Fighter

From the primitive barbarian warriors to the highly trained legionary soldiers and noblemen in search of honor, fighters come from all walks of life and ranks of society. They are trained to use a variety of close combat weaponry and armors.

Starting Health by Race: Human 60, Insectoid 55, Lizardman 60, Minotaur 70

Available Skills: Athletics, Armors, Axes, Maces, Swords, Unarmed Combat

Build Advice: Fighters are your primary damage-dealers and damage-absorbers. Fighters can broadly fall into two categories: damager and tank. For damagers, Swords or even Unarmed Combat are good choices for dealing a lot of pain, while for tanks, Armors, Athletics and Maces or Axes are good skills to pick.

Traits like Healthy, Aggressive, and Tough work well for Fighters, and of course, Strength and Vitality are key attributes to raise. Although the strongest ones are typically Minotaurs, don't neglect the value in the extra skill points Humans get, or the added Dexterity Lizardmen have (they make great Unarmed Combat specialists). The choice between Light and Heavy Armor is a unique one for Fighters - Heavy Armor can be over-burdening unless your Fighter has a very high Strength, but Light Armor doesn't offer as much protection. You can even go armor-less if you max out Unarmed Combat, due to its huge Evasion bonus.

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Mage

Studying arcane knowledge lets mages tap into the forces of nature and elements and form them into powerful spells.

Starting Health by Race: Human 35, Insectoid 30, Lizardman 35, Minotaur 45

Available Skills: Air Magic, Earth Magic, Fire Magic, Ice Magic, Spellcraft, Staff Defense

Build Advice: Mages can take two roles: supporters with broad skill sets, or "glass cannon" nukers that max out a single magic school. For damagers, Ice Magic and Fire Magic are best, while supporters are best served by spreading skills between Spellpower and the remaining magic schools (in particular Air Magic, which allows for the Invisibility spell, useful for avoiding combat).

Trait selection for Mages is pretty easy - Strong Mind and Aura for boosting Energy work great. However, taking Evasive can be a good choice if you aren't the most nimble or artful dodger - Mages are squishy, and avoiding attacks will keep them alive longer. Mages, of course, should have their Willpower maxed out, but don't neglect Dexterity of Vitality as secondary stats to ensure survival. Insectoids are the most naturally magical race, but unfortunately they also have the lowest Health.

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Rogue

Rogues are the masters of stealthy combat and ranged weapons. Some rogues are common thieves while others are deadly dagger-wielding assassins or noble huntsmen.

Starting Health by Race: Human 45, Insectoid 40, Lizardman 45, Minotaur 55

Available Skills: Assassination, Daggers, Dodge, Missile Weapons, Throwing Weapons, Unarmed Combat

Build Advice: Rogues are the only class that specialize in Missile Weapons and Throwing Weapons, and also the only ones who are good with Daggers and who can backstab. While the melee damage Rogues do isn't incredible, and backstabs are harder to pull off as the game goes on, they can attack very frequently with points invested in Daggers and Assassination. With Missile Weapons they gain a lot of utility value in attacking other ranged enemies, albeit at the expense of raw damage, as well as requiring ammo.

Stay away from Throwing Weapons, however, as in general they're not as effective as Missile Weapons, and the best of them, Bombs, are limited in quantity. As far as traits go, you can't go wrong with Agile, Evasive, Skilled, or even Aggressive. Attribute-wise, getting as high Dexterity and Willpower as possible should be a priority during character creation. Humans usually make the best Rogues because they start with more skill points than the other races, but Lizardmen also work well if you can stomach the -1 skill point. As far as equipment goes, the Lurker armor set is exceptional for Rogues, so try to hunt down every piece of it.