The Drunken Lizard Pub

So, I'm thinking of working up a new topic on the "optimal" starting stats for the five character classes (with an eye towards playing Book II for the first time), and I noticed something - I've never played a "Barrean" or "Kessian" Origin character!

The reason, I think, is simple, when you look at the different Origin bonuses:

Nor'lander: +2 END/+1 CON
Barrean: +2 SPEED/+1 STR
Rifter: +2 PER/+1 WIS
Therish: +2 CON/+1 DEX
Kessian: +2 WIS/+1 INT

When I think about applying these Origin bonus, to me, it just naturally comes down this way:

Fighter - Nor'lander
Ranger/Rogue - Therish
Mage/Healer - Rifter

Now, yeah, you could argue that "Barrean" is perfect for a melee Fighter, and "Kessian" might be better for either Mage or Healer. But, practically, I don't think it works out that way.

Basically, for both Mages & Healers, the most important thing up-front is to 'max out' your PER, as maxing out your WIS or INT early doesn't really help. So you're far better off taking the +2 PER bonus via "Rifter" (despite the fact that the +1 WIS bonus that goes along with it doesn't help Mages at all) than, say, the +2 WIS/+1 INT bonus via "Kessian".

Similarly, as a Fighter, you could try to 'max out' your melee damage up front by 'souping up' your SPEED & STR via the "Barrean" bonuses. But I personally think your better bet early on is to max out your END via the "Nor'lander" END bonus (despite the fact that the CON bonus that goes along with it probably doesn't help Fighters much at all), and bring STR (& SPEED) up later.

So, has anyone gone with either "Barrean" or "Kessian" with their characters? If so, why did you choose them, and how did it work out?

I'd be curious to hear other people's thoughts on this...

CON, concentration, helps with your melee ability to hit according to BW so there is even more reason to go with Nor'lander for melee fighters. http://www.basiliskgames.com/forums/vie ... ?f=3&t=774

I've only used Nor'lander and Rifter since endurance and perception are the two abilities that give bonuses for having them higher at the start as opposed to adding to them after you make level. While having 4 more health or mana isn't much, it is significant at the start and helps increase the total throughout the game.

Maybe it will get changed in Book II so there isn't the need to have one skill as the main one for starting characters. This would make the others more useful.

I think one time I played a Barrean character. It was an Atheistic fighter, and I think the only reason I chose Barrean was so my character would technically be a "Barrean Mercenary."