So, I'm Having a LOT of Trouble Coming Up With a Character

[Thormind]

3. Bleak Walker/Chanter (Herald. AKA, the OP): OKAY! So, I put this up here for posterity, even though I probably won't ever be playing it. Both classes work really well together thematically and mechanically, but I feel like it's really not worth the lack-of-fun that comes with resisting pretty much every damage type/CCing enemies/GIVING ALLIES THEIR CLASS RESOURCES BACK. I might consider this if it's genuinely fun to play, but other than that I'll pass. 

 

4. Fighter/Chanter (Warcaller): Pretty much the same thing as the Paladin/Chanter. If it's fun to play, I'll consider giving it a shot. Otherwise, I don't want to play a class that just has to sit there and auto-attack. 

 

 

To give you all an idea of what I'm looking for...

 

1. A class that tanks well. I haven't played a tank in one of these games thus far, so I like the idea of being up in the thick of things engaging enemies. 

 

2. A class that can do more than just autoattack. I want to actually be encouraged to spend my class resources, and do more than just "Click on the enemy and wait for them to die." I don't need as many choices as Wizards and Ciphers get, so two or three reliable actions is more than enough for me, but I want a reason to be clicking around on my character's hotbar. 

 

3. Decent roleplayability. I want a class that interacts well with the world of Pillars of Eternity 2. Roleplaying in these sorts of games is something that... well, I've honestly been hit or miss at. It's why I've been drawn to Paladin for the disposition requirements. Some might find that sort of thing limiting, but I honestly find the idea of having to follow a specific creed to be really engaging. To that end, I've been drawn toward Fighter, Cipher and Chanter as Multiclass options for Bleak Walker because I think they could both fit rather well. 

 

    - Crusader: Definitely the most vanilla - someone who fully opts for the "Strike hard, strike fast, no mercy" approach by doubling down on their martial        skills. A little bland, but a lot less... sadistic... then the other two. See below. 

   -  Inquisitor: Bleak Walker torturer who leaves his victims as gibbering piles of meat after extracting the information that they need to complete their           mission. Definitely emphasizes the less pretty aspects of the Cipher class. The Inquisitor probes the target's mind with the grace and subtlety of a           meat cleaver. 

   - Herald: Sings the songs of previous Bleak Walker exploits, as well as essentially a funeral dirge for those poor fools unlucky enough to cross them.        This character is definitely a lot more unhinged, leaning heavily towards the cruel aspect of aggressive/cruel.  

 

Breaking them down this way, I'm leaning heavily toward the Crusader, simply because I'd want to play a character that sees the violence they carry out as a necessary evil in order to prevent further violence. He's not going to go out of his way to mistreat every random citizen he comes into contact with, and is actually pretty cordial to most of his travelling companions. 

 

Do you all have any particularly strong opinions either way? 

 

Playing a War Caller (unbroken/troubadour) at the moment on POTD and enjoying it. The speed penalty for the unbroken sub is really not an issue. A lot of gear you can find give +stride on top of other useful bonuses. At first i though the chanter side was not so good because i barely had the time to cast 1-2 invocation before fights were over. Im lvl 7 now and many fight are long enough for my character to truly shine. Some of my observations:

 

- Maybe it will change later but for now POTD is really challenging. I suspect player complaining about the difficulty are min/maxing and creating adventurers instead of using the companions. The reason why i say that is most companions have poor stats and low perception. Some fights are literally a "miss fest". My main character miss quite often with 18 perception. Imagine the other characters at 10-13 perception...

 

- You really want your main character to have high perception. Contrary to POE1 its used to spot hidden treasures and traps instead of the mechanic skill. Like i previously said your companions will have poor perception. If yours is not high youll be missing on many good hidden treasures.

 

- I think Warcaller might be broken if you use the Skald subclass. With the other subs you cant perma paralyze by having a high crit rate.

 

- For companions i've found its often better to not multiclass. The faster growth rate does make a difference. I dont have access to all companions yet but out of all the ones i have i would only multiclass Eder. Hes a single class rogue at the moment and the accuracy and survivability available in the fighter tree would really help him. I left him out of the group in exchange fo Serafen who makes a good enough melee as a pure barbarian.

 

- Maybe it will change later but at the moment i really like my casters and i dont see why people complains they are outshined by melee. Ive got Aloth, Xoti and Tekehu in my party all single class casters and i would not change that trio. I really need the survivability of double healers. Xoti provide her precious perception buffs. For long fights she only does that, heal and attack. Aloth and Tekehu are both nuke and control. Ive found Tekehu amazing at aoe damaging when i started taking advantage of his water spells not hitting allies. As was the case in POE! Aloth is still really good at crowd control with the illusions spells. Both of them have a useful aoe spell to lower your opponents defenses.

[Usana]

Yeah I did this too.

 

First was Sharpshooter combos. Turns out I don't like Sharps as much as I thought on paper. And I have a 'no subclass' phobia so that meant Stalker or Ghost Heart whom I didn't much like at first glance.

 

Next tried Mixed monk builds to try and abuse the crit mutlihit. No fun either.

 

Tried a Unbroken Street Fighter. In general I like the concept. But in practice I had the penalty always and was rarely flanked. Apparently I had misunderstood flanking and thought it would be much easier to get flanked with a sword and shield than I ended up getting. Still strong overall, but boy did I feel miffed about wasting my subclass.

 

Ohhhh, fun idea! Lets make a gunner build revolving around ghosts since Cutthroat Cosmo is just asking for a bunch of ghastly companions to accompany him! Why does my ghost heart companion keep disappearing when I try to add a phantom? *searches the forums* GOSH DARN IT!

 

That last bit actually happened more than I am telling. Fun sounding combo pops in my head, but is blocked due to balancing rules. I mean I didn't expect to have a dozen phantoms summoned. But I had thought each class could get its own summon. Rather than it being per character.

 

Anyways lets make a person all about themselves. A savage pirate raider from the deadfire. My farthest run yet. Berserker Ghost Heart Gunner. Ghost Heart has greatly grown on me from this. Makes giving flanks to Swashing Eder much easier. And can knock casters prone easily. Turns out the Ranger I thought I would like the most I like least and the Ranger I thought I would like least I like most. Go figure. This ran into a snag where I fell into my good guy standard by mistake rather than the clever piratical fella I was aiming for. Plus I was planning to use Threshing Aura to further pump my damage up, only to find out Xoti pushed to light can't pick that upgrade. Not that I get that anyways. I fudged up somewhere and she keeps licking her sickle unless I tell her to take the souls(out of character from what my character has been so far). Of course that means I can get my upgrade of choice by letting Xoti be swallowed by darkness. But that has ran my play through into treacherous waters and it has kinda sat since I hit it. If I play on as my first pick ended or as my upgrade desire dictates than Xoti be doomed I guess. If I follow the goodie goodie my char has forged in the game then I have to meta a bit AND give up a planed upgrade. That is the type of thing that can kill playthroughs for me.

 

Now I am wanting to start a run to force myself on the darker paths. Technically the Savage and Street Fighter were supposed to be less good than my normal tendencies but failed. So now I am thinking of picking a Bleak Walker to really push me towards the darker options. Maxing damage with a Greatsword sounds fun. So Biting Whip Flames of Devotion and Soul Annihilation sounds fun. And hey that first level upgrade Valorous Echoes sounds fitting character wise and makes a great buff. . . doh! Both that and Lay on Hands say allied target and I knew lay could be used on yourself so guess what I assumed? And that sort of tanked since my creation choices don't fit gameplay mechanics. And that breaks my immersion hard core. That said it isn't too bad this time since it was just a 'hey that is a fun coincidence'. So I'll go with Blind instead and see if the Bleak Walker preferences can at least push me to avoid being a diplomatic bastard.