Favorite character style

Syndaree

Greetings fellow forumers!

Since I've never come across a poll like this on these forums, I decided to create it to satisfy my curiosity.

What is your favorite character style and the one you most naturally gravitate towards when playing RPGs?

Please provide some examples too

Syndaree

For me it is almost always a Magic fighter - protective spells, damage spells, flaming swords...what is there not to like

Favorite examples: Cleric in Neverwinter Nights, Sentinel in Knights of the Old Republic, Fighter/mage in Baldur's Gate

Kamigoroshi

I have a couple of favourite styles. Each of them being fun within a variety of RPG's:

Arcane Monk: Basically an unarmored, unarmed, close-quarter Sorcerer. So much fun with infinite specialization possibilities! Really does add new flavour to NwN's Pale Master. Throwing punches with an skeleton arm? Yes, please!

Disease Carrier: Fell, germ ridden, pestilence spreading, cancer spellcasters. Basically Anti-Healers who specializes in debuffs of the worst kind. Probably my favourite caster playstyle in The Elder Scrolls franchise, given the existence of Namira and Peryite. Also viable for evil Druids and Priests of Talona.

Hunter: Similar to a Ranger at first glance. But without spells, deity, alignment restriction, or Robinhood clicheé attached to them. Just a mere down-to-earth, survivalist with an affinity for alchemy and outdoor cooking. My usual playstyle in Skyrim when I have realism mods like Frostfall installed.

Engineerer: Some games let you create stuff. Other games give you enough tools to forge for lasting a whole steampunk playthrough. Whenever it's the Artificer class from DDO, a Dwemer specialist in TES, or a technic-focused character in Arcanum. This is how things get really done. Not via magical upgrades in Cespenar's shop!

SomeSort

I always thought I was a fan of magic-user-types, but noticed during actual play that the micromanagement often felt like a chore and I rarely played them to their full potential, (casting every round, prebuffing, etc.)

Nowadays, both conceptually and in practice, I tend to gravitate towards what you call "finesse fighters" in games. Swashbucklers, fencers, dagger-throwers, sneaks, diplomats, etc. It scratches my itch to have multiple approaches to a problem (unlike a pure heavy fighter), but at the same time doesn't burden me with too many choices at once.

lroumen

A back stabbing rogue, potentially singing with fun touch based spells.

O_Bruce

I tend to gravitate the most towards arcane spellcasters. My most used and modified/changed charname is mage/specialist. I also tend to go with magic in other games - Sorceress in Diablo 2, Wizard in Diablo 3, Wizard in Pillars of Eternity and so on.

There are exceptions. In the games in Witcher franchise I don't usually focus on Signs. Also, in games in which no magic is present... well, I tend to focus on meele. Using improvised meele weapon in Falout franchise feels good, until the franchise was transformed to a shoot fest by idiots who bought the license.

AndreaColombo

I'm always playing a Fighter in plate armor. I do the same in Pillars of Eternity.

I just really like Fighters.

semiticgoddess

I like finding new ways of playing the game, so I tend to use any class that I think can do something weird and unusual. It doesn't matter what the playstyle is; just as long as it can do something I've never seen before.

Aasim

Melee fighter , flail and shield, with some divine spellcasting (Cavalier or fighter-cleric), sometimes a swashbuckler. Don't like arcanes, don't like range combat, don't like rangers, don't like bards, don't like backstab, don't like traps, don't like single-class clerics, so I'm kinda limited in options what to play.

lamaros

I like playing sneaky types who can avoid battles and just lay out punishment whenever they really need to.

I like playing BG with Blades, Thieves, Rangers (stalkers esp.), etc for this reason.

My favourite NPC is Monty in BG1 and Valygar in BG2 from a class perspective, because I often play the blade myself (sorry Haer'Dalis).

Mechanically I find late SoA and ToB spellcasting entirely boring (fun, but too repetitive), so I shy away from playing out and out spellcasters.

I've not played Monk much, but I think I might enjoy playing that. I like Rasaad.

Yulaw9460

Deleted.

tbone1

Lately I've found myself gravitating to the battle priest. Maybe because I've been reading about Norse gods lately.

Quickblade

I generally prefer archers, preferably with stealth, followed by finesse melee, preferably from stealth.

My IE protagonists are always Rangers (base type) or multiclass F/T. My preferred style is to have my protagonist predominantly solo bow-kite towards the waiting rest of the party, spreading out hostiles, and using stealth to cheat mages of their spell targets, and also melee ambush from stealth targets of opportunity such as unloading dual-wielding on a lone mage from point-blank range.

In Diablo 1, my main was always a rogue, always with a bow.
In Diablo 2, at first I favored Amazon with bows when I was younger, but then I later became a Sorceress (Enchantress) Archer as my main, using Enchant to make arrows do a ton of fire damage with some Cold magic on the side.
In my first MMO, EQ1, I played Ranger exclusively until MUCH later when I played Cleric on the side dual-boxing. Rangers were 95% finesse melee with a side of druid spells for light healing and crowd control.
In Aion, MMORPG, my main was a Cleric (main Healer class) with a good helping of divine damage, unlike EQ1 Clerics who were almost entirely just healing. My second was Assassin, which played very similar to EQ1 Rogue, very stealth based and could unload punishing melee damage.

In p&p DnD, 3.0-3.5E, I have favored pixie Sorcerer(favored class)/rogues, using magic for multiple defensive layerings BG-style. Never really offensive powerhouses, I could prove to be INCREDIBLY hard to hit from both an AC and probability perspective, stacking Blur/Blink/Mirror Image/Stone Skin, and the way house rules were, I had an INSANE AC. By the end of my most famous one's career, she had 120 AC buffed up, and something like a 90 Touch AC. Or, to put it as my DM said "You have such a high AC, a 5,000 year old Immortal (who would have something like 120 levels) actually has to roll to hit you". That was around 28 PC levels, we retired characters to NPCdom at 30th.

WatchForWolves

Always all-rounders, no matter how ineffective it might be in the end.

ThacoBell

Finesse. You may be stronger than me, but you can't kill me if you can't hit me

Yulaw9460

Deleted.

SomeSort

Yulaw9460 said:

ThacoBell said:

Finesse. You may be stronger than me, but you can't kill me if you can't hit me

I suppose that depends on how people define finesse. I'd say a Kensai fits the definition above, but they're sorely lacking in the protection departement.

A well-played Kensai can avoid getting hit entirely. Equip a reach weapon, get your speed factor down to zero, attack an enemy as it approaches, and then the moment your attack is finished back up out of range of any counter. Finesse fighting at its finest.

(From my standpoint, it's a truly tedious exercise in micromanagement. But also a sterling example of finesse fighting at the highest level.)

Nightingale

I think my favorite character style could best be described as a "buffer", "enhancer", or "non-healing support". I've always been a fan of playing a secondary support role, not in the sense of healing wounds, but in providing sustained enhancements for other, more offense-oriented characters. I don't need to be the one dealing the damage to feel useful, probably because I tend to fall into the helper/assistant role IRL. If my spells/songs/whatever can help my teammates to deal the killing blow, I'm satisfied. I guess that's why I often find myself gravitating toward classes like Bards in BG or Chanters in PoE (Well, that and the singer ascetic).

Of the options available in the poll, I'd say finesse fighter, magic archer, magician arcanist, and magician summoner are roles I find appealing as well.

Syndaree

That's interesting, I would've expected way more archers and wizards

dustbubsy

Me hate micromanagement.

UnderstandMouseMagic

Thief/Rogue able to steal and sneak around disarming traps as well as some fighting.

jesterdesu

I'd have added stealthy to the poll. I picked all rounder as ranger is arguably that with fighting skills, stealth and druid spells

Zaghoul

Not sure what you would call it but lately with Lost Druids n Palemasters I like to summon up dread wolves or skellies. Then chuck in a skull trap to loosen them up first, afterwards proceeding to disease, poison and enfeeble the tar outa the opponents, then hanging out behind the summons and beatin the tar out of em with the staff of withering, with an occasional backslap & fistful bees with my ghoulish arm replacement attached with the claw of kazgorath as a hand. Sometimes loose a little experience with the staff but I'm sure Velsharoon and Orcus appreciate the nice prezzies.
Ample use of the wand of frost of course for ice cubes n the 'soda pop' after the fray to go with grilled dread and vampiric wolf meat drops.Nikademus the quasit usually has good recipes, when he ain't out nabbin' the occasional little forest critter scamperin' around. it doesn't help Xzar keeps talkin' bout 'evil bunnies', got the little critter paranoid or something.

So a magic summoner with no business getting into a fight that likes to get into some' hand to hand' as well, I reckon.

Not sure what that classifies as here. It didn't quite seem to fit the poll so I just chose other. Magician/summoner with a penchant for hand to hand, just as long as he can poke the staff through the ribcages of the skellies first.

If playing the dirgesinger I guess similar. Get em all nice n depressed first with a nice sad song so they can't hit didley and save at less than full strength, then sending his skellie in to wipe their tears away.

Lawd, you modders got me playin cold, man, real cold. Feels...nice.

Maybe need a disturbed playstyle option to choose for 'some' folks on the poll.
Well, at least I ain't no sneaky ol assassin or big bruising blackguard, those dude play nasty like, hehheh, although most runs now they get invited to the BBQ afterwards for helpin' out.

ifupauline

Healer always, you can play them in so many different ways, plus I hate potion. Potions are evil. You can only use them once so you have to be... CAREFUL about supply and money you know... what a rip off.

Gallowglass

I voted arcanist because I have some slight leaning in that direction, but really I don't have any fixed preference. I deliberately play a lot of different character types to keep it interesting, and I enjoy them all.

batoor

Melee fighter but preferably with some uniqueness to him. Still waiting for that ideal blackguard/anti-paladin class.

And I really have a thing about Two-handed swords.

SomeSort said:

Yulaw9460 said:

ThacoBell said:

Finesse. You may be stronger than me, but you can't kill me if you can't hit me

I suppose that depends on how people define finesse. I'd say a Kensai fits the definition above, but they're sorely lacking in the protection departement.

A well-played Kensai can avoid getting hit entirely. Equip a reach weapon, get your speed factor down to zero, attack an enemy as it approaches, and then the moment your attack is finished back up out of range of any counter. Finesse fighting at its finest.

(From my standpoint, it's a truly tedious exercise in micromanagement. But also a sterling example of finesse fighting at the highest level.)

Hmm..I think Spirit armor solves the Kensais lack of protection overall. Without having to cheese the shield amulet recharge in shops. The duration is really long as well.

But yeah the reach with two-handed weapons also helps.

JumboWheat01

I'm torn between finesse fighter and healer. Almost all martial characters I draw up focus more on dexterity than strength (like Rangers or Rogues, though I'm known to draw up finesse Fighters and Paladins,) and I do have a great love of playing Clerics and Druids, though I tend to play them with a different focus (like Trickery or War Clerics, or Evoker Druids.)

I think I settled on finesse fighter because I tend to subvert normal healing classes into less healing while I alter strength-based classes into finesse ones because I enjoy the idea of it.

OrlonKronsteen

Blackguards and Undead Hunters are my favourite. I love them thematically, and as I'm less and less inclined to enjoy micromanagement, it makes them ideally suited for my play-style. After that I'll go for a Stalker or a Fighter/Thief. It's been a long time since I rolled an arcane or divine caster of any kind.

Nimran

Enchanter/Illusionists: I like messing with minds more than simply destroying. BG let's me do just that, which is very nice. I guess I'm just a at heart.

Balrog99

Stealthy illusionist.

I enjoy playing the mage/thief type of character the best. Versatile and deadly. Can use bows, backstab, disappear at will and even unlock doors and chests or render traps irrelevant. Perfect for solo runs if that's your inclination.

Balrog99

Zaghoul said:

Maybe need a disturbed playstyle option to choose for 'some' folks on the poll.

Now I've got 'Down with the Sickness' playing in my head!