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* BunnyEaredLawyer: The Order are, bluntly, a group of extremely strange and emotionally dysfunctional weirdos. However, for all that, they're still a competent and powerful adventuring party who are probably the world's best hope for survival.

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* BunnyEaredLawyer: BunnyEarsLawyer: The Order are, bluntly, a group of extremely strange and emotionally dysfunctional weirdos. However, for all that, they're still a competent and powerful adventuring party who are probably the world's best hope for survival.
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* BunnyEaredLawyer: The Order are, bluntly, a group of extremely strange and emotionally dysfunctional weirdos. However, for all that, they're still a competent and powerful adventuring party who are probably the world's best hope for survival.
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* AchillesHeel: If the Order has something that qualifies as a collective weakness, it's that half of their members are susceptible to CharmPerson. It's serious enough that Durkon wouldn't risk bringing the entire order when facing a [[spoiler:Vampire with their Hypnotic Gaze, and it almost ended in the bad guys winning when the Order face The High Priest of Hel and his lackeys.]]
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* The human members of the Order - [[Characters/TheOrderOfTheStickHumanPartyMembers Roy Greenhilt, Haley Starshine and Elan]]
* The non-human members of the Order - [[Characters/TheOrderOfTheStickNonHumanPartyMembers Vaarsuvius, Belkar Bitterleaf and Durkon Thundershield]]

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* The human members of the Order - [[Characters/TheOrderOfTheStickHumanPartyMembers Roy Greenhilt, Haley Starshine and Elan]]
* The non-human {{demihuman}} members of the Order - [[Characters/TheOrderOfTheStickNonHumanPartyMembers Vaarsuvius, Belkar Bitterleaf and Durkon Thundershield]]
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* [[Characters/TheOrderOfTheStickHumanPartyMembers Roy Greenhilt, Haley Starshine and Elan]]
* [[Characters/TheOrderOfTheStickNonHumanPartyMembers Vaarsuvius, Belkar Bitterleaf and Durkon Thundershield]]

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* The human members of the Order - [[Characters/TheOrderOfTheStickHumanPartyMembers Roy Greenhilt, Haley Starshine and Elan]]
* The non-human members of the Order - [[Characters/TheOrderOfTheStickNonHumanPartyMembers Vaarsuvius, Belkar Bitterleaf and Durkon Thundershield]]
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* [[Characters/TheOrderOfTheStickHumanPartyMembers Roy Greenhilt, Haley Starshine, Elan]]
* [[Characters/TheOrderOfTheStickNonHumanPartyMembers Vaarsuvius, Belkar Bitterleaf, Durkon Thundershield]]

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* [[Characters/TheOrderOfTheStickHumanPartyMembers Roy Greenhilt, Haley Starshine, Starshine and Elan]]
* [[Characters/TheOrderOfTheStickNonHumanPartyMembers Vaarsuvius, Belkar Bitterleaf, Bitterleaf and Durkon Thundershield]]



* For the cohort assisting the party from Book 6 and onwards, see [[Characters/TheOrderOfTheStickNorthernLands Northern Lands]].

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* For the cohort assisting the party from Book 6 and onwards, onwards ([[spoiler:Minrah Shaleshoe]]), see [[Characters/TheOrderOfTheStickNorthernLands Northern Lands]].
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* JustifiedTitle: The team name (and webcomic title) were originally just a reference to the drawing style, but it got a justification in the ''Recap/OnTheOriginOfPCs'' prequel. See Line-of-Sight Name below.

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* JustifiedTitle: The team name (and webcomic title) were originally just a reference to the drawing style, but it got a justification in the ''Recap/OnTheOriginOfPCs'' ''[[Recap/TheOrderOfTheStickOnTheOriginOfPCs On the Origin of PCs]]'' prequel. See Line-of-Sight Name below.
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This sentence required clarification.


** Roy's high Intelligence and Wisdom scores don't transfer over in terms of arcane power for him as a fighter due to him wanting to be a BadassNormal to stick it to his {{Jerkass}} wizard father, to the point where it's not until the penultimate story arc that he becomes a MagicKnight through [[spoiler:his Weapon of Legacy]]. Furthermore, Roy has no real weapon proficiency in anything other than two-handed weapons, which results in him being a terrifyingly powerful force on the battlefield whenever he has his Ancestral Relic/[[spoiler:Weapon of Legacy]], but being mediocre at best when armed with anything else. Averted in that his 18 Strength and high Constitution are optimal for single class fighters.

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** Roy's high Intelligence and Wisdom scores don't transfer over in terms of arcane power for him as a fighter due to him wanting to be a BadassNormal to stick it to his {{Jerkass}} wizard father, to the point where it's not until the penultimate story arc that he becomes a MagicKnight through [[spoiler:his Weapon of Legacy]]. Furthermore, Roy has no real weapon proficiency in anything other than two-handed weapons, which results in him being a terrifyingly powerful force on the battlefield whenever he has his Ancestral Relic/[[spoiler:Weapon of Legacy]], but being mediocre at best when armed with anything else. Averted in that his 18 Strength and high Constitution are optimal for single class single-class fighters.



** Haley is a rogue who specializes in archery, and while that's not ''totally'' crazy, it's rarely done the way she does it for a reason because standing so far back denies Sneak Attack dice (which requires flanking that cannot be done with a ranged weapon from more than 30 feet away). Furthermore, at one point she mentions that she took the "Manyshot" feat, one of the weakest feats ever printed ''in any book'', and which specifically prohibits Sneak Attacking on the second shot -- though in at least two of the instances in which "Manyshot" has been used, it has ironically saved her life. Finally, her weapon of choice is a longbow, when rogues are only proficient in shortbow by default. Essentially, this means she burned another precious feat on a martial weapon proficiency for an average of only 1 more point of damage per attack, and a range increase she can't fully benefit from because, again, she needs to be up close to Sneak Attack.

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** Haley is a rogue who specializes in archery, and while that's not ''totally'' crazy, it's rarely done the way she does it for a reason because standing so far back denies Sneak Attack dice (which requires flanking flanking, that cannot be done with a ranged weapon weapon, or taking advantage of a flat-footed opponent, which can only be done from more less than 30 feet away). Furthermore, at one point she mentions that she took the "Manyshot" feat, one of the weakest feats ever printed ''in any book'', and which specifically prohibits Sneak Attacking on the second shot -- though in at least two of the instances in which "Manyshot" has been used, it has ironically saved her life. Finally, her weapon of choice is a longbow, when rogues are only proficient in shortbow by default. Essentially, this means she burned another precious feat on a martial weapon proficiency for an average of only 1 more point of damage per attack, and a range increase she can't fully benefit from because, again, she needs to be up close to Sneak Attack.



** However, Elan explicitly does this when he starts branching into healing magic (a result of his experiences with Therkla), resulting in the ironic situation where [[TheDitz Elan]]'s build is the best optimized of the party given that his strongest stat (Charisma) is the primary stat used for both his base and prestige classes; Dashing Swordsman ''weaponizes'' Charisma.

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** However, Elan explicitly does this min-maxes when he starts branching into healing magic (a result of his experiences with Therkla), resulting in the ironic situation where [[TheDitz Elan]]'s build is the best optimized of the party given that his strongest stat (Charisma) is the primary stat used for both his base and prestige classes; Dashing Swordsman ''weaponizes'' Charisma.



* TheSixthRanger: The Order occasionally has temporary members that travel with them whenever their goals align. Miko Miyazaki escorted them to Azure City and fought with them on the way there, and Celia is an honorary member due to dating its leader. Another is Yukyuk... [[{{Brainwashed}} kinda]]; [[spoiler:V sarcastically welcomes him into the Order after brainwashing him into fighting against the Linear Guild. And from the end of Book 6 onward, Minrah Shaleshoe is accompanying the Order to the North Pole as they head off to try and save the world.]]

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* TheSixthRanger: The Order occasionally has temporary members that travel with them whenever their goals align. Miko Miyazaki escorted them to Azure City and fought with them on the way there, and Celia is an honorary member due to dating its leader. Another is Yukyuk... [[{{Brainwashed}} kinda]]; [[spoiler:V sarcastically welcomes him into the Order after brainwashing him into fighting against the Linear Guild. And from the end of Book 6 onward, Minrah Shaleshoe is accompanying the Order to the North Pole as Durkon's cohort while they head off to try and save the world.]]
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* LethalJokeCharacter: As you can see with MinMaxing below, the Order are sub-optimal in almost every way. Nevertheless, they're saving the world.
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Examples in the present tense.


** They held the defense of Azure City together almost by themselves.
** Between Haley and Belkar, with support from the unnamed Greysky Cleric of Loki and Celia, they were able to devastate the majority of the Greysky Thieves' Guild members and incapacitate both Bozzok and Crystal when they were ambushed at Old Blind Pete's house.
** After the [[spoiler:destruction of Girard's Gate]], the much-depleted Order still posed a credible threat to an entire army of FacelessGoons.

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** They held hold the defense of Azure City together almost by themselves.
** Between Haley and Belkar, with support from the unnamed Greysky Cleric of Loki and Celia, they were are able to devastate the majority of the Greysky Thieves' Guild members and incapacitate both Bozzok and Crystal when they were are ambushed at Old Blind Pete's house.
** After the [[spoiler:destruction of Girard's Gate]], the much-depleted Order still posed poses a credible threat to an entire army of FacelessGoons.

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** Between Haley and Belkar, with support from the unnamed Greysky Cleric of Loki and Celia, they were able to decimate the majority of the Greysky Thieves' Guild members and incapacitate both Bozzok and Crystal when they were ambushed at Old Blind Pete's house.
** After the [[spoiler:destruction of Girard's gate]], the much-depleted Order still poses a credible threat to an entire army of FacelessGoons.

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** Between Haley and Belkar, with support from the unnamed Greysky Cleric of Loki and Celia, they were able to decimate devastate the majority of the Greysky Thieves' Guild members and incapacitate both Bozzok and Crystal when they were ambushed at Old Blind Pete's house.
** After the [[spoiler:destruction of Girard's gate]], Gate]], the much-depleted Order still poses posed a credible threat to an entire army of FacelessGoons.



* DysfunctionJunction: Literally ''every'' member of the Order has noteworthy mental issues of some shade or another, to the point where only Durkon and Elan can be said to not suffer from severe self-loathing. Roy has a hefty amount of SurvivorsGuilt thanks to his dead infant brother, Haley is both incredibly greedy and almost pathologically unable to trust anyone outside of her "family", Elan is a dimwitted {{Cloudcuckoolander}} and MetaGuy desperate for the affection of others, Vaarsuvius is an InsufferableGenius who usually resorts to [[StuffBlowingUp violently blowing up]] awkward social situations along with developing a hefty GuiltComplex following their DealWithTheDevil, Belkar is an enthusiastically homicidal maniac who uses violence and {{Jerkass}}ery to hide his emotional vulnerability, and Durkon is an incredibly [[HonorBeforeReason honor-bound]] and fervently religious stick-in-the-mud. Needless to say, before they became actual TrueCompanions [[FireForgedFriends over the course of the comic]], they initially got along like a bunch of wet cats. It's even lampshaded by Minrah in ''Utterly Dwarfed'':

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* DysfunctionJunction: Literally ''every'' '''every''' member of the Order has noteworthy mental issues of some shade or another, to the point where only Durkon and Elan can be said to not ''not'' suffer from severe self-loathing. self-loathing problems. Roy has a hefty amount of SurvivorsGuilt thanks to his dead infant brother, Haley is both incredibly greedy and almost pathologically unable to trust anyone outside of her "family", Elan is a dimwitted {{Cloudcuckoolander}} and MetaGuy desperate for the affection of others, Vaarsuvius is an InsufferableGenius who usually resorts to [[StuffBlowingUp violently blowing up]] awkward social situations along with developing a hefty GuiltComplex following their DealWithTheDevil, Belkar is an enthusiastically homicidal maniac who uses violence and {{Jerkass}}ery to hide his emotional vulnerability, and Durkon is an incredibly [[HonorBeforeReason honor-bound]] and fervently religious stick-in-the-mud. Needless to say, before they all became actual TrueCompanions [[FireForgedFriends over the course of the comic]], they initially got along like a bunch of wet cats. It's even lampshaded by Minrah in during ''Utterly Dwarfed'':



** Belkar has quite possibly the single worst build ''in the entire comic.'' To further elaborate, Belkar's "build" is (deliberately) suboptimal; as a halfling he gets both a Strength penalty (Strength is one of the most important stats for both his barbarian and ranger classes) and a Dexterity bonus (but he hardly ever uses missile weapons), and taking Wisdom as a DumpStat impairs his use of key Ranger skills (i.e., tracking) and spellcasting. Furthermore, he specializes in DualWielding, [[AwesomeButImpractical which is typically regarded as impractical]] due to the high feat and stat taxes involved and all of the accuracy penalties that come with it. The only aspect of his build that ''isn't'' complete crap is that he appears to utilize his Dexterity to extremes, jumping around like [[Franchise/StarWars Yoda]], meaning he is very good at defeating low-level minions. Additionally, since his racial favored class is rogue, the disparity between his ranger and barbarian levels means he now earns 20% less experience than the entire rest of the party (assuming that rule is being enforced).

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** Belkar deserves special mention here, as he has quite possibly the single worst build ''in the entire comic.'' To further elaborate, Belkar's "build" is (deliberately) suboptimal; as a halfling he gets both a Strength penalty (Strength is one of the most important stats for both his barbarian and ranger classes) and a Dexterity bonus (but he hardly ever uses missile weapons), and taking Wisdom as a DumpStat impairs his use of key Ranger skills (i.e., tracking) and spellcasting. Furthermore, he specializes in DualWielding, [[AwesomeButImpractical which is typically regarded as impractical]] due to the high feat and stat taxes involved and all of the accuracy penalties that come with it. The only aspect of his build that ''isn't'' complete crap is that he appears to utilize his Dexterity to extremes, jumping around like [[Franchise/StarWars Yoda]], meaning he is very good at defeating low-level minions. Additionally, since his racial favored class is rogue, the disparity between his ranger and barbarian levels means he now earns 20% less experience than the entire rest of the party (assuming that rule is being enforced).



* MoralityKitchenSink: [[invoked]] The individual moralities of the Order's members are all across the board. Both Roy and Durkon are LawfulGood, but in different ways, with Roy being a clever manipulator and planner who became a fighter because of his desire to [[WeHelpTheHelpless help protect those who are unable to protect themselves]], and Durkon being an obstinate ReligiousBruiser dedicated to following the tenets of his god Thor while aiding those in need. Similarly, while both Haley and Elan are ChaoticGood, Elan's more of a silly {{Cloudcuckoolander}} who usually doesn't understand rules while trying to do whatever he feels is the right thing, whereas Haley has literally admitted multiple times that [[ScrewTheRulesImDoingWhatsRight she will flat-out ignore society's rules]] if they're interfering in her helping protect both innocent people and her loved ones. Then there's Vaarsuvius, who is TrueNeutral and initially joined solely for the opportunity of conducting spell research "in the field," and following them ''violently'' JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope has made becoming TheAtoner a core part of their identity. And finally, there's Belkar, who is ChaoticEvil and the literal TokenEvilTeammate of the entire party who joined just to get more opportunities to indulge in his ComedicSociopathy.

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* MoralityKitchenSink: [[invoked]] The individual moralities of the Order's members are all across the board. board.
** [[invoked]]
Both Roy and Durkon are LawfulGood, but in different ways, with Roy being a clever manipulator and planner who became a fighter because of his desire to [[WeHelpTheHelpless help protect those who are unable to protect themselves]], and Durkon being an obstinate ReligiousBruiser dedicated to following the tenets of his god Thor while aiding those in need. need.
** [[invoked]]
Similarly, while both Haley and Elan are ChaoticGood, Elan's more of a silly {{Cloudcuckoolander}} who usually doesn't understand rules while trying to do whatever he feels is the right thing, whereas Haley has literally admitted multiple times that [[ScrewTheRulesImDoingWhatsRight she will flat-out ignore society's rules]] if they're interfering in her helping protect both innocent people and her loved ones. ones.
** [[invoked]]
Then there's Vaarsuvius, who is TrueNeutral and initially joined solely for the opportunity of conducting spell research "in the field," and following them ''violently'' JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope has made becoming TheAtoner a core part of their identity. identity.
** [[invoked]]
And finally, there's Belkar, who is ChaoticEvil and the literal TokenEvilTeammate of the entire party who joined just to get more opportunities to indulge in his ComedicSociopathy.
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Grumpy Bear is no longer a trope


'''Durkon:''' As I recall, ye called me "[[GrumpyBear surly and unpleasant]]" shortly after ye met me. [...] Maybe all these folks need is [[TheLeader a good strong leader like ye ta whip 'em inta shape]].

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'''Durkon:''' As I recall, ye called me "[[GrumpyBear surly "surly and unpleasant]]" unpleasant" shortly after ye met me. [...] Maybe all these folks need is [[TheLeader a good strong leader like ye ta whip 'em inta shape]].
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** Haley is a rogue who specializes in archery, and while that's not ''totally'' crazy, it's rarely done the way she does it for a reason because standing so far back denies Sneak Attack dice (which requires flanking that cannot be done with a ranged weapon from more than 30 feet away). Furthermore, at one point she mentions that she took the "Manyshot" feat, one of the weakest feats ever printed ''in any book'' -- though in at least two of the instances in which "Manyshot" has been used, it has ironically saved her life. Finally, her weapon of choice is a longbow, when rogues are only proficient in shortbow by default. Essentially, this means she burned another precious feat on a martial weapon proficiency for an average of only 1 more point of damage per attack.

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** Haley is a rogue who specializes in archery, and while that's not ''totally'' crazy, it's rarely done the way she does it for a reason because standing so far back denies Sneak Attack dice (which requires flanking that cannot be done with a ranged weapon from more than 30 feet away). Furthermore, at one point she mentions that she took the "Manyshot" feat, one of the weakest feats ever printed ''in any book'' book'', and which specifically prohibits Sneak Attacking on the second shot -- though in at least two of the instances in which "Manyshot" has been used, it has ironically saved her life. Finally, her weapon of choice is a longbow, when rogues are only proficient in shortbow by default. Essentially, this means she burned another precious feat on a martial weapon proficiency for an average of only 1 more point of damage per attack.attack, and a range increase she can't fully benefit from because, again, she needs to be up close to Sneak Attack.
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3.5 sneak attacks can be made at range and apply to all qualifying attacks made; the "once per round" limitation is a 5e thing and I dunno where the idea they can't be done at range came from when it's right there in the SRD.


** Haley is a rogue who specializes in archery, and archery does not involve anything rogues can do in battle like Sneak Attacking (which requires flanking that cannot be done with a ranged weapon or from more than 30 feet away). Furthermore, at one point she mentions that she took the "Manyshot" feat, one of the weakest feats ever printed ''in any book'' and all but completely useless to a rogue (you only get Sneak Attack once, instead of just attacking regularly and getting it with each arrow fired) -- though in at least two of the instances in which "Manyshot" has been used, it has ironically saved her life. Finally, her weapon of choice is a longbow, when rogues are only proficient in shortbow by default. Essentially, this means she burned another precious feat on a martial weapon proficiency for an average of only 1 more point of damage per attack.
** Belkar has quite possibly the single worst build ''in the entire comic.'' To further elaborate, Belkar's "build" is (deliberately) suboptimal; as a halfling he gets both a Strength penalty (Strength is one of the most important stats for both his barbarian and ranger classes) and a Dexterity bonus (but he hardly ever uses missile weapons), and taking Wisdom as a DumpStat impairs his use of key Ranger skills (i.e., tracking) and spellcasting. Furthermore, he specializes in DualWielding, [[AwesomeButImpractical which is typically regarded as impractical]] due to all of the accuracy penalties that come with it. The only aspect of his build that ''isn't'' complete crap is that he appears to utilize his Dexterity to extremes, jumping around like [[Franchise/StarWars Yoda]], meaning he is very good at defeating low-level minions. Additionally, since his racial favored class is rogue, the disparity between his ranger and barbarian levels means he now earns 20% less experience than the entire rest of the party (assuming that rule is being enforced).

to:

** Haley is a rogue who specializes in archery, and archery while that's not ''totally'' crazy, it's rarely done the way she does not involve anything rogues can do in battle like it for a reason because standing so far back denies Sneak Attacking Attack dice (which requires flanking that cannot be done with a ranged weapon or from more than 30 feet away). Furthermore, at one point she mentions that she took the "Manyshot" feat, one of the weakest feats ever printed ''in any book'' and all but completely useless to a rogue (you only get Sneak Attack once, instead of just attacking regularly and getting it with each arrow fired) -- though in at least two of the instances in which "Manyshot" has been used, it has ironically saved her life. Finally, her weapon of choice is a longbow, when rogues are only proficient in shortbow by default. Essentially, this means she burned another precious feat on a martial weapon proficiency for an average of only 1 more point of damage per attack.
** Belkar has quite possibly the single worst build ''in the entire comic.'' To further elaborate, Belkar's "build" is (deliberately) suboptimal; as a halfling he gets both a Strength penalty (Strength is one of the most important stats for both his barbarian and ranger classes) and a Dexterity bonus (but he hardly ever uses missile weapons), and taking Wisdom as a DumpStat impairs his use of key Ranger skills (i.e., tracking) and spellcasting. Furthermore, he specializes in DualWielding, [[AwesomeButImpractical which is typically regarded as impractical]] due to the high feat and stat taxes involved and all of the accuracy penalties that come with it. The only aspect of his build that ''isn't'' complete crap is that he appears to utilize his Dexterity to extremes, jumping around like [[Franchise/StarWars Yoda]], meaning he is very good at defeating low-level minions. Additionally, since his racial favored class is rogue, the disparity between his ranger and barbarian levels means he now earns 20% less experience than the entire rest of the party (assuming that rule is being enforced).
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Up To Eleven is a defunct trope


** And Belkar pretty much takes this trope UpToEleven, to the point of having quite possibly the single worst build ''in the entire comic.'' To further elaborate, Belkar's "build" is (deliberately) suboptimal; as a halfling he gets both a Strength penalty (Strength is one of the most important stats for both his barbarian and ranger classes) and a Dexterity bonus (but he hardly ever uses missile weapons), and taking Wisdom as a DumpStat impairs his use of key Ranger skills (i.e., tracking) and spellcasting. Furthermore, he specializes in DualWielding, [[AwesomeButImpractical which is typically regarded as impractical]] due to all of the accuracy penalties that come with it. The only aspect of his build that ''isn't'' complete crap is that he appears to utilize his Dexterity to extremes, jumping around like [[Franchise/StarWars Yoda]], meaning he is very good at defeating low-level minions. Additionally, since his racial favored class is rogue, the disparity between his ranger and barbarian levels means he now earns 20% less experience than the entire rest of the party (assuming that rule is being enforced).

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** And Belkar pretty much takes this trope UpToEleven, to the point of having has quite possibly the single worst build ''in the entire comic.'' To further elaborate, Belkar's "build" is (deliberately) suboptimal; as a halfling he gets both a Strength penalty (Strength is one of the most important stats for both his barbarian and ranger classes) and a Dexterity bonus (but he hardly ever uses missile weapons), and taking Wisdom as a DumpStat impairs his use of key Ranger skills (i.e., tracking) and spellcasting. Furthermore, he specializes in DualWielding, [[AwesomeButImpractical which is typically regarded as impractical]] due to all of the accuracy penalties that come with it. The only aspect of his build that ''isn't'' complete crap is that he appears to utilize his Dexterity to extremes, jumping around like [[Franchise/StarWars Yoda]], meaning he is very good at defeating low-level minions. Additionally, since his racial favored class is rogue, the disparity between his ranger and barbarian levels means he now earns 20% less experience than the entire rest of the party (assuming that rule is being enforced).

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