Why do you play the class that you do?

[PneumaticFire]

I'm just curious to see what your primary reasons are for choosing the character class/classes that you do. 

 

For the vast majority of us it will of course be a combination of all of these factors to some degree, but is your primary preference on a first playthrough:

 

a) To visualise an 'ideal self' manifested in the game world, or to create a totally different character not related to the 'real world' you?

 

b) The classes mechanics and practical play-style? Or primarily your visualisation of what that class represents as an archetype and manifestation of a personality in the game world?

 

 

 

I tend to find that my first play-throughs I like to imagine myself (or a variation of myself) immersed in the world of the game, in this case Eora.  Then on second playthrough as an almost polar opposite character to explore alternative storyline archs and also just for fun and something different.

 

I also tend to place more emphasis on roleplaying and place more weight on what a character represents, so tend to go for Paladins and similar classes on first playthrough.  
Where from a gameplay mechanic perspective I tend to prefer spell-casters.

Edited March 6, 2018 by PneumaticFire

[Yosharian]

I like playing a character with an archetype that appeals to me, and I also like creating a powerful character that is optimized mechanically.

 

I often struggle to balance these two things, especially when games don't really have consequences for min-maxing characters completely.

 

For example, in the Fallout series, making a character with extremely low intelligence results in changes to the way the conversation system plays out.  This kind of thing helps me balance out powergaming with role-playing.  I'm less likely to completely dump Intelligence if I know there's an actual consequence to it.

 

Also, such systems provide fun replayability, because you can deliberately play with extremely low intelligence to see how the game plays out.

 

I just finished playing Fallout 4 with a character that had 1 int.  It wasn't a good role-playing experience because my character was completely unaffected!  That's the consequence of the industry moving towards voice-acting as default, even in supposedly hardcore role-playing games like Fallout.

 

As for your question about playing someone similar to you or different, I don't care either way particularly.  I can get into playing an evil character if the writing is very good.

 

I remember playing KotOR 1 as a Dark Side character, that was fun as hell.

Edited March 6, 2018 by Yosharian

[Koth]

Great question. For me I think I tend to look at the information that I already know about the game such as the companions that appeal to me the most and then choose my class / race to best fit in with the companions that I have decided to take.

 

For example, for my first playthrough I intend to take:

 

Maia Rua as a scout (Ranger Gunhawk / Rogue) 

Aloth as a pure Wizard

Xoti as a pure Priest

Pallegina as a Herald (Paladin / Chanter)

 

And myself as a Crusader (Fighter Unbroken / Paladin Shieldbearer)

[Yosharian]

 

Great question. For me I think I tend to look at the information that I already know about the game such as the companions that appeal to me the most and then choose my class / race to best fit in with the companions that I have decided to take.

 

For example, for my first playthrough I intend to take:

 

Maia Rua as a scout (Ranger Gunhawk / Rogue) 

Aloth as a pure Wizard

Xoti as a pure Priest

Pallegina as a Herald (Paladin / Chanter)

 

And myself as a Crusader (Fighter Unbroken / Paladin Shieldbearer)

 

 

Yes.  I do this too.  Hadn't even thought about that.

 

I literally did this for Deadfire.  Sorted which companions I wanted to take then fit my main character around them.

 

Although I do like playing tanky characters in party-based RPGs specifically. I like being the 'rock'.

[draego]

I tend to find that my first play-throughs I like to imagine myself (or a variation of myself) immersed in the world of the game, in this case Eora.  Then on second playthrough as an almost polar opposite character to explore alternative storyline archs and also just for fun and something different.

 

I do this in general too but i wont be doing this for POE2. after playing POE1 several times i plan on continuing a more roleplaying focused playthrough first with my orlan ranger who is not really a version of me but is a character i can empathize with and the motivations i created for them. I like the ranger due to the animal companion mechanic. It was fun running a melee version tag teaming enemies in combat. I have a couple of character concepts that i could bring from POE1 and none of them will be a version of me. I started to enjoy POE1 more once i created characters with their own motivations and consequences. 

Edited March 7, 2018 by draego

[Wormerine]

I stopped trying to recreate myself in games for a while now and focus on creating fun characters instead.

 

I will continue my character unchanged from PoE1. I picked an orlan. I had title interest in more traditional races and aumaua felt like a better fit for a physical class. I tend to favour spellcasters as back in IE games they were the only active ones, though it is not a case in PoE. Cipher was my choice as the idea seemed cool, I like crowd control and they don’t use per-rest system, which means I will actually use spells.

 

Considering oppression Orlans face, I went for a distrustful, calculated, ex-merchant character, who always takes a side of a fellow orlan.

 

On my second run I created an aumaua chanter as it was a class I didn’t use much on my first playthrough.

[morhilane]

I usually try classes until I like the gameplay of one (which usually depends on my mood) and then I reroll with role-playing stats and decide on a personality.

 

When POE1 released, originally, I wanted to be a Chanter, but I found the class too passives at the time (I prefer to control my character, instead of someone else in the party). I played a Paladin and Monk half-way through the game too, but rogue turned out to be fun and my little Boreal dwarf looked awesome so I stick with him and made him a stubborn ex-merchant deceptive smartass that joined the Doemenel (he had high intelligence, perception and dex).

 

On a second playthrough I wanted to try a Priest of Eothas and I ended up liking the class and I stayed true. I tried to make a "battle cleric", but that was less or more a succes. In my third playthrough, which is unfinished, I wanted to experience the game as a cipher (Scientist background and super inquisitive), but I just can't...it's not a class for me.

 

For Deadfire, I'm not sure. I was thinking of importing the Priest of Eothas and dual-class with a melee/more defensive class to make a proper battle cleric. At the same time, the Chanter class looks much improved too and I might return to try that.

[Gromnir]

in poe it were ez to decide initial choices: priest and paladin.

 

there were distinct advantages playing as a pc priest or paladin compared to a hireling or companion.  pc faith and conviction bonuses as well as holy radiance bonuses were substantial.  

 

am personal favoring support characters as they tend to be the most valuable in a party even if they is least popular. 

 

priests ended up being an extreme powerful all-round class choice in poe, combining typical invaluable support qualities as well as strong offensive spellcasting choices and potent, if limited, weapon potential. poe paladins were arguable the bestest tank option.

 

for deadfire, paladin is current 'mongst the class o' the classes. paladin or paladin/anything is gonna be a strong choice.  so, templar is an obvious Gromnir option.

 

the thing is, with faith and Faith being so central to poe, we had expectations for more priest-specific content.  those expectations went unfulfilled.  sure, obsidian insisted faith were not quite as central to poe as some would suggest, but such protests were hardly convincing.  to have priests receive so little additional poe content were disappointing given how vital were faith. nevertheless, we will be carrying over a priest from poe in some form.  got a colossal god-possessed statue stalking the land after having consumed at least a portion o' the protagonist's soul. would bet we are again setting our self up for disappointment, but am having a hard time not choosing a priest or priest/something for deadfire.

 

templar or contemplative is our likely first run choices, for reasons stated already.

 

HA! Good Fun!

[Tarlonniel]

For my very first playthrough I picked cypher, just because it sounded cool and unique to the Pillars universe and I like caster-types. After I got to know the world better, I picked classes purely for roleplaying reasons - whatever I thought would best fit my next character concept, which, in turn, was influenced by the kind of story I was looking to create on my next playthrough.

[draego]

I stopped trying to recreate myself in games for a while now and focus on creating fun characters instead.

 

I will continue my character unchanged from PoE1. I picked an orlan. I had title interest in more traditional races and aumaua felt like a better fit for a physical class. I tend to favour spellcasters as back in IE games they were the only active ones, though it is not a case in PoE. Cipher was my choice as the idea seemed cool, I like crowd control and they don’t use per-rest system, which means I will actually use spells.

 

Considering oppression Orlans face, I went for a distrustful, calculated, ex-merchant character, who always takes a side of a fellow orlan.

 

On my second run I created an aumaua chanter as it was a class I didn’t use much on my first playthrough.

 

Nice ye the orlan i ran was a slave who is distrustful and spiteful of the dyrwood inhabitants but is looking for his homeland where he was stolen from so he ends up helping when he can the Glanfathans. I enjoyed this as a more nuanced twist on an 'evil' character since it was about whos perspective you looking at to consider my actions 'evil'. I dont like the typical power gaming evil character who steals everything and murders everyone for their gear. Although i despise spellcasters stemming from the IE games since they were the god classes at least for my mc. POE actually help lessen this view though still couldnt do it for my MC.

Edited March 7, 2018 by draego

[CottonWolf]

Yeah. Like a lot of other people here (it seems), on the first playthrough I just come up with a character concept I think seems cool, then build the main character to match that concept. Even things like ability and skill choices become more, "what fits with this character?" rather than any attempt to optimise.

 

As a first character in Deadfire, I'm carrying across my wildwoman mystic from Pillars. She gets visions from time to time, has no social graces whatsoever, and knows a lot about the gods, souls, and very little else. It's all punching things intermingled with stoic silence and brutal honesty.

[PneumaticFire]

Nice, interesting concepts, some I have myself and others I havent given as much thought to previously.

 

By coincidence I had the same thoughts as Gromnir regarding the carrying over of my Kind Wayfarer, but also wanting a priest for support/roleplaying purposes, which leads me to an Eothasian priest/wayfarer Templar for Deadfire.   I hope they do have more priest specific content in Deadfire regarding the central plot, and not just relegating the faith concepts to one approach of dismissing the gods with no other significant options.  It would make for a more limiting roleplaying experience! (note: assumptions being made here).

 

Keep the ideas coming, I like hearing what people's motives are for the character they play.

Edited March 7, 2018 by PneumaticFire

[Salinger]

I'm a huge fan of warrior monks: sohei, hospitaliers, wushu monks and so on. This leaves little freedom of choice to my first character: monk or paladin

As for race, usually I choose human, because it's hard to find decent elf or dwarf monk portrait. 

[Yosharian]

I'm a huge fan of warrior monks: sohei, hospitaliers, wushu monks and so on. This leaves little freedom of choice to my first character: monk or paladin

As for race, usually I choose human, because it's hard to find decent elf or dwarf monk portrait. 

 

I posted a pretty good elf one in the Portraits thread

[Stuurminator]

Being naturally unfamiliar with the world of Eora, my first character was conservative in concept: a patient, goody-goody human tank, which I figured I couldn't get "wrong". Instead she was so boring I abandoned the game about an hour from the ending.

 

My current character is a orlan cipher because I believed that combo would get the most class- and race-specific conversation topics. It turned out to be much fewer than I thought, but I'm still interested in the fluff I have in my head (former galley slave who sent the crew overboard, endlessly curious to the point of irresponsibility). Cipher is also a good fit for me because I'm deathly ill with the "what if I need it later" disease and frequently end up making camp with characters hovering around 0 health but their entire suite of daily spells uncast.

 

I never create myself in RPGs. I find the thought of it stifling.

[Messier-31]

Why do you play the class that you do?​

 

Because I like that class and it fits my character's concept?

Edited March 7, 2018 by Messier-31

[TheisEjsing]

I'm going to play cipher. It just fits the game best for me. In PoE atleast it was the class most related to inner workings of the universe, and the thematics of the game. Also it fits with the stats that I find most fun to have in these types of games. I like high int, res, and per for dialog. And also it will fits with the companions I'm probably going to pick up in my first run..

So yeah. A nobrainer for me.

Edited March 7, 2018 by TheisEjsing

[Aramintai]

I found an interesting looking portrait in the internet that was fitting for POE, saw what story backgrounds were there, chose the one that I liked and headcanoned a backstory and a fitting class for that character. Been playing it ever since, as I usually don't switch mains for a game once I settle on one. For POE games it turned out to be a dissident elven rogue from Aedyr.

Edited March 7, 2018 by Aramintai

[Sedrefilos]

It has to do with the mood of the time. For example in Pillars 1 I made a female wild orlan barbarian (who I will continue to Deadfire). I haven't played a melee oriented character in an rpg for very long, fighter seemed one of the same so I was intrigued to try barbarian because of its mechanics (carnage - high intellect = more aoe basic damage etc). Also there was no barbarian companion in the base game so I took that into consideration also (I wanted to try as many classes as possible). Wild Orlan because it felt thematic to the class and because I've never played a "small race" in an rpg before.

 

So, Pillars made me break all personal traditions regarding character creation in rpgs while making me love what I was avoiding (because everyone else made it unappealing). That's one of the most positive aspects of Pillars imo: everything about character is interesting.

[daven]

Typically play a fighter in everything because I prefer my character to be just a normal adventurer without any magic or ties to God and crap. Just a guy with a sword and shield and armour doing his thing.

[the_dog_days]

I like to punch things.

[general_azure]

Was conditioned by the first Baldurs Gate to always prefer a class that can take a beating for my main char and I have a weakness for picking dialogue options with crappy jokes, so I'll probably stick to my smartass paladin.

[Juodas Varnas]

I usually pick the classes for the flavor they bring and the story and not some gameplay mechanics they might have (even if i personally prefer having my 'MC' to be a support class, a healer or some buffer or whatnot).

 

I mean, hey, chasing down Eothas as an Eothasian priest sounds hilarious.

[MaxQuest]

a) To visualise an 'ideal self' manifested in the game world, or to create a totally different character not related to the 'real world' you?

Neither, but closer to the former.

Although my character is never me, and is separated from my real-life persona, he/she has a similar inner state and inner emotional reactions. The way of thinking is similar as well; perhaps it's even clearer and brighter. Also think of this mix having a set of positive/strong traits I like in myself and in my favorite protagonists; plus an increased level of upfront, since the character can afford taking the risks and going places were simple caution would advice one not to.

The resultant character has a similar but better and stronger version of my own nature. With corrections made on: being born in that world, and having a get-out-of-jail card in his/her sleeve.

 

b) The classes mechanics and practical play-style? Or primarily your visualisation of what that class represents as an archetype and manifestation of a personality in the game world?

When deciding what class to pick, I take into account:

- how does such character feel. Or rather what color do I "see" when playing him and feeling his emotions. If he feels red to me (think of blood fury, frenzy, going berserk) I won't pick him. If he feels blinded from dazzling yellow/white (think of zeal, fanaticism) I won't pick him. Sure I could try to go for a godless priest or a calm paladin or barbarian that plays similar to a typical fighter/blademaster, but only if it's possible to make a strong build in the game. Weird I know. But generally I prefer going for classes that do associate for me with blue, green, slate and purple. So think of wizards, druids, rogues, blademasters/swiftblades, warlocks and ciphers.

- how does such a character play. I prefer the versatile and quick playstyle. Also, while in online games, I am perfectly fine with playing support; in single-player, I tend to pick the dps role: someone who will make the biggest total damage contribution in an active manner.

- what is the "power level" of class X if I will build him the way that matches my preference.

 

I also tend to place more emphasis on roleplaying and place more weight on what a character represents, so tend to go for Paladins and similar classes on first playthrough.  

Where from a gameplay mechanic perspective I tend to prefer spell-casters.

In single-player rpg's, I tend to go for a:

- wizard/druid on the first run

- rogue on the second run (rogues are often OP once you know the game mechanics and build the party around them)

- power-gish on third run

 

In PoE1 it was:

- druid (played for 15 minutes and deleted)

- cipher (ranged, spell damage)

- rogue (played for 2 hours and deleted)

- cipher (melee, spell damage)

- chanter (played for 1 hour and deleted)

- cipher (ranged, spell damage)

 

Why do you play the class that you do?

Because:

- it is easier to associate with

- I like my inner state feeling when playing him more than when playing with other class

- there is a playstyle I like that can be employed with this class, and it can be optimal

Edited March 7, 2018 by MaxQuest

[Valmy]

I play a chanter because I like bards for whatever reason. It is nice that they go well with everything else.