There's absolutely no point in picking non-officer.

[Werdna]

Other 3 starting classes are not just "bad" they're a "noob trap". Game gives TOO MANY damage dealers to not dedicate your MC as a support.
And even THEN Officer still becomes a damage dealing powerhouse EXACTLY as early as any other class. And you will never have "diminishing returns" with officers. Even having 6 officers in your group is "optimal" at any point of the game.
There's no point in playing as a sniper or a psyker - Argenta and Cassia will fill these roles better. You better be an Officer and buff them.
Offensive Psyker abilities are absolutely pathetic during early game(the only part of the game that matters).
"Blah blah they're weak early game only" EVERYTHING is good lategame. So if its bad early game its BAD FOREVER. Which results in Psykers being most optimal as an officers even if you plan to build them into damage.
"ABSOLUTELY ANY BUILD IDEA" >>> Pick Officer >>> Reach endgame where EVERYTHING Works >>>> Build becomes online
And if you for example do
"Pyromancer" >>> Pick Soldier >>> Reach Bounty Hunter for more Crits >>>>Build becomes online
OR
"Telepath" >>> Pick Specialist >>> ONCE AGAIN Not enough Boss damage until you reach Prestige Classes >>> Build becomes online when it doesn't matter anymore
TOO LATE. Why bother? Why play without Officers? Why do I even need a team which is not 1.Officer MC. 2.Argenta 3.Cassia 4.Officer merc1 5.Officer merc2 6.Officer merc3 ??
And no devs shouldn't nerf Officers.
Just make Psykers do Max damage with psyker abilities straight away, they have pathetic range so let them deal twice the sniper rifle damage starting level 1, there's literally no point in using staves instead of sniper rifles as a psyker. Make Snipers roll only 1 dice on accuracy NO MATTER WHAT. Make Melee characters move faster. Make initiative not random. Make having more than 1 Officer in the party just as obsolete as having another ranged Soldier beside Argenta.

[Tj Max]

Agreed. It doesnt matter what class you pick or what crazy build you are going for in your mind, there is at least 1 companion in the game available who does everything better than you. Most of the companions also got boosted stats and special abilities you dont have access to.

[a small rabbit]

My MC is a sniper and is absolutely owning, argenta is using bolters and destroying, idira is melting faces, and cassia is mostly buffing(although im not doing the crazy stacking stuff) and im playing on the second hardest difficulty cause i didn't want to go full hard mode brand new to the game.

The idea that you have to pick officer is just silly. I've been watching Cohh who went officer and following some of the "meta" builds and im having an easier time on a lot of fights then him.

[Cutlass Jack]

Originally posted by a small rabbit:

My MC is a sniper and is absolutely owning, argenta is using bolters and destroying, idira is melting faces, and cassia is mostly buffing(although im not doing the crazy stacking stuff) and im playing on the second hardest difficulty cause i didn't want to go full hard mode brand new to the game.

The idea that you have to pick officer is just silly.

Completely agree. My main is a Naval Warrior and crunches everything. There's enough officers in companions. They are there to support me, not the other way around.

[Hex: Onii-Chan]

Mastery of Time on Cassia + Officers = Profit

[DevilDoll]

yeah i also made an operative sniper and having tons of fun with her, only bosses dont get one shoted by her

[MeldinX2]

Except Psykers (Sanctic Psyker) can get insane at early act two. Just get the Sanctified Staff that you can buy with the Emperors Wrath ability with is an AOE nuke. And as an officer and later Master tactician which you can get Tactical advantage stacks that you turn to extra damage. And makes you do huge AOE damage that can one hit kill most enemies. It's so broken it's not even funny, WAY better than a ♥♥♥♥♥♥ sniper.

[The Seraph of Tomorrow]

The only class that is completely useless to me is the operative, it has good mechanics that end up outclassed by everything else.

[BingusDingus]

I disagree, you already get 2 officers and any more than 2 it becomes kind of redundant. Might as well pick something your companions can't give you, like a sanctic, pyro or telepath psyker and spec into melee or ranged DPS. You only get 2 soldier archetype companions and one of them you don't get until act 3, so it's not a bad idea to take it.

[Khloros]

Uhhh thats just not true at all lol.
You need to pick the class that works best with the other arch types.

Warrior for example is great as a tank class because it gives you high mobility and the tools needed to make your self a priority target.

Soldier is the best if you are going into arch militant since it allows you to build up versitility stacks quicker using run and gun to get extra shots and hits in.

Operative is amazing if you are a bounty hunter or an assassin.

They all work great if you lean into what makes them strong and synergize with others.

[BingusDingus]

Originally posted by Tech-Priest:

The only class that is completely useless to me is the operative, it has good mechanics that end up outclassed by everything else.

Operative is actually pretty essential against tougher opponents, they offer some of the best debuffs in the game and offer reliable ways to deal with armor. My operatives are almost always my largest damage dealers. Yrilet can deal over 100 damage a shot in act 2 alone.

[BaronZen]

You can always start with non officer and then take officer mercenaries, they cost only 1 rep each and it is plenty of rep to gain, so if you dont want to wait for Jae you can go with Cassia and other 2 officers.
But yea actually they are the best class period.

Originally posted by MeldinX2:

Except Psykers (Sanctic Psyker) can get insane at early act two. Just get the Sanctified Staff that you can buy with the Emperors Wrath ability with is an AOE nuke. And as an officer and later Master tactician which you can get Tactical advantage stacks that you turn to extra damage. And makes you do huge AOE damage that can one hit kill most enemies. It's so broken it's not even funny, WAY better than a ♥♥♥♥♥♥ sniper.

Yes and this with heroic psalms feat bugged, figures when they will fix it, need some balancing (aka nerfs), or no point to have a character creator with so many options if there is one single build that overshine all the rest.

Originally posted by BingusDingus:

I disagree, you already get 2 officers and any more than 2 it becomes kind of redundant. Might as well pick something your companions can't give you, like a sanctic, pyro or telepath psyker and spec into melee or ranged DPS. You only get 2 soldier archetype companions and one of them you don't get until act 3, so it's not a bad idea to take it.

Some even suggest to go with 4 officers XD enemies cant do a single turn lol.

[MeldinX2]

All Archetypes in this game has it's place. Officer is certainly one of the best classes but having more than 2 in your party is not needed. They are all amazing in diffrent ways if you know how to build them right. People also complain about Psykers alot. But it's not even it's own class but an origin feature. And it's only ''Meh'' in act 1. It gets insane later.

[fgalkin]

You're assuming that everyone is playing a psyker, which they're not. I'm playing a Voidborn crime lord Operative / Grand Strategist and am better than Pasqual at literally everything except tech use (my char is at ~80 at level 16, Paqual is 100+).

As for psykers, you're not meant to be a blaster caster in the early game. Idira can do it, but she can also accidentally nuke your party or summon a daemon on top of it. But you can be as good as Heinrix at being a battlemage by taking Biomancy and Sanctic. Take his Force Sword and you're all set.

Why do I even need a team which is not 1.Officer MC. 2.Argenta 3.Cassia 4.Officer merc1 5.Officer merc2 6.Officer merc3 ??

For one thing, this is a CRPG where interacting with companions is a key part of the gameplay. Any merc you take is the same as taking no one at all, except in combat.

For another, not all companions will be present at all times. They not only can leave your party permanently if you pick the wrong alignment, there are parts of the story where you are separated from your party. If your entire party is focused on Argenta, what happens if she's not there?

Finally, it seems you're still early in the game and haven't discovered the advanced archetypes yet. There are ones that are WAY more powerful than Officers and require other Tier 1 archetypes for best synergy. There is more to this game than spamming "Bring it Down" over and over. I suggest you try to experiment more, instead of latching on to the first thing you found that works well.

[BingusDingus]

Originally posted by BaronZen:

You can always start with non officer and then take officer mercenaries, they cost only 1 rep each and it is plenty of rep to gain, so if you dont want to wait for Jae you can go with Cassia and other 2 officers.
But yea actually they are the best class period.

Originally posted by MeldinX2:

Except Psykers (Sanctic Psyker) can get insane at early act two. Just get the Sanctified Staff that you can buy with the Emperors Wrath ability with is an AOE nuke. And as an officer and later Master tactician which you can get Tactical advantage stacks that you turn to extra damage. And makes you do huge AOE damage that can one hit kill most enemies. It's so broken it's not even funny, WAY better than a ♥♥♥♥♥♥ sniper.

Yes and this with heric psalms feat bugged, figures when they will fix it, need some balancing (aka nerfs), or no point to have a character creator with so many options if there is one single build that overshine all the rest.

Originally posted by BingusDingus:

I disagree, you already get 2 officers and any more than 2 it becomes kind of redundant. Might as well pick something your companions can't give you, like a sanctic, pyro or telepath psyker and spec into melee or ranged DPS. You only get 2 soldier archetype companions and one of them you don't get until act 3, so it's not a bad idea to take it.

Some even suggest to go with 4 officers XD enemies cant do a single turn lol.

Yeah but the problem with officers is they themselves don't deal much damage, except Cassia. If you only have 2 characters that can deal damage chances are you'll be easily overrun at some point. Best to have a balanced team of 1-2 support, 3-4 dps and 1 tank.
My MC was an officer and I decided to use toybox to respec them as a soldier because they just weren't contributing enough to the combat. My party has been a lot more effective since.
Officers are best utilized as the hammer to the nail. If the battlefield requires a certain area to be hit extra hard that's where they come in handy, but their ability , Bring It Down only gives half turns so they're not as useful as having a whole turn. For example, my operative assassin requires at a minimum 4-5 AP to maximize damage on a target, Analyze Target-Seek The Opening-Expose Weakness-Poised to Strike-Attack-Death Whisper-(Yrliet only) In my sights. If I give them another half turn, all they can do is Analyze target and attack, in that case I'd do more damage with 2 operatives than with one operative and an officer. Where officers excel is in their advanced archetype buffs, which quickly become redundant when you have more than 1 of each.

[just.dont.do.it]

Everyone is good lategame. Everyone with a sniper rifle in their hands is good earlygame.

There's nothing that makes an officer particularly amazing. The only thing they're bringing to the table is the ability to stack even more stacks on someone in 1 turn, but that, while "technically OP" is not really needed to get though the game even on Unfair.

And later it is absolutely irrelevant anyway, most classes can do their own stacking just fine, with officer they'd simply do it faster.