Some Basic Questions

[SamOftheUels]

I played through the first game only once, despite loving it, currently playing through again ready for 2 - My knowledge of the games systems aren't extensive to say the least

 

I know almost nothing of PoE2 - not played any betas etc.

 

I know I'll probably spend 3 weeks just trying to pick a class - wonderful OCD.

 

Just a few basic questions to help me out.

 

In terms of straight up power - is it better to multiclass or devote to a single?

 

Things will likely change between now and release, but where does balance stand with regards to Melee Vs Casters for DPS/Tanking and to lesser extent support??

 

I've always liked being a Holy Type Warrior that was more Magic Based but did use a weapon and get stuck in up front, not really a tank not really full DPS, but a healthy mix leaning more towards damage.

 

If I wanted to build something akin to this in PoE2 - what am I looking at doing?

 

We'll start with these few.

 

If I need to narrow down what I want just say so, at the mo, I don't know what I don't know.

 

Thanks

[malchiorita]

Not really an expert but the last one is pretty straightforward... Paladin.

 

They have both good offense and defense, you can multiclass with a wizard for self buffs and to be a magic user like you wanted

[Yosharian]

It's hard to say whether multiclass overpowers single class at the moment. On release we'll know more.

[Ciphys]

Like Yosharian pointed out; since we haven't seen the complete talent trees, it is impossible to tell how much we are sacrificing for the ability to multiclass. The top tier-abilities will be exclusive to single-classes, but we obviously cant judge how big of an impact they are going to have yet. 

Currently, in the beta, there are only a few occasions where I would say that picking a single class is better than multiclass( like wizard, or lifegiver nature godlike healing druid etc ), but that is subject to change. 

[Dr. Hieronymous Alloy]

1) We don't really know where the power scale is going to wash out. We do know that single class characters will have access to level 8 and 9 abilities, while multiclass characters won't. My personal suspicion is that the answer is going to be "it's complicated," but probably break down on roughly these lines:

 

-- the earlier in the game you are, the better a choice multiclassing is probably going to be

-- certain specific multiclass combinations (say, shattered pillar monk / soulblade cipher, or paladin / beckoner) are going to be extremely effective because the synergy will be potent enough to compensate for the lack of abilities

-- martial hybrids are probably going to be generally more effective than caster hybrids because casters are more reliant on active highest-available-level abilities and because casters face a "too many things to do at once" issue where they run out of time to cast all their stuff anyway, and it's even worse when multiclassed

-- in any given party you're probably going to want to multiclass your melee folks and single-class your casters.

 

2) Right now Melee (and to an extent Ranger) types pretty much dominate on raw damage, but casters dominate on utility, CC, buffing and debuffing, etc. It's not a clean split though -- even fighters have some CC options, etc., and some caster builds can be very effective DPS.

 

3) You probably want to play a paladin. Paladin/ Beckoner with Shared Flames and the Chanter AoE allied flame lash chant can be very very potent at least in the beta; you could also be quite effective as a single class, will depend on how much you want those top end abilities. 

[SamOftheUels]

Ah, thanks guys, I wasn't aware that that all class info wasn't available yet.

 

I'll look into Paladin/Chanter Combinations, does seem to be the kind of thing I'm looking for