Where class and city would be best for a pacifist crafter?

Essandri

I'm looking for an alternate play style for those days when I don't really feel like getting involved in blood thirsty religious wars. I'd be real happy if the new character never had to bash anything at all, but I don't know if it is possible to gain experience outside of combat. Preferably a class/city combo that is newbie friendly. I play at odd hours, so a dependance on one person for introductions or training is not going to work out well. I adore crafting, but as far as I can tell, there isn't any crafting until I embrace a class.

(Sorry Team Evil, but no slavery for this one.)

Sylvance

Cyrene TyBeirdd (Bard or Jester)

Nemutaur

Cyrene (and maybe member of Merchant house) or rogue but member of the Merchant house.

Tharvis

it is possible, actually. But every city has its share of conflict once in a while.

Iocun

But you can generally keep yourself out of those conflicts in most cities. Maybe not so easily in cities like Mhaldor, Targossas, or Eleusis, but you can get by very well without combat in the other three cities, I think.

Blujixapug

You could find a home in Ashtan, Hashan, Cyrene, or Eleusis. You could possibly glide by in Targossas or Mhaldor, but they're rather militant cities so your pacifism would probably hit a brick wall at some point.

Cyrene is your best bet, as isolationism, the serene dignity of non-involvement, and art and craftsmanship are major themes of the city - not just the prevailing paradigm. Hashan is all about passive aggression. Eleusis is a Lothlorien analogue with plenty of players less interested in PVP than in designing pretty stuff and marvelling in the splendiferous majesty of nature. Ashtan is a warmongering city, but expects virtually nothing of anyone, and has more culture than anyone will admit - although success in any of its Houses will depend on whether your definition of pacifism can stretch to accomodate iconoclastry and enthusiastically tugging at the loose threads of the fabric of reality.

Any class could work for a pacifist. If you don't intend to PVP or PVE, and therefore won't be using PVP/PVE abilities, you'd get the most out of one of the more utility-heavy classes. Druid, sylvan, and sentinel are high on utility, with abilities like fast travel to and from their groves, and bird morphs to fly across the continent, though playing a forestal class will restrict you to joining the forestal city Eleusis, or going rogue. Serpent is also high on utility, albeit geared towards sneaking around, stabbing people, and stealing their stuff. Jester, mage, occultist, priest, alchemist, bard, runewarden, infernal, paladin, and shaman all have a middling amount of utility. Apostate, blademaster, and monk have a little utility, but their abilities are almost exclusively about either killing stuff, or keeping you alive while you kill stuff.

The Jewellery, Tailoring, and Cooking tradeskills are the ones that will allow you to write your own designs and manufacture items. Anyone of any class can pick up these skills. They require the upfront investment of 200 credits to gain the skill, plus about 800 lessons to learn it to Transcendent. Submitting designs will then involve a gold cost, and creating the items will have a gold or commodity requirement.

At present several classes have a tradeskill as one of their three class skills: druid, sylvan, and sentinel (Concoctions), infernal, paladin, and runewarden (Forging), magi (Enchantment), and serpent (Venom). Those skills don't have any design elements, and are more about generating consumables or weapons. As part of an impending redesign, these skills are going to be separated from those classes, replaced with new class skills, and made generally available, but we don't yet know the details or have an exact timetable. Presumably it will happen some time in the next several months. If you're planning on building a crafter character around one of those skills, it's something you should be aware of.

Blujixapug

Essandri said:

So it is possible to not belong to a city?

You don't have to join a city or a House. You can play as a rogue. But it's a really good idea to join up. Don't view Houses as a limitation - they are designed to be welcoming, show you the ropes, and help you, as a new player, become familiar with this complicated and often overwhelming game. Resources like the newbie channel will help at first, but you'll outgrow them, and it will become difficult for you to find your way in the game without the support of a House.

Achaea can be a lonely place without some House bros to socialise with.

Tohran

I'm Eleusian, but I have Forging, Cooking, Runelore (for totems and hunting runes), Inkmilling, Jewellery, and Gathering all maxed out. I do get involved in conflict, but if you're looking for pacifism, try the Druid house (if you want to be a Druid class) or the Sylvan house (magi, sylvan, bard, blademaster). If you want pacifism, stay away from Mhaldor, New Shallam, and the Sentinel House in Eleusis. 

Aktillum

Essandri said:

How active is the Merchant house? They aren't listed under House Influence.

Because they're not tied to any city and a good chunk of House Influence is based on members in high city positions.

Tharvis

Essandri said:

How active is the Merchant house? They aren't listed under House Influence.

we're quite active, not sure how House Influence works, I believe that is an old mechanic that was tied to cities. And since the merchants are not based in a city, do not fall under the calculations

Ernam

Essandri said:

So it is possible to not belong to a city?

Yep, I've done it, but it's pretty boring.

Essandri said:

How active is the Merchant house? They aren't listed under House Influence.

Not sure how active they are, but only houses in cities have influence (influence is a city-related function).

Essandri

So it is possible to not belong to a city?

Essandri

How active is the Merchant house? They aren't listed under House Influence.