Finally playing through whole game - Which Class?

[bmardiney]

I played the vanilla game up until Defiance Bay (and did a few missions there as well), then stopped. Now that I have White March Pt 1 and 2, I want to do a complete playthrough.

 

The first time I made a rogue (more of a pirate - dual sabers and a pistol). My inclination is to do that again (I play rogue in every game that lets me), but I'm thinking of changing it up.

 

Cipher and Paladin seem like good possible alternatives. I do like me some melee-magic combo classes (with my favorite, of course, being rogue/magic).

 

I know the 3.0 patch changed a ton of stuff around, but what do you all think?

[boffmoffet]

I love playing through as a paladin. Resolve is a great stat to have on your player character. Resolve comes up quite often in conversation, and in the choose your own adventure segments. In the beginning of the game, I like going with a sword and board build, and then about mid game you can respec into a great support/damage 2-hand build or stick with being a self healing tank/support. The Kind Wayfarers have at least a few unique dialogue choices through out the game, and some of their order-specific talents can help healing while dealing damage for late game damage builds. You wont ever feel like the MVP of combat like with a rogue, unless your MVP moments involve always being the last alive to possibly squeeze out a win.

 

Cipher also has quite a few unique dialogues, and the new patch has their balance at what I think is a most fun yet. Intellect is probably a second place to resolve in useful main stats for conversations. The physical/magical combat is fun and high damage, but you wont feel like a total game changer like a good rogue. Cipher is a bit harder to keep alive in melee ranks compared to rogue as well, at least for my tactics, so i tended towards a ranged build there.

[bmardiney]

Wow thanks for the detailed breakdown! Especially regarding the dialogue options (which is always a big thing to consider for me). I was leaning more towards the Dricozzi (sp) paladins if I went with that class. Mostly because I hate playing the altruistic "good guys" in an RPG. Too simplistic and 1-dimensional.

 

Cipher seems like a perfect fit, story-wise, for the PC, since he's all about soul manipulation. Ugh so many choices! In a good way

Yeah tough choice there. I'm still thinking either rogue, cipher or paladin, but I'd love to hear other suggestions.

[the_dog_days]

I'm planning on doing a bare fisted monk (hatchet s will be my secondary weapon). My race will be Death godlike (yeah, that's right, a Death Monk) of aumaua size. All though I won't be able to do quite as much DPS as a rogue, I still expect Lykata will lead my party in damage and kills.

[Gairnulf]

Your story is almost exactly like mine, though on my fist playthrough I solved almost every quest in Defiance Bay and the vicinity, and finished Act II before dropping the game. I also played rogue then. Now I'm on a second playthrough with a Bleak Walker paladin and it's quite fun.

 

My stats are pretty balanced out but I've left my intelligence on 11 and I'm concentrating more on damage-dealing. I was very lucky to have chosen the "Sworn Enemy" ability on my level up to lvl 5, because it was 3 times per rest before the patch and after the patch I saw they've made it 1 per encounter.

 

I've bought the outworn buckler from Gilded Vale, to give some deflection bonus usually to Eder when using him as tank while I flank enemies.

 

I switch between weapon and shield and an estoc, depending on wether the enemies have high enough DR for the estoc to matter.

 

I'm playing on PotD and just until reaching Caed Nua, I was playing with a party of 4. I played on 2.03 up until after the battle with Maerwald, then I installed 3.0 before getting the fortress, just in case there are any bugs to avoid.

 

Playing as a paladin and being encouraged to make choices appropriate to your order really adds to the roleplay. Together with the largely fixed combat since April last year, I'm pretty satisfied with PoE right now.

[anameforobsidian]

Priests and Ciphers get a ton of love with special content, and playing a Barbarian is super fun.  Really, I would say most classes are fun.  You'll probably want to stay away from a fighter or chanter the first time around on your main, because they have less active abilities.

[AndreaColombo]

^ that's at least madness, if not even Sparta.

 

Fighters are awesome

[boffmoffet]

Playing as a paladin and being encouraged to make choices appropriate to your order really adds to the roleplay. Together with the largely fixed combat since April last year, I'm pretty satisfied with PoE right now.

 

I could not agree more. The disposition system can seem restrictive at first as a paladin or priest, but I immediately began enjoying the roleplaying. My priest of Skaen in particular challenged me to roleplay in ways I would normally have avoided, and the Wayfarer rewarded my unshakable do gooder streak in games.

[phimseto]

Considering the overarching plot, it's hard not to say cipher. I'd go for that simply because it involves you in the narrative on a whole other level. For a game like Pillars of Eternity, you should definitely want to approach it from a story standpoint more than a mechanical one. 

Edited February 17, 2016 by phimseto

[emeffkay]

Considering the overarching plot, it's hard not to say cipher. I'd go for that simply because it involves you in the narrative on a whole other level. For a game like Pillars of Eternity, you should definitely want to approach it from a story standpoint more than a mechanical one. 

 

Couldn't agree more. 

 

I wasn't an original backer but had been following the game for years. When I finally got it about a month ago and started it up knowing close to nothing about the plot, I was immediately drawn to the cipher class. There was something about the class description that screamed "narrative" to me, and considering the pedigree of Obsidian's devs and writers, it is a serious consideration to make.

 

Being able to respec your class skills at will is also such a huge deal for a chronic reroller like myself. I find any reason (plot, mechanics, day of the week) to reroll classes and builds and basically start the story over again, but I must be almost a month into this first time playthrough and haven't restarted the game yet!

[bmardiney]

Well, I ended up going Cipher and it seems pretty fun so far. I rolled str 18, int 18, res 12 and everything else 10. Hope that was smart Also plan on being a melee damage dealer (kind of like a rogue). I know most people seem to say ranged is better for positioning, but archers bore me.

 

I'm definitely going to do paladin my next time through though.

[Abalon]

I'd argue melee rogue or ranged ranger both are super fun and extremely powerful to play

[DreamWayfarer]

Well, I ended up going Cipher and it seems pretty fun so far. I rolled str 18, int 18, res 12 and everything else 10. Hope that was smart Also plan on being a melee damage dealer (kind of like a rogue). I know most people seem to say ranged is better for positioning, but archers bore me.

The stats aren't horrible, but you could have gone with more DEX, since the bonus damage from Soul Whip stacks additively with Might, but action speed multiplicates your damage.

Edited February 17, 2016 by DreamWayfarer

[bmardiney]

Yeah I was thinking that too. Hmm...well time to start over

[DreamWayfarer]

Yeah I was thinking that too. Hmm...well time to start over

Noooo!!

 

Once you start rerolling, you never stop!

[bmardiney]

Noooo!!

Once you start rerolling, you never stop!

 

 

Haha, don't I know it! Is there any real benefit to having 12 resolve instead of 10? The only reason I want some is for the occasional dialogue option, but I'm thinking 12 isn't enough for most of those anyway.

[DreamWayfarer]

Haha, don't I know it! Is there any real benefit to having 12 resolve instead of 10? The only reason I want some is for the occasional dialogue option, but I'm thinking 12 isn't enough for most of those anyway.

If you are into metagaming, there could be some benefit by makingbit easier to buff it into the required levels, but if you aren't, it isn't really worth it.

[bmardiney]

Alright, so I'm settling on 15 10 15 10 18 10. Good to go!

[anameforobsidian]

^ that's at least madness, if not even Sparta.

 

Fighters are awesome

 

Fighters are great, but you probably want a more active character for your main first time around.

[Ephidel]

I also play largely on the conversation side of things and i can say, High resolve, Perception, and Int come in to play alot. Like alot alot. lol. A good deal even sit around 18. With bonuses you can reach it but i normally like to sit at 14-15 res and perception to nail as much conversation checks as i can. High lore also plays a pretty decent part. Just know when you respec at a vendor you can redo the stats of your main char so if a chapter in you feel like you should have made him with more Resolve or something you can always just fork over some cash and respec. Money gets a bit more plentiful mid game / First part of white march.

Most of all just have fun, If you cant get every option all the time and not have fun, play the game again!