Most Enjoyable Classes?

[89157Z]

Which classes do you enjoy most? I've played with many of them. My last several times through the game have been with the class set Revision - Zoology - Negation - History - Dialectic - Glamour. These are chosen because I like the stat boosts from the Study Masteries! However, they aren't really my favorite classes in the game. I think my set of favorites looks more like...

 

Revision, Dialectic, Astrology, Enchant, Incantation, and Arithmetic!

 

Or maybe Geometry. I can't decide between Arithmetic and Geometry.

 

Revision: This is the art of changing what is into what is better! I absolutely love this. The 'radical' instruction at the Academagia makes it even better. It would be cool even if it were just the art of permanence. However, the lorewise sense of the Academagia making it new, fresh, and innovative just gilds it. The cincher is that the revision spells in the game tend to be awesome.

 

Dialectic: This is kind of like the purified art of learning, and the art of knowing what can be learned at all. (Epistemology rocks!) Dialectic gives you unmatched tools to expand your knowledge and make sure that what you believe really is the right thing to believe. As an added bonus, the study of dialectics in the game opens many doors and is very good for the inquiring mind.

 

Astrology: I initially found the inclusion of Astrology a dubious thing, but then I thought some more about it, and realized that it fits in well in a fantasy setting. It really brings you some of the most useful spells in the game, too! The stuff you get from Astrology is almost as good as what you get from Revision. The thing that brought this from merely interesting to part of my list-of-awesome is the way it gets used in events and adventures. It helps you track down the truth! This is the magic that lets you do divinations and find stuff, and I love that. A student who understands both Dialectic and Astrology is well on the way to finding all the world's hidden mysteries.

 

Enchant: The art of weaving magic into items, that's how I think of enchantments. I love this for the same reason I love Revision. They are both permanent arts. The outcomes you get aren't 'flash in the pan'. If anything, enchantment comes through in the game as being even more the art of permanence. It's strong association with less magical Forge technique means that any game where I pick up Enchantment I also tend to master Forge, and I like that. My Enchanters end up being hardy individuals who are comfortable taking things all the way from raw materials to magical works of art, or at least that's how I see them, and that's why I love this class.

 

Incantation: Perhaps the most dubious member of the list, this is essentially what one imagines wizards to be, and that's why it gets passed into the list. Incantation often fails to even make it into my class list. I just search out Esteban Contu's school. They offer much higher quality instruction anyways. Still, Incantation is awesome for the way it works in random events, where you can really feel heroic by such things as stopping chandeliers from falling on crowds, or breaking up dangerous clouds of magic, or even just completely cleaning a room in only a minute or two.

 

Arithmetic, Geometry: I think I lied. This is the most dubious member of the list. I can't decide between these and I don't even know why I want to include them. But I do. I thought about various other things I could've stuck onto the list. History for instance has a nice attribute boost for its study mastery, offers a ton of fascinating lore, and it opens up some of the coolest shops in the game. Somehow none of that compares to the awesomeness of a math class. It's weird. I don't even like math. Maybe it's just wish-fulfillment. I may suck at math in the real world, but by gum, my fictional characters rock at it! Of these two, Geometry offers slightly cooler spells and abilities, but Arithmetic is more useful in events and opens more doors in Mineta.

 

 

My primary colleges are Avila and Vernin as they fulfill the entire list. Morvidus comes in close behind as it requires me to give up only one of the most-awesome subjects. My least favorite college might be expected to be Hedi, but it's actually Godina. Hedi's Glamour-Grammar-Rhetoric set just gives an entirely different feel to the coursework. It may thoroughly block up my most-awesome list, but Hedi College is better than the sum of its parts. Godina I dislike for requiring you to take Music and Athletics. It just doesn't seem a very wizardly skill set.

[Schwarzbart]

Nearly every game after DLC 1 I haved Music as one class skill, Zoology is very common for me if I whant to use my Familiar and then Negation is common also for my Students to have as class skill.

Because I personal dislike to take Classes that are easy to train I didnt pick Incantation and especial Revision for a long time as class skills.

For Astrology I am not so sure any more because there is only a 2 skill Library aviable what is not good enough for my taste to entyrly banish this from my class skill list.

The other Class skill are chosen depending on what focus and college I whant to play this time.

[Sabin Stargem]

I personally enjoy the following:

 

 

Incantation

Enchantment

Negation

Revision

Glamour

 

All five of these are wonderful because they often see action, and makes you a strong mage all around. However, I am not sure what other classes I should take up. I don't care much for Astrology, because I much prefer Astronomy, but in this game the former is much better than the latter...well, moving on. I will check out the Dialectric class that you mentioned, because it makes sense for the things my character tends to do, which is to explore spellcasting of all varieties with an eye towards understanding them just because they are key to knowing things. I personally hate math, mostly because of real-world frustration, so I would avoid either math subject if I could. I might switch from Vernin to Avila or Morvidus.

[89157Z]

My advice is a bit overly exuberant right now. I felt the forums needed a touch of positivity. Dialectic gives you access to some interesting/useful locations and it gives you the very valuable Question actions. Question Surroundings is two random skills, Question Self is +7% to your chance of success.

 

Astronomy in the game is a subset of Geometry. It's there if you want to study it and you'll find if you do that a good chunk of its lore is scholarly types grousing about the unscientific (luck-based!) nature of Astrology.

[Sabin Stargem]

Heh, maybe one of the big final projects that the player could do in Year 5 would be an understanding of Astrology that isn't based on luck, but facts and mechanics...with all of the controversy and issues that would bring with it!

[Legate of Mineta]

Heresy! Wizards have been burned for less, shhh!

[Vieux chat]

About burning wizards. In harry potter several characters die. Is any "hard" event or adventure planned ? (a random event for sure, because I don't want to play 15 game where some room mate/friend/teacher would die)

[Sabin Stargem]

I personally wouldn't mind seeing several Adventures that really rock the school via death/maiming of some people, mostly because it would add to the sense of danger that could be in a magical world. I don't want it to be often, but to strike hard when it does. Dangerous events that go unresolved could temporarily remove areas of the school from play, preventing the player from doing some things - which would also affect the power gamers, like myself and others.

[Schwarzbart]

The closet thing I got to what Sabin describ here is when one of my character fail in the last step of the Hedgehog character questline.

Orso Orsi actual haved to save the char then!

[Bullwinkle]

Narratively, early deaths are a mistake. The beats of the story need to get higher as time goes on, and death ranks too highly. A fatality in Year 1 would ruin the game. It's hard to be troubled about losing a bag of pims when your friend just got killed.

 

My guess is we will see a death in later years, as part of the main storyline.

[Vieux chat]

In fact dieing maybe a bit hard, but there could be "hard" events, like someone disappearing, or bad relationship that would lead to huge vendetta, injuries and such (wounds could lead to permanent reduction of max vitality or skills)

[tenchifew]

Personally i like to take Aranaz as my college of choice so i am stuck with

History and

Calligraphy,

history being interesting, useful and one of my candidates for courses anyway,

since it has great research topics with lots of fluff and useful abilities.

Calligraphy also has nice things but i would not have chosen it if ididn't have to.

 

Then, since we are in a magic school, come the magic classes:

glamour,

negation,

revision.

All three are very useful in adventures and have a lot of useful spells.

The last slot is variable and usually goes to one of three:

 

Music - early access to Venalicium +1 int at study 10, good skills

or

Dialectic - difficult to get otherwise, like the fluff, +1 insight at study 10

or

Zoology - if i want to play with familiar.

sadly i am yet to deduce an effective strategy playing with familiar

without seriously weakening yourself.

 

Skill i wanted to try out as the 6th one - athletic

would be very useful for adventures.

 

Incantation i usually learn at Contu's school.

 

Astrology i tend to dislike making it difficult to actually try to play with it,

but i should try it out in the near future.

 

 

@ schwarzbart,

you ve written revision is easy to learn even not attending the course?

how do you do that?

Do you use the combinations of Godina Park: Evacuation Flotilla, Sabinu's Grotto and The Library of Manetele?

[Schwarzbart]

The Library of Manetele is enough because once you have alle SS trough the random part you even can train 2 revision skills at once through this (if you whant).

And because through Study in Venalicium you usualy get all Librarys bevore Midterm.

[tenchifew]

Thanks Schwarzbart,

you are right, Library of Manetele is actually enough.

Maybe i should consider to exchange revision with something...

[Andor]

Narratively, early deaths are a mistake. The beats of the story need to get higher as time goes on, and death ranks too highly. A fatality in Year 1 would ruin the game. It's hard to be troubled about losing a bag of pims when your friend just got killed.

 

My guess is we will see a death in later years, as part of the main storyline.

 

Even in the Harry Potter books no one is killed until, what, Year 4 with Cedric Diggory in the maze? And the HP books are about a full blown war in the wizarding world.

 

So no, there probably should not be deaths in year one. Now that having been said, the nurses in Academagia don't seem to be on quite the level on Madam Pomfrey or Dr. Sun Jen-dijeh so is would be both plausible and dramatic to have someone die in a non-plot related accident. Perhaps even appropriate given the rather blasé attitude the staff hold towards building leveling explosions.

[89157Z]

Blasé? Really? Hmm. Well, there is that one event where you blast open a door that was locked, and aren't even worried about being reprimanded for it. The door having no special magical traits and being rather easily repaired by mages... I'm not really aware of where else this 'eh, we can fix it' attitude was held up, but I wouldn't be surprised, no more than I was surprised at the character's unconcern for having just violently incanted a door open.

 

It helps that the spell in question was a powerful wind spell and there weren't any flames in the area. I don't even recall fire magic being used for anything except once, which I won't relate, because I think it's a big fat spoiler. Also very cool. Certainly not building levelling or dangerous to any of the school's architecture.

 

On the other hand there are at least two ruined buildings on campus which remain as monuments of a sort. So there's precedence for deaths in accidents, and that means everyone is more likely to be on guard.

 

Where did you find the staff being blasé towards building leveling explosions?

[89157Z]

I'm starting to think History is one of the best classes. It's kind of hard to get inspired by it - the topic is bland and the benefits aren't obvious. I'm starting to think it's definitely better than the incantation courses, though. I can get into Esteban Contu's for Incantation.

[Andor]

Where did you find the staff being blasé towards building leveling explosions?

 

There is an event where some idiots are playing catch with a potion-bomb in the hallway. When the teacher intervenes she's mostly miffed that the bomb is so weak and makes a comment about how when she did this back in her day they never found most of the roof.

 

There are a few other events like that where horrific threat to life and limb is treated as about as important as a glass of spilled milk.

[dustman]

I was more worried to be hit by tsunami... That event was scary.. Plus even at 0 hp all you do is rest for a day.

 

My favorite class is History. Benefits are cool but the lore is probably the most interesting of all subjects. Astrology adds several interesting tweaks to events, and the lore isn't bad as well. I liked Dialectics but now prefer planning instead, plus there's lack of humor in the lore. Of magical classes I like Negation and for some strange reason dislike Glamor and Incantation. Arithmetics got nice lines, like " 1 + 1 = 2 unless it's a new moon, when it equals 4" -- this is just great! But in general they are rather boring subjects.

 

So my three favorites are History, Negation and Astrology, in this order.