What would you say are the “core books” of PF2?

[Steve Geddes]

I don’t mean what do you need in order to play. I just mean what books would you think should be included to give the full PF2 experience?

[YuriP]

For non-gm players, the Core Rulebook, Character Guide, Gods & Magic, Advanced Player's Guide, Secrets of Magic, Guns & Gears, Grand Bazaar, Book of the Dead, Knights of Lastwall, Dark Archive, The Mwangi Expanse, Ancestry Guide, Impossible Lands, Firebrands, Highhelm, Treasure Vault.

These are the books that have options to choose and to add to a build.

Being more explanatory:

Core Rulebook: The main book not even need too much explanation and its the only really required book.

Advanced Player's Guide: Expands the CRB with more class, ancestries, archetypes, feats and other options to your builds.

Secrets of Magic: Adds 2 more unique classes and many more options for spellcasters

Guns & Gears: Adds 2 more unique classes, an ancestry, a many options for those who like firearms and steampunk inventions.

Book of the Dead: Adds options to those who want to play as undead or with undead features like undead minions.

Dark Archive: Adds 2 more unique classes and many supernatural related options.

Treasure Vault: Many, really many more itens to use and improve you gameplay experience and versatility.

Character Guide: Strongly improves your ancestries options.

Gods & Magic: Improves a lot the number of available deity options for divine based characters and give some more spells (much of them for non-divine casters)

Ancestry Guide: Many more ancestries options

The Mwangi Expanse: Even more ancestries and deities.

Grand Bazaar: A new ancestry, some more companions, some more archetypes and many more items.

Knights of Lastwall: Many more options specially useful for champions.

Travel Guide: More deities and equipments.

Impossible Lands: More ancestries, deities and options.

Firebrands: More deities, feats and equipments.

Highhelm: More deities, feats and equipments but more dwarven focused.

These books also have many more things them this that you can check here.

But you don't really need to buy everything, all options are available in AoN but I if you have money and time available I still recommend that you goes buying the books (not all at same time but as you are completing your reading) because is more easier to understand (AoN is more a reference index than a source to learn the things) and get the context behind many things.

[Totally Not Gorbacz]

Now you *need* Core Rulebook, APG and if you're GM'ing, Bestiary and GMG. Soon that will change to Player Core, Player Core 2, GM Core and Monster Core respectively.

[Steve Geddes]

Thanks very much for that. That’s a brilliant list! You did way more thinking on that than I expected.
Greatly appreciated.