Anxiety over PC class

[BG4eva]

***minor spoilers kinda?***

 

Hello, I have a not so major issue that I have made major.

 

!!! I really can not decide on what class to make my Charname. !!!

 

I have made several restarts now and have yet to venture further than Defiance Bay. It is really annoying cause I want to enjoy it but I get hiccups thinking of how I've made a terrible decision lol...

 

I want someone who can score conversation-attributes, like resolve etc. I am not sure how much those are really used but I am in this for dialogues etc mainly. I have a chanter with like 5 mgiht and high in other stats since I thought that class was well suited for such a build, and also a good tank (?).

 

I am really contemplating making a warrior instead... Since I liked Kana so much... And Eder (The warrior) isnt really to my liking. I usually never like stoic tank-guys. Is a warrior really needed for a Hard-mode run?  Or is a chanter + paladin ok tanks enough on their own? urghhhhhhhhhh.

 

I dont know how fun this is to discuss??? But maybe someone could offer some advice for me... Are fighters really needed??? Or perhaps you could discuss like how you came up with the class you chose...

 

Thanxxxxx

[Matt516]

Barbarian.

 

You want a tank of some sort. Fighter or Paladin is probably best, though Monk could probably do as well.

[PrimeJunta]

You most definitely can play without a fighter. You can even play without a tank. It'll be harder, but you can do it.

 

If you don't like Edér and don't want to roll a fighter, Pallegina and Kana Rua are good substitutes when kitted out right and leveled up with tanky abilities. I haven't tried that particular combination but I would expect it to be no harder than with Edér built into a single super-tank.

[travisckirk]

I struggled with similar anxieties. It is important to play a class/character that 'feels' right to you. I started with a fighter, but then you get a fighter right away, so that was kind of eh. I ended up going with a cipher... a very fun class, very powerful, and you don't encounter one for a while into the story so it won't be redundant. I'm finding it to be a good introduction to the game.

 

I also wanted a character that was able to get good conversation options. It's turning out to be less critical than I built it up to be in my head. Nonetheless I am glad I gave 14 resolve to my PC, resolve has awesome convo options and also makes you a little less squishy.

 

Ultimately you just have to commit to a character and play a bit so you can get a better feel for the game. Once you do you'll have a better idea of what's important to you in a character, and what character you actually want to play. No shame in doing some trial and error for a while, just accept it as part of playing the game. The game isn't going anywhere, no rush!

[BG4eva]

Okey, thanks for the replies! I will probably reroll a chanter with some better stats...

 

All the companions in this game seem to be so intertwined with the main story, especiall when compared to the BG series. This is good and what I always wanted but it raises my anxiety level even higher when composing a party haha... Kana seems to have a really cool bakcstory, and I like his book-quest but I really wanna play a chanter and it seems redundant to have two.. Especially since I feel like chanters should be tankier than he is and his voice actor is so-so? 

 

Maybe I dont even dislike Edér as much as I just dislike fighters in general... I hope my chanter and the paladin companion will suffice as tanking (and a hunter pet lol).

 

(is it just me or does Aloth kinda suck?)

[Zwiebelchen]

I'm playing a tanky Monk in my PotD playthrough.

 

Stats:

9 / 14 / 8 / 18 / 14 / 15

 

Skills athletics and lore. Equipped with plate armor and 1h/board (get a weapon with +deflection on your mainhand weapon; as 2nd weapon choice, take something with +accuracy or DR penetration). Select the shield talent that grants you extra deflection early and you have a top-end tank that will tank your party through the entire game alone.

I have Eder in my party, but I only use him as a melee damage dealer (equipped with a +range pike) since my PC monk is superior in every possible way. Turns out Eder is a great DD due to his high MIGHT score.

Monks are great tanks due to the reactive wound abilities. For abilities, select those that debuff/knock/stun your targets instead of those that are meant for raw damage. Dealing damage isn't your job and your INT will make debuffs last longer.

 

It plays out great in dialogues aswell due to the 14 INT and lore/athletics skills (frequent skill checks in intermissions and dialogues).

 

 

Paladin is a great PC choice aswell, as it grants you some extra dialogue options!

 

TL:DR: a warrior isn't needed for hard mode. If you don't want to hire a custom NPC, I still recommend at least taking one of the other two tank classes for your PC (Paladin or Monk).

 

 

About Aloth: he is great if you play and talent him as a buffer/debuffer/CC, not a raw damage dealer. He doesn't have the attributes for high damage output, so it would be a waste to rely on DPS spells too much.

Edited April 1, 2015 by Zwiebelchen

[ICN]

One of the things I really like about PoE is the ability to roll up new characters at an inn whenever you want. For this reason, I'd recommend building your main character with an eye towards dialogue options. If you ever feel like you'd rather play a different class in combat, roll one up and do so. And I'd say you could make two Chanters work. One can focus on defensive chants while the other focuses on offensive chants. Or one could focus on quick chants to use as many invocations as possible.

[Lasci]

It totally, 100% absolutely, positively, does not matter what you play.

 

All of the attributes have their individual opportunities to shine, so you're always going to get a time in the spotlight as long as you have at least one of them at 16+. Might is probably the least interesting attribute for this -- it often gives you very forceful, intimidation-driven responses. Otherwise, the rest of the attributes all have a fair amount of useful dialogue options.

 

Your PC doesn't need to have mechanics; an NPC will take care of that for you. I've noticed that Survival gets a lot of dialogue options for being 4-6+ and they typically share a purpose with Intelligence dialogue options. A high lore often allows your character to interject and sound intelligent, too. I would prioritize those for your PC.

 

Monk, barbarian, and rogue are the three classes that don't have NPC's -- you have to hire generic adventurers at an inn if your PC isn't one of them. I'd recommend playing one of these if you're nervous about overlapping classes.

 

You don't need a fighter to play the game -- especially if you're not on hard. Pallegina and Kana can both be your tank if you decide not to play a tanky class.

 

Seriously, just play through the game and enjoy it. Don't stress too much about what your character is; your allies can easily make up for it in the long run.