Choosing a character

[Gorwe]

I'd appreciate your help in choosing a character. I'll list some parameters and what I think / how much fun each class is to me.

I want my character to either be:

Island Aumaua
Glamfallen / Pale Elf
Human - probably Natlan(some Olive skinned Vailian)

As for Classes:

Barbarian: a very nice class that is also very fun to me. It could fit my odd Aumaua just perfect. Doesn't fit the rest, obviously. I like the very tanky DPS feeling very much.

Chanter: This class feels too much like "pad the numbers" to me. I'm also not the biggest fan of Summoners tbh. The class' identity and lore is very interesting, but meh. Could fit A or PE, but overall meh. Big missed opportunity imo.

Cipher: Yeah, sure it is nice, but I'm not sure whether it would actually fit my characters. It does fit the protagonist though, no doubt about that! Just not my characters. It is kinda fun though.

Druid: One of my favorites, provided I could dual class him with Wizard. Then he'd fit the PE 110%. Otherwise...I don't really care about Shapeshift(I never did) and Vancian...meh. Also, kinda boring.

Fighter: I don't need this, one Fighter / group is enough and that's why we have Eder.

Monk: Yet another class that is VERY interesting and VERY fun. Some oddball Barb / Monk mix would fit my Aumaua perfectly, but there is no such an option in 1, is it? Very Tanky, very much alive...perfect.

Paladin: Sure, I could make my Human into a Paladin. But that's kinda boring being a tank bot whose purpose is to pad the numbers. Pallegina is much more interesting anyhow, but 2 Paladins could be interesting.

Priest: of Eothas could also be what protagonist was meant to be played as. Especially with Deadfire. I also quite like Priests, but Vancian can get boring and we do have that pig...khm...Durance. Would fit Human only, ofc.

Ranger: Yet another big candidate for Aumaua. The idea of an outcast that has nobody but his animal companion is perhaps overused(or not, but Drizzt), but the gameplay is oh so satisfying. Especially when your Wolf crits for like 100 damage! I like Ranger very much + he fits the mold.

Rogue: This is a fun gimmick, nothing else. While the idea of Deadfire / Rauatai Gun Rogue Aumaua / Human is interesting, it's also quite a gimmick and nothing else.

Wizard: Of classes available in 1, Wiz fits my PE the best, but damn is this spam of Chill Fog and select few other spells annoying. Besides, Aloth can do it. And I'd rather just create this character in Deadfire as a Druid / Wiz mix. Again, boring and far from NWN Wizards or KoTOR Consulars.

Basically it is:

Barbarian vs Monk vs Ranger

[D'amarr from Darshiva]

Chanter : they are not summoners. They are the class that can summon the most creatures, but you don't need to learn those invocations at all. Chanters can only learn a very few invocations anyway. You may choose offensive invocations, support invocations - and the best thing about the Chanter is the passive damage aura that becomes available later as a phrase.

Druid : don't rule them out because of shape-shifting. You don't need to invest anything into his animal form. There are enough talents to learn instead. Their AoE spells are very good.

Fighter : if playing on PotD mode, you very likely want two frontliners. It doesn't need to be a second Fighter, but remember, other classes may need to invest too much into defenses if becoming a frontliner, and that hurts the offensive power.

Paladin: I don't follow your comment. Why would a Paladin be boring? You can turn them into very active warriors. No need to make them too defensive. Pallegina's base attributes 12,13,11,14,13,15 are a mixed bag. All pretty average. RES 15 is kinda cowardish and only -5 compared with a RES 10 Fighter.

Priest : of Eothas is kinda strange in Deadfire so far. There have been a few conversation options, but Eder talks more with Xoti, one of the NPC companions. She can join as a Priest of Gaun (Eothas' dark aspect), a Monk or a multi-class Priest/Monk - in all cases she remains a Harvester of Gaun.

[Gorwe]

Originally posted by D'amarr from Darshiva:

Chanter : they are not summoners. They are the class that can summon the most creatures, but you don't need to learn those invocations at all. Chanters can only learn a very few invocations anyway. You may choose offensive invocations, support invocations - and the best thing about the Chanter is the passive damage aura that becomes available later as a phrase.

Druid : don't rule them out because of shape-shifting. You don't need to invest anything into his animal form. There are enough talents to learn instead. Their AoE spells are very good.

Fighter : if playing on PotD mode, you very likely want two frontliners. It doesn't need to be a second Fighter, but remember, other classes may need to invest too much into defenses if becoming a frontliner, and that hurts the offensive power.

Paladin: I don't follow your comment. Why would a Paladin be boring? You can turn them into very active warriors. No need to make them too defensive. Pallegina's base attributes 12,13,11,14,13,15 are a mixed bag. All pretty average. RES 15 is kinda cowardish and only -5 compared with a RES 10 Fighter.

Priest : of Eothas is kinda strange in Deadfire so far. There have been a few conversation options, but Eder talks more with Xoti, one of the NPC companions. She can join as a Priest of Gaun (Eothas' dark aspect), a Monk or a multi-class Priest/Monk - in all cases she remains a Harvester of Gaun.

Thank you Damar. Basically I'm using 3 dimensional approach to this:

1. Fun(is the character fun / engaging to play? Do I've to too much or too little to play?)
2. Efficiency(how good is the character in his roles? Also the too much / little part)
3. Theme(I wouldn't give Priest of Eothas to a Glamfallen for example. It just stinks of wrong.)

Druid: I know. It's just that one part of equation is missing(Theme). I believe I'll just recreate him in Deadfire.

Fighter: I won't be playing in PoTD...only Normal and Hard. But I'm open for all suggestions on how to make Eder efficient.

Paladin: Yeah, I forgot. Paladin is ok even if being just a Tank. He can help others etc. Where Fighter would be just a punching bag with bigger DPS.

Priest: So, the Eothas aspect is kinda wasted? Shame to hear, I was looking forward to playing through these two as Eothasian. The discussions with Durance would also be priceless.

What do you think about Barb, Monk, Ranger Trilemma I have?

[Gorwe]

Few questions:

What is "Health concealed"? What does it do? Is it any useful? I never really got the usefulness of this except that the Health is unknown(why is that useful)?

Monk Unarmed counts as Dual Wield, right?

Any STARTING guides?

[Hamster?????]

The thing about alot of these classes are that you seem to think they're stuck to specific roles. "Paladin = support, Fighter=Tank" for example. If built right you can give them a playstyle that's different from stereotypical assumptions of classes.

Paladins can be made into better DPSs than Fighters.
Choose Bleakwalkers with 16 might 8 cons 10 dex 16 per 18 int 10 res. Pick abilities that focus on dealing damage and you get a build that does more damage than fighter in short but powerful bursts.

Fighters can be designed to be the Tankiest of all. Or you can have them deal constant decent hits and be an extremely good disabler by knocking down opponents.

Theres a guide on character creation in steam that features 5-6 different builds for each class, i recommend you look at it to get an idea how flexible you can be with each class.

They're not restricted to specific roles, the stats, weapons, and abilities you pick are what determines the playstyle.

[Jeff]

The thing that is the strength and weakness of this game is nothing really matters. The weapons you use don't really matter, the class you pick doesn't really matter, even the attributes you give don't really matter. At least not until you are on highest difficulty.

They successfully made the game feel bland where your choices can't fail, resulting in the sky being the limit for what you may want to do in the game. But on the same token, there is a feeling of "blah" that comes with it.

Pick one and go...enjoy it. Don't analysis paralysis...this isn't DnD for good and for ill.

[Gorwe]

Originally posted by Jeff:

The thing that is the strength and weakness of this game is nothing really matters. The weapons you use don't really matter, the class you pick doesn't really matter, even the attributes you give don't really matter. At least not until you are on highest difficulty.

They successfully made the game feel bland where your choices can't fail, resulting in the sky being the limit for what you may want to do in the game. But on the same token, there is a feeling of "blah" that comes with it.

Pick one and go...enjoy it. Don't analysis paralysis...this isn't DnD for good and for ill.

Yeah, this(alongside the lack of AI editor) is my biggest gripe about Pillars. This blandness seeps into every orifice and infect EVERYTHING, not just the combat. Even the story's infected by this, how I call it, overbalance. As you aptly put it, nothing matters because everything's just so. You've options, but all of them don't amount to anything. Why do it like this? Who knows? Just odd if you ask me.

[Gorwe]

Does Marked Target enable Sneak Attacks for Ranger pet? Or are you hobbled to the shot? If not, what's the point?

Also, again, what's the use of Health Concealed? Be as it may, I think I can disregard Barbarian. It seems...meh. I'd rather take secondary Frenzy on a Monk tbh. If necessary.

So, now it's Monk < - > Ranger.

[Jeff]

Originally posted by Gorwe:

Does Marked Target enable Sneak Attacks for Ranger pet? Or are you hobbled to the shot? If not, what's the point?

Also, again, what's the use of Health Concealed? Be as it may, I think I can disregard Barbarian. It seems...meh. I'd rather take secondary Frenzy on a Monk tbh. If necessary.

So, now it's Monk < - > Ranger.

You touched on a more interesting aspect of the game, hobbled shot does allow sneak attacks because sneak attacks can occur if a condition is on the enemy. More importantly is the synergy that the rogue can also sneak attack (so it isn't just your pet)

[Gorwe]

Originally posted by Jeff:

Originally posted by Gorwe:

Does Marked Target enable Sneak Attacks for Ranger pet? Or are you hobbled to the shot? If not, what's the point?

Also, again, what's the use of Health Concealed? Be as it may, I think I can disregard Barbarian. It seems...meh. I'd rather take secondary Frenzy on a Monk tbh. If necessary.

So, now it's Monk < - > Ranger.

You touched on a more interesting aspect of the game, hobbled shot does allow sneak attacks because sneak attacks can occur if a condition is on the enemy. More importantly is the synergy that the rogue can also sneak attack (so it isn't just your pet)

Yes, the shot is very nice, but what's the point of Mark Target?

Thank you for reminding me of the Rogue synergy. Too bad you don't really get a Rogue that fast.

edit: Sneak Attack pet is scary.

[Horagen81]

You can get an adventure if you do want a NPC rogue from the first in and cost 250 ( ? )

For me Monk was the first one I manage to finished the game with
Moon godlike human
Not a walk in the park but very manageble not sure about the unarmed is dual wield never tried the style you can pick at level up for long because I did not want to waste the point.

Try to save before leveling up
You may be able to tell.. but I could not see if it gave any benefits.

As for ranger you need a bit more macro as you get some debuffs if you pet dies in battle and they do get down fast even with the skills for pets.

[Gorwe]

Originally posted by Horagen81:

You can get an adventure if you do want a NPC rogue from the first in and cost 250 ( ? )

For me Monk was the first one I manage to finished the game with
Moon godlike human
Not a walk in the park but very manageble not sure about the unarmed is dual wield never tried the style you can pick at level up for long because I did not want to waste the point.

Try to save before leveling up
You may be able to tell.. but I could not see if it gave any benefits.

As for ranger you need a bit more macro as you get some debuffs if you pet dies in battle and they do get down fast even with the skills for pets.

I know about the pet issue, but boy can that thing hit hard. But then again, Monk's very durable and deadly at the same time. And there's always Sagani, while you don't get Monk until...Zahua(?) or Adventurer, but Adv is just not the same as a fully fleshed character.

Ranger + Rogue adventurer could be very deadly though. But Monk is one man army. Ranger's beautiful early on, while Monk starts really shining around level 8-ish, maybe even later.

I'll have to think about this.

[Horagen81]

Hmm well I usually give grieving mother the apprentice assasin ( I think it is called) she double as a rogue for me until I can get the our true rogue later on.

And sure it is a good combo just be sure you have someone backing up that pet ;) enemies loves to focus on those high damage dealers.

Poor Grisk the boar.. if there was a gravemarker for everytime you went down... Caer Nua would be full of them ;)

[Gorwe]

Originally posted by Horagen81:

Hmm well I usually give grieving mother the apprentice assasin ( I think it is called) she double as a rogue for me until I can get the our true rogue later on.

And sure it is a good combo just be sure you have someone backing up that pet ;) enemies loves to focus on those high damage dealers.

Poor Grisk the boar.. if there was a gravemarker for everytime you went down... Caer Nua would be full of them ;)

Making tanks like Eder almost useless. As I keep saying, Engagement system works only against you. I'm not a big fan of the implementation of that idea(idea itself's just fine though).

[Horagen81]

not sure if it does not work agains the enemies I do see my melee figthers taking swings at those who breaks engagement with them to hunt griving mother or Itunuk