Dragonborn, Dragonborn, DRAGONBORN - it's always about Dragonborn

kemnimtarkas

Pick a class, any class - look up the build templates for that class online and odds are 100% that the #1 recommended race for that class, example after example, will be Metallic or (if you don't have metallic) just regular Dragonborn.

I know Cryptic introduced the Dragonborn race years ago as a way to drive more Zen sales. I'd think they can call it Mission Accomplished at this point. That was YEARS ago. Time to move on.

In every other facet of the game players are told nothing is fixed - they cycle through BiS gear like every mod now, or every other mod. Classes, and paragon trees within classes, ebb and flow in terms of viability with class balance updates on a regular basis. Even the viability of certain weapon and armor enchants will vary over time, as the devs tweak certain elements of some enchant powers, or add new enchant types.

But the races? Same exact guidance on which race is best, hands down, for EVERY class, for the last 2 1/2 or 3 years running. No change, no ebb/flow, no 'balancing' of attributes or racial powers. Just - all Dragonborn, all the time. I know I can play a dwarf wizard, or moon elf paladin. But their racial attributes put those races behind on some classes, in a way that cannot ever be compensated for given their current starting point (attributes and racial powers-wise).

So how about some Race Balancing Cryptic? Make it so I can play a Dwarven Scourge Warlock and not have that character pay a permanent penalty because they don't fit into the box you created for them when you designed them.

dupeks

But why is it the best? And by how wide a margin?

Why?
Because that 3% power bonus applies on top of buffed power, virtually no other race attribute comes close to that benefit. Oh and I guess you get your choice of attribute points, which makes it the most flexible.

But by how wide a margin?
It's a tiny tiny margin. Half-Orc, human, and for some builds even tiefling are very viable. For PVP and niche builds, you can get away with anything. BiS is BiS, but if it's only by a hair then you should do what you want and not lose any sleep over it.

mindache

This Dragonborn mania is really silly. I don’t know about all classes but humans/tieflings beat Dragonborn in end-game (SW). I’m a moon elf just because I care about other things than purely dps.

elfarch

What's with the race baiting on us poor helpless dragonborn then, just because we look so much cuter?
'Tis not all beer and skittles under these pretty scales. It's just impossible to wear some of the gear with it's human centric shaping.
Seriously I have 1 of every race but DB's, 2 plain and 1 gold, that I had to wait 3 years to get the needed chest to drop. I still play a half elf main almost all the time.

mithrosnomore

dupeks said:

But why is it the best? And by how wide a margin?

Why?
Because that 3% power bonus applies on top of buffed power, virtually no other race attribute comes close to that benefit. Oh and I guess you get your choice of attribute points, which makes it the most flexible.

But by how wide a margin?
It's a tiny tiny margin. Half-Orc, human, and for some builds even tiefling are very viable. For PVP and niche builds, you can get away with anything. BiS is BiS, but if it's only by a hair then you should do what you want and not lose any sleep over it.

This is the important thing to me.

You simply can not avoid that Half-Orcs will not be as good a wizard as a Sun Elf, or that a Sun Elf will not be as good a ranger as a Wood Elf or Half-Orc.
That is what the attribute bonuses will do.

But what matters is how great that difference is. If it means that the Half-Orc wizard can not function at all then it's a problem, but that isn't the case.

They may not be the minmaxers choice, but if you give a Half-Orc wizard, a Sun Elf wizard, and a Dragonborn wizard to the same competent player, give them the same powers and feats, and run them through the same content, will the wizard be the reason that the group succeeds or fails? Will the player be able to do some of the content as a Dragonborn but not as a Sun Elf, or as a Sun Elf but not as a Half-Orc?

Probably not.

So if there is some issue where you are not able to get into dungeon runs because you wanted to play a Dwarf scourge warlock, the real issue probably isn't that you wanted to be a Dwarf, it's that the group you are playing with may have spent too much time reading optimization threads/boards and have become brainwashed into thinking that there is only one true way to play.

auron

I personally really like tieflings. i have been playing a tiefling wepon fighter for a while just to test out the class (the one in my profile pic). I don't really feel a loss of stat because i chose a tiefling.

Part of what i like about this game is how customizable characters are. most of the others ive played you don't even get to chose the gender of your character.