Class roundup:
Fighter--
+Good allrounder
+Shield block and counter are useful
+Fun 'brawler' playstyle where you jump, dash, and bash everything to bits
+Empale is a useful finisher
-Lacks really 'decisive' moves that can destroy big monsters
-Master skill unimpressive
Fighters are fun and I usually have one on my team but they lack the
zazz factor of other classes.
Thief--
+Only class with a dodge move
+lots of cool and decisive attacks
+Wall jump is handy
+steal things
+Free bombs
-Too many good moves to fit into 4 slots
-Master skill is meh
-Stamina hog
Thieves are awesome but heavily skill dependent. Pawns do not generally play them to their full potential. Also stop using the master move, it's a waste of a slot.
Archer--
+You can attack things at range
+Not as terrible as the Trickster
-No defensive abilities of note
-Underpowered
-Weak
-Dumb
-Looks stupid
-Virgin
What happened here? The split of strider into Thief/Archer really shafted this class. Takes forever to kill things and that's if you main them and play aggressive. Only class that requires ammo for some moves is bullshit. Archer pawns are a straight up liability. Only worth it for the lethality augment.
Mage--
+Primary healer
+Decent attack magic
+Buffs
+Levitate is the best traversal skill
-4 slots is a joke
-Shitty HP unless you cross train
-Magic is not amazing against bosses
-Please stop slotting Flagration, that move is just a 'kill me' sign on pawns.
Not much to say, they're your primary healers. I would only run without a mage if I mained Magic archer, and even then it's preferable to have one. The only thing you can really say is that a dedicated chirurgeon pawn with healing items might be faster and more reliable, but nothing beats a mage for convenience.
Warrior--
+All attacks are decisive
+Great for bosses
+Large swords fully compensate for personal shortcomings
+Shoulder charge is kind of like a dodge
+GUTS
-Slow as balls
-Enemies can just walk away from your moves
-You have to facetank everything
-Fairly miserable against regular mobs
Warrior is a super satisfying class to play because the moves feel so tactical and effective. The problem is the 90% of fights against goblins and wolves are awful.
Sorcerer--
+Big nukes
+Good for bosses
-Only a self-heal
-Big spells are slow and can't be sped up
-Just as squishy as mages
The Sorc-exclusive elemental spells are all DoTs that are kind of shitty, but getting Maelstrom, Meteoron, and Prescient flare makes up for it. It's hard to say if Sorc pawns are worth the drawbacks vs. warriors or thieves but in my experience pawns have less ways to fuck up as Sorcs.
Mystic Spearhand--
+Attacks are strong as fighter but fast like thieves
+Dash move can fly!
+Party shield buff is awesome
+Strong attack is a ranged magic hit
-Lack of decisive attacks
-Stunbolt R1 move sucks
-Many weapon skills feel shitty
Cool class that feels like it needed another balance pass. The melee attacks are great but there is only 3 of them. Magic moves are mostly garbage, the stun bolt on R1 is spectacularly useless. Does no damage and makes enemies flinch, big whoop. There's a charged stunbolt move that can be chained to multiple enemies but the timing is bullshit, and you can teleport to stunned enemies but why would you when you have the dash attack? There's even a weapon skill to let you fast-charge the stunshot but it costs health to use, plus the skill slot. Just, why? The magic missile skill is pathetic and even the charge up magic attack feels underwhelming. This class has tons of
zazz but wish it had a better overall moveset.
Magic Archer--
+Bow attacks deal magic damage, which most enemies are vulnerable to
+Starfox-lock on
+Guided MGS missile
+Ranged AoE heal and pawn revive
+Augments provide passive team buffs
+Absolute Chad the Archer wishes he could be
-Weak defensive options
-No melee
-Late availability if playing casually
Dope AF class. Fire your lazors and kill everything. Best taken after leveling up as mage/sorc to maximize magick score. My only complaint is how far in the damn game you have to be to unlock it. I don't see why you don't learn this from the Elf town, since the trainer is an elf and she gives you the master skill the instant you unlock the class. Clearly she was supposed to be at the village and teach the class earlier, then teach you the master move later.
Trickster--
+Gets the Detection augment to find tokens
-Lol
Class does not work. Your two moves are to turn enemies against each other or trick them into jumping off ledges. I never got either to work right, and obviously useless on bosses. There's a party damage buff that could be good but it drains their health, so fuck off. This class should have been some type of summon/pet class but it's probably too late to fix it
Warfarer--
+Can wear any armor and use all weapons
-Weaker base stats than other classes
-Still limited to four skills no matter how many weapons you have
-Weapon change skill takes up a slot
Warfarer is obviously meant to be the endgame class after you maxed everything else, allowing you to combine multiple playstyles into a custom move set. Handy for traversal since you can have levitate and wall jump available any time. Note that the penalties for this class are relative; a Warfarer with Warrior or Sorc skills loses a good chunk of damage but a Thief warfarer doesn't lose as much while gaining better armor options. Personally I find the quick change skill taking up a slot intolerable, it should allow you to equip 2 weapons but get three different slots for each, IMO (how DD1 worked). Or the quick weapon change should be built into the class and not take up a slot.
Looking at all the classes, I think Thief is overall the most fun and effective with the fewest issues. I hate that Trickster is such a joke class since it feels like a waste, and there's no Advanced Archer or Thief (Ranger and Assassin?) My favorite playstyle in DD1 was Sword + Bow on the Assassin which you can do here with Warfarer, but the 4 slot limit makes it less fun. Oh well
