Hero * in after Scheme F: Why I never understand Character Builds

If I put myself to a new role-playing game, then there is always a bit of far anticipation of the upcoming adventure. I do not know what turns the story will be ready. I can only guess in which worlds I will penetrate. And I hardly knows something about the hero or heroine that I will create for hours in the character editor.

A hero to my taste

Especially the creation of a figure, in all its facets, exercises the greatest charm of role plays. Will it be a magical thievy specializing in two-handed? Or rather the dwarf, which goes smoothly between shotgun and rocket launcher? That I create a finished, chunky-tested character in the game run with dozens of small decisions, which at the end is perfectly reflected my playing style, is upset every time.

And that's why I can not understand it, if you can take this feeling with prefabricated character builds.

For each larger role-playing game, there is a tide on instructions on the network, as hero * can be created with very specific skills and values: detailed assistance in skilling, recommendations for Perks and upgrades, perfectly compiled outfits for the best equipment in every situation.

Character builds of course have their permission: Some players * inside may want to dig up in the endgame, some seek the connection in PVP mode and some would like to simply scan the game mechanics after 200 hours in the game. But why is already looking for on the release day after instructions, how much skill of the Paladin should have best, I can not understand.

But do that have to be? Do I want to follow any instructions at all, as I should create and train my RPG character? Do I want to put a template on my heroine and then break out? I can not understand the charm of Character Builds, because in my eyes they restrict the playful freedom and the creative variety. In the end, it's just one thing: self-optimization.

higher, better, faster, further

Already in real life, we are often confronted with the request to make more of their own life. Times are diets for the "problem zone" on the stomach, sometimes it's apps that should rule the daily routine better, sometimes they are guides how to get better in the job. Tips of this kind can be helpful, but it always swings the danger that self-optimization becomes compulsion. And the last thing I want to play is to "have to" a perfect forest runner with maximum damage values.

Of course, I can influence and optimize game mechanics and the arithmetic of character values ​​to my favor. Only then does that always mean between the lines that I should stop to play for optimization, as I would like to play. "My" adventure is over here and I move further with the hero or heroine, which other players are recreational. And even if I create the bossgebut then from my own power, the pressure to play "more efficient" in the future is still omnipresent.

If it does not go on: Be someone else!

That my hero can be inefficient, belongs to the playful expression for me. A wild mix of classes and skills can often feel more proper for me than a specialist. This will allow me in many RPGs, but often it can be a death sentence, many things can be a bit, but nothing of it right. And then it is always a pity when the solution is that I just should play as it's others - then it's easier.

There are also some role-playing games that enable creative solutions. Divinity: Original SIN 2 is a very good example here. Even if your own character is not "heroic" enough to tune certain struggles from our own power, I can exploit the environment and combine systems. Throwing a dozen oil barrels on the ground and burn out the laugh across the area, then ensures the necessary fire damage, which my flashmagier may not deliver.

The opposite of these are titles such as Diablo 3 or Borderlands 3 \ - action-oriented role-playing games, in which only the shared damage counts in the end. Multipliers and combined Perks are often the panacea to keep up to high levels of difficulty. I know that this is just about certain game systems and it's not like I could not lose myself in talent trees. But it also means that there is a handful of "real" ways to play these games. And I have to approach these ways.

To focus too much on values and statistics, mostly distracts me from the actual game - the world, history and my personal adventure. And as soon as I am busy pushing numbers back and forth, instead of exploring the game world and asking NPCs holes into the stomach, it does not take long until I lose the desire. It would be nice if there were more games like Divinity 2. Maybe it's just part of my "adventure" to stay on half of the route and forgotten as a failed hero. Also a nice story.