Ple-Sen
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It's nice when the Mage Guild makes references to the expeditioners 😎
Added after 1 hour 25 minutes
I'll also jot down my thoughts on weapons, though without full information (like shield and armor stats or unique weapons) it's hard to see the whole picture.
Claymore
Damage. And also health. And damage. As one might guess, an option heavily skewed towards attack, whose defensive mechanisms are represented, for the most part, by a bonus to health and attack range. Potentially, the range bonus allows you to hit from behind sturdier allies and protects against counterattacks, assuming they exist in the current version of the system, but it's hard to judge the usefulness of this feature yet. The paralysis ability seems decent, but it's unlikely many enemies will survive more than one hit from a claymore. And those that do survive will probably have resistance to this kind of effect. The capstone isn't too impressive either, considering that an axe similar to the claymore gets an additional attack. It's important to understand here that 25% of maximum health, in the case of a character with 100-200 HP, is 25-50 extra damage units, whereas a claymore-wielder's attacks, even with a standard claymore (assuming no attack penalties from conviction or origin), will deal 164 damage. So this bonus would only be noticeable against monsters with tons of health. The only saving grace is the excellent level 7 ability, with its unique 30% damage modifier. But even with it, the claymore significantly lags behind the axe in damage. And the axe doesn't require two hands, allowing you to use a shield.
From a gameplay mechanics perspective, it's not the worst choice for origins and convictions with health-related attack penalties, like the Kaolai. And the level 9 ability combines well with their ability to inflict burns with normal attacks, potentially allowing you to deprive a tough opponent of 40% health in one attack. Nii might also take a liking to claymores, as high damage and health pool synergize well with their unique abilities.
Bow
The only downside to this branch, I'd say, is the lack of stat bonuses, but this is compensated by convictions, origins, and experience. 10 base damage is a small price for range, which even without leveling the branch exceeds the range of almost any other weapon, while the 9th level compensates for the bow's main weakness and removes the need for a backup weapon.
Spear
A balanced option in terms of attack/defense and potentially strong. A bit of accuracy, a bit of damage, a bit of survivability, and a bit of evasion. The attack range bonus is situational but potentially useful. Especially because the area-of-effect attack passive depends on it. For this reason, it synergizes very well with the Invidia conviction, allowing a spearman to deal damage to all enemies in a line up to 9 cells long. Another reason the range bonus is useful is the immobilize enemy passive, which indirectly increases the character's survivability. The cherry on top is the capstone, which has every chance of breaking the balance. The main thing is finding a way to boost your accuracy.
Besides Invidia, spears synergize well with the Luxuria conviction, as the accuracy bonus from allure will be especially noticeable for spear users. On the other hand, Luxuria will also lower willpower, and consequently the chance for immobilize to trigger, which is worth keeping in mind. Among origins, the spear, like two-handers, pairs well with the Nii, due to the synergy between area attacks and vampirism, and with the Kaolai for team players with paralysis.
Roman-style Sword
A decent defensive option and surprisingly a good choice for mages, due to massive willpower bonuses. Even if the character never swings the sword, this branch provides good bonuses to evasion, willpower, health, and mobility. Warriors, on the other hand, will find that the main goal of this branch is not so much dealing damage as it is tying the enemy down in melee and covering the backs of more fragile allies.
The Roman-style sword is quite an interesting weapon, as it has good synergy with many available convictions. Followers of Mana, for example, will appreciate the boost to their healing abilities, in addition to the branch's overall defensive focus, which is useful for any healer. Followers of Dante will find themselves even more resistant to magic, not to mention the Roman sword's willpower bonuses translate into an additional 16% experience. Followers of Abelia who wish to play the tank role will gladly sacrifice their already unimpressive damage for extra survivability. Rishi's Delusion, already a strong defensive effect, will become even more effective thanks to the willpower bonus. Even the Singers of Superbia will welcome a microphone shaped like a knight's sword. Gula provides a significant health bonus, as well as a way to restore it and remove negative effects. Invidia allows for ranged combat, immobilizing enemies like an archer. A very sturdy and tough archer. With a sword. As for Ira and Luxuria, that's already clear. Regarding origins, the choice is somewhat narrower. Lilit will find the willpower bonus useful for at least Magic Arrow or Mirror, while survivability never hurts mages. The Kaolai's magical attacks, especially the paralysis ability, will be a direct upgrade to the immobilize ability. The Nii's vampirism will increase survivability, though without bonuses or defense, it might not be that noticeable. Ditlind will provide a discount on learning the corresponding branch.
Sabre
Massive bonuses to accuracy and evasion, combined with a capstone that provides parry, make a character with a sabre practically invulnerable. Parry is no longer limited to block points (though they almost never ran out anyway), and now it also allows parrying shots. Damage, while lower than an axe, mace, or claymore, is decent and much more consistent, thanks to immense accuracy. To understand just how durable a character with a sabre at level 9 mastery is, it's enough to pit them against a character with a pistol (20 accuracy, without conviction/origin bonuses or penalties) and level 9 mastery. The chance to hit the opponent is only 17%. The axe has slightly higher chances, thanks to the extra attack, a whole 33%. Both weapon types, axe and pistol, are tuned for attack. The only conditional weakness of the sabre lies in magic and effects tied to willpower, but this weakness is inherent to any other branch, except for the Roman sword and mace (at maximum level). So it's not really a weakness. And unique items of this type in Reven's games are usually stronger than others.
Among convictions, the sabre synergizes best with Dante, who covers the branch's only weakness in the form of magic, boosts its damage, and insures the character against bad rolls via BDP. Refiteya feels like the most obvious choice among origins, though Lilit and Nii are also quite good.
Mace
Something of a cross between an axe and a claymore, without the damage/accuracy of the former or the survivability of the latter. At least, at first glance. Against someone with 50+ defense, the mace can compete in damage with the axe. However, according to Reven, such values are quite rare. The last ability in the branch looks a bit strange, as it combines two completely different effects. The first guarantees triggering paralysis with bleeding, strengthening the branch's attack focus, while the second provides a rare defensive bonus for the mace. The usefulness of such magic resistance, again, is hard to assess without knowing the enemies, while resistance to negative effects from weapons, though pleasant, won't help the character with this weapon much without additional bonuses to health or defense.
Due to its final ability, this branch synergizes well both with Dante, for those wanting to maximize willpower defense rolls, and with Luxuria or Ira, allowing them to compensate for their penalties. Among origins, besides the obvious Ditland, one should consider the Nii. Like the claymore, the mace's high damage pairs well with vampirism, while the bonuses to willpower rolls allow redistributing stat points elsewhere.
Katar
Even without attack bonuses, the katar can compete in terms of final DPS with the claymore, as long as the opponent doesn't boast high defense. The main problem for a character with katars is their relative vulnerability, as the branch offers no bonuses to health, evasion, or attack range, while the poison only takes effect at the end of the opponent's turn. Nevertheless, I can't call the branch weak – it has higher potential than many, thanks to initiative bonuses and an abundance of attacks.
Among convictions, perhaps the best choices are Ira or Superbia, due to bonuses to important stats, or protection from ranged attacks, or the ability to ignore blocks and defense. Among origins, the M Kaolai could be a good option, thanks to their stat bonuses, ability to convert damage to magical, and the synergy of paralysis with the abundance of attacks.
Pistol
One of the strongest attacking branches, combining high damage, good attack range, and massive accuracy bonuses. I don't see any particular nuances here – it's just a very statistically strong option. Unless the opponent uses a sabre. Alas, you can't play Indiana Jones.
Whip
A more defensive version of the katars, with lower speed, an attack range bonus, and a significantly higher evasion stat. The main drawback of the whip compared to them is that while katars essentially get an additional attack every round at rank 9, the whip gets an additional attack *sometimes*, if you're lucky enough to finish off an opponent. Of course, if there are multiple such opponents and luck is on the character's side, they could replicate Gulveig's feat from Lungwort, but this requires either good attack and accuracy, or a very good whip. The potential for breaking balance is there, but whether it will be broken is hard to say. Either way, the weapon is decent both on its own and for a spellcaster who wants an initiative bonus more than a willpower (Roman) or invulnerability (sabre) bonus.
Among convictions, someone like Ira or Superbia is probably best. Lilits are a fairly obvious choice, though the attack penalty hinders realizing the whip's potential. M Kaolai, as with katars, are a decent alternative.
Axe
Essentially the same as a claymore, but with less health, and more accuracy, damage, and movement (which, for a melee weapon, is often more important than attack range). Yes, there's no unique damage modifier here, and bleeding, in my opinion, is worse than paralysis, but this is a small price to pay for an extra attack. And the defense of axe-wielders, due to shield access, can be better, even despite the lower health pool. Most of what applies to the claymore applies to the axe, with the caveat that the latter is better. One of the strongest branches in the game.
Added after 1 hour 25 minutes
I'll also jot down my thoughts on weapons, though without full information (like shield and armor stats or unique weapons) it's hard to see the whole picture.
Claymore
Damage. And also health. And damage. As one might guess, an option heavily skewed towards attack, whose defensive mechanisms are represented, for the most part, by a bonus to health and attack range. Potentially, the range bonus allows you to hit from behind sturdier allies and protects against counterattacks, assuming they exist in the current version of the system, but it's hard to judge the usefulness of this feature yet. The paralysis ability seems decent, but it's unlikely many enemies will survive more than one hit from a claymore. And those that do survive will probably have resistance to this kind of effect. The capstone isn't too impressive either, considering that an axe similar to the claymore gets an additional attack. It's important to understand here that 25% of maximum health, in the case of a character with 100-200 HP, is 25-50 extra damage units, whereas a claymore-wielder's attacks, even with a standard claymore (assuming no attack penalties from conviction or origin), will deal 164 damage. So this bonus would only be noticeable against monsters with tons of health. The only saving grace is the excellent level 7 ability, with its unique 30% damage modifier. But even with it, the claymore significantly lags behind the axe in damage. And the axe doesn't require two hands, allowing you to use a shield.
From a gameplay mechanics perspective, it's not the worst choice for origins and convictions with health-related attack penalties, like the Kaolai. And the level 9 ability combines well with their ability to inflict burns with normal attacks, potentially allowing you to deprive a tough opponent of 40% health in one attack. Nii might also take a liking to claymores, as high damage and health pool synergize well with their unique abilities.
Bow
The only downside to this branch, I'd say, is the lack of stat bonuses, but this is compensated by convictions, origins, and experience. 10 base damage is a small price for range, which even without leveling the branch exceeds the range of almost any other weapon, while the 9th level compensates for the bow's main weakness and removes the need for a backup weapon.
Spear
A balanced option in terms of attack/defense and potentially strong. A bit of accuracy, a bit of damage, a bit of survivability, and a bit of evasion. The attack range bonus is situational but potentially useful. Especially because the area-of-effect attack passive depends on it. For this reason, it synergizes very well with the Invidia conviction, allowing a spearman to deal damage to all enemies in a line up to 9 cells long. Another reason the range bonus is useful is the immobilize enemy passive, which indirectly increases the character's survivability. The cherry on top is the capstone, which has every chance of breaking the balance. The main thing is finding a way to boost your accuracy.
Besides Invidia, spears synergize well with the Luxuria conviction, as the accuracy bonus from allure will be especially noticeable for spear users. On the other hand, Luxuria will also lower willpower, and consequently the chance for immobilize to trigger, which is worth keeping in mind. Among origins, the spear, like two-handers, pairs well with the Nii, due to the synergy between area attacks and vampirism, and with the Kaolai for team players with paralysis.
Roman-style Sword
A decent defensive option and surprisingly a good choice for mages, due to massive willpower bonuses. Even if the character never swings the sword, this branch provides good bonuses to evasion, willpower, health, and mobility. Warriors, on the other hand, will find that the main goal of this branch is not so much dealing damage as it is tying the enemy down in melee and covering the backs of more fragile allies.
The Roman-style sword is quite an interesting weapon, as it has good synergy with many available convictions. Followers of Mana, for example, will appreciate the boost to their healing abilities, in addition to the branch's overall defensive focus, which is useful for any healer. Followers of Dante will find themselves even more resistant to magic, not to mention the Roman sword's willpower bonuses translate into an additional 16% experience. Followers of Abelia who wish to play the tank role will gladly sacrifice their already unimpressive damage for extra survivability. Rishi's Delusion, already a strong defensive effect, will become even more effective thanks to the willpower bonus. Even the Singers of Superbia will welcome a microphone shaped like a knight's sword. Gula provides a significant health bonus, as well as a way to restore it and remove negative effects. Invidia allows for ranged combat, immobilizing enemies like an archer. A very sturdy and tough archer. With a sword. As for Ira and Luxuria, that's already clear. Regarding origins, the choice is somewhat narrower. Lilit will find the willpower bonus useful for at least Magic Arrow or Mirror, while survivability never hurts mages. The Kaolai's magical attacks, especially the paralysis ability, will be a direct upgrade to the immobilize ability. The Nii's vampirism will increase survivability, though without bonuses or defense, it might not be that noticeable. Ditlind will provide a discount on learning the corresponding branch.
Sabre
Massive bonuses to accuracy and evasion, combined with a capstone that provides parry, make a character with a sabre practically invulnerable. Parry is no longer limited to block points (though they almost never ran out anyway), and now it also allows parrying shots. Damage, while lower than an axe, mace, or claymore, is decent and much more consistent, thanks to immense accuracy. To understand just how durable a character with a sabre at level 9 mastery is, it's enough to pit them against a character with a pistol (20 accuracy, without conviction/origin bonuses or penalties) and level 9 mastery. The chance to hit the opponent is only 17%. The axe has slightly higher chances, thanks to the extra attack, a whole 33%. Both weapon types, axe and pistol, are tuned for attack. The only conditional weakness of the sabre lies in magic and effects tied to willpower, but this weakness is inherent to any other branch, except for the Roman sword and mace (at maximum level). So it's not really a weakness. And unique items of this type in Reven's games are usually stronger than others.
Among convictions, the sabre synergizes best with Dante, who covers the branch's only weakness in the form of magic, boosts its damage, and insures the character against bad rolls via BDP. Refiteya feels like the most obvious choice among origins, though Lilit and Nii are also quite good.
Mace
Something of a cross between an axe and a claymore, without the damage/accuracy of the former or the survivability of the latter. At least, at first glance. Against someone with 50+ defense, the mace can compete in damage with the axe. However, according to Reven, such values are quite rare. The last ability in the branch looks a bit strange, as it combines two completely different effects. The first guarantees triggering paralysis with bleeding, strengthening the branch's attack focus, while the second provides a rare defensive bonus for the mace. The usefulness of such magic resistance, again, is hard to assess without knowing the enemies, while resistance to negative effects from weapons, though pleasant, won't help the character with this weapon much without additional bonuses to health or defense.
Due to its final ability, this branch synergizes well both with Dante, for those wanting to maximize willpower defense rolls, and with Luxuria or Ira, allowing them to compensate for their penalties. Among origins, besides the obvious Ditland, one should consider the Nii. Like the claymore, the mace's high damage pairs well with vampirism, while the bonuses to willpower rolls allow redistributing stat points elsewhere.
Katar
Even without attack bonuses, the katar can compete in terms of final DPS with the claymore, as long as the opponent doesn't boast high defense. The main problem for a character with katars is their relative vulnerability, as the branch offers no bonuses to health, evasion, or attack range, while the poison only takes effect at the end of the opponent's turn. Nevertheless, I can't call the branch weak – it has higher potential than many, thanks to initiative bonuses and an abundance of attacks.
Among convictions, perhaps the best choices are Ira or Superbia, due to bonuses to important stats, or protection from ranged attacks, or the ability to ignore blocks and defense. Among origins, the M Kaolai could be a good option, thanks to their stat bonuses, ability to convert damage to magical, and the synergy of paralysis with the abundance of attacks.
Pistol
One of the strongest attacking branches, combining high damage, good attack range, and massive accuracy bonuses. I don't see any particular nuances here – it's just a very statistically strong option. Unless the opponent uses a sabre. Alas, you can't play Indiana Jones.
Whip
A more defensive version of the katars, with lower speed, an attack range bonus, and a significantly higher evasion stat. The main drawback of the whip compared to them is that while katars essentially get an additional attack every round at rank 9, the whip gets an additional attack *sometimes*, if you're lucky enough to finish off an opponent. Of course, if there are multiple such opponents and luck is on the character's side, they could replicate Gulveig's feat from Lungwort, but this requires either good attack and accuracy, or a very good whip. The potential for breaking balance is there, but whether it will be broken is hard to say. Either way, the weapon is decent both on its own and for a spellcaster who wants an initiative bonus more than a willpower (Roman) or invulnerability (sabre) bonus.
Among convictions, someone like Ira or Superbia is probably best. Lilits are a fairly obvious choice, though the attack penalty hinders realizing the whip's potential. M Kaolai, as with katars, are a decent alternative.
Axe
Essentially the same as a claymore, but with less health, and more accuracy, damage, and movement (which, for a melee weapon, is often more important than attack range). Yes, there's no unique damage modifier here, and bleeding, in my opinion, is worse than paralysis, but this is a small price to pay for an extra attack. And the defense of axe-wielders, due to shield access, can be better, even despite the lower health pool. Most of what applies to the claymore applies to the axe, with the caveat that the latter is better. One of the strongest branches in the game.