Why do you play the class that you do?

[VincentNZ]

 

 

I usually make a ranger first in every game, but in PoE I hit the companion bug within the first act and had to restart. I then made a barbarian, which is somethin I never played but I liked the AoE focus and the fact that in PoE every attribute was affecting every class in some way, because:

 

I just hate restricted and limited characters, which is why I always played Bard in BG, I just hate playing dumb characters or being "forced" to put my points in something else than intelligence to be effective. So in that context I really enjoyed the way PoE handled stuff, although I did not grasp the meta enough, nor do I really want to make the most effective character possible.

 

Companion choice is valid, though. I was not a huge fan of Durance, although the character had an appeal, but you can not really do without a priest. At the same time I liked Eder, so I would have been rather bummed out, had I made a tank myself. However if the game allows you to think out of the box and complete the game with different setups then this is also very nice.

 

I just hope in PoE 2 (having no idea of the mechanics yet) that the mechanics are more transparent than before.

 

That said, I really do not know if I would carry over my barbarian from a save that is 30 months old by now. Do we know what is being carried over with the savegame? Does it matter if I have not bought the White March? Do I miss out when starting new, like companion interaction through done quests?

 

> At the same time I liked Eder, so I would have been rather bummed out, had I made a tank myself.

 

To be fair Eder can be made into an extremely effective damage dealer as well

 

 

Yeah, I made him my tank since everyone else was better suited for damage dealing such as my rogue. Now I'm interested in this fighter/rogue mix Éder could have in Deadfire.

 

Very true. I just never got the hang of the game mechanics, which I found rather complex, so that I can not really assess the potential of characters especially if they are special. Actually my first character was a cypher, that I did not play beyond the prologue, because I immediately knew that this class is too complex until I know more about the game. I probably totally misused Kana as well, because he hit harder than my ranger with his rifle, but I never really used his chants.

So Eder was the guy that had a shield, and I was the guy with the two-handed sword. :D

 

But yeah the game mechanics of PoE where every attribute at least seemed usable for every class made me choose something I never played before. I hope to find out a bit more come the 3rd of April.

[Frog Man]

Fun thread idea. I’m a Roman Catholic IRL and have had wonderful experiences with priests all my life (I know, I know, insert molestation joke), and I’ve often wondered what I would have been like if I had become a priest, so RPGs allow me to explore that fantasy. From Warcraft, Warhammer, Baldurs gate, ice wind dale, to pillars and others, I always chose priest. The god of rebirth and renewal sounded beautiful so Priest of Eothas it was. He’s a good god, but stomps a few too many keeps for my tastes.

 

Also, now that you know my religious disposition, imagine my horror when Iovora reveals there are no gods. Me - ‘blasphemy! burn her! Burn the witch!!!’

Edited March 12, 2018 by Frog Man

[Yosharian]

Fun thread idea. I’m a Roman Catholic IRL and have had wonderful experiences with priests all my life (I know, I know, insert molestation joke), and I’ve often wondered what I would have been like if I had become a priest, so RPGs allow me to explore that fantasy. From Warcraft, Warhammer, Baldurs gate, ice wind dale, to pillars and others, I always chose priest. The god of rebirth and renewal sounded beautiful so Priest of Eothas it was. He’s a good god, but stomps a few too many keeps for my tastes.

 

Also, now that you know my religious disposition, imagine my horror when Iovora reveals there are no gods. Me - ‘blasphemy! burn her! Burn the witch!!!’

 

> I know, I know, insert molestation joke

 

 

I wouldn't dare!

 

I know a few priests who would, though

[Lord_Mord]

 

Also, now that you know my religious disposition, imagine my horror when Iovora reveals there are no gods. Me - ‘blasphemy! burn her! Burn the witch!!!’

 

So now that you had time to get over it: How do you feel about it now? Will it affect your Deadfire-Experience? Are you an atheist priest now? Or do you still believe in Eothas even if you know he was constructed? At least now you know he's real.

[Gfted1]

What defines a "god" in Eora? Ive seen you guys and gals talk about this part of the story but I don't fully understand whats the conflict? Eora gods are an amalgam of souls, right? But a true "god" should only spring whole cloth from the ether? Is that the "debate" of Eoran's?

[Valmy]

What defines a "god" in Eora? Ive seen you guys and gals talk about this part of the story but I don't fully understand whats the conflict? Eora gods are an amalgam of souls, right? But a true "god" should only spring whole cloth from the ether? Is that the "debate" of Eoran's?

 

They never really explain that. THere is no creation myth that I am aware of.

[draego]

What defines a "god" in Eora? Ive seen you guys and gals talk about this part of the story but I don't fully understand whats the conflict? Eora gods are an amalgam of souls, right? But a true "god" should only spring whole cloth from the ether? Is that the "debate" of Eoran's?

 

I think its more of a being so powerful the inhabitants believe they are gods because they have not frame to judge and distinguish them from a 'true' god.

Edited March 15, 2018 by draego

[Doppelschwert]

Every game I play, I either try to build a Kensai as in the original BG (superior swordsman in robes who doesn't get hit, alternatively a Swordmaster in the Fire Emblem games) or some kind of Death Knight (debuff aura, life-leech and the likes, maybe undead minions, you get the gist) or an anti-magic monk.

PoE was only moderately successfull in representing any of those roles (dodging not supported as primary defense, chanter was not quite living up to his expectation and no anti-magic monks), but I have high hopes that a Devoted / Mage Slayer can finally fill the void of the Kensai this time around (even though PoE sucks at representing 'dodging' as a primary means of defense).

[Tattyblue]

I like to play mechanically interesting and unique characters. I dont like to play fire and forget auto attack characters on my main, thats for adventurers or companions. I want my main character to be the most interesting class possible. Ciphers, Rangers, and the like.

[VincentNZ]

I like to play mechanically interesting and unique characters. I dont like to play fire and forget auto attack characters on my main, thats for adventurers or companions. I want my main character to be the most interesting class possible. Ciphers, Rangers, and the like.

Cipher is very unique no doubt, and I mostly make a ranger type class in every RPG, but I never thought it is an interesting or unique one. Beyond the big three (fighter, rogue, mage) I find the ranger to be the most generic. Why do you consider it interesting, I wonder?

 

For me the Ranger is mostly convenient, because he has the ranged option, is usually a capable melee combatant, has access to medium armour and mostly a companion that makes the start easier.

 

Ciphers are a really unique class, remind me of the Mesmer class in Guild Wars, not in mechanics, but because it is something new. Chanters are a challenge as well and Druids offer some interesting mechanics with the caster/combatant/shapeshifter layout.

[Carados]

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.

 

Hmm that is an intresting question indeed. I quess there is not one specific answer for me. It is many number of things that contribute this choise. Lets say that I'm playing the game first time. How do I choose a specific class?

 

From the pure gameplay perspective: I've always liked mixing magic with melee. I've enjoyed playing classes like battlemages, warlocks, fightermages, jedis and such. Then again I've also liked stealthty warrior types such as fighter-thieves, assasins, rangers etc. So these preferences guide me naturally to some extent.

 

However more strongly I put emphasis on my idea of the main character. I try to visualise and imagine some part of my own persona to the game character. Like for example: I'm not a religious person and I tend to value intellect and reason over faith and strong convictions. That all being said, I have certain principles too like acting lawfully, defending weak against bullies, being mercifull and reasonable etc. I tend to build a character I can enjoy playing "naturally". Ofcourse I can play evil characters or zealot type characters if I put the effort, but it never feels as enjoyable to me. 

 

And I do detest "goody two shoes" type characters as well. I'm not any kind of saint in real life (although I try to become a better person every day like most humans) and I can't imagine my character ever being one. I like character flaws both in character persona and in statistical sense as well.

 

Then I also try to imagine some kind of intresting backstory for this character which fits to the gameworld, the character class and race. Backrounds in PoE were really terrific as those helped my imaginations fly better. So my first character in PoE was an human cipher hailing from ixamitl plains. His backround was scholar.

 

First of all the class concept of Cipher spoke to me very well. The concept felt so intriguing right from the begining of the orginal kickstarter campaign. I loved the idea of mixing psionic powers with swords. That was just cool as hell. Something truly unique and fresh. And it only helped when I learned that it also seemed like a perfect fit story wise.

 

In addition since I'm one kind of a scholar in real life, I revered the description of that cultural backround which I quote here: "The Ixamitl culture is one of the oldest in the world, though one of the least imperialistic, having spread out little over the past several thousand years. Ixamitl society places a strong emphasis on learning and scholarship and honors their philosophers and literati."

 

It fitted so perfectly to my character idea and it seems like a such an inspiring place to spend early years of one's life. Yet for several reasons my character left the safety of his home and joined that caravan. Maybe he wanted to discover the lost history of ancient cultures and maybe my character wanted to better understand the nature of these mental powers and understand the visions he was experienceing in his dreams...

 

Ah, but sorry rambling this much. I'm afraid I cannot offer you one specific answer!

[Tattyblue]

 

I like to play mechanically interesting and unique characters. I dont like to play fire and forget auto attack characters on my main, thats for adventurers or companions. I want my main character to be the most interesting class possible. Ciphers, Rangers, and the like.

Cipher is very unique no doubt, and I mostly make a ranger type class in every RPG, but I never thought it is an interesting or unique one. Beyond the big three (fighter, rogue, mage) I find the ranger to be the most generic. Why do you consider it interesting, I wonder?

 

For me the Ranger is mostly convenient, because he has the ranged option, is usually a capable melee combatant, has access to medium armour and mostly a companion that makes the start easier.

 

Ciphers are a really unique class, remind me of the Mesmer class in Guild Wars, not in mechanics, but because it is something new. Chanters are a challenge as well and Druids offer some interesting mechanics with the caster/combatant/shapeshifter layout.

 

 

Its the only pet class in the game. It also has far more and better ranged abilities like powder burns, twinned arrows and driving flight. You can give a rogue a bow, or a gun to a chanter but they cant make them shoot twice or spit fire.

[Yenkaz]

What defines a "god" in Eora? Ive seen you guys and gals talk about this part of the story but I don't fully understand whats the conflict? Eora gods are an amalgam of souls, right? But a true "god" should only spring whole cloth from the ether? Is that the "debate" of Eoran's?

 

Imagine how the christian churches would react if found evidence that yes, God was a real material being (keeping in mind that in Eora they do meddle in kith affairs all the freaking time but I digress), but also that he was created about 6000 years ago by 10.000 people committing collective suicide to bind their souls together. Then the god-construct messed around with humanity to convince them this god-construct had some sort of power over life after death, was the basis for all morality and predated everyone and everything.

 

Even if we don't know there if there is a creation myth, the deities are assumed to have been beyond human history and knowledge, when they are in fact a creation of human knowledge.

Edited March 18, 2018 by Yenkaz

[PneumaticFire]

Great ideas guys, sorry, too long to like every one    

Has anyone's opinion changed since seeing or playing the beta, or even the new twitch stream of the full game?

[Skazz]

Imagine how the christian churches would react if found evidence that yes, God was a real material being (...) but also that he was created about 6000 years ago by 10.000 people committing collective suicide to bind their souls together.

 

Huh. I mean, yes, that is exactly what happens, and your post is a great explanation... but when when you put it like that, it made me realize how this sounds almost exactly like the creation of God-Emperor of Mankind from Warhammer 40,000.

Edited May 5, 2018 by Skazz

[kanisatha]

It's always a melee warrior class for me because I like my PC to be front and center in the action in combat. In the IE games I always go with some fighter-thief combo, but in PoE1 I liked the barbarian class a lot. Adding multiclassing is for me the awesomest improvement in PoE2 over 1. I really like what's been done in PoE2 to make the fighter class a truly interesting class to play, and I am really looking forward to playing fighter-barbarian/paladin/ranger combos. I know a fighter-ranger melee character will not be particularly optimal but I really don't care. Having a fuzzy furry pet to take along with me more than makes up for mechanical shortcomings. I'm like my bro Eder that way.

[anathanielh]

I’m still gonna stick with my multiclass melee ranger. Either scout (rogue trickster/ranger stalker) or hunter (standard fighter/ranger stalker). Leaning more toward rogue for the extra debuff and survivability illusion spells, but fighter seems fun too with the mule kick, charges, and such. I just like the idea of dashing through the battlefield with my pet friend. Also gonna dual wield sword/pistol for some fun rp.

[Voss]

What defines a "god" in Eora? Ive seen you guys and gals talk about this part of the story but I don't fully understand whats the conflict? Eora gods are an amalgam of souls, right? But a true "god" should only spring whole cloth from the ether? Is that the "debate" of Eoran's?

The debate seemed to be solely in Thaos' head, and went something like this: If they didn't commit atrocities to create and spread the faith of their created gods, then people would... commit atrocities.  I've never even vaguely understood how his logic worked. 

 

As far as every Eoran bar about a dozen know (you and your party), there is no debate.  The gods have been there for recorded history [but a lot of Eoran history has been... unrecorded and actively redacted. With blood and body counts]

 

 

The real effects seems to be this:  once upon a time before they made gods, the Wheel and everything (life, death and rebirth) happened naturally.  Now that the gods are around they've got their hands on the Wheel and... well.  Their individual intentions and purposes with it seem to be a varying levels of nefarious, and certainly in PoE1, people suffered for it.  See Woedica and Ondra specifically, either having her chief minion mass murder children to empower her, or dropping moons on civilizations because knowing history is apparently awful.

[wolfrider100]

Even when I first started playing Baldur's Gates 1 & 2, my main character was always a melee fighter. I liked that he is always up front and center, the first one into combat.

 

I also loved the fact that my fighter could take one heck of a beating and be able to in the end, just simply walk away after the fight was over with still half his health bar left.

 

Now I just have to bring my fighter tank build (The Watcher) from Pillars of Eternity I, back for Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire. Eder is also going to fill the fighter tank role again.

Edited May 7, 2018 by wolfrider100

[Taevyr]

Since creating characters has become something of a hobby/stress relief for me, I always do multiple playthroughs, using the ones that feel "fit" for the setting/story.

 

Aside from that, I also still do the whole "self-insert" thing (because let's face it: we all enjoy exploring those worlds ourselves). However, it's usually more like "So, if i take my general interests, personality and seemingly innate beliefs, and mix it with the given/available culture(s)/race(s)/background(s) given where applicable, who would i be in this setting?" than transplanting myself directly.

 

Usually ends up with a diplomatic "nexus"-type of character with a cheeky wit, preferably a mobile combatant with mild magic-use, combining crowd control with keeping the party together: Chanter felt quite natural in both background and playstyle for me here, especially since i could tank as well. The best synergy I've felt with a certain playstyle was with my Jedi Shadow Tank in SW:the old republic, before EA screwed that one up completely.

[Aramintai]

Great ideas guys, sorry, too long to like every one    

Has anyone's opinion changed since seeing or playing the beta, or even the new twitch stream of the full game?

I loved playing as a rogue in POE1 but I was really skeptical about it's POE2 version before release because of some of the changes to abilities and sneak attack modifier. But it turned out really awesome actually, felt much better than POE1 version because of the addition of some cool abilities, especially invisibility ones. And it turned out that sneak attack scales with power level.

[InsaneCommander]

I loved playing as a rogue in POE1 but I was really skeptical about it's POE2 version before release because of some of the changes to abilities and sneak attack modifier. But it turned out really awesome actually, felt much better than POE1 version because of the addition of some cool abilities, especially invisibility ones. And it turned out that sneak attack scales with power level.

 

Did you play with a multiclass rogue? If so, do you think it as worthy losing the high level abilities?

[Altha]

A) to visualize an ideal self (Cleric, Priest, Paladin)

 

B) mechanics (Ranger, Cleric, Paladin); class archetype (Wizard, Rogue, Druid) 

 

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.

[Aramintai]

 

I loved playing as a rogue in POE1 but I was really skeptical about it's POE2 version before release because of some of the changes to abilities and sneak attack modifier. But it turned out really awesome actually, felt much better than POE1 version because of the addition of some cool abilities, especially invisibility ones. And it turned out that sneak attack scales with power level.

 

Did you play with a multiclass rogue? If so, do you think it as worthy losing the high level abilities?

 

No, I played as a pure rogue assassin. It was great  And high level abilities turned out to be very good, especially for assassin who needs invisibility to hit really big. Sneak attack also scales with power level so I got to 75% at level 20. I'm not sure I will want to dilute all that with any multiclass now.

[Varana]

First play-through: a paladin.

Reason: Played a paladin in my first run of BG1, BG2, NWN1, and PoE1. Don't remember the IWDs.

 

After that, I usually go for interesting mechanics, or interesting roleplay (if such a thing exists in the game), and sometimes I plan around the party members I intend to take. Like in my second PoE1 run, I played a priest of Eothas because I wanted to have a cleric, I didn't want to bring Durance again if you paid me for it, and I chose Eothas because I could at least imagine interesting situations, roleplaying-wise (even though the developers couldn't be bothered to write Eothasians decently).

 

I never really try to recreate myself in an RPG. Sure, choices will sometimes reflect my own views, but I'm not actively trying to do that. I mean, it's fantasy... I cannot for the life of me play an "evil" character and have fun with that, though.

Edited May 12, 2018 by Varana