How important would you consider Racial skill trees?

amm7sb14_ESO

I'm just curious what people think about this, as I have kind of been having this debate with myself through my current character.

So I asked previously in another thread about a Nightblade tank. Well, I don't know if I would consider myself a tank persay, but I've committed to the Heavy Armor role with my Nightblade, along with investment in Health.

But I've also committed myself to a lot of magic. Having recently hit 15, I've taken Restoration Staff as my second weapon bar, along with joining Undaunted, and utilizing the Blood Fountain skill, and taken on a healer role as well. Sitting back, healing, dropping the Blood Fountain, and using some of my magicka Nightblade skills that drain life and heal allies and such.

Overall, it's been a fun build. I don't know if it's the most wildly efficient build, but I've enjoyed it, and I've been able to group successfully with it.

But, I'm a Wood Elf, and a part of me can't help but think that my build would be more appropriate for, say, a Breton, who gets a bunch of Magicka passives from their Racial tree. As it is, I haven't invested a single point into my Wood Elf racials... which I guess brings up another point - whatever investment I would put into racials at this point, would come out of the skills that I have built up, so I'd end up sacrificing somewhere else.

I chose Wood Elf for roleplay reasons - something about a Wood Elf necromancer is incredibly appealing to me. And true, a Nightblade isn't a necromancer, but with a bunch of skills that drain life from the target to heal yourself and allies, fighting from the shadows (invisibility), and eventually summoning shades, not to mention things like Blood Fountain from Undaunted, the build's appeal is close enough.

A part of me is interested in re-rolling the character as a Breton, and taking advantage of the magicka based racial passives. However, I am curious to the consensus of others regarding the impact of racial abilities in this game. Am I at a disadvantage for rolling a race that basically takes zero advantage of their racial abilities? Are they minor and not that big of a deal? Obviously, I've given a very specific example: Breton vs. Wood Elf for my particular build, but that's just an example. I'm curious about the impact of racial abilities in general, both in regards to my particular build, and in regards to the game as a whole, and what other people's experiences have been.

Aeratus

The Breton's +300 spell resist reduces spell damage by about 6%. So that's what you have in terms of hard numbers.

tordr86b16_ESO

Aeratus wrote: »

The Breton's +300 spell resist reduces spell damage by about 6%. So that's what you have in terms of hard numbers.

Recent change made nord passives made them comparable to the other races, however, only a few really change gameplay in a bigger way. Dunmer Fire resist is one of em and their increased fire dmg, easier to hard cap fire res which makes dunmers the best race in the entire game as vampire.

I would say Argonians got the short end of the stick, I rarely see anyone playing as one.

Fleymark

I see it as being anywhere from "flavor" to a way to min max. Really just depends on what's important to you. It's not going to make or break any toon, but can round it out nicely.

Or, you might just like the way a race looks.

Nox_Aeterna

Well , i consider racials:

Important enough that i would make a char of a race because of them alone , BUT not important enough that i would reroll a char i already made and lvled because of them.

I dont think lvl 15 is really a lot , so i would still reconsider rerolling there , but that really deppends on how much time you have to play and all that.

amm7sb14_ESO

Fleymark wrote: »

I see it as being anywhere from "flavor" to a way to min max. Really just depends on what's important to you. It's not going to make or break any toon, but can round it out nicely.

Or, you might just like the way a race looks.

I certainly had roleplay reasons for selecting the Wood Elves, as well as aesthetic reasons, and I'm not typically a min / maxer, I like to play whatever's fun for me. But for some reason, when it comes to TES, because I typically play such magic heavy builds, I always feel like if I'm not playing a Breton, I'm doing it wrong lol

PBpsy

If you are going the magicka based tanking NB route the Bosmer racials are not totally worthless. 9% +3% Stamina is important and can more or less allow you to play the game with 0 investment into stamina, either gear or stat points. The poison resist is not bad either but not really important. The stealth bonus is not really useful for the tank but in ESO you will have much much more fun if you do not commit to a single play style. I played and play 4 different builds with my NB and I always experiment with new stuff. My Dunmer fire bonus is useless in some builds but really good in others. In conclusion If you really like Bosmer you can make it as a NB tank , not the best but not the worst either.

Evergnar

Nox_Aeterna wrote: »

Well , i consider racials:

Important enough that i would make a char of a race because of them alone , BUT not important enough that i would reroll a char i already made and lvled because of them.

I dont think lvl 15 is really a lot , so i would still reconsider rerolling there , but that really deppends on how much time you have to play and all that.

Good advice. Now is the time to reroll at only level 15. The racial passives are a drop in the bucket though so if you really like to RP the bosmer I'd just stick with it and have fun. Kinda depends on much you want to RP that race but it won't significantly gimp your character.

Kalann_Pander

Wood Elf racials boost stamina, stamina regen, and stealth.

Even as a heavy Magicka user, you still have that Stamina pool, and it would be a shame not to use it.
For one thing, there are the basic Block/Dodge, both of which are necessary in any well-rounded build intending to survive.
Next, there are always a few skills which could nicely complement your build - fighter guild stuff for daedra/undead, armor skills for general usage.

As a wood elf, your forte over other similar builds can be these out-of-build skills. I've found Immovable to be a great survivability enhancer, but as a breton NB siphonner, the cost is prohibitive enough that I usually save it for "Oh s*** !" situations ...

As for stealth ? Well, stealth is good. NB boosts stealth. Wood Elf boosts stealth.
At the very least, opening by burrowing a stealthed (not cloaked !) Veiled Strike in your opponents back, is a very efficient way to start a fight.

I'll agree that bretons obviously have a good synergy with any magicka-heavy build.

In your specific case, the synergies also exist, but aren't so obvious. I'd suggest you check that up (esohead is good for looking up skills descriptions), any see if anything makes you want to give it a try.

If the stealthy/stamina stuff doesn't give you a kick ... well, yes, re-roll a breton.
You won't feel worse for it