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I'm so curious what classes people prefer to play in video/computer games, Warrior? Ranger? Wizard? Priest? Thief? But way more importantly, why? I'm not talking about a specific game here, just what people like about playing with a specific 'type of character'.

I'm one of those annoying people who remakes their character a hundred times until they get them just right, and then change their mind again halfway through the game anyway. It doesn't seem to matter what game, it almost seems inevitable, and I get so annoyed! I think Skyrim is the only game I haven't done this, as it's so almost 'classless' that it allows you to play exactly the character you want to, more or less.

For some reason Warriors never appeal to me, I always flip between Mages and Rogues/Thieves. I love the trickery and deceptive nature of rogues, although the 'lone wanderer of the world with all his knowledge learnt through books' seems to me stupidly appealing too. In Skyrim I play pretty much a Nightblade, a thief with a tad more magic than usual. Though it still bugs me when I see a scene such as the 'Gandalf vs The Necromancer' (no spoilers ^^) in the Hobbit 2. I think to myself - what good on earth could any sneaky rogue do here? I better re-roll an all powerful Mage!... and then I play Dishonored for five minutes and I'm back to the thief.. *sigh*

I've recently bought the Dragon Age Series and I'm dreading the idea of replaying half the game, I so wish I could make up my mind >.<

SO what do you like about the classes you play? Not for powergaming reasons (though there's nothing wrong with that! each to their own!) But I really want to know, what about one or two classes draws you to those, rather than any of the rest? Do you put a lot of thought in to your characters? Are your characters rather set in stone, or do you let events in the game 'shape' them? What might cause you to re-roll if you did? Do racial options effect your decisions? etc. etc.

As always any information is really appreciated, it'd be good to know what other people think about the subject =)

Warrior usually is my go to. Dragon Age, Kingdoms of Amalur, etc...

After I beat the game with that, I'll try out one of the others.

Subtlety is the name of the game for me.

Warhammers and heavy armour. Barbarian for life.

I almost always play as the summoner class.

Necromancer/Druid/Witch Doctor in the Diablo Series.
Warlock in WoW.
Alchemist in Torchlight.
Witch in Path of Exile.
The Overlord series is one of my favourite games.

I just love the idea playing the role of some master with a horde of evil minions to do their bidding. A lot of these classes also mesh well with my second favourite type of class to play that being the role of support with a bunch of buffs/debuffs.

Also while playing D2 online with Dialup, when lagging like hell it was comforting knowing that my minions were still kicking arse.

Lately in a lot of MMOs and FPSs though I find myself playing a healer/support role as it feels similar to a summoner role. As long as I keep everyone alive everything else dies.

Rogues usually.
Basically classes with huge amounts of burst damage.
Pick off the weak.

I generealy play as either a Cleric or some sort of stalwart defender of the realms.
My Cleric in Bg 2 auma up the way I play normaly, armed with cold steel and a zealous urge o kik evil in the teeth while aiding the wounded and needy

If there's a token "technology centric" class I always play that one (alchemist or hacker or engineer or whatever). Considering I'm an engineer in real life and I love my gadgets and tech that kind of makes sense.

Failing that I usually try to just make the biggest brick damage sponge I can and go to town. I figure if it's a co-op game then as long as the bad guys are hitting me instead of the people behind me getting work done then I'm doing my job right. Otherwise I'll just sit there and trade punches with the enemies until I'm the only one left standing.

I normally play either a warrior or a rogue/thief. I've just found a good niche in the warrior/barbarian kinds of characters, and so far have been effective at it. Plus, the girlfriend usually plays some kind of caster, so I have to protect her ass I like to switch it up on occasion and play a sneaky assassin/rogue/thief type, especially when I'm playing by myself. I'm not very good at it, but I enjoy it.

In FPS games and the ME trilogy I love playing as snipers, especially if the class can cloak. Second would be any class that can wield a shotgun.

In RPGs I will typically play a warrior/melee character first and foremost. Oblivion and Skyrim were great fun for archer rogue characters so I frequently played as one of those. I dislike the magic system in TES games, but I put many hours into a mage and warlock when I played WoW.

I always, without exception, play as the soldier. I'm a brute force kind of guy, was never into cute little tricks or backstabbing or anything. Gimme some sweet ass armour and a big sword and I'm good to go.

Whatever class fits the background I've come up with for my character. Skyrim's relatively classless system has been very good to me in this, allowing me to blend aspects together to create a more fitting character.

I guess my usual go-to is a sneaky bow/dagger character, but my first one or two characters in an RPG (until i get enough of a feel to be able to plan out complex characters) are usually classed based on how I feel at the time.

Almost universally warriors or battle mages.

Unique ones.

I have characters that I use for specific roles - if they do not fit it is usually scenario/game specific so I try to make something intrinsically related to the setting in that case.

Most of the time this is in the interest of figuring out the details, in game.

 creeping-deth87 wrote:
I always, without exception, play as the soldier. I'm a brute force kind of guy, was never into cute little tricks or backstabbing or anything. Gimme some sweet ass armour and a big sword and I'm good to go.

This is usually me right here.... Although, in some games I take these types and play them "wrong"... For instance, in WAR, I played a Chaos Chosen.... which EVERYONE I ever met said, shield/sword or axe is the ONLY way to play that character. I ran all the way up to max level with 2 hand swords, trying to max out my DPS. I figured, if I could get a decent damage output, the armor, plus the party healers would pretty much make me unstoppable

I'm all about the front lines, as much as it get's me in trouble. I generally run warrior/paladin-esque playstyle, preferring a warrior that can cast a reasonable about of magic and/or heal themselves.

After I play through as a warrior I'll swap for a caster type, they're always so shiney.

 LordofHats wrote:
Almost universally warriors or battle mages.

Same here.

Only exception for me is the Elder Scrolls Series, where I most often run an assassin or ranger.

Wizard or Rogue most often in magic-based games.
In techy games, frequently I use shotguns or silenced weapons.

Like some others have mentioned, I usually play a melee type.

Demon's Souls and Dark Souls = Temple Knight
Baldur's Gate 1&2 = Barbarian/Paladin
Dragon's Crown = Warrior/Elf

I find it's usually the most character and a good way to learn the subtleties of a lot of games.

 LordofHats wrote:
Only exception for me is the Elder Scrolls Series, where I most often run an assassin or ranger.

I always tried to run battle mages in TES games, but they always ended up becoming de facto Paladins because aggressive magic was basically useless. I was quite happy that Skyrim let me actually play as one.

Thanks, dual-wielding!

Otherwise, it just depends on the game. But, generally speaking, I prefer characters that have multiple ways to solve problems.

I'm the opposite actually. I had trouble forging a battle mage in Skyrim (melee in Skyrim is so blindingly strong), more than in Oblivion. The new magic system functions better in combat, but unmodded magic is weaker than it was in Oblivion at some stages, and very strong in others. No consistency (and the dragon priest with a lightning staff kicks your ass @_@). The addition of wards though was a great one. The loss of spell crafting made me cry a little on the inside.

Of course Skyrim has the broken Vampire Paladin build, where you abuse poor coding to become god mode without console commands

 LordofHats wrote:
I'm the opposite actually. I had trouble forging a battle mage in Skyrim (melee in Skyrim is so blindingly strong), more than in Oblivion. The new magic system functions better in combat, but unmodded magic is weaker than it was in Oblivion at some stages, and very strong in others. No consistency (and the dragon priest with a lightning staff kicks your ass @_@). The addition of wards though was a great one. The loss of spell crafting made me cry a little on the inside.

I would agree with this - Skyrim with a warrior in dragon armor annihilated the game.

The armor cap is easy to reach even in leather armor (heavy armor in Skyrim is something you take purely for aesthetics). Given that there's no cap on weapon damage and I can go build myself an iron dagger that can one shot Alduin, melee, especially stealth melee, was just easy and strong.

Stealth bow was fun though. Line up a shot, one arrow kill a dragon as it flies by and watch the poor thing slam into the ground XD

I think I'm more adventerous with classes in MMORPG's. I played all the classes in WoW to level 50 at least once, all the classes in SWtOR, and all but the Mesmer in GW2 and can say I had my fun times with them all (In GW2 I enjoyed my Necro the most). If its a single player RPG I'm pretty sword and board kind of guy, but MMO's I'm more varied. I have 2-3 of every kind of officer in STO, though I enjoy my Science and Engineer officers the most. Tactical gets bland really fast.

I tend to build on the warriors more on the tanky side.... if i can use fists or fist related weapons (gauntlets, knuckels) then i will certainly do so.

Why? you ask? well the second MMOrpg i ever really got into (after runescape :p) maplestory has a class called the brawler. I loved that class so much and just to keep it consistant i like to punch when given the chance. My favorite scenario is when i can charge into battle with a real weapon like a sword then throw it at the closest enemy and charge in with fists. Keeps people on their toes

Ranger - I like to hide in the shadows and shoot people in the head with arrows. I like my blood on the inside and my flesh unscarred

Rocket sniper. The sort of character who is very, very sneaky, right up to the point where she opens up with a Fat Boy or SPAS-12.

I've played them in D&D too. Nothing says "fun" like a 30 ft. sneak attack with a 40 ft. blast radius.

In any MMO I end up playing for more than a couple of weeks I'm usually some kind of ranged damaged dealer; WoW=Mage, Warlock, then Mage, City of Heroes/Villains=Blaster and Dominator, The Secret World=Shotguns/Elemental Magic, DCUO=Rifles/Gadgets. Though in Warhammer Online I was a Blackguard, in Star Wars Galaxies I was a Pikeman, and in Final Fantasy XIV I'm a Dragoon, though I also have Summoner at the level cap.

Also in SWtOR I was technically a Tank-spec'd Powertech, but I didn't group much in that game. I actually don't play a lot of single player RPGs. Most of my single-player time is spent playing FPS games, and a little Dawn of War here or there. I think I went through Borderlands as the Hunter and... actually, I haven't finished Borderlands 2 yet. I haven't played in so long I don't even remember what kind of character I was playing.

As for why I generally play ranged DPS (usually magic-based, where applicable)? Dunno. I guess I just like blasting the snot out of things.

 Madcat87 wrote:
I almost always play as the summoner class.

Necromancer/Druid/Witch Doctor in the Diablo Series.
Warlock in WoW.
Alchemist in Torchlight.
Witch in Path of Exile.
The Overlord series is one of my favourite games.

I just love the idea playing the role of some master with a horde of evil minions to do their bidding. A lot of these classes also mesh well with my second favourite type of class to play that being the role of support with a bunch of buffs/debuffs.

Also while playing D2 online with Dialup, when lagging like hell it was comforting knowing that my minions were still kicking arse.

Lately in a lot of MMOs and FPSs though I find myself playing a healer/support role as it feels similar to a summoner role. As long as I keep everyone alive everything else dies.

That's sort of a perfect example as to what I choose as well and why. I tend to play a lot better as a support role whether its medics in FPS or more of a buffer defensive witch/archer (Path of Exile) simply because I know I will never get the last hit, but without me and my minions or great healing abilities, I know my team mates wouldn't survive and they rely on me just as I rely on them for protection... Plus... no one feths with the white mage of a group.

Hunter/Sniper usually. Love sniper rifles in fps games, and bows etc in fantasy ones be it via a Scout or Ranger. Oh and 99.9% of the time its female if I have a choice.

Usually Wizard or Ranger.
Magic is cool, especially if I can blow stuff to bits!
However if the ranger class can be stealthy (and most games I've played, they can) I usually choose them.


Failing that, I'll go priest. But if I'm going priest you know I dislike the Ranger/Wizard options in that game...