Saice wrote:
That +1 protection really adds up
So does +3 HP and +1 strength per level. Even without the strength taken into account I'm pretty confident that the +65 total HP by level 15 is going to be far better than +15 protection.
and now that the +50% evasion from sheilds
This amounts to what over the course of the game, 2-5 extra protection? Negligible difference. Again, I'd rather just have more HP.
the knight can hold his own and tank on par with the Barb
If his only strength is that he can tank "on par" with Barb then why not just play Barb? I dunno, I'm just not seeing it I guess. Knights may become somewhat less crappy later on but not enough to justify picking one over a barb. I'll have to figure out a way to properly theorycraft in this game and do the math but I suspect the Knight will never reach a point where his extra protection actually outweighs the extra HP he'd have gotten as a Barb, especially when enemies seem to have high amounts of armor penetration in this game. Not to mention that +13-15 strength is a ridiculously big difference. Your enemies will go down that much faster which will in turn make you survive longer.
But if you want to min max the game you would just have to Barbarians up front and a Wizard and Alchemist in the back. Alchemist as a 2nd caster (ignore firearms) and herb grower.
That's pretty much my party except I used a Battle Mage instead of a Wizard and my Alchemist uses Missile Weapons.