[crows22]

Having played the game quite a bit to level 90 now one thing I've observed is a sniper as a starting character is a terrible choice for beginners, especially given the next character you unlock Shae is also a sniper, two snipers so early in the game is just bad game design.

Players picking Harec is very rare unless forced to or beginners who don't know any better then get turned off the game.

Change Harec into something else.

[Eikazuya]

Also his default gun. It is different from other games.
I picked Harec when i started game and realized his gun needs charging. I thought the rifle would be like AWP. or Imani from Gigantic.

"May your Stress as Low as Harec"

[Lancer]

Switch herec with iune

[iKill]

Switch herec with iune

I think Doldren would be a better choice. Iune requires a bit more than tunnel vision and hence would also be a bad choice as a starter...

Then again all Locals have generally a high skill ceiling...

[Lancer]

Switch herec with iune

I think Doldren would be a better choice. Iune requires a bit more than tunnel vision and hence would also be a bad choice as a starter...

Then again all Locals have generally a high skill ceiling...

true but doldy is... Well doldy, i just thought that having  a character who could heal teamates would be a good starting character

[PohtHehd]

Just pick Herrick as soon as you're able to but don't ready up. Then when it gets to like 3 seconds left pick the character you actually want to play. This way low levels can't pick him up even if they tried.

Yeah...but if they are so new that you don't trust them to play as Harec wouldn't they only have three other characters to choose from?

Wouldn't there be a few situations where someone wants to play as Alicia but they follow your advice to sit on Harec. Then when it is 3 seconds they pick Alicia but the other two players have chosen Lycus and Konstantin. The new player would be forced into Harec anyway.

Or what if the reverse happened; someone sits on Harec but you want to pick him for BP or whatever but you decide not to because they are just sitting on him not locking in.

Either way, Harec is a good character and I don't think it is appropriate to take that away from anyone.

And honestly, I would think a person who does this is an asshole.

[LordDraco3]

Harec is arguably the most important character for the story. It would be impossible to switch him out at this point for anyone else.

[Ac3_f4ce]

Nope, sorry, sitting on the Harec is for the good of the mission. Also It forces the baby Harec out of his comfort zone and he is forced to play another character. Another character that would beneficial for him. Plus, they make you recruit Hans almost immediately. 

[ArnoldCat]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3KNqB__pGF8

[PohtHehd]

Nope, sorry, sitting on the Harec is for the good of the mission. Also It forces the baby Harec out of his comfort zone and he is forced to play another character. Another character that would beneficial for him. Plus, they make you recruit Hans almost immediately.

If your skill with the game is such that one person picking Harec over another literally is the difference between success and failure then you are not skilled enough to be making judgement calls on other people's ability to play the game.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3KNqB__pGF8

You didn't ever get off Harec so we don't know if that person was going to pick them or not.

Also, the person picking Shae almost didn't because they thought you were going to pick Harec which more proves my point about the inherent problems with such a method. The person picking Shae was only level 17 and yet that doesn't seem to concern you at all.

Which leads me to believe most people who complain about "baby Harecs" are doing so because it is a popular thing. Jumping the band wagon, as it were. Level 2 Harec and Level 17 Shae should, by your own estimation, be equally useless.

No one has yet to identify the exact thing that is wrong with allowing someone to pick their character they like.

Perhaps the solution is as simple as there being more people who cannot complete a mission with a low level handicap than people who can complete a mission with a low level handicap. Which makes sense, not everyone is going to be good enough to do that as this thread shows.

[Ac3_f4ce]

I'm just being cautious. With MMR the way it is, there is a chance you could get thrown for a loop and end up on a very difficult mission. Harec is  useless on that board anyway. Also the Harec was a level 2 he most definitely has Harecs first gun. Which is trash in my opinion.

Now the Shae is not so much useless, as she can use bewitch enemies. There isnt much she could apply it to in this mission but it can be useful at the end. Also the guy was level 17 hes been playing for awhile, which means he has way more experience. Further more he may have acquired one of Shae's rapid fire guns which is useful and way better than Harecs single shot snipers. Shae isnt a good choice either but in this case she was the lesser of 2 evils. 

[LordDraco3]

Poht is right: carry harder. Don't drop the baby.

I solo carried 3 babies on Mouse & Snake on the first day of Spacelords. baby Lycus, Alicia, and a lv 50 Loaht, so 3 characters that couldn't hit a damn thing. I carried the whole mission as Konstantin, and it was pretty much painless, just took a while. Had someone brought Harec things would have gone better, I bet.

[Ac3_f4ce]

Hmm idk. That isnt a bad line up. Yes none of them could hit Valeria but lets be real, Valeria isnt the problem on that board its the enemies.  Alicia Lycus and Loathe are great for taking out enemies. If they cleared the way and let you focus on Valeria i can see you winning that mission pretty easily.

A good example, i was on Mind over matter. My friend was a low level Kuzzman looking for a blueprint.  There was a Shae and a Doldren. 2 locals on that mission is pretty ridiculous. I picked Alicia.  My gun couldnt reach the boss. So i spent that whole mission focusing on enemies. I took down the elites i cleaned up miners i took out all the squid guys. i protected my team so they could focus on the boss. and we beat it.

Missions like those are pretty straight forward.  Mind over Matter objectives all entail defeating enemies. Mouse and snake only one part required aleph to be dropped. If it was White out it could be a different story. That missions has so many steps; defeat elites to get aleph, destroy cooling spiders, destroy miners, Put in 4 concentrators, Drop Aleph. White out is technical that requires a good amount of teamwork and splits  peoples focus. Unlike Mouse and Snake

[Jenetikz]

a bad starting character?? Wait til a lvl 600 antag harec pulls up and show's you proper skills.

dont sleep on any character

[Lehi]

I have created another accounts for a test purpose. In both cases, at early lvl, Cortez gives you a free rare weapon, Smoking Daisy for Alicia, and encourage you to make one. I did not afford it because it costs 54000 golds, though.
It looks, ME wants to recommend Alicia for starters.