Now that we have a plethora of options, I'm curious which characters people are drawn to for various classes.
So, let's hear your votes for your top pick for each of the seven classes currently available for organized play. Share who you like most, and add a brief explanation why if you are so inclined. I'll tabulate the results and we can all chip in to send a potion of lucubration to the winners.
Top Vote Getters
Bard: ?
Cleric:?
Fighter: ?
Ranger: ?
Rogue: ?
Sorcerer: ?
Wizard: ?
Hm, some of them are pretty close.
Bard: Class Deck Lem. Has the best spell usage of any of the bards, and has an awesome hand size of 6. Can actually compete with Seoni/Ezren in terms of raw spell damage, and then he can bring those back to his hand by discarding another spell.
Cleric: Probably Heggel, because revealing a card to add a bonus to any check you make is just stupid.
Fighter: Flenta, I think. She's the only one with hand size 5, and she isn't being cluttered up with armors. Her spell usage could add some interesting versatility.
Ranger: Really not sure here. I think Class Deck Harsk offers the most, but Arabundi is definitely a contender.
Rogue: S&S Merisiel. Maaaaaybe Class Deck Merisiel because of all her ranged weapon options, but I think overall the extra skills S&S Merisiel has wins out.
Sorcerer: RotRL Seoni is the best I think, with both the auto recharge and discard a card to do damage check. Class Deck Seoni is pretty good too, with force being a better damage type, and Qualzar has very useful powers.
Wizard: Radillo, maybe? She's the only one without a weapon wasting space, and she's got a few blessings to work with, unlike Ezren.
Tough choices for many of these. Most of the class decks have 3 I really like and only 1 that doesn't appeal.
Bard - Have to go with CD Lem. I like that he is a full powered caster for both Divine and Arcane here. Seems very valuable in small parties.
Cleric - Hardest choice. Probably Zarlova but CD Kyra is great too.
Fighter - Vika - adventuring blacksmith, 'nuff said. SS Val is nice too though.
Ranger - Really like all the options except Wrathack. Have to go with Agna though. Animal companions are fun and dual wield looks good.
Rogue - Like the idea behind Wu Shen so probably have to go with her. The two new Merisiels are both ok as well.
Sorcerer - CD Seoni. No one else is close.
Wizard - Another really tough one. Big fan of both Melindra and Radillo. Melindra wins out though, since I find Disable to be a super useful skill (at least in RoTR). Also love the flavour on the character.
While it may change after playing with some of the new ones, my two favourite characters so far are Amiri and Seelah. I'm really waiting for their class decks to come out so I can use them in OP.
Bard: Meliski - The ability to reroll dice retroactively plus location deck manipulation? Count me in.
Cleric: CD Kyra - There are several good choices, but class deck Kyra is a power house. I just love Fireflower.
Fighter: S&S Valeros - Tactcian Valeros makes everyone elses job easier.
Ranger: Agna - She lacks the ability to help other people combat check, but she is a self sufficient powerhouse.
Rogue: Olenjack - I'm not sure he is powerful, but he just looks fun to me.
Sorcerer: CD Seoni - Very reliable and hard hitting,
Wizard: Radillo - Lots of good options here, but Radillo brings tremendous versatility and party assistance to the table..
Ack, can't edit the OP. Votes so far
Bard: Lem [CD] (3), Meliski (2)
Cleric: Heggel (2), Kyra [CD] (2), Zarlova (1)
Fighter: Flenta (3), Valeros [S&S] (2), Vika (1),
Ranger: Agna (3), Harsk [CD] (1), Warthack (1)
Rogue: Merisiel [S&S] (2), Olenjack (2) Wu-Shen (1),
Sorcerer: Seoni [CD] (3), Amaryllis (1). Seoni [RotR ] (1)
Wizard: Radillo (3), Melindra (1), Darago (1)
Lini from RotR was OP. Does that count?
:3
Curse you Orbis! Vote like reasonable gnome.
Curse you Orbis! Vote like reasonable gnome.
Alright XD
You'll have to give me a bit, though. I only gave the ones I'm not personally interested in a cursory glance (that includes entire classes).
I'm going to do Bards last, since I spent so much time agonizing over them. They're my favorite of the current class decks (barring getting to see what boons they can take) with clerics being an easy second place - but the bards have 4 characters I like a lot where the clerics only have two I like a lot and one I like.
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Cleric: A tough choice between Zarlova and Heggal for me, even though CD Kyra and her sword fetish looks fun. But, seeing as how RotR Lini was nearly broken (although Heggal only seems good at first look), his similiar ally ability has me inclined to vote for him.
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Fighter: Because this is about which one I like best, I'm going to go with Flenta because she has 5 hand to start with, only has one armor, and has some spells for flexibility (even if they'll probably spend the whole adventure path as basics because she banishes them... there's always cure!)
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Ranger: I'm going to go with CD Harsk here for the abundance of scouting abilities. Although, like the fighter deck, none of them really do it for me.
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Rogue: I want to say Olenjack because he's interesting and he looks to be hilarious when supported by Damiel (who can buff any combat with poison and extra d6's)... but I think the Merisiel's take the cake. Free auto evades are so good... And I can't decide between the two. They're very, very similiar. I guess I'll go with the CD one for the free ability of using longbows better (different strength die).
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Sorceror: RotR Seoni. There's several others that come close, but that auto-recharge is so nice...
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Wizard: I'm going to have to go with Darago here, because he's such a cool concept. Although I wish very badly that you could get the abilities that let you capture any monster and banish a monster to draw a card simultaneously.
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Bard: This one is really tough. All three Lems are really good, and so is Meliski.
Meliski - His reroll abilty looks really good, and that he can use it on himself is awesome, an important trait in the bards (who tend to be poorer in combat than most). 4-6 Spells are a plus as, in my opinion, they are the best card type in the game between versatility and usefulness. Choosing his card type is a bonus, but not too big a deal for him since he doesn't need a particular card badly. Coming with an armor is a hiccup, but it's only one so not that bad. But the main problem with Meliski, that keeps him from being #1 for me is his lack of combat ability. He only has 4 spells to fight with, and if you want to be a brawler then you don't want to take weapon feats, which leaves things awkward until you get your role card; I think most games will be spent scrambling for a weapon early game, perhaps beggaring one off of an ally. But, I'm unsure exactly how powerful his reroll ability will be - if it turns out fantastic and not just great in gameplay, he could become my favorite.
RotR Lem - Choosing your favorite card here is great as Lem only has one weapon - but for that reason he only needs one. I went through all of RotR relying on weapons but only having one in his deck. 4-6 spells are great again. And he can swap out allies or spells or blessings for others of the same type that fit his situation better. This is really useful, especially for spells, since they cover a wide variety of situations. But the best thing about RotR Lem is his overall balance - good spread of cards and skills - combined with the Virtuoso's ability to let him power himself as well as others. This character is just solid.
S&S Lem - At first, I wasn't too enthralled by this Lem. Two weapons three spells instead of one weapon four spells isn't ideal on a bard since you can always start with his weapon. Many of his role abilities are situational, too. But the more I look at him, the more I warm up to him. The finesse ability makes his combat game a little better, he picks his favorite card type, he gets to shuffle into his deck instead of recharge, and his ability that ads d4's to non-combat checks against banes also works on barriers (the word "combat" always makes me think of monsters, so this took a bit to sink in). Most importantly, though, he can buff himself with the recharge for d4 ability from the get-go, an ability on RotR Lem that's so good that I never consider RotR's other role. This is fantastic. S&S Lem can handle his own combats right from the start of the adventure path easily without having to spend precious spell slots on attack spells. Another solid character.
CD Lem - This Lem is all about the spells. His favorite card type becomes spell instead of choice, he's got fantastic arcane and divine skills, and his Mending ability becomes spell only, which isn't so bad as that's what it's used on 80% of the time. But there's one glaring problem here athat turned me off of him compared to the prior 3 bards for a while: he STILL only has the same 4-6 spells. When he wants them for his combat, for his utility, for his mending ability, for his recharge-to-draw abilities on his role cards, this is just not enough to work with, or at least not as many as you want. He also can't help himself with his aid ability ever, although he gets to heal himself if he recharges a healing card... accept that those aren't exactly populous and the main one will be, oh wait, cure - a spell! He wants to do so much with his limited spell slots. He's very solid except for that relatively small number of spells. I did notice something that moved him back into the running for me, however. Both of his roles have an ability to recharge an arcane or divine card, depending on the role, to draw a card. Now, there are a few items with these traits that he can do this with, but the vast majority are just spells, which he does not want to be putting back in his deck, so I counted this as a wasted set of powers... until I remembered that all blessings are divine. That makes this power (on the tent preacher role anyway) much more interesting and useful, since hes bound to have several blessings on top of spells and potentially items to recharge.
A tough decision. I think it's between RotR Lem and S&S Lem, on the whole. And since this is a "favorite" contest, not a "best" contest, I;m going to go with S&S Lem because I haven't played him to death yet. Lol
As for my choices, here they are:
Bard: Meliski - there is something about a Dwarf Brawler that just seems fun.
Cleric: Zarlova - her role as a Theurge seems like it could be rather interesting.
Figther: Flenta - a fighter is something I have been wanting since RotR.
Ranger: Arabundi - Mage Hunter role sold me on him.
Rouge: Its a toss up between Merisel and Wu Shen. Will decide later.
Sorcerer: Valendron - he seems to be a Ranger/Sorcerer. That's just kick ass.
Wizard: not a fan if this class. But, if I have to choose one, it will be Darago... Using undead to fight is still kick ass.
If I were to just pick from S&S characters it would have to be Seltyiel and Lirianne. They are new classes and seem pretty fun. But, as a lot of people I am still waiting on my subscription, so when it comes in I will be able to choose better after a quick test run through of the 1st scenario with them.
So, I forgot there was a S&S Merisiel. I do think she's better than the other two. That's where I'll put my rogue vote.
Bard: I'm going to be different and go with Lem [S&S]. With the ability to have weapons (with proficiency), finesse, choice of favored card, and being able to inspire himself right out the gate I see him as being the most versatile and self-sufficient bard available. He will be my first OP character. I really wanted to like Siwar, but with her not having weapons to start out with, having Ally locked in as her favored card type, and most of her role powers revolving around other characters, I had to turn her down. I may try her out later, though.
Cleric: Hmmm, looks like I'll be different again and take Tarlin. It was a close call between him and Heggal with his very good self-buff, but in the end I really like Tarlin as a good beat stick with a lot of potential self-healing. Although if there is only one Blessing of Iomedae in the class deck, I may change my mind and go with Heggal instead.
Fighter: I'll go with Valeros [S&S] on this one. Being able to gain the ability to move when a character encounters a villain is just HUGE. It was pretty close between him and Flenta, though.
Ranger: I'll take Harsk [CD] for this one. He has so much scouting potential and it doesn't cost him a single card to do it!
Rogue: Merisiel [S&S] looks good to me.
Sorcerer: I'd use Seoni [CD] for the big blasts. This was actually a hard choice because I wasn't really a big fan of most of the Sorcerer mechanics in general.
Wizard: Darago looks like a lot of fun. Having his undead minions do his dirty work is pretty cool. I really wanted to like Radillo, but d4s in Constitution and Wisdom can just be way too crippling for a character using the Skull & Shackles set and she doesn't have any powers that can make up for it. Way too much of her deck would have to be dedicated to making up for those stats. The only thing I don't really like about Darago is how much of his Cards List is used up by Armor. I wish some of that was moved over the Ally/Blessing slots.
Huh, we picked very similarly Orbis.
After reading the other responses, I'd like a clarification: are we supposed to vote for which one we like the best, or which we think is the strongest?
Huh, we picked very similarly Orbis.
Great minds!
Although I still can't get over CD Lem's mere 4 spells. Why couldn't it be more? I just had to go with a different one. :/
After reading the other responses, I'd like a clarification: are we supposed to vote for which one we like the best, or which we think is the strongest?
Both, I think.
Ones you like best. How you define that is up to you.
Lol, I just reread the OP, and I totally glossed over the "brief" explanation part.
Still, you guys got a free book out of it, so hey! XD
Oh, okay. When I saw "OP characters," I figured it was just ones that were powerful :P
I'll stick by my answers.
Nonsense, your feedback rocks, Orbis.
edit: though you did vote for a wizard deck with 2 armor and 2 weapons. I think you are losing your edge.
Bard: Lem [CD] (3), Meliski (3) Lem [S&S] (2)
Cleric: Heggel (3), Kyra [CD] (2), Zarlova (2), Tarlin (1)
Fighter: Flenta (5), Valeros [S&S] (3), Vika (1),
Ranger: Agna (3), Harsk [CD] (3), Arabundi (1). Warthack (1)
Rogue: Merisiel [S&S] (4), Olenjack (2) Wu-Shen (1),
Sorcerer: Seoni [CD] (4), Seoni [RotR ] (2), Amaryllis (1), Valendron (1)
Wizard: Darago (4), Radillo (3), Melindra (1),
Wow, poor Ezren. He's the only iconic not on the list :P
Question - were these for sale at GenCon or something? I've not seen them in retail and Paizo shows them as September shipping for me. Are there previews of these cards somewhere?
Thanks!
Question - were these for sale at GenCon or something? I've not seen them in retail and Paizo shows them as September shipping for me. Are there previews of these cards somewhere?
They were for sale at GenCon. But you can also get their character sheets to see what they can do.
There was a printing issue with them, so they just barely managed to get them in at GenCon, so retailers probably won't see them for a little bit still.
I thought the OP wanted class deck picks, but everyone else listed RotRL and S&S stuff.
You can use a class deck to play any character from that class in organized play. So you can play RotR Lem with the Bard Class Deck in organized play if you want to.
Nonsense, your feedback rocks, Orbis.
edit: though you did vote for a wizard deck with 2 armor and 2 weapons. I think you are losing your edge.
You know me so well!
Lol. That's because, with the exception of class weirdos like Flenta, I didn't pay any attention to the decks for the classes I'm not interested in, just the powers (including hand size as a power).
In RotR I might have played a wizard... but with almost 50 characters to choose from now, I can afford to be picky. :P
I thought the OP wanted class deck picks, but everyone else listed RotRL and S&S stuff. In RotRL Lini and Sajan are my favorites and S&S has the best Lem, but the Magus is a beast. Can't wait to play him.
I still don't know what all of you see in Seoni. She needs to be carried by a healer until she gets more spells.
By that logic all the sorcerers do. We're just saying she's the best pick.
But in my opinion she's an absolute beast, but maybe not the best character for solo play. Especially as time goes by, she just wrecks encounters while still providing a lot of utility with her blessings and spells.
I still don't know what all of you see in Seoni. She needs to be carried by a healer until she gets more spells.
No, she is either carried by a healer until she gets more spells... or she goes at everyone else's pace instead of the lightning whilrwind of locations' worst nightmares.
Have you seen a properly built Seoni? Two hastes, some tools for barriers, a bajillion in Charisma/fireball power, a ton of explore allies, particularly if she IS being supported by another character? I have a 2 player game with me as Lem and my friend (he's been at Basic for a while, so we haven't finished the AP yet) as Seoni. He turbos through the location decks like nobody's business. We have hardly any scouting (I think there's one Scrying in his deck) and we close 8 locations in half the Blessing Deck most games, and that's with us farming every location that has them for spells.
Seoni's a baus. Most powerful character from RotR after Lini.
My choices thus far, without actually playing with any of them:
Bard: Meliski
Cleric: Zarlova
Fighter: Flenta
Ranger: Arabundi
Rogue: Merisiel S&S
Sorcerer: Amaryllis
Wizard: Radillo
Most of all of my choices were due to just liking the characters thematically rather than based on a pure power level.
My favorite character, by far, in RotR was Lini, almost based entirely on her insane power level. I do prefer casters in general.
I'd leave more specific notes if I weren't at work and had the sheets in front of me, but I doknow these were the first character sheets I printed off in anticipation of actual product.
I thought the OP wanted class deck picks, but everyone else listed RotRL and S&S stuff. In RotRL Lini and Sajan are my favorites and S&S has the best Lem, but the Magus is a beast. Can't wait to play him.
I still don't know what all of you see in Seoni. She needs to be carried by a healer until she gets more spells.
Just to clarify, I wanted to know people's favorite character from each of the 7 classes that are permissible in organized play. the RotRL and S&S versions of characters from the class decks are OP eligible.
Updated vote totals
Bard: Meliski (5), Lem [CD] (3), Lem [S&S] (2)
Cleric: Heggel (3), Kyra [CD] (3), Zarlova (3), Tarlin (1)
Fighter: Flenta (6), Valeros [S&S] (3), Tontelizi (1), Vika (1),
Ranger: Harsk [CD] (4), Agna (3), Arabundi (2), Warthack (1)
Rogue: Merisiel [S&S] (5), Olenjack (3) Wu-Shen (1),
Sorcerer: Seoni [CD] (4), Amaryllis (2), Seoni [RotR ] (2), Valendron (2)
Wizard: Radillo (5), Darago (4), Melindra (1)
We should add on a voting category for "everyone else."
My vote would of course be RotR Lini. :3
Which is why I'm not a huge fan of the Sorcerers in general, but Amaryllis actually has 5 spells, which she can keep recharged all she wants. Seoni's 3 starting is just not enough. I tried playing her early on and I literally killed myself because I had to discard pretty much any time I encountered a monster and for unreliable damage. A basic attack spell does more than her base ability AND you can recharge it.I still don't know what all of you see in Seoni. She needs to be carried by a healer until she gets more spells.No, she is either carried by a healer until she gets more spells... or she goes at everyone else's pace instead of the lightning whilrwind of locations' worst nightmares.
Have you seen a properly built Seoni? Two hastes, some tools for barriers, a bajillion in Charisma/fireball power, a ton of explore allies, particularly if she IS being supported by another character? I have a 2 player game with me as Lem and my friend (he's been at Basic for a while, so we haven't finished the AP yet) as Seoni. He turbos through the location decks like nobody's business. We have hardly any scouting (I think there's one Scrying in his deck) and we close 8 locations in half the Blessing Deck most games, and that's with us farming every location that has them for spells.
Seoni's a baus. Most powerful character from RotR after Lini.
Basing how good a character is off of the first couple adventures in an adventure path isn't wise, IMO. Take Lini: she only has three allies, only get's d4 or d6 to use with weapons (which she doesn't have), and only has two damage spells when she starts out. But we all know (I assume) how bonkers she is.
And I don't know, I could be wrong, but if you were killing yourself like that it sounds like you weren't playing very well (no offense meant). It's okay to go slow on a turn every now and then, or even several turns, early on. Also, there should be SOMEONE there who can help you... Harsk, Valeros, a healer, something.
Although, in general, I think if there isn't SOMEONE in your party who can heal others if needed, you're handicapping yourself.
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EDIT: Sorry, I'm kind of jumping down your throat, aren't I? It's okay to not like characters. I take the role of Devil's advocate too strongly sometimes. XD
Suffice to say that she actually is quite good when played right. But she's not irreplaceable, so if you want to play someone else, go right ahead. :)
To add to that, I'd say that the Sorcerers' discard powers aren't necessarily meant to replace attack spells. They are meant for those moments when you encounter a monster with no attack spells in hand.
I certainly used them as attack spells. From pretty much end game on I rolled with one Lightning Bolt, and a Freezing Ray here and there. I had the benefit of a Lem buddy, but by the end we could get through most scenarios without a cure. A Staff of Minor Healing (and sometimes Poog) was usually sufficient.
No! I record votes by etching tally marks in marble; they can not be changed.
Vote tally stands at
Bard: Meliski (5), Lem [CD] (3), Lem [S&S] (2)
Cleric: Heggel (3), Kyra [CD] (3), Zarlova (3), Tarlin (1)
Fighter: Flenta (5), Valeros [S&S] (3), Vika (2), Tontelizi (1),
Ranger: Harsk [CD] (4), Agna (3), Arabundi (2), Warthack (1)
Rogue: Merisiel [S&S] (5), Olenjack (3) Wu-Shen (1),
Sorcerer: Seoni [CD] (4), Amaryllis (2), Seoni [RotR ] (2), Valendron (2)
Wizard: Radillo (5), Darago (4), Melindra (1)
This may be the final standings unless we get some new blood in this thread.
The vote tally creeps forward.
Bard: Meliski (5), Lem [CD] (3), Lem [S&S] (2)
Cleric: Heggel (3), Kyra [CD] (3), Zarlova (3), Tarlin (1)
Fighter: Flenta (5), Valeros [S&S] (3), Vika (2), Tontelizi (1),
Ranger: Harsk [CD] (4), Agna (3), Arabundi (2), Warthack (2)
Rogue: Merisiel [S&S] (5), Olenjack (3) Wu-Shen (1),
Sorcerer: Seoni [CD] (4), Amaryllis (2), Seoni [RotR ] (2), Valendron (2)
Wizard: Radillo (5), Darago (4), Melindra (1)
It's difficult to pick without knowing what traits the boons have as some characters that I want rely on their cards have specific traits (Finesse, Polearm, etc). But, assuming I can pull the cards I'd need to use their powers well:
Bard: Bekah. I like that she can recharge a weapon to help someone else (a weaker version of ROTR Lem) but then use an ally to pull that card back into her hand on her turn. Plus a free explore when she fails to acquire an ally? Sure. That sounds nice. If I remember correctly, not attempting a check for a boon counts as "not acquiring", right? So if I come across an ally I don't want (Acolyte), boom. Free explore.
Cleric: Tarlin. This one was difficult... Kyra (Fireflower) is a monseter. And Zarlova looks really cool. But there probably aren't any non-Divine spells in her CD, so Curing with weapons and then using my armor to put that weapon back in my hand? Nice.
Fighter: Tontelizi. I like recharging Polearms for an extra d8. Hopefully there are enough in the deck to make that a viable strategy. Plus I really like discarding allies for extra dice and then recharging them back to my deck.
Ranger: Harsk (CD). He can negate pre & post-combat damage and can examine location decks twice per turn. He's a tough SOB. I almost went with Wrathack, but that damage negation is too powerful.
Rogue: Wu Shen. She gets to peek at her location deck and a free +2 to defeat barriers (which can be upgraded to a +4 & close location)
Sorcer: Amaryllis. Purely for the gamble on whether I'll recharge Blessings.
Wizard: Ezren (CD). Transmogrifier is nutso. Love it. Swapping out crap boons for hopefully better ones and getting a 10 hand size without using any feats. Fun.
Here are my votes, after playing through all 6 scenarios of "Season 0" OP at GenCon (as Vika) and looking at the character sheets of the ones I didn't play or adventure alongside:
Bard: Lem [CD] -- uses d12 for both divine and arcane spells, Lem is a great companion to almost any other character
Cleric: Kyra [CD] -- I really like the combination of d10 for her melee combat and divine spells, her "Fireflower" role looks fun
Fighter: Vika [CD] -- recharges weapons, and has d10+1 craft skills to serve as the team's go-to shipwright, I am looking forward to the RPG aspects of her "Blacksmith" role
Ranger: Agna [CD] -- recharges animal allies, interesting offhand weapon mechanic
Rogue: Merisiel [S&S] -- extra weapon to start, but I am torn between the massive damage possible with her "Shadow" role and the extra plunder and card swapping allowed by her "Smuggler" role.
Sorcerer: Seoni [RotR] -- recharges spells, quite the beast as she levels up
Wizard: Ezren [CD] -- "Transmogrifier" role looks like a lot of fun and very helpful to the team especially given that drawing a random "non-basic", "non-elite" substitute boon from the box means that at the end of the scenario, you are picking the good stuff out of your personal class deck in its place -- instant boon upgrades!
Of course, I also love Ranzak who is a lot of fun to play. Perhaps he could be played with a rogue class deck (he is however listed as a raider)?
Ezren is finally on the board!
Not sure Ranzak would play with the rogue deck. At the very least, you would want heavy armor. And it would be amazing to see a class deck filled with Goblin themed cards.
New vote totals.
Bard: Meliski (5), Lem [CD] (4), Lem [S&S] (2), Bekah (1)
Cleric: Kyra [CD] (4), Heggel (3), Zarlova (3), Tarlin (2)
Fighter: Flenta (5), Valeros [S&S] (3), Vika (3), Tontelizi (2),
Ranger: Harsk [CD] (5), Agna (4), Arabundi (2), Warthack (2)
Rogue: Merisiel [S&S] (6), Olenjack (3) Wu-Shen (2),
Sorcerer: Seoni [CD] (4), Amaryllis (3), Seoni [RotR ] (3), Valendron (2)
Wizard: Radillo (5), Darago (4), Ezren [CD] (2), Melindra (2)
Of course, I also love Ranzak who is a lot of fun to play. Perhaps he could be played with a rogue class deck (he is however listed as a raider)?
Build him from all the leftover class deck cards from all characters each scenario?
