Roleplay Handycap

[virtigo_501]

I was thinking of creating my first character with fairly modest stats as a Paladin. I would focus on RES,INT,might predominatly to place emphesis on a knightly background ...roleplay stuff etc.

 

I would wear heavy armor but also use two handed weapons.

 

After lurking here on the forums and finding out that stats are not what I originally expected them to be, would I just be playing the game on a higher difficulty by doing this to a character? (I can't stand having to min-max to get through or explore content)

 

Besides personal benifit of roleplay, is there any reason to play a character with awkward stats and weapon styles?

 

I also fear I will be missing out on content by actually (Roleplaying) this way and by not having certain dialogue options available if I decide to have fairly well rounded stats on my main.  

 

Any thoughts my Beta Veteran friends?

[Heijoushin]

I'm not a beta veteran, but based on my understanding, if you want to use the "conversation" stats (PER, INT, RES) you can make a great defensive character (since PER & RES contribute to deflection), but he won't be a great damage dealer. Still, the party does need tanks so this isn't a bad thing.

Edited March 26, 2015 by Heijoushin

[mutonizer]

Depends also heavily on the difficulty setting you're going to use.

 

If you go for Normal or Easy, I'd recommend just picking the stats that you think represent your main character and go from there, no matter the class. Once in game, there are items, buffs and whatnot, plus you'll get companions and things are pretty easy overall.

 

If you go Hard and above, then I'd recommend going for a class that has the stats you wish you have representing your main character. For example, if you want your main character to be Intelligent in dialogs, go for classes such as Druid, Wizard, Priest and to some extend Barbarian, DPS paladin. If you want Perception or Resolve, these are usually best for Defensive melee combatants (aka tanks).

 

That said, as long as you don't dump crucial stats (ie dumping CON to 3 for a melee character, etc), you should be good to go no matter what on anything up to Hard.

 

 

Besides personal benifit of roleplay, is there any reason to play a character with awkward stats and weapon styles?

 

What's awkward?

My first playthrough will be with a ranger tank using 1hd/shield, on PotD. Is that awkward? Not sure there's anything awkward in PoE really, especially at lower difficulty settings.

 

 

I also fear I will be missing out on content by actually (Roleplaying) this way and by not having certain dialogue options available if I decide to have fairly well rounded stats on my main.

 

Either you go "in character", or you min/max/completionist. It's pretty hard to do both usually. That's for you to decide really, but you can always replay the game with different characters.

 

Edit:

If you REALLY do not want to miss any dialog or something (though some choices cancel out other choices), you can always cheat all your attributes to 18 once in game. Up to you really, nobody's gonna judge in a single player cRPG

Edited March 26, 2015 by mutonizer

[wanderon]

Once you get a good feel for how the game plays there is no need to min/max just to survive and be successful even on hard - there will be a learning curve but as stated above as long as you don't dump stats to extremes you will likely be fine - I'd suggest starting on normal and see how it goes - thats probably the ideal difficulty for a roleplay based run through - especially a first one and with 2/3 of the content being optional and the matter of factions and the game reacting to your decisions you are more than likely going to have additional play throughs as well.

 

Good luck!

[Voss]

I was thinking of creating my first character with fairly modest stats as a Paladin. I would focus on RES,INT,might predominatly to place emphesis on a knightly background ...roleplay stuff etc.

 

I would wear heavy armor but also use two handed weapons.

 

After lurking here on the forums and finding out that stats are not what I originally expected them to be, would I just be playing the game on a higher difficulty by doing this to a character? (I can't stand having to min-max to get through or explore content)

 

Besides personal benifit of roleplay, is there any reason to play a character with awkward stats and weapon styles?

 

No. But then I also have trouble with the basic premise that 'real roleplaying' requires playing badly. Surely it should instead require actually adapting to the setting and what actuallly works there?

[wanderon]

Some people prefer to determine the type and personality of their character and then use that as a benchmark for how said character would react to the world vs creating a character based on the world and the best way to approach that world.

[virtigo_501]

Thanks for the responses everyone. Having played BG1/2 and other cRPGs that rely on Charisma being the "go to" stat for dialogue, I think if I work a Paladin with Int/Str I won't be missing out on much, while still being able to have fun on hard mode. Cannot wait till 9:00. Blessings to you all.