In the spirit of sharing and strategizing, I’d like to create a series of threads, one for each character. The idea would be to explain how you play that particular character and why. What cards do you feel you NEED to stock in your deck or try extra hard to acquire because they are central to your strategy of how you will play this character? What skill, power and card feats did you choose and why? If they are helpful enough, maybe Paizo will even sticky them. But that is up to them.
To be clear, this isn't about the belief that there is only one way to play a character. Because there is only one way to play a character: the way that makes it fun for YOU to play. This is more about sharing ideas that maybe someone else hasn't thought about before.
I decided to try this because there are more than a few forums asking for advice about a certain character. And I've personally (and other have as well I think) discovered I wasn't actually following the rules when I see things others have posted.
And I also thought about the fact that I've not felt interested in playing Seelah. But then I thought, maybe that is just because I don’t realize how to play her. So maybe there are others out there too that might discover through this that a character as experienced is not the same as the character as theory and realize they might like to try a new character they would have assumed they’d hate playing.
And it can also provide feedback to the design team. They’ll see the things we are doing with their characters. Maybe they’ll be benevolent and add more things to help the way we play. Or maybe they’ll be malevolent and add things to hinder the way we play. But either way they’ll have feedback.
When posting, please be so kind as to follow these guidelines:
- Specify the size of the group you play the character (or this version of the character) in and what other characters are in your group. That can effect your decision making for your character. You might want Seoni to carry Speed if she's with Sajan and Mersiel, but she might be better off with Glibness if its just her and Lem.
- Limit your posts to things that are central to your strategy. For example, Holy Candle is a great card and probably every group wants to have someone have it. But unless there is a reason your character has to have it for your strategy, please don’t mention it. In other words, “My version of Merisiel has Holy Candle because I cycle my cards pretty well,” might help thinking about whose deck to put Holy Candle in, but it isn't helpful about your strategy for playing Merisiel. But saying, “I give Sajan items like Holy Candle because he can get their full value of use and then bury them, which helps him cycle his blessings around faster,” is a part of your strategy for Sajan and something others might want to consider trying.
- For now, let’s limit it to discussing just what is on the standard class of each character and save the role cards for when Deck 4 gets released. But if you choose a card or a feat because you are working towards a certain role card, feel free to state that. If this is popular, we can make threads for the role cards later.
If this is not something anyone else would like, then I apologize for wasting your time reading the preceding paragraphs. You can hold out hope that it will be so unpopular that it will soon fall way down the list of threads, never to be seen again.
Anyway, sorry for the long post. In the next few minutes I’ll start a thread for each character with a similar name to this one. If you want to share please do so in a spirit of cooperation and kindness.
I figured someone would have posted here by now!
I started Lem solo to give him a spin, now play in 2 character group with Sajan.
I wasn't quite sure how well cycling the Cures would work, so I took two. After a scenario or two I dropped a Cure in favor of another utility spell. It turned out that I rarely encounted the second Cure, and if I did, I really didn't need it much. If I had to Cure more than just Sajan, I'd look into having another one, since Cure will inevitably fail to recharge at the worst possible time.
Augury is a great spell to have, since Lem's combat can be unreliable. If you know some big baddie is in the future, you can tuck it under the cards you'd rather encounter.
An attack spell has also come in handy for an extra punch, also to combat magic-only monsters. I boosted my DEX early for some more reliable crossbow damage, but the spell is still better.
Extra spells will always come in handy. Not only for more utility, but more chances to grab a much needed cure spell from the discard. If I were in a larger group that could do with some more utility, I'd definitely grab spells over items.
I prefer to use Crossbows as weapons, since they don't have a discard/recharge to add their full damage. Later I'll probably grab another weapon, and take daggers since I can recharge them to add to my own combat. With a Crossbow out all the time, the dagger would be a nice extra punch every now and then. Daggers give another chance to recharge a card to make my self-cures more effective at getting key cards back. Also, to keep a backup weapon in my deck in case my crossbow lands in the discard.
I really wish that I had more items. Our little group means we're more independent, so I could do with some more powerful self-help. Amulet of Life works great in place of armor, but with only two items it's hard to get back if you fail to recharge. Also looking forward to the Sihedron Medallion later on. Three would be more comfortable, four would be great.
I think I may just add items instead of armor for card feats. The Reduce all damage to 0 on the armor could be a lifesaver, but the fact that multiple items works well with Lem's hand/discard trade power would probably be more useful. Not to mention the Amulet/Medallion reducing 'damage', rather than just 'Combat damage' as on most armors. I'd probably rethink this if I had more casters in my group who'd also be fighting over these items. The Snakeskin Tunic with its Dex +1 reveal is tempting, but it's actual usefulness compared to the constant slot in my hand might not be worth it. At least until I get a bigger hand size.
I don't know that I'll add any more blessings until maybe further down the Adventure Path. Since Lem can trade out blessings in his discard, he already has great flexibility, and his cure helps bring them back for more explores.
I'd warrant taking allies a little more than Blessings. Their abilities vary more, so it's more useful to have a smattering of them. Lem does well with the non-exploration Allies as well, since he can trade those out for Allies in the discard that do have explorations.
Well, long post, but that's kind of my mindset when it comes to Lem for me, in a 2-man group. I think a fair amount would carry over, but being jack-of-all-trades the strategy will definitely change depending on group makeup.