Helherron Classes
This page contains some notes about what each class is useful for.  Some of the classes have some specializations (such as 1 handed or ranged).  These specializations are listed purely to describe a class using a certain set of skills.  Helherron doesn't separate the classes in specializations.
Class	Barbarian
Skill Points	7 - 10
Battle Skill	2-h sword, 2-h axe, Mace or Polearm
Second Skill	Toughness
Third Skill	2-h sword, 2-h axe, Mace or Polearm
Primary Attributes	Strength, Constitution, Dexterity
Favored Races	Golem, Troll
Summary	The Barbarian is a 2 handed fighting machine.  With +5 to all 2 handed weapons, except for the Staff, it makes sense to use one of these skills.  Toughness at +5 will give plenty of extra hit points, and they'll need them. Investing in another 2 handed weapon skill is a good idea because of the randomness of weapon drops.  Having more options available can help out. Except for Golems, Barbarians make good Hunters and you can probably get a decent enough starting skill that you won't have to put skill points in it.  You also only need Kicking if you don't have a Locksmith, but the starting value will probably be sufficient so you wouldn't have to add any skill points.
Class	Bard
Skill Points	8-12
Battle Skill	Music
Second Skill	Trading, Magic, Lockpicks, Detecting or Hunting
Third Skill	<See Second Skill>
Primary Attributes	Wisdom, Willpower, <Skill dependent>
Favored Races	Lizardman, Fairy
Summary	A Bard uses Music to turn the tide of battle by randomly casting Priest spells when they 'Use' an instrument.  A Bard can also cover a variety of other skills if your party needs them.  A Lizardman Bard could be your hunter, a Halfling Bard could pick locks, an Elf Bard could be your trader.  There are many combinations that you can use for your secondary skills.  Whatever you use, you'll need to pay attention to the primary attributes for those skills and add them to the list of attributes you'll need for your build.
Class	Fighter (1-handed melee)
Skill Points	8-11
Battle Skill	Sword or Axe
Second Skill	Shield
Third Skill	Toughness
Primary Attributes	Strength, Dexterity, Constitution
Favored Races	Troll, Orc
Summary	Standard 1 handed melee fighter.  If you want a Blacksmith, an Axe wielding Dwarf is the best build you can get to cover that requirement (that's not to say one of the other can't be your blacksmith though).
Class	Fighter (2-handed melee)
Skill Points	8-11
Battle Skill	Mace, Staff or Polearm
Second Skill	Toughness
Third Skill	Dodge, Mace, Staff or Polearm
Primary Attributes	Strength, Constitution, Dexterity
Favored Races	Troll, Orc
Summary	Standard 2 handed fighter. So why take a 2-handed melee fighter over a Barbarian?  Maces and Polearms come in both 2 handed and 1 handed versions.  By focusing this build on Mace and Polearm you could have a lot of options when it comes to using weapons you find.  While you could do the same with a Barbarian, you won't have the Shield skill to give you that extra little DB.
Class	Fighter (Ranged)
Skill Points	8-11
Battle Skill	Bow or Crossbow
Second Skill	Toughness
Third Skill	Lockpick or Dodge
Primary Attributes	Dexterity, Strength, Constitution
Favored Races	Halfling, Elf
Summary	Standard ranged fighter.  A Halfling Fighter could be your locksmith, since fighters do get +3 to Lockpick.  However, you'll start pretty low so there will be a lot of retrying.  If you don't want to take a Thief or Halfling Merchant but do want Lockpick, a Halfling Fighter may be just the thing for you.
Class	Mage
Skill Points	9-13
Battle Skill	Magic
Second Skill	Scribing
Third Skill	<Any 1-handed weapon skill>
Fourth Skill	?
Primary Attributes	Intelligence, Willpower, Wisdom
Favored Races	Fairy, Elf
Summary	Uses magic to help the party, both before and during combat.  Mages get a lot of skill points, but unfortunately, there isn't much to spend them on.  They get +5 to both scribing and alchemy.  Scribing is more useful for mage spells.  I haven't actually used scribing much, but it may be useful if you have a quickened character that could use a scroll before doing their standard attack (see the tips section for more info). Pick a 1-handed weapon skill to focus on.  You'll want to equip a shield, and 'carry' a one handed weapon (I say carry, not use, you don't want to melee with a Mage).  You can make a +Mana  weapon at the Artificer if you don't find one.  I usually pick Daggers because they are light and you tend to find +Mana daggers.  Additionally, you can use 'Tactics' to shift points from your weapon skill into Defense Bonus.  If you can get the skill up to about 60, then you can get the +20 DB from using tactics (+20 is the maximum shift).  After it hits 60 there is no reason to put more into it.
	As for what to do with the other skill points, Dodge(+2) and/or Toughness(+1) are okay.  However, since they have terrible modifiers you aren't going to be getting much by spending points in them.  Adding the max to dodge every level will get you around +14 DB by the end of the game, maxing toughness will get you around +12 HPs.  Not much to write home about.  Shield(+1) isn't worth it since you'd get only about +3 to DB by the end of the game.  Mages do get +3 to Trading, but unfortunately they start too low to be of much good.  If you didn't have a Bard or Merchant, then you *could* use your Mage for Trading.
Class	Merchant (Ranged)
Skill Points	9-12
Battle Skill	Bow or Crossbow
Second Skill	Trading
Third Skill	Dodge
Fourth Skill	?
Primary Attributes	Charisma, Intelligence, Dexterity
Favored Races	Elf, Fairy
Summary	Show me the money!  A Merchant (more specifically, the Trading skill) can drastically change the amount you pay for and sell items for.  In Helherron, you will NEVER have enough money, so this class is really beneficial.  It can also produce some decent archers with the Halfling, Elf or Fairy races.  If your merchant has enough skill points for a 4th skill, then you'll need to look at your build and decide on a skill you want to have, there isn't really a dominant choice for that fourth slot. A Halfling Merchant can start with a very decent Bow and Lockpick skill and can be your locksmith if you don't want to take a Thief.
Class	Merchant (Melee)
Skill Points	9-12
Battle Skill	Sword or Axe
Second Skill	Trading
Third Skill	Shield
Primary Attributes	Charisma, Intelligence, Strength
Favored Races	Lizardman, Dwarf
Summary	The melee version of a Merchant.  I'm not entirely sure why you'd use this build.  The melee skills would start so low that you'd miss a lot right up front.  Plus the classes that are good at Melee aren't as good at trading as the ranged classes, so you're defeating the purpose of having a Merchant in the first place.
Class	Monk
Skill Points	9-12
Battle Skill	Martial Arts
Second Skill	Dodge
Third Skill	Toughness
Fourth Skill	Prayer
Primary Attributes	Dexterity, Strength, Constitution
Favored Races	Lizardman, Elf
Summary	Martial artist.  Monks really can dish out some damage.  Additionally, they ignore the zones of control, so they can walk around an enemy and backstab it in a single turn.  Backstab gives pretty substantial bonuses to your attack, so this is definitely something to use to your advantage.  The only drawback to monks is that they can't harm enemies that require magic weapons with their hands.  In those cases you can use the Monks Priest spells to help out in combat.  Lizardmen can start with the highest Martial Arts skill, while an Elf would have the highest Prayer skill.  If you want a Monk that can cast spells, then go with an Elf and reverse the Third and Fourth Skill choices.
Class	Priest
Skill Points	9-12
Battle Skill	Prayer
Second Skill	Scribing
Third Skill	Mace
Fourth Skill	?
Primary Attributes	Wisdom, Willpower, Intelligence
Favored Races	Fairy, Elf
Summary	Priests are one of the most useful classes in the game.  They get a selection of spells that help out tremendously in all situations and most of their spells don't require line of sight, which helps out more than you might guess.  Much of the same things that apply to Mages also apply to Priests (look at the Mage Summary).  However, take Mace as the weapon skill, since Priests get +2 to that skill you'll be able to get to 60 faster.  Alchemy also makes sense for a priest since you could brew healing potions for those characters that can't read.
Class	Ranger
Skill Points	8-11
Battle Skill	Any weapon skill
Second Skill	Hunting
Third Skill	Detecting
Primary Attributes	Dexterity, Strength, Intelligence
Favored Races	Any
Summary	I cannot justify this class.  It just doesn't have the skill modifier's to make it work by mid game, let alone through the entire game.  Some of the starting builds look really promising, but I think long term it just falls flat.  It needs some +5 weapons skills (or at least +4) and a higher Prayer modifier.    I think the other classes are just more useful.
Class	Thief (Ranged)
Skill Points	8-12
Battle Skill	Bow or Crossbow
Second Skill	Dodge
Third Skill	Toughness
Primary Attributes	Dexterity, Strength
Favored Races	Halfling, Elf
Summary	Your locksmith and a good archer to boot.  I have yet to see anyone that has anything to Steal, so I'm not sure that skill is worth raising.  The Thief also has some good modifiers in many other skills.  However, it doesn't get all that many skill points and those skills will typically start pretty low.  Some builds may find that the Thief can handle some skills other than the core skills, which would make it even more useful. You could add points to the Lockpicks skill if you don't want to retry the pick lock as often.
Class	Thief (Melee)
Skill Points	8-12
Battle Skill	Sword or Dagger
Second Skill	Shield
Third Skill	Dodge
Primary Attributes	Dexterity, Strength
Favored Races	Orc, Lizardman
Summary	The melee version of a Thief.  While more useful than a Melee Merchant, it has many of the same problems as that class does.  For role playing, go for it, otherwise use something else.