Arna is the most difficult starting character.

[Rubbyyy]

Played the other 3 characters up to level 9. Playing Arna now, perhaps the worst character ever.trait is useless, start with shield and broken armor that give you worse stats than wearing nothing. a horrible sword that's unique so cant even enchant that either, this is the only character i have died to one wolf it is that bad....

[Gared]

But she is a potent mage, isn't she?
Do your best to survive the early game

[American Dove Mitten]

Focus on using the shield skills perhaps.

[MagikarpMagi]

I like her. Ditch the sword and board and go greatsword, pairs well with geomancy for armor. Enjoy beheading dudes.

[Rubbyyy]

Yeah Greatsword is like the only viable way. i just missed 5 times on a rabbit with the unique sword lol then died to wolves, there;s just not enough skill points to share between shield skills and a weapon skill. seems to be an all rounder character making some starting stats kind of worthless.

[Inkh인수]

I am Lv8 Arna, first character. No Magic. Have never died.
Longbow / Sword+Shield 18 18 18 10 12 (I think).

But I am a cautious player and I saw that her trait was useless.
I like her backstory though, and I'm hoping that the game has something written around her.

[Catull]

Her backstory was cringe tho. Maiden knights with heavy armor and swords are horrible cliche. Battle Brothers were decent enough to dump this idea as they are for realism. This here is just silly fanservice.

[Stelio Kontos]

I play first time at game, and choose this "girl", and play with two-handed sword! I die like 2-3 time! Complete all missions, and some in the second round repeated!

[jfoytek]

All starting characters are the same really if anything she is the easiest because she already has magery skills unlocked without needing a treatise....

[Sleepy]

Originally posted by jfoytek:

All starting characters are the same really if anything she is the easiest because she already has magery skills unlocked without needing a treatise....

That's Jonna not Arna

[Retardator Buzman]

I know it's kinda late for this discussion but here's my opinion.

Her backstory - yeah, certainly could be better
Arna start - Bad, atleast for me. Hated on her in the discussions aswell.

Played Dirwin before and really enjoyed that. Got to lvl 15 or so. Dirwin is just a glass cannon tho. So that's why I wanted to try something different. Struggled reaaaaal baaaad. Nothing was really working for me. As you said, her armor is half broken and even if it still gives a bit of defense stats it does not outweigh reach as Dirwin has or being an absolute unit of a dwarf as Jorgrim is. Tried to dualwield so I had as many opportunities to attack with abilities as I could. There was something init, but I couldn't make it work. Got to lvl 4 with her and then I quit.

Just now I returned to her. Re-equiped the shield she starts with, got to lvl 5 and 6, and then the fun began. Raise shield and stun after stun after stun. Rocking a mace and board rn and do not have any real problems. I mean, sure, I die from time to time, had this moment (moments to be true) with necromancer for quest, but thankfully once he spawned with just two guys and not three like he used to, I managed to trick him next to the door and hallway and killed him. Since then nothing.

Giving points either to strenght or vitality (19 and 14 respectively.) Rest either on 12 or I did nothing to it, so it still sits on basic 10.

One issue I see with Arna the way I play her is energy. With heavier and heavier stuff its even worse. I try to enchant it, so if it doesn't provide anything energy related, then it gives atleast block. But still can take on multiple guys at once so her trait is not worthless.

[Pure Nigtmare]

so so far i have 16 level arna with 16 16 10 16 10 focused around the shield and sword.... idk if it was rebalanced but by now shes litterally ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ invinvible like i died once with her and thats it .... its either im so lucky with her or shes actually decent also i know that they changed her skill

[SundaySmiles]

Took me a bit, as well, to figure out how to get a good Arna. Turns out all the weaponry skills are a hoax for her? Maybe? Admittedly I followed a guide that seemed interesting, one that was kind of "use all weapons until later when you pick up a staff" staff guide.

Basically... Go all Agility for stats. Dodge, dodge, dodge is the name of the game, if you can replace her armor early, do so. Pick up seize the initiative, and spend 250 crowns to get athletics and get leg sweep. These two will be your bread and butter for... well... almost ever, and you won't stop using them. From there, pick up the passive that allows you to take rush in athletics. the passive that allows you to take combat tactics, and maybe hope for a nice staff treatise early. it's not the end o the world if you don't, though. I had to wait until I got to Mannshire before I trained in staves, and up until then was using Arna's sword and shield, and doing just fine.

Found out, with this build at least, it's more about positioning. trying to get a leg sweep on two enemies so you immobilize them, and retreat to a tile that only has one enemy adjacent to you.

At level 6, now, I just got a reinforced staff and the triple bonk skill, and it's starting to feel really powerful.

Before this playthrough, though, I was having some good luck with a two-handed hammer build, but that was just massive damage in it's own right, and I think Dirwin would be a beast if he could get his hands on it as well.

[Blame]

Melee characters are typically more difficult to play in this game (due to, well, melee being where you take the most damage), but that doesn't mean she's bad.

Starting weapons/gear aren't meant to be the best, it's just free stuff that are better than nothing.
1-handed sword (+ shield) are the safest melee option, besides maybe spears (which have 2-range and immobilization), due to how agile it can be and the protection that the shield brings.
Or, if you don't like the 1-handed sword, 2-handed sword is great, too.

I have a full melee 2-handed sword Arna, no bow/crosswbow and no magic, just pure slaughter. Strong crits, lots of counter attacks, and a lot of heads flying.

You can utilize claw traps and nets as you level up, due to her dash being on tier 3.
She's not bad. Non of the characters really are "bad". I have no trouble consistently clearing the first quest as lvl 1 with her. Not an amazing feat, mind you, but proof that she works just fine.
Again, as a melee character, though, you will be taking damage, so prepare with enough medical supplies.

[funkmonster7]

Necromancy detected.

Originally posted by Pure Nigtmare:

so so far i have 16 level arna with 16 16 10 16 10 focused around the shield and sword.... idk if it was rebalanced but by now shes litterally ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ invinvible like i died once with her and thats it .... its either im so lucky with her or shes actually decent also i know that they changed her skill

By the way, I made DW daggers Arna before. By level 16, she slaughtered packs of wolves, bandits, whatever... The moment I used Coup de Grace and killed one guy, I had near 100% crit chance, and Whirlwind committed genocide. Super fun to watch.