Need your help figuring out my character's archetype / build / class

[Gared]

Alright, I'm planning to embark on adventure with my co-op partner soon. From what I gathered, Outward is one of those games where you really need to plan your character out, or you might regret irreversible choices down the line. Correct me if I'm wrong. And there is no way to "character reset" the class, as far as I'm aware.

I've kept my nosing around spoiler-free so far, with the exception of learning there is a certain cave you need to interact with to learn mana. So far so good. But I need a defined idea what kind of character I'll be able to portray in the Outward.

So, in all of the games I really like playing the ... How should I put it ... A warrior-trickster. Or something along the lines of who Geralt is in the Witcher. Since Morrowind and Gothic 2 Night of the Raven, I've always gravitated towards sneaky agile warriors with a long blade and some magic tricks up their sleeve. Instead of tanking shots in my face, I prefer to dodge them. Instead of standing in the open and casting spells, I prefer to dish out fast seamless casts in the fray of battle, weaving it in with precise, singular but powerful hits with a sword.

No standing around in the circle, no shield or face-tanking, no rogue-specific flurry of dagger-swagger.

Instead, I like fencing and fooling my opponent with speed and precision, maybe some melee buffs along the lines of fire and lightning

I realize that Outward battle system, from the look of things, is rough and clunky.
But taking the best from what is offered, how I can come as close as possible to the archetype I enjoy the most in RPGs?

Your input is much appreciated

[Mr_Meanie]

https://outward.gamepedia.com/Skills

https://outward.gamepedia.com/Equipment

https://youtu.be/fTDj2jGmzcQ

[Noru]

For warrior-trickster, you might want to check out rune magic, kazite spellblade and possibly warrior monk if more melee, or wild hunter if more ranged.

Rune magic has a few similarity with the signs, as it has defense, ranged attack, trap, and as addition, you can conjure up a one-handed or two handed sword from thin air :)
Spellblade has one very nice skill, what lets you shoot projectile from a magically enhanced weapon, and it will be the same element the weapon is enchanted with.

The rest: find out :D

[Gared]

Son of Man님이 먼저 게시:

https://outward.gamepedia.com/Skills

https://outward.gamepedia.com/Equipment

https://youtu.be/fTDj2jGmzcQ

I'll check out these links later, the video and equipment sections are quite spoiler-y

Noru님이 먼저 게시:

For warrior-trickster, you might want to check out rune magic, kazite spellblade and possibly warrior monk if more melee, or wild hunter if more ranged.

Rune magic has a few similarity with the signs, as it has defense, ranged attack, trap, and as addition, you can conjure up a one-handed or two handed sword from thin air :)
Spellblade has one very nice skill, what lets you shoot projectile from a magically enhanced weapon, and it will be the same element the weapon is enchanted with.

The rest: find out :D

Sounds great! This kind of general guideline is what I've been looking for

[Buldor]

Rune magic is also slow. To cast a lightning bolt for example, you would first have to cast 2 different runes to add a light buff to yourself. Then another 2 to finally cast the bolt. Thus, requiring 4 casts to do begin attacks.

This doesn't fit at all with what the OP is asking for.

You could perhaps look into warrior-monk. Using the block and parry skills to gain a physical buff and then throwing in chakram spells from your offhand. This lets you use a 1 handed weapon, and an on demand quick form of spells. Flamethrower is also an expensive alternative.

Magic is intentionally not quick or filling in what you are asking for at all. Chakram magic requires the buff, Rune magic requires multiple skill uses and setup, sigil requires a lot of prep and pre-knowledge, hex itself requires building up debuffs to cash in for big damage.

All having massive damage and being super effective - but also not what you're looking for.

I would recommend giving a 1h and gun build a try. Changing spells to magic bullets, and you'd essentially have the playstyle you're looking for.

[Gared]

Is it viable to ignore magic as a whole?

I usually prefer pairing magic with agile swordplay because it offers deeper gameplay and variation.

[Noru]

Rune magic is slow, but as every magician, you should prepare. Yes, the FIRST lightning bolt if you not prepared is 4 runes, but if you already have the light up, and you see the enemy, then cast the first rune of the lightning bolt, target the enemy, then cast the second. Now you shortened the casting from 4 to 1. And as long as the light is up, you only need 2 runes to cast the bolt.

And coincidentally the rune trap spell is the same two runes, just reversed. That is in case the enemy is too near, as the trap has a strong push element in it too, so they need time to recover, what is usually enough to recast either spell.

[Noru]

It is viable to ignore magic spells, as you can use varnishes/imbues/skill to add 2-3 minute long buffs to yourself, even without any mana.

[Gared]

The magic system sounds too unique here to pass it up

[yuvhaim]

if you want to use magic and fancy sword play use the chakram as off hand weapon that is mana based and a sword/axe as main.
out of mana? out comes the dagger/shield.

[Gared]

yuvhaim님이 먼저 게시:

if you want to use magic and fancy sword play use the chakram as off hand weapon that is mana based and a sword/axe as main.
out of mana? out comes the dagger/shield.

I'll give it a try, thank you

[Markus]

Note that although there are many options for specializing your character build, picking up all basic skills available will open up far more options than u can handle at once (yes witcher-style included since he uses fire).

It basically doesn't matter for your first char where you kind of want to try everything.
You only have 8 quick slots at a time anyway.

basic tips:
-always sacrifice 1-2 for mana - it opens up possibilities even for melees (boons)
-try the lantern hand-grenade skill ^^

[Gared]

If I go maximum in mana, is it going to significantly hinder my survivability?

[Curse]

Arkendight님이 먼저 게시:

If I go maximum in mana, is it going to significantly hinder my survivability?

yes but you can gain some back through later game quest rewards. You can also stack mana cost reduction from gear and use the mage tent for further cost reduction. One of the breakthrough skills(3 per character) gives mana regeneration as well. I haven't gone deep into magic but going deep into mana earlier will probably make your life harder in the short run if you can't avoid melee combat. You'll need to invest money into learning boons and spells, though the warm boon+fire sigil+spark combo handles most early game enemies.