EQ2: Rough guide to race selection
If you are looking to make the 'best' team (min/max'd team) - then totally ignor starting stats - put 100% of your attention to the racials.
Why ignore starting stats?
EQ2 is not like Eve or DnD games where starting stats really are critical. Here, starting stats are totally meaningless at the endgame.
At the start - sure, maybe the extra few points makes a 'small' difference but are you really worried about a level 5 lizard wtfpwning your FG????
As an example, say you want to start a mage and are not sure which is better between an Eurdite or an Ogre.
Now the Eudite has 30INT vs 15INT of the Ogre - but that shouldn't be what decides it as simply 15 extra INT means nothing at the end game. For example, at level 80, after 800INT there is diminishing returns for each additional point till 1200INT after which extra INT is basically worthless. It is very very easy for a mage to get items totally 1200INT - therefore, the piddly 15 INT at the start really is meaningless.
What really drives you decision (if min/maxing) is racials.
So let's compare the racials of these two mighty races:
Ogre:
Battle Rest - Out-of-Combat Health Regen, +Str - useless to a mage if the tank holds aggro
Oggokian Trade - tradeskill
Rallosian Readiness - tradeskill
Brute Strength +5 Str - useless, mages aren't renowned for their melee prowess
Impenetrable Will - Stun Immunity - useless to a mage if the tank holds aggro
Armor of the Feerott +Physical Mit - useless to a mage if the tank holds aggro
Rallos Zek's Blessing +3% Health - useless to a mage if the tank holds aggro
Many Marches -10% initial sprint Power cost, +10% sprint speed - maybe useful but how do you control 6 sprinting characters?
Shoulder Slam DD + short stun Instant - maybe useful IF within melee range
Oggokian Aggression 2% Melee Crit, +5 Aggression - ummm...mage taunting = dead mage
Rock Thrower - gathering
Commanding Presence Enlarges caster by 20% - fluff
Eurdite:
Arc of Lightning Inflicts 785-1178 (scales by level) magic damage on target encounter - nice to have for a mage
Casting Fury Increases Max Power of caster by 2.0 %; Increases Casting Speed of caster by 5.0 % - very nice casting speed increase and more mana
Chemist Increases - tradeskill
Erud's Teachings Increases Damage Spell Crit Chance of caster by 2.0 %; Increases Disruption of caster by 5.0 - spell crits and use less mana
Homeward Bound Reduces the recast time of the primary city call spells by 10 minutes - nice to have but not necessary
Intellect of the Sage Increases INT of caster by 5.0 - sure
Intellectual Feasting Improves the duration of food by 25 percent - /meh - prob won't need to worry about HPs
Magical Protection Improves Mitigation of caster vs. magic damage by 237 - resists are always nice
Scholarly Pursuit- tradeskill
Ward of Glyphs Wards caster against 768 points of all damage 20 sec duration - nice ward for those odd occasions
Clear Mind Increases Out-of-Combat Power Regeneration Per Tick of caster by 47 - this is a very nice mana regen OOC
Falling Grace Reduces maximum falling speed of caster - /meh - nice to have I suppose
Aura Sense Grants Aura Vision (a glow around magical beings) to caster - fluff
Straight away we can see that the racials are what makes our decision easier. Eurdites mages are far superior than ogres when min/maxing.
ALWAYS look at the racials - they are what you should be using to decides between races.
Things to consider if you choose a character for the looks
Model size
Larger models tend to more easily get hung up on geometry - both in and out of dungeons. This is a pretty important consideration for boxers as we'll have up to 5 characters following us around all the time.
A large model for a tank is fine as that's the guy your probably driving but having 5 say barbarians following you around all the time can get annoying as you may have to drive your team like a 'fat @ssed' truck to get around obstacles.
Run speed whilst stealthed
This is probably more of a concern leveling up as you will find that the majority of end game dungeons have mobs who can see invisibilty thereby negating your stealth.
But - if you plan on zipping around invis then it's definately worth considering - Why? Run speed whilst stealthed.
Some races have no bonus to stealth speed meaning they will really slow down - whereas races such as rats and Delfs both have +15% run speed invis bonus. This is a prob if you have a 'mixed' group as when you go stealth some chars will start to lag behind.
Tradeskilling
If your dead keen on maximising your trade skills you could look at racials but the bonus is pretty small.
Personally, I'd default to something with a lot of STR (barb) and run speed (troub) for gathering - won't be the best choice to play as a trouby though.
RE: EQ2: Rough guide to race selection
Quote:
Originally Posted by 'Noxxy',index.php?page=Thread&postID=183355#post18 3355
A large model for a tank is fine as that's the guy your probably driving but having 5 say barbarians following you around all the time can get annoying as you may have to drive your team like a 'fat @ssed' truck to get around obstacles.
And damned near impossible in some places. My other half has a Ogre berzerker or something...cannot move in dungeons like Stormhold. Having 2 Sarnaks and a Kerra tagging along behind my Arasai, I spent more time getting my slaves unstuck and caught up in SH than I did killing things.
