Picking the class that suits...

Khaso

Hi,

I'm sorry to make another one of these "What should I do please help" threads. I had a looooong look around the forums (I promise!), but I'm still left feeling unsure.
My main priority in Achaea is RP - to build a performing character. In order to help with this, having a skill to cast illusions would be most appropriate to save myself from buying the Staff of Illusions later on. Since I don't earn much atm, I will most likely NOT buy any credits outside of the game, except maybe the no-brainer packages, although that is still stretching my budget a bit. A good hunting class would be a bonus, and utility (especially travel) would be amazing. 1v1 combat I most likely won't get into at all (or maybe in the very very distant future), but I may later attempt to help with group combat.

All that said, I've narrowed down my choice to the following classes: 
- Jester
- Serpent
- Bard
- Monk (no illusion, but I like the idea of martial arts)
- Runewarden (2H, this class is my last resort since I heard it's a solid class for all purposes, but I'd rather pick a class that I want for RP. Also sounds like expensive upkeep with inks, fullplate, shield, weapon etc.)

Jester is the class that I'm most unsure about, and one that is really delaying my decision. I love the coloured illusions you can play with. In terms of flavour text, I find some quite cringeworthy and there appears to be a general pre-disdain for jesters in terms of roleplay which is hard to shake even in-game. On the forums, it seems like it is the most under appreciated class that has barely had any updates and largely neglected by the Achaean staff. I wondered, have there been any news recently to rework this class? With the multiclass system, it appears alot of people just "adopt' this class to make use of its early hocuspocus for certain events and purposes but otherwise never really uses it...
I also love the amazing travel utility of Tarot, but I'm unsure about Puppetry - it sounds like a purely combat set of skills, so do I really have to learn this at all?
I've also heard that the upkeep of this class gets heavy? I don't know how true this is, but i imagine it's because of the blank cards needing to be bought.
I have no idea about their level of bashing and whether they can really help out in group combat...

Serpent sounds like a neat package with lots to play with in Subterfuge. I'd probably not put in any lessons at all in Venoms and Hypnosis, unless I absolutely have to for some reason. I'm playing on nexus though and the worm holes sound quite confusing and not so straight forward like the Jester travelling skills.
I am unsure about how viable they are in hunting WITHOUT any arties, because I've heard you have to go DEX spec which means you become quite squishy.

Bard sounds super cool, but again, I'm not sure about its hunting without any arties. Also, harmonics sound quite confusing. Do you move your harmonics across every room each time you travel? Does Voicecraft help in anyway with bashing? 
I don't think this is the case, but just in case I missed it whilst reading the wiki - does Bard have any travel utility?
In terms of its illusion ability, does it have the same character limit as Serpent illusion? I am not sure how long the limit is compared to the Jester's illusion...

Monk is a neat class in my head. I would think of my character more like a streetfighter/ brawler rather than the dignified monk, and I would think that is okay...? I'm not sure what is really accepted rp in Achaea or not. The thing I find off-putting about monk is its lack of travel utility and lack of illusion. I've also heard that its bashing is no longer as great as it once was. Is this true? And where does it stand now?

Now a final question, do you have to tri-trans all your skillsets in your first class to multiclass?

I realise this has become a mess of text filled with questions... Sorry about that. It helps for me to think aloud and put things into words though. If someone kind can at least answer a couple/few of these questions I would be very grateful. 
If you have further thoughts/ suggestions on these classes or maybe suggestions of other classes that might fit what I want, please feel free to express them. I'll pick the class I want in the end, but I love to hear opinions and thoughts that i might not have considered. Thanks!

Reyson

I'm not addressing all of it, because it's a big post, but:

Tekura (monk skill for punching) has a very specific connotation, to the point it has named Kata and belt grades and whatnot. It's also got one of the biggest histories in terms of more and character driven refinement except maybe Serpent. More guilds devoted to it than any other class (I think!) at one point,  bar Serpent.

Can I ask specifically why you can't roleplay without illusions? I've never played an illusion class and I've never felt I've needed them.

Minifie

Reyson said:

I'm not addressing all of it, because it's a big post, but:

Tekura (monk skill for punching) has a very specific connotation, to the point it has named Kata and belt grades and whatnot. It's also got one of the biggest histories in terms of more and character driven refinement except maybe Serpent. More guilds devoted to it than any other class (I think!) at one point,  bar Serpent.

Can I ask specifically why you can't roleplay without illusions? I've never played an illusion class and I've never felt I've needed them.

Monk indeed had the most guilds at 5 (Tanjinn, Kharon, Mojushai, Sentaari and ashura), with the serpents at 4 (Naga, shadowsnakes, serpentlords and dawnstriders). The flavour of tekura has been kept rather well while removing some of the stupid RNG elements (3 hours on krull anyone?)

One of the biggest things is with emotes the way they are you really don't need illusions. Illusions have a VERY slight advantage in that you can omit your name from it and do a little more, but I'd only consider that if the class you really want to play has it anyway. With no artefacts serpent is going to be the toughest choice for hunting, jester is a great no-artie class as is bard (while it can benefit from arties it can do just fine without). 

You have to tri trans class 1 to LEARN class 2, and so on and so forth. from HELP MUTLICLASS:

What are the limits on gaining and switching between classes?

-------------------------------------------------------------

1) Gaining classes

- Normal org restrictions on classes apply, one can not gain a class that is

  disallowed by their city.

- Heavily-aligned classes are mutually exclusive within their roleplay sphere.

  For example: an adventurer can not be both a necromancer and a devotion user,

  or an occultist and a forestal class. A forestal classed adventurer could

  pick another class within the nature faction though.

- An adventurer must have reached transcendent in all of their lower slot class

  skills before being able to gain their next class.

2) Switching classes

- Class may not be switched within 10 minutes of any hostile action, both by

  you or to you.

- Classes may not be switched in an enemy city.

- Beneficial effects to other adventurers are lost when switching class (Runes,

  blessings etc.).

Personal RP can be both enhanced and entirely avoided by your class. I would highly suggest spending some time settling into what your character's RP is while playing with classes (stick to journeyman, you can get a feel for a class before embracing) and play around a bit. Rushing in can lead to swapping classes after embracing a lot and many lost lessons, but your mileage may vary.

Antonius

Reyson said:

Can I ask specifically why you can't roleplay without illusions? I've never played an illusion class and I've never felt I've needed them.

It's less needing illusions to roleplay, and "needing" (more wanting) illusions to do a specific kind of roleplay; they want to roleplay being a performer, which probably involves actually doing performances. Illusions probably aren't absolutely essential for performances, but they do give you a lot of options that you wouldn't otherwise have.

Ankhareoutef

RP illusions can also lose some of their flair if you have a Debbie downer with life vision mocking the performance.

Minifie

Ankhareoutef said:

RP illusions can also lose some of their flair if you have a Debbie downer with life vision mocking the performance.

not if you give them dead vision!

Reyson

Oh, if you're actually conjuring up illusions, sure, but...

What's wrong with: emote waves his hands and <whatever you're illusioning> burgeons forth from thin air, or whatever? 

And yeah, lifevision's the best thing ever. 

ETA: I get the performance aspect, I really do, I'm just not sure it's what I'd go for in terms of what class I'd play. That seems secondary, unless the character is literally a performer above everything else. 

Nazihk

I'd look at Magi.

It's not one of your listed classes, but they get illusions, good travel, good utility, strong group combat, and surprisingly strong hunting.

Antonius

Reyson said:

Oh, if you're actually conjuring up illusions, sure, but...

What's wrong with: emote waves his hands and <whatever you're illusioning> burgeons forth from thin air, or whatever? 

And yeah, lifevision's the best thing ever. 

ETA: I get the performance aspect, I really do, I'm just not sure it's what I'd go for in terms of what class I'd play. That seems secondary, unless the character is literally a performer above everything else. 

From the original post: "My main priority in Achaea is RP - to build a performing character."

Jinos

You can be a performer with any class really, but Jester, Bard, Serpent, and Magi can add a certain flair to things.

Jester is a solid choice for utility and travel. I know the admin want to rework a few things at some point. Puppetry is mostly aimed toward combat, but people also use it for travel to friends, and leech for experience. The hunting is decent, and with access to heals with priestess, cures with fool, and quick escapes with hermit. You'll be prepared for most encounters with denizens.

Serpent is also a decent choice for utility and travel. Most of the serpents I know go for CON hunting, unless they're planning to be heavily involved in PvP. Not sure where it's at hunting wise. I've heard friends say it's decent or meh. Most cities have a wormhole hub... kind of like a subway. You just enter the hub and whoosh your selected wormhole.

Bard is a decent choice for hunting. Somewhere in the middle. Your speed will be good attacking, but you'll want to be a little wary of your defense when it comes to being hit. Battlerage and your harmonics help mitigate some of this. You can move your harmonics around from room to room while hunting. You just call them to you once you enter a room where you're fighting, or you can move them into an adjacent room and prep it before you walk in and attack.

There's a song in voicecraft called Tune. It helps decrease damage you take. I think it has to be activated periodically though. 

There's no travel ability. And illusions share the same limitations as for as I know.

As for monk, you can play it how you want. There isn't much of a limit on how to RP your character.

You can test these classes out by not embracing your class as people have mentioned. So when you quit the class you're done testing you'll get most of your lessons back.

Oh! I see this happen a lot, but you don't need to be in a House that's tailored to performing, just to be a performer. (I.E. The CiJ or the Virtuosi.)

Cities appreciate their performers, artists, and storytellers whether they have a House tailored to it or not. So don't let that stop you from sticking with a city that you love. Or if you feel the rogue life calling you, don't let that impede your progress either. 

Cailin

As a performer (and yeah you don't have to be in a particular org, I'm in the Heartwood Kin), I very often find myself wishing for access to illusion. Performing isn't even my main interest, although it's one of them. That being said, I do find it fairly easy to borrow a Sylvan/Magi/Dragon friend to perform my illusions for me, when an emote just doesn't cut it. So while annoying, it's livable.

Multiclassing serpent is something I have in mind, for the illusion, wormhole, and other such handy things. It takes a lot of credits to learn another class though. I'd probably reach dragon before I could afford it.

Kiet

Literally none of the issues with jester would affect you if you're not engaging in PK often. Just go jester for the great illusions (and even adjacent room illusions that are slightly less good), the utility of tarot, and the fun toys in puppetry (if you have a mutual ally, dolls of them last 30 rl days, so you can have friends you can travel to whenever, etc.)

Nehmrah

I would probably pick Serpent. It's good for RP, good to learn combat with. Lots of potential.

[Deleted User]

Not particularly stellar hunting without artifacts though, which is something they asked for. I'd wager it's actually one of the worst, without, because it's squishy if you want to hunt decently fast. And hunting with 12-14dex is ass when you can just go Jester/bard con spec, and hunt just as well with less risk.

I'd agree with Nazihk. Magi is solid for all those needs, after the hunting buffs it got.

Kiet

Serpent is also pretty awful unartied in pvp. Like yeah you can win fights but why bother.