Best race

[Elric Galad]

It's not specifically about Might. +3 Might bonus was not even meant to be an optimal value (there are +3 and +4 helmet for might, or you can easily get +2/+1 to 2 stats, etc...).

 

But I'm not saying you shouldn't play a Death Godlike. They are a cool concept.

 

 

I'm saying that I would boost the 3 following races, for example :

 

Mountain Dwarf : resistance to poison and illness is a why not, but I find it much more circonstancial and less critical than Aumaua resistance to Prone and Stun. I would count it as an equivalent to one of these resistance.

For me, mountain dwarf should get +20 to poison, illness AND petrify.

 

Death Godlike : Their ability is thematically nice but rather weak compared to the loss of a helmet.

I would add +15 Acc against Kiths. Now that would be a death emissary. Bane of their own kind. We would understand even better that they had troubles to make friends at school.

 

Nature Godlike : I would simply rise their bonus so it would become really significant.

+6 to Mig, +3 Con, + 3 Dex when under 50%.

Edited March 22, 2016 by Elric Galad

[HippoJ]

 

I generally prefer playing with Pale Elfs, but that is more out of aesthetic preference than anything, and extra DR is always welcome.

 

The Pale Elf's racial ability isn't spectacular, but OTOH, it is a good solid ability that will always have some value.

 

 

Agreed that the Pale Elf racial is a good example of one with a nice little benefit that doesn't lean strongly toward one specific play-style or role.  I personally don't mind the racials as is (my first main was a Human barbarian, but I can see the perspective of not wanting to pigeon hole races.  

 

I expected racials for PoE, given the D&D inspiration and Obsidian's history with IWD1/2 and NWN2.  It feels like they went for a middle ground between having some wiggle room for min/max and not feeling restricted to race in any given class.

 

All that said, my favorite race might be the Aumaua (either subrace).  Godlikes are a great addition, but for PoE2, give us more customization   Minor, minor quibble. 

[DarkDogg]

The best pick for your frontliner (Paladin or Fighter) is the Pale Elf!

Most annoying enemies do freeze and burn damage.

+ There are 2 very good rings in the game - Wyrwood ring (Caed Nua 1 lvl quest) and Friyid Claim - bonus DR vs elements and spells.

 

P.S.:

Considering prone and stun attacks - sacrifice Maneha to the Skaen Blood pool (one of the best options IMO).

[JerekKruger]

Mountain Dwarf : resistance to poison and illness is a why not, but I find it much more circonstancial and less critical than Aumaua resistance to Prone and Stun. I would count it as an equivalent to one of these resistance.

For me, mountain dwarf should get +20 to poison, illness AND petrify.

 

I was thinking about this one recently and I thought that a solution would be to leave them with the resistance to poison and illness and give them a +10 DR to corrode damage. Corrode seems naturally associated with poison and disease, and a +10 DR to it is worth roughly half what the Pale Elf Elemental Endurance ability does so it seems fairly well balanced.

 

I must admit, I really wish Mountain Dwarfs had a better talent. I'd love to play one but I can't bring myself to (which I realise is silly given how unimportant the basic talent is).

 

Death Godlike : Their ability is thematically nice but rather weak compared to the loss of a helmet.

I would add +15 Acc against Kiths. Now that would be a death emissary. Bane of their own kind. We would understand even better that they had troubles to make friends at school.

 

 

I'd say that +15 is a little too high. It's the same as the Boreal Dwarf gets sure, but I think on the whole Kith enemies are more challenging and hence +15 is effectively a bigger bonus. If they keep their current ability I'd say +10 would fit well.

 

Nature Godlike : I would simply rise their bonus so it would become really significant.

+6 to Mig, +3 Con, + 3 Dex when under 50%.

 

 

Seems reasonable.

[Elric Galad]

Primordials and Wilders shouldn't be underestimated. It includes stuff like Ogres, Adragans, Vithracks, WM paralyzing amphibians and those annoying mushrooms.

 

There's not that much challenge with most Kiths except perhaps some bounties and a few individuals Priest of Woedica or bog-loving wiz.

 

 

For me +15 against Kiths worth as much as +15 against 2 categories. Not more.

 

 

Your suggestion about Mountain dwarves is good. I have no preference between your idea and mine

Edited March 26, 2016 by Elric Galad

[JerekKruger]

You're probably right to be honest. For some reason I just imagine that kith should be more dangerous.

 

I think my Mountain Dwarf idea is probably a little better although when facing enemies that can paralyse yours will be really handy.

[Jojobobo]

Moon Godlike is obvs the best. 10 endurance + 3 for every level after the 1st - meaning 45 total and procing three times. That's 135 extra endurance regardless of class. If you buff Survival to at least the level of a 40% rest bonus (not hard to get), that's now 189 extra endurance.

 

Then if you slap on extra Might (let's say 20 - again not a hard target to get) you're looking at 245 extra endurance. When you factor in any class can now take Veteran's Recovery (8 at level 16 extra 3 seconds for 45 seconds, 218 endurance with the aforementioned bonuses), you're looking at a crap tonne of extra endurance - making pretty much any class a decent tank if you want them like that as it's easy more than half of most high Con speced classes' endurance.

 

I'd say the new helmets on offer (retaliation Garodh's Chorus, the Maegfolc Skull or the White Crest Helm for example) are now more tasty and make non-Moon Godlike races at least now worth considering, but that still doesn't change 245 extra endurance is hard to pass up and makes it unequivocally the easiest race to play for any class.

Edited March 26, 2016 by Jojobobo

[Crucis]

 

Glad that there are differences between the races including the bonuses. Nothing worse than having different options to choose but it ends up being a cosmetic difference only.... Cough....cough dragon age inquisition.

And all the complaints about some being over powered, well really they are not that important. But they do add flavour which is great.

 

Inquisition actually has bonuses for each race. Humans gets an extra ability point, elves ranged resistance, dwarves magic resistance, Qunari extra HP I think.

 

 

GIving humans an extra ability point or even 2 is an interesting idea.  Better than the racial benefit they currently get, that's for damned sure.

 

As for elves, I'd think that they'd be more magically resistant than dwarves, but maybe that just a misperception.   Dwarves might be a good candidate for extra HP, maybe a slightly greater HP per point of CON bonus.

 

I just like "always on" racial abilities, and seriously dislike ones that require the character to be seriously injured to be triggered.

[Crucis]

 

 

I generally prefer playing with Pale Elfs, but that is more out of aesthetic preference than anything, and extra DR is always welcome.

 

The Pale Elf's racial ability isn't spectacular, but OTOH, it is a good solid ability that will always have some value.

 

 

Agreed that the Pale Elf racial is a good example of one with a nice little benefit that doesn't lean strongly toward one specific play-style or role.  I personally don't mind the racials as is (my first main was a Human barbarian, but I can see the perspective of not wanting to pigeon hole races.  

 

I expected racials for PoE, given the D&D inspiration and Obsidian's history with IWD1/2 and NWN2.  It feels like they went for a middle ground between having some wiggle room for min/max and not feeling restricted to race in any given class.

 

All that said, my favorite race might be the Aumaua (either subrace).  Godlikes are a great addition, but for PoE2, give us more customization   Minor, minor quibble. 

 

 

Both versions of Aumaua have good solid racial benefits.  I particularly like the extra weapon slot for Island Aumaua, because I personally find having only 2 weapons slots to be HIGHLY limiting.

 

 

 

I'm not a big fan of godlikes, because a) I hate losing the helmet slot and don't feel that their racial abilities come even close to justifying their loss, and b) I really hate racial abilities that only trigger when the character is seriously injured.  I want "always on" abilities, not only on when badly injured abilities.  This is why I just won't play a godlike PC.  I just can't stand how they're designed. 

 

I have no problem with the idea of "god touched" races.  I just wish that they were implemented rather differently.  For example, when you select the GL's body form (i.e. human, aumaua, etc.) that choice should dictate the various attribute bonuses you get.  That is, if you pick an Aumaua-formed GL, you'd get a +2 to Might, whereas if you picked an Elven-formed GL, you'd get a +1 to PER and a +1 to DEX.  Beyond that, I'd do away with this no helmet limitation.  OR, if it was going to be kept, maybe give GL's some extra attribute points to spend, within the limitations of 18 points in any stat (modified by the racial bonus or penalty, and region bonus).  As for the GL special abilities, whatever they are, they should be always on, or on when the player chooses to trigger them.

 

Death GL's special is sorta Ok as is within this idea.  Maybe Moon GL's should get a healing touch ability, not unlike paladins lay on hands.  As for Fire GL's, it may seem to copy pale elves, but fire and cold resistance would be thematic.  In fact, it almost seems to me as if it'd be better suited to Fire GL's than to Pale Elves.  As for Nature GL's, I could see some possibilities.  Maybe a natural regeneration ability, similar to Fighter's constant recovery.  Or maybe a character only (not an area effect) woodskin effect that increases the character's DR.

 

 

Anyways, these are just some off the wall theory crafting thoughts.....

 

 

[DarkDogg]

Does the Wood Elven race talent (accuracy and deflection) applies to bows and pistols or some spells too?

[JerekKruger]

Does the Wood Elven race talent (accuracy and deflection) applies to bows and pistols or some spells too?

 

Everything that can be used at a distance so spells too.

[ojaiike]

Moon godlike for being utterly broken for 75% of the game and just being on par with the other classes for thee last bit of the game.

[Odd Hermit]

Basically Moon Godlike for melee and Wood Elf for ranged, and you can't go wrong.

 

But more specifically -

 

High might melee: Moon Godlike

 

Casters/Ranged damagers: Wood Elf, no contest, though Moon Godlike are still good here too and a dangerous implement Wizard could go that route.

 

Crit based melee(someone you want to use prone/stun on crit weapons): Hearth Orlan

 

Low might tanky melee: Pale Elf or Wild Orlan. Or Moon Godlike, even with low might the heals are decent enough - there's no DR to worry about with heals and you can take 2 survival to boost it even.

 

There are few other races that are alright if you build to take advantage of them but the above are the no-brainer generalist choices. Nature Godlike and Mountain Dwarf are the worst and have almost no value gameplay wise. Coastal Aumaua and Humans are decent for melee but just not as good as Moon or Orlan. Island Aumaua are alright for gun swappers, but guns aren't as good as they used to be.

 

 

It's too bad the moon godlike sprites are kinda hideous and there are few portrait options.

Edited March 29, 2016 by Odd Hermit