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A character's class reflects what sorts of things they are good at. This impacts the state of your characters at creation, their abilities, aptitudes and how they will develop as they increase in level. Pillars of Eternity has 11 playable classes. Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire retains that number, but introduces the ability to choose a subclass and multiclass.

What defines a class

Every class:

  • requires the same amount of experience to level up one level.[1]
  • gains initial proficiency bonus in two skills.(constant)
  • possesses unique class Abilities and Talents, but not restricted to them. Ability is gained every odd level (1,3,5,..) and talent every even level (2,4,6,..).
  • has access to soul magic (if not through Abilities, then through Talents), but not every character type has to build characters that use it.
  • defines initial values and per level increment in Endurance, Deflection, Health and Accuracy.[2][3]

Initial and incremental values

Legend:

  • Striker: Strikers are unequaled in their ability to inflict large amounts of damage and crippling afflictions to single targets.
  • Support: Support characters aid their allies with defensive bonuses, healing, or protective wards.
  • Defender: Defenders excel at resisting attacks or being able to take a large amount of punishment in combat.
  • Crowd control: Classes that focus on crowd control can inflict heavy damage and negative effects on groups of enemies.
Class Major combat role Minor combat role Endurance Health Accuracy Deflection Bonuses
Crowd Control Defender 48 +16 * level

(very high)

6 * Endurance

(very high)

25 + 3 * level

(average)

15

(low)

Athletics +2

Survival +1

Support, crowd control 36 + 12 * level

(very low)

4 * Endurance

(low)

25 + 3 * level

(average)

25

(high)

Lore +2

Mechanics +1

Crowd control, striker 36 + 12 * level

(very low)

4 * Endurance

(low)

25 + 3 * level

(average)

20

(average)

Stealth +1

Lore +1

Mechanics +1

Crowd control Support, striker 36 + 12 * level

(very low)

4 * Endurance

(low)

20 + 3 * level

(very low)

20

(average)

Lore +1

Survival +2

Defender Striker 42 + 14 * level

(average)

5 * Endurance (high) 30 + 3 * level

(very high)

30

(very high)

Athletics +1

Lore +1

Survival +1

Striker Defender 42 + 14 * level

(average)

6 * Endurance

(very high)

30 + 3 * level

(very high)

25

(high)

Stealth +1

Athletics +1

Survival +1

Support Defender 42 + 14 * level

(average)

5 * Endurance (high) 25 + 3 * level

(average)

20

(average)

Athletics +2

Lore +1

Support 36 + 12 * level

(very low)

4 * Endurance

(low)

20 + 3 * level

(very low)

15

(low)

Athletics +1

Lore +2

Striker Defender 36 + 12 * level

(very low)

5 * Endurance (high) 30 + 3 * level

(very high)

20

(average)

Stealth +1

Survival +2

Striker 36 + 12 * level

(very low)

4 * Endurance

(low)

30 + 3 * level

(very high)

15

(low)

Stealth +1

Mechanics +2

Crowd control Striker 36 + 12 * level

(very low)

4 * Endurance

(low)

20 + 3 * level

(very low)

10

(very low)

Lore +2

Mechanics +1

  • The initial value for Endurance is (1+2) = 3 times the number in the table.
  • At all levels, the value for Health is the Endurance times the Health number in the table.
  • The initial values for Accuracy and Deflection are the numbers in the table.
  • The initial values for other defenses are 20 each.
  • Accuracy and all Defenses increase by 3 at each level.

For example, at the initial Level 1, a Fighter's base Endurance (before being modified by Constitution) is 14*(1+2) = 42, with a base Health of 5*42 = 210, and base Defense and Accuracy of 30. At level 12, they increase to Endurance 196, Health 980, and Defense and Accuracy 63.

Playable classes

  • Barbarian – reckless and ferocious warriors from the more remote cultures found across the world. They have great group-fighting abilities both melee offense and personal defense.
  • Chanter – repositories of folk knowledge and common wisdom, tellers of tall tales and hallowed legends. They use their knowledge about old phrases to form chants during a battle. They have cycling lists of low power, high AoE passive buffs and debuffs and they can periodically use powerful invocation spells.
  • Cipher – can peer through the spiritual energy of the world to manipulate other souls. They are offensively-oriented psionicists/soulknives, who need to build up focus through conventional weapon attacks.
  • Druid – animists with primal connection to nature, who can transform into mythical beasts. They have many Area of Effect spells, that emphasize aflliction based effects and their beast modes give them nice single-target strikes and gain special abilities associated with those beasts.[4]
  • Fighter – trained to use a wide variety of traditional melee weapons in combat. Fighters are extremely durable, reliable, and excel at holding positions.
  • Monk – warriors that believe in the philosophy of mortification of the flesh. They absorb a portion of incoming damage and convert it into Wounds, which can be used to power soul-based abilities through their weapons. They are melee-focused but have a pretty wide variety of single-target and group attacks.
  • Paladin – extremely devoted, often fanatical, soldiers who have pledged themselves to a chosen cause or organization. They can inspire nearby allies and have the ability to quickly assist their allies with targeted commands.
  • Priest – priests turned the flame of their faith into a spark to ignite the power of their souls. They can cast prayers, faith-inspired miracles that aid their allies and punish their enemies.
  • Ranger – have the edge defensively due to range and the interference their Animal Companions can run.
  • Rogue – rely on wits, speed, and subterfuge to achieve their goals. While they are known for their stealthy nature both in and out of battle, many of them are quite talented with machines and contraptions of all sorts. They have the highest single-hit damage potential and they have a lot of ways to qualify for Sneak Attacks.
  • Wizard – men and women of high education and extreme mental discipline, if not always outright intelligence. They use grimoires to cast difficult and powerful spells, that can damage many enemies or buff a single ally.

References

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