Why is your favourite class the best class to play?

Saeva

Abostate is best class in Achlaea. 
But really... It is.

Volmarath

Blademaster, because my character enjoys being theatric and it fits very well thematically.

Tael

In terms of mechanics, I think shaman is the most interesting. The way all the elements fit together is neat, I think the spiritbinding mechanics are easily the most thematically evocative mechanics in the game, it has a lot of fun flexibility, it leverages the lore of the other classes in a cool way, etc. Bard is mechanically interesting too in a number of ways, but I feel like it manages it by overloading on complexity, leveraging every combat mechanic in the game at once. Shaman manages its complexity without having limb-breaking, tunesmithed attacks accompanied by passive room effects, off-balance afflictions via voicecraft, songbirds, periodic forced actions, and more, all going all the time. It's impressive that it all fits together and works, but I think it's a little less elegant.

In terms of RP, I think the Occultist wins, mostly because the players involved in the faction have put so much more work into the class's RP than pretty much any other class. It was, more than any other class, really strongly tied to its guild and then even to its house. Mechanically, I don't find the class quite as interesting since it feels an awful lot like a "bag of tricks" class, which is maybe appropriate, but just doesn't interest me personally. But thematically, the class and the time I spent in the Occultists house was probably my favorite period of RP I ever experienced, even if it was short-lived before I had to take a break from the game. For class-RP, I don't think you can beat Occultist. Alchemist increasingly comes close and a lot of players are or at least were working on Alchemist RP, but it doesn't have the long lineage to draw from and isn't as uniquely tied into the world of Achaea.

In terms of pure cool factor, Blademaster. It's not even a contest. Elemental-magic-ninja-samurai? Please. Mechanically, I think the class is a bit of a mess, the design feels too unified to the point of unhealthy unidimensionality - their combat strategy is unidimensional and their combat role is also unidimensional in a way that has historically been problematic, where they were ridiculously strong 1v1, but this was justified by their having no range and almost no utility, with the combined effect being that they were boring to play during a lot of ranged engagements and boring to play against in 1v1 (and now that they're not so ridiculously strong 1v1, I think the problems seem clearer). And despite being a class that comes straight out of the lore, I don't think they feel as uniquely Achaean as some of the others.

Overall though, I don't think anything beats Serpent. It's the quintessential "uniquely Achaean" class. It's tied into the lore in fun and interesting ways, it's uniquely Achaean while still fitting into the existing fantasy archetype of the thief/rogue/assassin, most of its old guilds/houses played the RP up in fun ways, the combat strategy is relatively straightforward, but with a lot of room for variation, it's fun to play 1v1 and in groups and at range and alone. It has a little bit of everything without feeling like a grab bag of abilities. I think Serpent will always be my favorite class in Achaea.

Lucianus

Tael said:

In terms of pure cool factor, Blademaster. It's not even a contest. Elemental-magic-ninja-samurai? Please. Mechanically, I think the class is a bit of a mess, the design feels too unified to the point of unhealthy unidimensionality - their combat strategy is unidimensional and their combat role is also unidimensional in a way that has historically been problematic, where they were ridiculously strong 1v1, but this was justified by their having no range and almost no utility, with the combined effect being that they were boring to play during a lot of ranged engagements and boring to play against in 1v1 (and now that they're not so ridiculously strong 1v1, I think the problems seem clearer). And despite being a class that comes straight out of the lore, I don't think they feel as uniquely Achaean as some of the others.

Blademaster enters arena.

Dude with robe of magi hood over his head says, "Sup. ".

Blademaster leaves arena with blade suicide.

Dochitha

Lucianus said:

Tael said:

In terms of pure cool factor, Blademaster. It's not even a contest. Elemental-magic-ninja-samurai? Please. Mechanically, I think the class is a bit of a mess, the design feels too unified to the point of unhealthy unidimensionality - their combat strategy is unidimensional and their combat role is also unidimensional in a way that has historically been problematic, where they were ridiculously strong 1v1, but this was justified by their having no range and almost no utility, with the combined effect being that they were boring to play during a lot of ranged engagements and boring to play against in 1v1 (and now that they're not so ridiculously strong 1v1, I think the problems seem clearer). And despite being a class that comes straight out of the lore, I don't think they feel as uniquely Achaean as some of the others.

Blademaster enters arena.

Dude with robe of magi hood over his head says, "Sup. ".

Blademaster leaves arena with blade suicide.

RoM definitely can be worked around. @Atalkez dud that like everyday breakfast. 

Ismay

Monk only because of fullsense and mindnet. If I could buy those as arties,  I'd try other classes. I don't even multiclass cause it would drive me crazy not having access to those skills. 

Lucianus

Dochitha said:

Lucianus said:

Tael said:

In terms of pure cool factor, Blademaster. It's not even a contest. Elemental-magic-ninja-samurai? Please. Mechanically, I think the class is a bit of a mess, the design feels too unified to the point of unhealthy unidimensionality - their combat strategy is unidimensional and their combat role is also unidimensional in a way that has historically been problematic, where they were ridiculously strong 1v1, but this was justified by their having no range and almost no utility, with the combined effect being that they were boring to play during a lot of ranged engagements and boring to play against in 1v1 (and now that they're not so ridiculously strong 1v1, I think the problems seem clearer). And despite being a class that comes straight out of the lore, I don't think they feel as uniquely Achaean as some of the others.

Blademaster enters arena.

Dude with robe of magi hood over his head says, "Sup. ".

Blademaster leaves arena with blade suicide.

RoM definitely can be worked around. @Atalkez dud that like everyday breakfast. 

yeah, but don't you need an overly long and complicated set up like a quad limb break?

Most sensible people would try to run away if they saw that coming by then.

Antonius

Or you can just run them out of willpower, doesn't take that long.

Aerek

And a quad break setup really doesn't take that long for a BM. If they static parry, you can quad prep in like 30-45 seconds, not accounting for hindrance.