Pillars of Eternity: Character Creation

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There is a starting screen in Pillars of Eternity where you should create a new character. That’s an essential part of each RPG, but guys from Obsidian Entertainment decided to make a perfect event for it. Normally, you can choose your character’s gender, race, and class, change attributes, choose the story and bio, set portrait, voice and name. Selected skills and attributes will affect your gameplay as well as race, culture or even gender!

What you should know is in PoE each choice is crucial. Certain races allow you to choose specific options in conversations and some backgrounds let you complete quests in unusual ways. Also, there are some extremely powerful combos of race, class, and attributes which allow you to create a perfect hero. But that’s not interesting. It’s cooler to create your own character which suits your style and worldview. Try different combinations!

And we will help you a little. Detailed descriptions of each stage of creation are listed below. Check them if you are stuck.

Gender

The 1st task is to choose a sex of your adventurer. Here are only 2 options: male and female. Despite the fact that different cultures have diverse views of genders’ roles in the society males and females are completely equal to you as a gamer. Specific combinations of sex and culture or race may open various reactions of NPCs, but they didn’t affect the gameplay at all. It’s completely up to you what sex to choose.

Race

The 2nd step allows you to select a race and a sub-race of your hero. There are 6 available races each with 2, 3 or even 4 sub-races. Each race has different bonuses and penalties to main attributes when each sub-race offers a unique skill. Some combos are good and others are really awful in terms of gameplay. But Pillars of Eternity is all about choices so you are free to create a huge and awkward rogue or stocky small warrior.

Check this complete list of races with sub-races:

Human.

The commonest race in the world of Eora, humans lives everywhere. This is a universal race which suits every culture and almost every class. However, humans are good at roles of damages and tanks. What is interesting, all sub-races of humans have the same ability called Fighting Spirit. It strongly increases Accuracy and Damage after reaching 50% of Endurance.

Sub-races:

Meadow.

Ocean.

Savannah.

Racial bonuses: +1 to Might, +1 to Resolve.

Recommended classes: Barbarian, Monk, Paladin.

Aumaua.

Here we have the biggest and probably the kindest guys in Eora. Aumaua is a humanoid race connected to water, shores, and islands. Thanks to race bonuses this race is the best choice for damage dealers or tanks. However, you can build an unusual Chanter with several dangerous riffles to cover your back lines. Spoiler: there is a companion with exactly the same build.

Sub-races:

Coastal – have an increased defense against Prone and Stun attacks.

Island – have an additional slot for weapons.

Racial bonuses: +2 to Might.

Recommended classes: Barbarian, Chanter, Fighter, Paladin.

Dwarf.

We can call them gnomes, but that is a totally another race! Dwarfs are pretty familiar to different fantasy worlds, they are small muscular guys with high diligence. Only dwarfs and orlans have racial penalties, so be sure not to choose classes based on Dexterity for your dwarf. Penalties here are balanced with nice bonuses as well.

Sub-races:

Mountain – have an increased defense against Disease and Poison effects.

Boreal – have an increased Accuracy against Primordial and Wilder enemies.

Racial bonuses: +2 to Might, +1 to Constitution, -1 to Dexterity.

Recommended classes: Chanter, Fighter, Priest.

Elf.

Elves are second most popular habitats of Dyrwood where the game takes action. This race has only bonuses so you can choose it for almost every class. Specific build depends on the chosen sub-race. For example, Wood Elf type is cool for all ranged damage dealers when Pale Elf one provides good bonuses for tanks. Of course, elves are wonderful wizards.

Sub-races:

Wood – have an Accuracy, Deflection, and Reflexes against targets located farther than 4 meters.

Pale – have an increased damage reduction for burn and freeze attacks.

Racial bonuses: +1 to Dexterity, +1 to Perception.

Recommended classes: Cipher, Ranger, Rogue, Wizard.

Orlan.

If you know who are hobbits from The Lord of the Rings than orlans will not be a surprise for you. These small and brisk creatures with big ears are cute but dangerous. They have racial penalties, so we don’t recommend choosing them for tank classes. Better build fast and furious damagers who are especially good with bonuses from Hearth Orlan type.

Sub-races:

Hearth – have a chance to convert attacks into crits when attacking any target with a teammate.

Wild – have a bonus for all types of defense right after being attacked with Will.

Racial bonuses: -1 to Might, +2 to Perception, +1 to Resolve.

Recommended classes: Barbarian, Druid, Monk, Paladin.

Godlike.

Just wow. Folks from Obsidian Entertainment created a totally unique and really cool race! Members of Godlike have a part of real gods inside them and interesting abilities determined by sub-races. All bonuses are based on Endurance. Godlikes cannot wear any helmets or hats because of growths on their heads.

Sub-races:

Death – have an increased damage against all enemies with 25% or less level of Endurance.

Fire – have an increased damage reduction and deal damage when is under 50% Endurance.

Moon – heals the protagonist and allies when reaching 75%, 50% and 25% level of Endurance.

Nature – have a bonus to Might, Constitution, and Dexterity with 50% or less level of Endurance.

Racial bonuses: +1 to Dexterity, +1 to Intellect.

Recommended classes: Barbarian, Druid, Monk, Wizard.

Class

Along with a selection of race, there is a possibility to choose a class for your character. So far as we have a detailed guide for every class we will not provide a lot of info here. For now it’s enough to know that there are 11 classes in Pillars of Eternity. Each class is totally unique, each has different abilities and suits different styles of playing. Choose the most interesting for your class for the best game experience.

Here is a list of all classes:

Barbarian. The best brawler among all classes that can deal tons of damage and fight with several foes at once. Ability to start with: Frenzy.
Chanter. The most flexible class, a cool supporter with many buffs and debuffs. Ability to start with: Come, Come Soft Winds of Death.
Cipher. A unique class for PoE which combines melee damage with powerful spells means it’s a hybrid of damager and controller. Ability to start with: Mind Wave.
Druid. A classic archetype that can transform into beasts, cast spells, attack with melee and ranged weapons. Any beast form is good for a start.
Fighter. The best damager and what’s more important the best tank that can regenerate Endurance and Health. Ability to start with: Disciplined Barrage.
Monk. A familiar class from D&D focused on melee damage with great bonuses from self-harming and wounds. Ability to start with: Swift Strikes.
Paladin. Another wonderful tank and supporter that can deal good damage engage several enemies and protect allies. Ability to start with: Flames of Devotion.
Priest. The best healer in the game which is priceless for every build and even can help with specific buffs or debuffs. Be sure to maximize Holy Radiance.
Ranger. The only class which starts with an animal companion can be a cool ranged damager with pet synergy. Ability to start with: Wounding Shor.
Rogue. The best assassin in the game which should focus a single target. Ability to start with: Crippling Strike for range, Blinding Strike for melee.
Wizard. Well, you can create almost any ranged hero with this class, for example, damager, controller, supporter etc. Ability to start with: Chill Fog.

As you can see, there are a lot of classes. Combine them with races to create the most powerful or just funny hero. But don’t forget about other steps of character creation.

Attributes

This stage requires from you a bit more patience and attention. Attributes are the most important stats and you can change them only once. These 6 options affect the game significantly, so invest your points carefully. Each attribute starts at 10, but you can reduce all of them to 3 or increase to 18. Normally, you have 15 free points, but with reduction, there are 60 points in total! Remember that races and classes also can affect attributes.

Here are 6 main attributes and items them influence:

Might – damage and heal;
Constitution – Health and Endurance;
Dexterity – speed;
Perception – accuracy;
Intellect – spell features;
Resolve – deflection.

Each attribute also can help you during conversations. With a high level of the certain item you can choose additional phrases in dialogues.

Culture

During the 5th step, you have to choose your place of origin. There are a lot of lands in Eora and each is unique. Of course, you can select a culture based on bonuses, but we recommend choosing based on descriptions. That’s just more interesting and realistic. Each culture provides a +1 bonus to certain attribute, defines equipment and a list of available backgrounds for next step.

At all, you can select one of these cultures:

Aedyr – adds +1 to Resolve;
Deadfire Archipelago – adds +1 to Dexterity;
Ixamitl Plains – adds +1 to Resolve;
Old Vailia – adds +1 to Intellect;
Rauatai – adds +1 to Constitution;
The Living Lands – adds +1 to Might;
The White that Wends – adds +1 to Perception.

Combination of class and culture determines what armor and weapons will be at your starting inventory. You can specify chosen culture during the 1st mission when Calista asks you about motives for a journey and final destinations.

Background

6th step offers you to choose more detailed biography. Backgrounds are stories which can affect your dialogues and what’s more important will for sure affect your skills. Each background grants +2 bonus to a single skill or +1 bonus to 2 skills. Some bios are available for all cultures while others are unique. Again, it’s cooler to choose background based on your desirable bio, not on bonuses. But it’s up to you.

There are a lot of choices:

Available for all cultures: Drifter (+1 to Mechanics and +1 to Stealth), Hunter (+1 to Survival and +1 to Stealth), Laborer (+1 to Mechanics and +1 to Athletics), Merchant (+1 to Lore and +1 to Mechanics).
Available for Aedyr: Aristocrat (+2 to Lore), Clergyman (+2 to Lore), Colonist (+2 to Survival), Dissident (+1 to Lore and +1 to Stealth), Mercenary (+1 to Lore and +1 to Athletics), Slave (+1 to Athletics and +1 to Survival).
Available for Deadfire Archipelago: Aristocrat (+2 to Lore), Explorer (+1 to Lore and +1 to Survival), Mercenary (+1 to Lore and +1 to Athletics), Raider (+1 to Athletics and +1 to Stealth), Slave (+1 to Athletics and +1 to Survival).
Available for Ixamitl Plains: Aristocrat (+2 to Lore), Dissident (+1 to Lore and +1 to Stealth), Mercenary (+1 to Lore and +1 to Athletics), Philosopher (+2 to Lore), Scholar (+2 to Lore).
Available for Old Vailia: Aristocrat (+2 to Lore), Artist (+2 to Lore), Colonist (+2 to Survival), Dissident (+1 to Lore and +1 to Stealth), Mercenary (+1 to Lore and +1 to Athletics), Slave (+1 to Athletics and +1 to Survival).
Available for Rauatai: Aristocrat (+2 to Lore), Dissident (+1 to Lore and +1 to Stealth), Scholar (+2 to Lore), Mercenary (+1 to Lore and +1 to Athletics), Slave (+1 to Athletics and +1 to Survival).
Available for The Living Lands: Colonist (+2 to Survival), Explorer (+1 to Lore and +1 to Survival), Mercenary (+1 to Lore and +1 to Athletics), Scientist (+1 to Lore and +1 to Mechanics).
Available for The White that Wends: Aristocrat (+2 to Lore), Explorer (+1 to Lore and +1 to Survival), Mystic (+2 to Lore).

As you can see, some backgrounds have the same bonuses. That’s why you can acquire, for example, +2 to Lore with different cultures.

Appearance and other final features

The last step is all about cosmetic changes. Here you can modify your character’s appearance, for example, colors of clothing, skin and hair, hairstyle, and other minor options. Exact available changes depend on selected race and sex. In conclusion, you should choose one of 66 portraits or even import your own image.

Then decide which voice your hero will have. There is 10 voice divided by gender and type. Also, you can make your hero completely silent. This will not affect the gameplay at all. Your last decision here is about the name. Type anything that you want or choose from the list of personal names available for each culture if you want to follow the lore.

Best builds

As a bonus, we want to provide some overpowered combinations. Use them if you want to create the best hero and beat the game without problems:

Any Human – Fighter. Make attributes 10 – 17 – 3 – 18 – 17 – 20. Choose Aedyr or Ixamitl Plains culture. Engage enemies, protect yourself with shields and use Hatchets.
Coastal Aumaua – Barbarian. Make attributes 20 – 10 – 19 – 3 – 18 – 8. Choose Deadfire Archipelago culture. You can damage a lot, but will die fast.
Coastal Aumaua – Cipher. Make attributes 21 – 10 – 10 – 10 – 17 – 10. Choose The Living Lands culture. Focus on powerful guns to destroy foes.
Wood Elf – Cipher. Make attributes 19 – 3 – 19 – 4 – 18 – 15. Choose The Living Lands culture. This build works almost like the previous one, but it’s more flexible.
Wood Elf – Ranger. Make attributes 19 – 15 – 19 – 4 – 18 – 3. Choose The Living Lands culture. Be sure to grab bear as your main companion and use pistols.
Wild Orlan – Paladin. Make attributes 2 – 15 – 3 – 21 – 18 – 19. Choose The White that Wends culture. It’s the best tank build, which is very proof with a large shield.
Fire Godlike – Druid. Make attributes 19 – 10 – 10 – 10 – 19 – 10. Choose The Living Lands culture. Transform into a bear, cast fire spells and try to debuff enemies.
Moon Godlike – Monk. Make attributes 19 – 18 – 19 – 6 – 10 – 6. Choose The Living Lands culture. Get wounds and automatically heal yourself with bonuses to stats.
Nature Godlike – Druid. Make attributes 18 – 10 – 18 – 8 – 16 – 8. Choose Old Vailia culture. Focus on transforming into stag, bear or boar.
Death Godlike – Wizard. Make attributes 18 – 6 – 16 – 8 – 20 – 10. Choose Old Vailia culture. That’s a true battle wizard with a lot of damage from spells and racial skills.