Poll: Which is the Best Class in Pillars of Eternity?: Page 2 of 2

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28 May 2015 - 2:37 am

Monk

How very defensive for a class that needs to be hurt to be effective...

What we're they thinking when they made the monk? I really have to call into question the wisdom behind making a character that needs to be wounded before being effective. I kind of liked how monks were in the old RPGs (in fact they were one of my favorite classes), where they were these defensive warriors who were hard to hit.

So, Obsidian did a 180 with them and now they are the warriors who need to be hit. The problem with this is that they don't even become amazing when wounded. They still suffer from the wounds, but don't get the strongest attack, nor the highest defense nor anything to make it really count. Whereas other classes are just as effective without suffering any harm. 

Paladin

...and how very UNdefensive for a character that should be a tank.

This is the other tank class in the game. Paladins and fighters can both take a lot of punishment, they're damage isn't very different, but there a few things that set them apart. Paladins don't regenerate endurance in combat and can't engage as many foes as fighters. Instead, they have aura like abilities that can boost allies. As such, Paladins are more support-based, yet still tanky.

Oh, a fun part of playing a paladin is that you get to pick an order and this can offer some interesting role-playing options. If you're into that sort of thing, this might be a nice class to try out. 

Priest

The unstoppable priest companion! He's as formidable as his speeches are long. (P.S. obviously a bug!)

You might think of the priest as a cleric and be under the impression that they are invaluable in a party. Not in Pillars of Eternity. It's not that they're not good, as much as healing isn't that important. With the new endurance/health system, the different stat approach allowing me to ramp up defenses and so on, I haven't found much need for healing. You could say that if I'm ever in need to healing in this game, then I'm doing something very wrong and no amount of healing will save that.

However, the priest does have some game-changing spells that can really amplify my party's combat abilities. Attack boosting, armor boosting, damage reduction and so on. There's a good number of seemingly difficult fights that the priest turned into a cakewalk with just a few of his spells.

Ranger

A minor bug that perfectly illustrates the emo-factor of a ranger losing her pet.

What can I say about the ranger? Everyone pretty much agrees that it's one of, or the worst class in the game. Statistically I can accept that. There's always a bigger fish right? Except there's no smaller fish, I guess.

That said, if you're more into the role of a ranger, then this class does it well. You get your pets you get your bonuses against certain enemies and it's NOT based around a pre chosen affinity like those D&D games (which never made sense to me from a player perspective), but you mark one in each battle instead.

Still, I have one major issue with the ranger in Pillars of Eternity. Pet bond. If your pet dies, you get a massive debuff. How does that make sense? For me it would be more obvious to get an "avenging" buff or something. "Distraught by the loss of his pet, the ranger turns towards it's killer with a merciless gaze and unrelenting focus", as opposed to, "curls up in a ball and cries himself to sleep." How very emo of him.

Rogue

I'm all for dual-wielding rogues, but this is ridiculous! 

Assassin would be a more fitting name for this class. The rogue is much less important for his skills than in other RPGs. Because anyone can learn mechanics (that skill for disarming traps and picking locks) at the same level as anyone else. So they needed something to make this guy stand out.

Obisidan gave him the usual backstabbing ability, except now it works as long as the target has certain effects on it (such as being flanked). Then the rogue can jump in and do his dirty trick for massive damage. I do mean massive damage! At the moment this sentence is being written, there is no greater single target damage ability than the rogue's backstab.

Wizard

One of the more fun companions...and also the first to die. 

Well, I'm not sure what to say about the wizard in Pillars of Eternity. He's not the massive fireball-blasting, damage-dealing, room-clearing titan you're used to. Though now it actually makes sense to give him some might for extra damage. Interesting.

The problem with the wizard is the general limitation in spells. Usually you will have only one really good area of effect spell per two levels and that doesn't offer you much. Friendly-fire is also nasty and then there's the fact that you don't get those really awesome spells until later. On the plus side, he's great in those really tough fights. With great single target damage, game-changing debuff spells and that area of effect is nothing to laugh at given some tactical positioning.

One interesting thing to note is that you can prepare several sets of spells in advance with multiple spell books (or grimoires). Though this means you could have access to all the spells during combat, I've never found the need to actually swap out a grimoire, since there are no more than 4 go-to spells per level anyway.

That's it. All the classes with a dash of "my opinion" in each. So, which one is your favorite then? Vote and give us a reason in the comments!

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Stryfer
High standards & easily bored. Good luck
  • Gamer Since: 1992
  • Favorite Genre: RPG

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All Comments (3)

Author_04's picture

Author_04 5 months 2 weeks ago

Surprised how many options you added onto here.

NamiS's picture

NamiS 2 years 8 months ago

Either the Druid or the wizard

Jamie_Hall's picture

Jamie_Hall 8 years 9 months ago

Paladin all the way baby.

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