Which starting class would you say is the best and why?
Myself, I think about two: One is the warlock, as he can use his invocations at will, besides of some other abilities, like damage reduction, fast healing and magic item creation.
The other one would be the monk. I like this class because the little need for weapons or armor and shields, as he only needs his fists to fight against enemies. Abilities like fast movement, immunities to poison and diseases, self healing, improved evasion, spell resistance and quivering palm make the monk a formidable character.
That's my point of view, but I'm sure most of you think different, so why don't you share your point of view?
Fighter--extra feat, proficiency with all martial weapons, good starting hit points...you can always go from there
Fighter - as above
Cleric - armor proficiencies, healing, turning, Jozan's the total package!
Also Monks whom I call Mage slayers. Decent hit points and AC (although all of it is also their touch AC) and good luck catching a fleeing monk if they get too hard pressed in a fight.
Awesome saves, Spell resistance, evasion, stunning on a fortitude save, and able to blow past a wizards defensive line of cronies with insane speed and tumblling, sometimes not even expending that much effort if they have the abundant step ability.
Most importantly You are playing a Bad Ass that can reduce an Iron Golom to rubble with yourbare hands, or feet, of elbows, or skull (attack discirptions never ever get old)
I'll be repeating what's already been said but...
Although I've never actually played a regular old fighter, I'd have to go with that class. By adding a single fighter level to any character, ables you to use most weapons, armors, shields, and a few other feats as well. Plus a good 10 hp to start off. Now that I think of it, why doesn't everybody start out as fighters?
Ultradan
By adding a single fighter level to any character, ables you to use most weapons, armors, shields, and a few other feats as well. Plus a good 10 hp to start off. Now that I think of it, why doesn't everybody start out as fighters?
Ultradan
Everone TRIES Ultradan, but as the absolute most awsome starng class there are too many people wanting to try but not enough straight fighters to train them. When an adventurer starts planning his career he has a good chance of getting into bard, or wizard acadamies, but a FIGHTER school? that's like trying to get into Harvard's medical school. It's one of those things were you just need connections.
(no offence meant in the unlikely chance to anyone on this site that actually attended Harvard Medical school I'm shure you worked very hard to get there)
(And when I said unlikely I didn't mean that the people using this site are stupid I'm shure I we wanted to we could all go to harvard)
(not that Harvard is that much better than other schools I just meant to use it as........ screw it....... being PC is too much work)
Well I'm not sure if the question is more about what is the best class to start with if your character is going to have multiple classes or maybe what is a good starting class for a new player. My answer would probably be the same for both.
Rogue. First and foremost there are the skill points. Starting at lvl 1 with rogue gives you 32 skill points not including any Int bonus. Rogues get a decent amount of weapons and light armor. They don't have great hit points but at first level its all relative in my mind. It's and easy class to justify starting in (I lived on the streets) and for new players it doesn't have too many complicated rules (learn how to make a skill check and an attack roll and your set). That's just my 2 cents.
For best class to take at first level, I'd have to go with the Rogue. The massive skill points it offers just can't be beat. If you're human, it gets even better. Plus humans can take the able learner feat, and always only have to pay 1 skill point per rank, regardless of a skill being class or cross class. With a high Int, Wizard or Psion are great choices to multiclass.
For best class for a new player to start out on, I'd have to go with the following list:
Rogue: Great skill selection, early abilities are already chosen, and all abilities are both easily understood and applied.
Warlock: If I were to list the arcane spell classes in order of ease, it'd go Warlock, Wizard, Sorcerer (the limited choices a Sorc gets requires much more thought than a wizard's daily choices). There's few choices to make, and all of them are useable at will without limit.
Barbarian: In all honesty, this class is a far superior fighting class for any newbie to take. Their abilities are all automatically chosen and their niche is crystal clear. Fighters can get complicated with all their feats as the newbie tries to make them as effective as possible.
Overall, any class with limited options is better than something that has a lot of choices to make when one is first starting out. It provides them with a quick and easy character they can use to cut their teeth on the rules.
(no offence meant in the unlikely chance to anyone on this site that actually attended Harvard Medical school...
I once played a character in Call of Cthulhu that went to Harvard.
Ultradan
I think that a good starting class if you're going to multiclass would either be the rogue or the fighter for the afore mentioned reasons. Since I haven't had the luxury of seeing the Warlock yet, I have no comment on it yet. I started as a fighter and found it easy to play, though picking the feats was confusing at first, so a barbarian probably would be better.
A bit from my Hoarde
For simplicity I would have to agree with the barbarian, give the barbarian a big axe and watch them play!
For flexibility I would pick ranger - the ability to fight and the skill points to operate in a dungeon or wilderness or city environment make rangers indispensable.
The best class to pick at level one is hands down the rogue. You can cheat and get back any other class feature...you cannot get skill points back that you missed. As long as you can survive first level with the meager hit points you start with, you'll never miss them afterwards. Second level, if you're min/maxxing, goes to the fighter for all the free feats, including all the proficiencies you could ever want and more hit points. The fresh kicker to the Fortitude saving throw isn't a bad thing either. After that groundwork is laid, you can pick and choose where you will. Choosing the right race can allow you to choose any third class and do just fine as a level 1 rogue/level 1 fighter/ any level whatzis with no experience penalty. You'll be able to wear any armor, shield, or most weapons, have all the entry level skills of the rogue, which at the very least fleshes out your character in several ways you might not otherwise afford the skills in (everyone feels the urge to sneak from time to time, admit it). At just the small penalty of two levels, it's almost a no-brainer for power-gamers, in my humble opinion.
To start, either Cleric or Rogue.
I have argued the Cleric is the best class in the game. They have a very good base attack progression, good hit points, great armor, and good saves. Additionally, their spells are great for many reasons, and they finally have two other feautres: turn undead and domains. Domains can help you customize your Cleric, and turn undead is both useful and easy to use with feats and the like.
Rogue skill points, plus sneak attack, make them a great first level. Even if you only take one level in rogue, you get a heap of skill points and always have that sneak attack.
As to the fighter, he is great for a one level bump along the way, for a feat, hp and BA. However, other classes often have their basic abilities at first, so I usually hold off Ftr until 2 or 3. Also, rationally, fighter is more likely during the course of adventuring: As you travel, you fight more, and train daily.
Personally (if I plan on Multi Classing) I always either start with a fighter (up to level 2)or add it at level 2 and 3 (can't underestimate the power of 2 feats in 2 levels or the hit points, and weapon and armor proficiencies). Unless the character concept calls for no fighting abilities whatsoever, in which case its rogue for the skill points at 1st level.
For the new player. Go with barbarian, as well when asked what they do...."I hit the damn thing!" or "I charge in and Hit the damn thing!" THat would fall under the KISS principle.
But I think i have just been convinced that a rogue is also a good first level class due to the skill points, but me personally. I think I would find it hard to justify why my rogue who only did it one level would just up and do something else. But again that is me.
later
I don't know if this is the best but my damn players just discovered the fighter -> Psionic Warrior angle. Feats, feats and more feats for the first 4 levels and one gets a few PSPs and maybe the ability to enlarge self for a short while in the bargian. Loose a few hps and one rank of attack progression in the process but the zillion and one feats seems to be worth it for them.
Jedi Guardian.
