bad playing on Normal? Increase difficulty then.

I think in every RPG there is a community of players who just like to build exodia min-maxed parties or builds, and break the game. It's fun.

[xunlaiAgent]

I build my characters based on some theme that would make sense for them. You don't need power builds. As long as your party has enough versatility, it can beat all encounters with the right tactics.

In the end it's an rpg, you should make the kind of team that you like to play. You can always adjust difficulty on the fly if it feels too easy or too much of a struggle.

[Jeff Kaos]

Originally posted by xunlaiAgent:

I build my characters based on some theme that would make sense for them. You don't need power builds. As long as your party has enough versatility, it can beat all encounters with the right tactics.

In the end it's an rpg, you should make the kind of team that you like to play. You can always adjust difficulty on the fly if it feels too easy or too much of a struggle.

This sort of why I usually play a game on Normal difficulty. I like the idea of power builds but at the end of the day I can get through a game without them. Plus I love role playing more than number crunching. In my current play through I'm playing as a Demon Hunter that doesn't care about laws or freedom, only ridding the world of evil and protecting the weak.

[hilburnashua]

Nice thing in a computer game like this is that you can reload and try and try again, which for me makes minmaxing less appealing then in tabletop where there can be massive consequences for failure. Now, I am not saying purposely build a bad character and at the highest difficultly levels in the game you need to minmax but you can play around a good bit more with building a character for flavor.

[Xhal]

You should always play the game the way that is enjoyable for you, at the end of the day games are to have fun, some times people forget that.

For me though having fun is indeed making the most OP build possible to break and game and 1-shot everything.

[Hex]

I make parties that are fun but also ones that work so neither? I guess?

[Roknar]

I go back and forth all the time.
I'l have a look at classes and see if anything sparks my interest. Roughly going with some theme like..nature, or unga bunga, then that usually quickly fades as I see different spells and abilities that make me think "hmm,,,does that mean XYZ?" or give me a certain theme like thorns.

I'll then plan out a whole party build around that idea/theme (not 100% just key abilities to know what classes I need) and promptly forget everything after a level or two lol and then I'll just remember the rough idea.

I'm not going trying to make the best build, but I will try to make the best I can within whatever theme I fancy at the time. And especially in the first play through I will go for roleplay/flavour over power. I need my character/party to behave according to theme.

On the other hand I will not take feats or do themes if I find think the abilities will be weaksauce. Like I enjoy thorns builds, and I am tempted when reading the descriptions, but I don't see how it would be fun to play. There is no way to focus attention on that character and them all being round/level would be tedious as hell. (although I have considered a solo run if I can get high enough caster level, maybe with trickster domains but I don't want to make ANOTHER trickster run)

I can't stand pure power builds though that mix random classes just to pick up a feat or so.
I am heavily incluenced by items however. When I see something like a sword that is upsized, knowing enlarge and more is a thing, I will most likely try to push that as far as possible.....just because, but as a second playthrough.

[tiamats4esgares]

Like a lot of games like this, I spend way too much time min-maxing the "perfect" party and then just make the game too easy for me. Maybe it'd be better if my build wasn't good. XD Oh well.

[Aetemes]

I usually try to customise things to fit what I want them to feel like, like for example Camellia I hated her class for her, so I tried to think what do I think would match for her, BUT then I definitely investigate "word around town" if these ideas are actually viable or not.

I wanted to make her into a "lightning blue dragon, lightning spells build"...but then I find out ow...demons are mostly immune to lightning and dragons are not actually that strong and only a couple of lightning spells are actually good that are coming way later, and will need a lot of certain hoops and turns...so I completely scratch the original idea I had. I don't wait to find out blindly...I know how some games create concepts that don't actually play out in the game and I just..can't deal with finding out and getting trapped anymore. It doesn't have to be min maxed at all, but it needs to be enjoyably effective, while hopefully of the flavor of playstyle I want.

I don't play test builds my self, I collect other players published info who already did that and just try to make a collage if you will of their work so that it looks like what I want, if it wasn't what I straight up wanted. If there's a general consensus that a certain class/build path is bad, I just abandon the idea for the most part, I am not gonna try prove otherwise, admire those who do though xD.

In this game however I have to say, I succumbed completely to "brainless kill everything builds, not my kinda flavor at all, but just get them enemies off my screen" cause I am completely new to this genre of rpg, and a lot of what I thought how classes would look like didn't turn out to my taste at all, but I really liked the story and the characters...so gimme what'll make me stomp game mechanics to explore that.

I am filthy irl if you must know.

[Raikon]

I like to have fun and see how the builds work. So I consider myself both a min maxer, while at the same time casual. I'm like a casual elitest.

[Duder]

Character leveling and building is one of the most fun parts of the game, you're missing out.
Normal Difficulty is going to be easy no matter what, unless you're new to, or not very good at RPGs. I don't know your skill level. I guess that's fine if you don't want any sort of challenge. So currently you don't really need to worry too much about your party.
But you're missing a huge portion of the game. It's a lot of analysis if you're not just following a guide to a T.
I suggest you up the difficulty to at least daring, then either role play your builds, meta, or something in between.
Core is "normal" difficulty to me however, I switch between that and Hard. I role play my builds but carefully. I've taken looks at some of the builds online but only for ideas.

[Raikon]

For example my current possed shaman game, I went from angel merged spell book to gold dragon. I still need to get some girls her flowers to move onto the next step.

However, my army general is an elf with a huge sword, and galfry decimated my armies. It's going to be a pain in the ass to take long sword elf girl general over to iz and clear the area with a brand new army.

[fox5s]

To the OP, I'm agreeing with all the people saying that you can play any way you want. The way you are describing playing is actually the same way I recommend someone play their first playthrough.

Beyond that, I tell them to read EVERY popup and soon they will be able to build better characters than the autoleveled companions in no time. And don't be afraid to lower the difficulty in difficult spots for that first playthrough. This game has a TON of replayability with all the classes and Mythic Paths available.

For example, default Wenduag is THE best archer companion in the game because fighter is awesome. If you take control of her build, she will be executing things from the back line, one at a time, like a baddass, with no issues while the rest of the party is waffling around being a distraction.

But that's boring! And Fighters are boring! So how do I build my Wenduag? I give her a level of Stigmatized Witch picking up the Nails Hex for claws and the Wolfscarred Curse for the bite. Get another level of Fighter to Weapon Focus them both. Then go all in on Cult Leader Warpriest. This gives her Natural weapons big Sacred Weapon dice and a ton of Sneak Attack to go with it. Now Wendu can march up to the front line and RIP and TEAR like an absolute BADASS!

Is it effective? Ehh.. it's not bad. At level 10 she'll be hitting four times (an extra bite from a mask in Ulbrig's quest) for ~50 damage a pop. It's prob not good enough for Unfair. But the FLAVOR!? *chef's kiss* I love it so much!