Class X vs Class Y; which is better and why?

[Hobo Elf]

Inspired by the Mage thread, I'm curious to know what classes people prefer and why. I also want to see if the choice of class reflects personality in any way. Some reasoning why you like your specific choice of class would be nice, and even better if the reason isn't entirely gameplay related (lore and RP value are good examples of other reasons to like a class).

I'm only including the 4 most common archetypes in the poll, so please be specific with what sub-class it is that you like, if it isn't one of the classes in the poll.

As for me, my favored class of choice would be the Bard (such a damn shame it it is a very uncommon class in games). I enjoy the sneakyness of Rogues, but a full blown rapscallion is a bit too cut throat for me. Bards have the air of easy going fun around them, while still being dangerous bastards.
I also enjoy the fact that much of their ability comes from inspirational songs. It's not magic, so they can work in both high fantasy settings and low fantasy settings.

It's hard to pin point what is good about their gameplay value though. Of course it all comes down to buffs with their songs, but many games have handled them in different ways. I think my most favorite iteration of the Bard would be the one from the infamous MMO, Vanguard. Instead of just giving the bards a bunch of buffs, they got different "ingredients" for songs, and they could mix and match and tailor buffs to their own liking whatever way they wanted. I had a buff for every single different occasion imaginable. It was kinda like being Batman with all his insane preparations.

 

[Norfleet]

Cleric is where the action is at. You get pretty much all the neat stuff a mage does, PLUS you get to BEAT STUFF IN THE FACE WITH YOUR MACE, for Allah, or something like that. I mean, sure, there's the entire gods angle to concern yourself with, but on the other hand, in a universe where gods demonstrably exist and are involved, you'd have to be somewhat daft not to believe. Also, invocation to particularly awesome gods makes for a better battlecry. BLOOD AND SOULS FOR LORD TINKY-WINKY!

 

[VentilatorOfDoom]

Arcane>Divine>Rogue>Warrior

 

[laclongquan]

BLOOD AND THUNDER! and SHOW ME YOUR HONOR!

Thank oglaf for this battlecry.

Anyway, if the female forms of infantry profession are allure enough I could choose them. Aside from that, I dont see why I would play boring characters like warriors or archers. As I said, magicians' professions force you to use your INT. A little, at least.

 

[Clockwork Knight]

Rogue, currently. You get to do all sorts of things: handle traps, talk to people, enter into places you shouldn't, open things you shouldn't...you also get to act as a greedy fuck without being instantly labeled as "evil" . And acting as a halfway decent person makes people see you as Robin Fucking Hood.

I like the approach of trying to fuck up the enemy before actually engaging them - despite being something that all classes can do, a rogue gives that feeling of "I'm dead if I fuck up"; a warrior or mage should probably be ok if detected.

I also like archers, and I prefer to be a rogue to play as one, even though they are actually more like warriors. Archer guy with a long range melee weapon and a few utility spells is probably my favorite archetype, since I'm a gigantic pussy and prefer to be as far from harm as possible.

But fuck giant DPS and hiding in plain sight, MMOs raped rogues worse than any other class

 

[Nickless]

Rogues have the most personality and flair to me, they're the more subtle power-grabbers, and don't need to rely upon magic (Usually poorly done in most game settings) or brute force to achieve their ends. To me they represent the finest manipulators, whether they are excelling in the world through a carefully placed word, or the delicate turning of a pin in a lock mechanism.

Lots of people seem to be voting wizard, but none have explained why. I'd be interested in knowing, to me, wizards are often the most boring class conceptually and quite often ruin other classes for me. What's the point of controlling the world through political machinations when some guy with a pointy hat can command the very fabric of the cosmos?

 

[kris]

I can only say that it depends on the game. I have a incling for choosing more agility based characters/classes though.

 

[laclongquan]

Nah, if mages act like they are rogue, meaning recon right next to enemies' armpits, mages deserve to be buttfucked, hard.

The proper range of engagement for mages is medium to long. Close to touch range spells like Burning hands or Vampiric Hands are for desperate situations and shouldnt be the main item in the arcane arsenal.

They could check out to see whether enemies clump enough to worth a fireball or not, but medium range is sufficient for that.

 

[Marquess Cornwallis]

I pick a thief class with diplomatic skills if it's available, or make a similar build for games with other than class-based character systems. The reasons are largely the same as for the posters above; thieves usually have the widest range of skills to use, can get places other characters cannot, and, ideally, playing them should involve a lot of lateral thinking in order to get around problems other classes have a more straightforward solution to. A good thief should rarely if ever resort to violence.

Unfortunately, there are precious few games (even among those that are otherwise good) that implement a thief class properly and/or make it a viable playstyle. This is one of the reasons I resent the rogue label. To me, it stands for what Clockwork Knight mentioned: the MMO-influenced class that can deal a lot of damage with special/backstabbing attacks, is able to open extra chests and hide in plain sight. Case in point: Dragon Age. It has a rogue class that makes sense in the context of the game, etc., but is definitely not the kind of thief class I prefer.

 

[laclongquan]

thief's options mostly constitute of going places stealthily, stealing shits, picking locks. Now if you can plant somthing, ala Fallout series style, yes, they got options to do more.

 

[racofer]

I prefer Wizards.

 

[Felix]

I like Cleric.

 

[latexmonkeys]

Generally my preference is for wizards because of a mixture nostalgic fascination and the abundance of combat options.

I've always appreciated the iconic dnd standard of the fragile low level mage that will reap the rewards of his profession only if he can survive long enough.

I used to play spellcasters exclusively in pnp, where thinking outside of the box in regards to spell casting was alway great fun. Perhaps someday a crpg will be created that aspires to the inventiveness required of a mage in the pnp games. Doubtful.

 

[Disconnected]

I like to play lazy & cowardly iconoclast types with fluid ethics, so rogues for me.

I also hate having to pause my RTS games to give orders & shit, and HiPS+Ultimate Melee Attack Super Plus Extra with Colour is simple enough to micro that I can do it in my sleep without needing to pause the game. Yes, I'm joking. Trying anyway. If I could tuuuurn back time! Ehm.. I'll go away now.

 

[Marquess Cornwallis]

thief's options mostly constitute of going places stealthily, stealing shits, picking locks. Now if you can plant somthing, ala Fallout series style, yes, they got options to do more.

There are usually more skills than just these (at the very least something in the vein of find/disarm/set traps and bluff), but it is the actual implementation that is crucial. Even the basic set you mention can be used to great effect if the game provides alternative solutions to any given problem.

Let's take two hypothetical scenarios:

Game A allows you to pick a guard's pocket for key, then distract him and sneak in; knock him out from behind to get the key; sneak close enough to overhear a conversation that will allow you to get in through a different entrance; pick the lock if your sneak skill is high enough. You can then proceed to sneak past any person inside, taking advantage of manipulation with light sources, watching patrol patterns, etc. Lock picking allows you to get into rooms where you can find a temporary hiding place, discover an alternative route (like climbing up a storey from a blacony) or crucial information. Once you reach your desired destination, you can use either pickpocketing, lock picking or the sneak-and-knock-out approach to obtain the MacGuffin.

In Game B, any method of trying to get inside eventually triggers a dialogue with the gate guard that ends in violent confrontation; nevertheless, you can then proceed to hide in plain sight and backstab the poor bastard. There is no alternative way in. Once inside, you can sneak past almost anyone, regardless of lighting and with little option to avoid them using improvised hideouts; there are however special mini-boss sequences where your character automatically leaves the sneaking mode to initiate a short conversation that ends in a bloodbath. With a high enough lock picking skill, you are able to open chests throughout the place. They give you extra loot. You eventually reach the final boss where your character once again automatically goes out of hiding, and, provided this is a party game and you left your less stealthy comrades down in the entrance hall, they are now teleported to your side to help you out in the epic fight that ensues once you're done with the small talk. A couple of reloads later, the victory is yours and so is the MacGuffin, pried from the cold dead fingers of your adversary.

All I'm saying is I like the first approach a lot more than the other.

 

[Black]

Class Y obviously, X doesn't even come close.

 

[mondblut]

Where is my fighter/cleric/mage option?

 

[Clockwork Knight]

Where is my fighter/cleric/mage option?

Nowhere, since true men aren't indecisive whores

 

[laclongquan]

What thief can do, mages also can do. Sometimes better, sometimes worse, but CAN DO.

Invisibility is one option.

Knock spell is another.

If game allow, telekinesis. Potion also count, in that case, sleep potion, hum?

Of course, should the invisiblity was destroyed due to some freaky conditions, mages are poorly equipped to survive the immediate aftermath. Mind you, if he take care to prepare defensive position before hand he still could survive. Heart-raising, but survivable.

Frankly speaking, mages in DnD game setting is overpowered. They should compensate for that by playing mages is particularly dangerous: each fight start and everyone target mage. Bam and one mage is pincushion. As it is, playing mage is too easy.

 

[Insane Psychic]

Rogues, especially in D&D-style games, but also in most others. They can usually do a little of everything, fight a bit, use a magic item or two AND they can do things that are often exclusive to the class such as stealing/sneaking/acting cool.

 

[Demnogonis Saastuttaja]

Heaven or hell! Fight! Eh?

I prefer the assassin-type rogue. A dagger in the dark is worth a thousand swords at dawn, etc. In Baldur's Gate, backstab those fucking wizards before they get to do anything, the same goes for BG2 unless there's some villain speech cheat thing that prevents it. Steal everything in Morrowind and murder anyone who annoys you (which is often everyone). Sneak around in Fallout and snipe at maximum range. Kill without stealth in NWN2 because stealth is mostly useless because of all sorts of stupid design decisions. Well, NWN2 really sucks gameplay-wise, create all kinds of cool builds which don't affect your game experience in the least.

Murder, the final solution.

A close second is a warrior-necromancer.

Now it really starts to bother me that I can't think of many games where you really have such options. Haven't I just heard of them, or is my memory failing that much?

 

[dr. one]

maggi>rouge>sentinel>clerk>dwarf

kinda depends on a game, but mages are mysterious, rogues are cool, both classes usually require a bit more care on player´s end and both usually offer the most diverse portfolio of options which is why i find these two class types most fun to play.

bards are the best dudes.

 

[Radech]

Bards by far, at least for pnp because of the versatility (and messing with other people because they think bardic knowledge means i got a direct news-feed from the gm's mind), and i like the fact that I'm usually useless, but once in a while i save the whole party because I have just the random skill to pull us through

In games i usually go with a wizard type thing again because of the versatility, bards are masters at winging it and there's not much room for winging it in games

 

[Mangoose]

Usually I go with what class has the most interesting mechanics in that specific game.

 

[Imbecile]

I like rogues because they cover most bases and have style. Also, if I'm honest its because they always have a good chance of getting the loot. And loot is good.

Shame their implementation always sucks in RPGs.