I'm quite torn between my choice of class for my PC.
My ambivalence and indecision comes from the benefits of having a PC with high Charisma.
I have narrowed down my choice to these 4 options and I would like you guys help and thoughts.
For context, I have not played any Early Access, I'm a completionist, I do not plan on playing an Origin Character but a Custom Character instead, I plan to take a traditional good play path, I gravitate towards Rangers, Fighter/Thiefs and Fighter/Mages, I prefer range combat, I plan to play in the easiest Explorer mode and as much as I would like it to be otherwise, I will probably only play the game once due to being too busy, other games in the pipeline and having a low attention span.
I like the thought of having my PC be a Lore Bard for the dialog/RP/skill monkey options but I worry about my PC being too utility focused and not martial "active" enough.
While on the one hand, a Lore Bard would offer the greatest chance to experience a wider range of the reactivity and content that the game has to offer, specially for someone that is only planning on playing the game once, paradoxically, I'm also concerned about a Lore Bard being too successful in dialog choices leading to avoiding combat too much and therefore missing out on the fun of combat encounters.
There is also something to be said about missing dialog checks leading towards more interesting encounters.
A Vengeance Paladin on the other hand, would offer some of those face/dialog choices while being more martial "active" than a Lore Bard.
A Paladin though is also a melee combatant rather than the range combatant that I prefer.
That is not that important though as my main concern with the Vengeance Paladin or any Paladin for that matter, is that the role playing constrain of being a Paladin and keeping your Oath and specially the reactivity of the game world towards a Paladin would actually limit seeing and experiencing what the game has to offer if I were to choose a class with less role playing restrictions.
A Gloomstalker Ranger on the other hand, would offer me the class that I tend to gravitate towards and is the range combatant that I prefer.
But what holds me back and what is giving me pause in regards to the Gloomstalker Ranger, is what I perceive as the benefit and perhaps even the need to have a high Charisma character like a Bard, Paladin or Warlock be your PC for the most dialog options.
Finally, a Warlock, would offer some of the face/dialog choices and not be as limited in that regard as a Gloomstalker Ranger due to higher Charisma, be more martial than a Lore Bard, and not have the role playing or lack or range constraints of a Paladin.
Also a Warlock, specially a Pack of the Blade Warlock, offers that Fighter/Mage or Gish class that I gravitate towards with the bonus of also being a range character which I prefer.
Having said that, I'm thinking whether it is actually necessary to have the PC be a high Charisma character?
If I have an Origin Character like Wyll, respec him to have high Charisma because he's a Warlock, use him as the face of the party and always have him initiate dialog, would not doing all these offer me almost the same dialog freedom as if my PC were the face character?
If the answer is Yes then that would free me to not have my PC be the face/dialog character.
On the other hand, from what I understand, it might not be as easy to always have the same character initiate dialog.
Lastly, even if I use a high Charisma character like Wyll for all face/dialog choices, am I correct in suspecting that not having a PC with high Charisma would still limit my reaction and dialog freedom in some fashion?
Thoughts/Comments?
