Help me decide on a character!

[Magister Lajciak]

I am unsure what race and class to chose. Generally, I enjoy playing "magical" characters. There are quite a few options here, though I will probably exclude the Priest and the Chanter (which seems to be an awesome supporting character, but will most likely be available as a party member). That leaves the Cipher, the Druid and the Wizard as options and all seem to be excellent and interesting. For some reason, the Monk, has also grabbed my attention as interesting.

 

So out of these four classes ( Cipher, Druid, Monk and Wizard), which would you recommend?

 

How about races to go along with them? Aumaua seems well suited to the Monk, Human for the Druid, Orlan for the Wizard and Godlike for the Cipher, but these are just my first impressions from glancing at the stats. Also, the Godlike's lack of headgear seems like a major hadicap though, so perhaps something else would be advisable?

 

Of course, it would also be interesting to know whether there are race/class based story elements (without actually saying what they are - I don't want spoilers).

 

Any advice?

[Magister Lajciak]

Double Post: For some reason my thread was posted twice. Feel free to delete this duplicate.

[cJohnOne]

I like melee so I'd take the Monk first than according to ease of use I'd go cipher, druid and wizard.  But Wizard looks cooler with their book and wand. 

[Ganrich]

Ok.  All 4 classes you listed are powerful.  They are all good.  

 

Some will say the Wizard is weak, and I won't argue, but it is far from useless.  It isn't the typical powerhouse that it was in the IE games (2nd/3rd edition D&D), but it can get the job done.  It can only have 4 spells in its grimoire per spell level.  However, it has more spells options as a whole.  It is pretty diverse.  It can be a CC machine, or a damage dealer, and has self buffs.  I wouldn't recommend building it with expectations of melee... it works, but isn't efficient.  By the time you have buffed up the combat can be near over.  Wizards use rods, scepters, and wands... and those weapons have an AoE component called blast.  This means when you have to conserve spells you have a way to deal damage.  You also get stuff like Arcane Assault which is an AoE that can be used 2 times an encounter.  

 

Druids are silly good.  They have debuffs that work in tandem with their AoE damage.  They have 8-9 spells per spell level, and they have a cast limit based on its level.   However, you always have the ability to cast all your spells of a level as long as you have casts for the day remaining.  They have Spiritshift which is per encounter and is good for mopping up at earlier levels to conserve your per day spells.  Spiritshift doesn't scale so it becomes somewhat useless at later levels.  So, spending talents to augment Spiritshift at present isn't recommended.

 

Ciphers are silly good.  They have 5ish spells a level, and get access to 3 of each level by 12 IIRC.  They have unlimited casts a day, but require focus to fuel those spells.  They do great damage, and have good control.  They just require you to be aware of their focus in order to use them optimally.

 

Monks are also good, but are trickier.  They need to be hit to get wounds, and they use those wounds to fuel their abilities.  IMHO they are a class that needs some tankiness, but can still dish out damage.  You can't be too tanky because not getting hit means you do less damage.  However, if you aren't tanky enough you can fold like a cheap suit if you put the monk out of position.  Points in Perception or resolve are probably wise to make you a bit harder to hit.  In PoE the harder to hit you are the less likely you are to be crit.  Crits can really hurt a monk.  A well played monk is a wrecking ball.  

 

A lot of classes have dialogue for them in the game, but I am unsure if all classes do.  Ciphers and monks I remember seeing pop up here and there.  

 

I wouldn't worry about races with particular classes.  They will all work.  Some are better than others.  For example:  Wood Elves get a boon to accuracy, defense, an reflex (i think it is reflex) as long as they are at a range over 4 meters from the target.  So they will be better as a Druid, Wizard, or Cipher than a Monk.  Monks are pretty much melee.  

 

I am making a Monk for my second game right now.    My first play through was a Chanter, and they are support, but they are super awesome at it.  They are worth a play on a second or 3rd play.  They are pretty "hands off" for a caster, but they can melee, fire guns/bows/xbows, cast from scrolls, etc while chanting.  So, you aren't just standing around if you don't want to. 

[Magister Lajciak]

Thanks guys - I will probably exclude the Druid for now, since one of the main conceptual attractions for me was the shapechanging (spiritshift) and I like thinking long-term. Wizards seem cool due to their diversity of spells, but I guess I am now thinking of Ciphers and Monks as my primary options. Will probably go with a Cipher, as I just like "magical" characters too much.