Unsatisfied with Possessor?

[GrazedDisgrace]

Hello again. Still fairly new to the game, and this is pretty my third post ever. Please take everything I claim with a mountain of salt.

So, about the Possessor.... first time I saw the description and had a vague look at the trees, I was pretty stoked to try it out. It had been a while before I actually started paying more attention to the class and went in depth with the guides and such. The more I learned and played though, the more my enthusiasm was snuffed out.
I started out thinking that its a sort of caster/melee hybrid, banking on mindpower (much like the other two psionic classes) to do pretty much everything, using willpower and cunning mostly to translate them into whatever else they'd need. Because of these impressions I expected the Possessor to moreso use its bodies like a disposable resource (much like the necromancer's souls) while acting like a caster for whenever it wasn't using a body. Seeing as the trees were mostly mental based as well, I was sure it'd work like a Mindslayer when using a body to morph mindpower into whatever was appropriate for that body.
But I was apparently wrong. What my impressions say so far is that it works like a shapeshifter in the worst meaning of the word, spreading stat points wide so that it can match the playstyle of whatever it is currently possessing, while also distancing from the psionic formula by investing minimally in solipsism and building strength. Almost like the player is adapting themselves to the bodies rather than the other way around. And don't get me started on what happens if you decide to put the 5th point into "total control"!
Now, I will say that its probably my bias towards focused classes that is showing. I simply enjoy classes that invest in just one or possibly two stats at most and benefit from those in all the other trees, while said trees synergize with each other even if it means making them less compatible with anything outside the tree (example being the Cultist of Entropy, unlikely that an adventurer would take any of the trees without one other that pairs well). I'm still struggling to build characters that go outside of the "intended" playstyle of a class, like using tinkers where it would make little sence roleplay-wise. Not to mention being uncomfortable with stringing out my points and being left with a ton of buttons.

What I wanted to ask is your opinion. How do you personally feel about the current version of the class? Would you say its better for me to stop worrying over a class that isn't up my alley? Do you believe remaking it while keeping the theme would be better? In short, I still think Possessor is a cool class, but disappoints in gameplay.

Thank you for reading, and have a nice day.

[Snarvid]

Possessor is very complicated. If you're new to the game, you're going to have a hard time learning Possessor because knowing which talents to choose for each body relies on knowing what is good from each class and that's just not a skill you have when you're first picking up the game. Likewise, the "mostly can't heal" playstyle of the Possessor will teach you wrong things about the value of shield runes, Heroism, Healing, and Regeneration infusions that don't apply to other classes. It is extremely different than other classes, and it's one of the (if not the) strongest classes in the game, so unless you were just really attached to your impression that it should be a caster outside of bodies I don't get the disappointment. (N.B. The Possessor isn't really meant to ever be outside of bodies unless you're about to die or swapping.)

You might try the Possessor Tweaks addon while learning the class, it will show you what talents are compatible with what weapon types. Edit: This is important, because Possessors are fundamentally a weapon % damage class (and I strongly recommend two-handed weapons), not a skill based damage class (which may or may not map to the concept of "caster" for you, although I should note that Unleashed Mind and Seismic Mind feel pretty caster-y to me). You want to play your Possessor as a "gish," picking additional talents from your hosts that will synergize with your core melee/aoe Psionic explosions competency. So e.g. think Bone Shield for defense or Bone Grab for gap closer, not Bone Spear or Bone Nova.

But I was apparently wrong. What my impressions say so far is that it works like a shapeshifter in the worst meaning of the word, spreading stat points wide so that it can match the playstyle of whatever it is currently possessing

Don't do this. I mean, you can, it's your playthrough, but you want to max Willpower, Strength, and either Cunning or Magic as a default Possessor (before you start thinking about Staff Possessor builds and such). Your forms will typically have enough points in whatever stats their talents need to get you a reasonable return, and if you want more flexibility to synergize as much as possible with your host bodies you can run a Shalore with the Pain Enhancement System prodigy and add 1/2 your Strength to all your other stats for a short time. But you don't need to do this.

And don't get me started on what happens if you decide to put the 5th point into "total control"!

Please start. I don't know what problem you're referencing and may be able to help.

[whitelion]

For me, Possessor is tedious in the worst way. Managing all the bodies and talents already requires a lot of mental space (and experience as Snarvid said), and the "no healing" punishes suboptimal play in a more consistently permanent way than other classes.

Even if you compare to another imfamously tedious class, like Archmage, Possessor worse for me. It's only tedious to play an optimal AM. Playing a mediocre AM (which is what I do) is fairly easy, and still strong enough to complete the game on difficulties below madness if you otherwise play well.

Of course, this simply reflects my taste. I imagine for many people who have more of a tinkering mindset than I, the great variety and deep customization potential that Possessor offers is something they very much enjoy.

[Snarvid]

Apparently now I'm just shilling for zizzo, but they also did Proper Possession which allows Possessors to heal their bodies. Which is *insanely powerful*, but if it's keeping you from enjoying Possessor, go for it.

I find running dual shield runes and putting one on "auto-use when enemy is visible" cuts down on the healing issue a lot, but it's also a mindset thing. Your bodies are a disposable resource you're supposed to burn up on your way to glory, it's natural to get attached to good ones and try to preserve them as long as possible but that's not who you are. This is who you are.

[whitelion]

Apparently now I'm just shilling for zizzo, but they also did Proper Possession which allows Possessors to heal their bodies. Which is *insanely powerful*, but if it's keeping you from enjoying Possessor, go for it.

I find running dual shield runes and putting one on "auto-use when enemy is visible" cuts down on the healing issue a lot, but it's also a mindset thing. Your bodies are a disposable resource you're supposed to burn up on your way to glory, it's natural to get attached to good ones and try to preserve them as long as possible but that's not who you are. This is who you are.

Yes, it's definitely a different mindset, considering TOME has almost no non-renewable resources in general. And I'm not surprised you enjoy possessor. Your builds show you're a creative player who enjoys a lot of options.

But that's another reason TOME is awesome. So many cool and very different classes there is something for everyone.