I've never played Pathfinder. But I've been playing other systems for years. Now with Pathfinder 2nd Edition coming out, I'm convinced that I want to start playing it. To start, I plan on playing it at cons.
But given the plethora of Pathfinder 2 products becoming available, I'm not sure which books I should buy to start. Certainly the Core Rulebook, of course. But what about some of the others?
Like, The Bestiary, if my main focus is playing?
What about the Lost Omens World Guide and Character Guide? Are these last two for 2nd edition, or first, or both? Do I need them?
Frankly, I feel like I'm diving into the deep end. I'm not sure where to start.
Thanks for the help.
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If you aren't DMing, you don't need the Bestiary. The Core Book is definitely sufficient by itself. The Lost Omens World Guide and Character Guide will probably be pretty cool, but are by no means essential.
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The core rulebook should be all you need. If you are a caster that can summon monsters to fight by your side, you might need the bestiary, but that would be it.
The Lost Omens World Guide will teach you about the setting (the world of Golarion) in greater detail than the core rulebook; pick it up if you are interested in finding out more. Same goes for the character guide; it will help you make a character more strongly tied into the setting.
So my advice is start with the Core Rulebook,and go from there.
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If you are comfortable with online resources, none. The rules will be free.
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Firstly, welcome to the community! As for what books you need, I second what others have said and say the Core Rulebook. You said you're mostly going to be playing at cons, and I don't have any experience there, sadly, so no recommendations on that front from me.
If you plan to play in the setting, the Core Book has some bare bones information about Golarion, but like First World Bard said, the Lost Omens World Guide has more world information, as well as a few other character options (backgrounds related to your region of origin and archetypes related to the same, I believe).
The Lost Omens Character Guide will have more information for characters, and some Ancestries and Heritage options, but that's not until October, I believe, so you have some time to wait for that one and learn as you go.
If you're not playing Pathfinder Society and you just want to get a feel for the system, the Archives of Nethys (and other SRD sites) will be launching on PF2's release date and have the base rules online for your perusal to learn from. That might be harder to use at conventions, depending on the connection, I would guess, so I still recommend at least the Core Rulebook.