Strongest Race in Tamriel?

BBSooner

ExiledKhallisi wrote: »

In 1000 years the imperials kick everyone's ass and own tamriel.

Edit - misread the sentence

diabeticDemon18

The_Sadist wrote: »

diabeticDemon18 wrote: »

The_Sadist wrote: »

diabeticDemon18 wrote: »

The_Sadist wrote: »

TheBull wrote: »

The Redguard are physically the strongest.

The Redguard are indeed quite capable as a race, they're mentally and physically resilient and whatnot. I always felt a Nord or an Orsimer could defeat a Redguard in a quick skirmish whereas the Redguard would win if it was long and drawn out.

That being said Redguard are one of my least favourite race so I haven't really gotten into their lore, so I'm just going on my minimal pool of knowledge.

It's because their black isn't it... racist!! ;D

Actually yes and no. I don't play, never played and nor do I plan to play, the Argonian, Khajiit, Orismer, Nord, Imperial or the Redguard races for numerous reasons. In terms of the Redguard I don't like their passives, I'm not a fan of the implied melee playstyle and while aspects of their lore is interesting I don't find it as interesting compared to others. Their skin tone may also play a part.. but I'm currently a yellow Altmer and a grey Dunmer.. so I can't be that racist!

I typically gravitate towards the magically inclined races in any game, so Breton / Altmer / Dunmer and while playing Morrowind I experimented with a Bosmer.

Strength is relative.. I value magical prowess so the Altmer and the Telvanni are up there for me. Other people might value military organisation so that sense Imperial win. Alternatively the Dwemer might be deemed 'strong' if you find technology powerful and paramount for whatever reason.

As do I, that or the archery inclined (love my Bosmer)... and I think you took that a little more serious then I meant... I wasn't actually causing you racist but if you embrace it, good for you! lol

Just explaining my stance is all, adding to the conversation and whatnot, honest! I stick by my decisions and opinions regardless, the Redguard are strong but I don't think they're anything special.

Agreed!! And I just realized you said it's relative... which I totally agree with! No matter what we all say, it's not really something that can be true or not true. It's all based on how you perceive the word powerful

Aeratus

In terms of physical strength, this is what TES: Oblivion and Morrowind says

Strength [male, female]
Nord: 50, 50
Orc: 45, 45
Redguard: 50, 40

Endurance
Nord: 50, 40
Orc: 50, 50
Redguard: 50, 50

http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Morrowind:Races
http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Oblivion:Races

So in terms of lore, Nord is the physically strongest, while Redguard and Orc have the most endurance.

Stranglehands

The Dunmer.
The Nords failed, the Dwemer failed, and to all intents and purposes even two different dynasties of the empire failed to conquer them. About the only thing to ever put a dent in their borders was the oblivion crisis, but just about everyone was screwed when that happened

Kafolarbear

diabeticDemon18 wrote: »

WraithAzraiel wrote: »

AlexDougherty wrote: »

Lorewise Nords, they can use dragonshouts, other than Dragons and Dragonborn, no-one else can.

@Arandear Altmer are strong magically, but not Technologically. They use some technology, same as the other races, but technologywise nobody is that strong. All races get so far, then use magic instead.

Dwemer, before they disappeared, were the only Technologically advanced race. And they were stronger magically than all the other races too. But they are gone, long long gone.

Actually I'm pretty sure any other race could use shouts if they received training. It just so happens the Temple at which the training is received is in Skyrim, hence more common are Nord Thu'umthrowers.

Lore says that only the dragonborn, a nord, and dragons can learn the ways of Thu'um. So no, other races could not learn the voice.

My khajiit dragonborn says otherwise.

Answering the OP: The khajiit. The senche-rat breed is taller than 2 Altmer, and is used as a battlecat by other khajiit. In fact, if it were not for the deadly diseases that plauged Elswyher, I recon the khajiit would be more recognized, less scoffed at, and control huge swathes of land. Anyway, a biased opinion from a khajiit lover.

grabbintrionb14_ESO

Dragon and Troll

Panda244

Physically, Nords, hands down... Orcs and Redguards are probably on par but Nords are taller and larger, due to being mostly farmers.

Mentally and Magically, the Altmer, Mer/Elves always are smarter and better with magic. And yes... More stubborn.

Culturally, Ayleids or Argonians, and that is the only compliment I will give those lizards, but I say that because even despite all the slavery and negativity directed at them they keep their culture and fight tooth and claw to keep it. Ayleids, simply because they built a very large empire, worshiped both sides of the Deities and crushed everything, until everything revolted.

Imo the best race is, and always shall be, the Altmer, sure they're snobby, sure they're racist, I would be to if I was 6'7, able to decimate half a battalion with fire and flick away arrows without even getting exhausted. Altmer have a mysterious history like most Mer but are supposedly the closest to Aldmer, so that makes me even more interested. But the Altmer is the longest surviving race and most advanced, now the extremeists are a bit different but I'm not talking about them. Altmer as a whole are very, very unique. And if you manage to *** off the prissy ones, you get a 4th Era Thalmor boot in the ass. Militarily the Altmer have been defeated a total of like what... Three... Four... Times? Once or twice inside Cyrodiil, once when Septim practically had to cheat and use the Nivididmadaduraserrrrrrrr (I can't say it.) And once recently (In ESO times) When King Hidelith sent the entire fleet to their deaths after the Maormer.

/end rant

BBSooner

Panda244 wrote: »

Physically, Nords, hands down... Orcs and Redguards are probably on par but Nords are taller and larger, due to being mostly farmers.

Mentally and Magically, the Altmer, Mer/Elves always are smarter and better with magic. And yes... More stubborn.

Culturally, Ayleids or Argonians, and that is the only compliment I will give those lizards, but I say that because even despite all the slavery and negativity directed at them they keep their culture and fight tooth and claw to keep it. Ayleids, simply because they built a very large empire, worshiped both sides of the Deities and crushed everything, until everything revolted.

Imo the best race is, and always shall be, the Altmer, sure they're snobby, sure they're racist, I would be to if I was 6'7, able to decimate half a battalion with fire and flick away arrows without even getting exhausted. Altmer have a mysterious history like most Mer but are supposedly the closest to Aldmer, so that makes me even more interested. But the Altmer is the longest surviving race and most advanced, now the extremeists are a bit different but I'm not talking about them. Altmer as a whole are very, very unique. And if you manage to *** off the prissy ones, you get a 4th Era Thalmor boot in the ass. Militarily the Altmer have been defeated a total of like what... Three... Four... Times? Once or twice inside Cyrodiil, once when Septim practically had to cheat and use the Nivididmadaduraserrrrrrrr (I can't say it.) And once recently (In ESO times) When King Hidelith sent the entire fleet to their deaths after the Maormer.

/end rant

Even the 4th age Altmer got slaughtered and sent back to lick their wounds from hammerfel. By the Redguards. So, in the height of their power in known lore they are driven off by man.

tplink3r1

BBSooner wrote: »

Panda244 wrote: »

Physically, Nords, hands down... Orcs and Redguards are probably on par but Nords are taller and larger, due to being mostly farmers.

Mentally and Magically, the Altmer, Mer/Elves always are smarter and better with magic. And yes... More stubborn.

Culturally, Ayleids or Argonians, and that is the only compliment I will give those lizards, but I say that because even despite all the slavery and negativity directed at them they keep their culture and fight tooth and claw to keep it. Ayleids, simply because they built a very large empire, worshiped both sides of the Deities and crushed everything, until everything revolted.

Imo the best race is, and always shall be, the Altmer, sure they're snobby, sure they're racist, I would be to if I was 6'7, able to decimate half a battalion with fire and flick away arrows without even getting exhausted. Altmer have a mysterious history like most Mer but are supposedly the closest to Aldmer, so that makes me even more interested. But the Altmer is the longest surviving race and most advanced, now the extremeists are a bit different but I'm not talking about them. Altmer as a whole are very, very unique. And if you manage to *** off the prissy ones, you get a 4th Era Thalmor boot in the ass. Militarily the Altmer have been defeated a total of like what... Three... Four... Times? Once or twice inside Cyrodiil, once when Septim practically had to cheat and use the Nivididmadaduraserrrrrrrr (I can't say it.) And once recently (In ESO times) When King Hidelith sent the entire fleet to their deaths after the Maormer.

/end rant

Even the 4th age Altmer got slaughtered and sent back to lick their wounds from hammerfel. By the Redguards. So, in the height of their power in known lore they are driven off by man.

the fact is, hammerfell isnt a good place to anyone but redguards to fight.
i really doubt the redguards could take Skyrim for example, but that doesnt make them weaker than nords.

BBSooner

Stranglehands wrote: »

The Dunmer.
The Nords failed, the Dwemer failed, and to all intents and purposes even two different dynasties of the empire failed to conquer them. About the only thing to ever put a dent in their borders was the oblivion crisis, but just about everyone was screwed when that happened

Chimer needed the dwemer to help them fend off the Nedes.
Tiber (Nord) had his army sack Mournhold and force Vivec (supposed diety) to hand over the Numidium before swearing allegiance to him. And finally, after the Oblivion crisis the Dunmer were forced out of Morrowind by the Argonians. Not even mentioning the Akaviri.

I love the Dunmer lore, but they get pushed around quite a bit.

zinoviy22b14_ESO

If you think about it , Manimer or Breton would be a very strong race. Both the Needes and the Mer races tried to kill them off because of the potential threat they might bring.

Magic of the mer? check
Strength of man? check
Faced eradication and won? check

Anvos

BBSooner wrote: »

Stranglehands wrote: »

The Dunmer.
The Nords failed, the Dwemer failed, and to all intents and purposes even two different dynasties of the empire failed to conquer them. About the only thing to ever put a dent in their borders was the oblivion crisis, but just about everyone was screwed when that happened

Chimer needed the dwemer to help them fend off the Nedes.
Tiber (Nord) had his army sack Mournhold and force Vivec (supposed diety) to hand over the Numidium before swearing allegiance to him. And finally, after the Oblivion crisis the Dunmer were forced out of Morrowind by the Argonians. Not even mentioning the Akaviri.

I love the Dunmer lore, but they get pushed around quite a bit.

Fairly sure the dunmer only gave him Numidian because nobody thought it could realistically be powered by anything but lorkhan's heart. Plus without Numidian working Talos' empire likely never conquers the dominion.

What happened in Oblivion falls squarely on the imperials as their deadric influenced leader helped Azura remove the Tribunal, and they then pulled out all their forces from Morrowind at the first since of Oblivion trouble. Also Redoran's forces had been busy by a rather convient nord raid right when the imperials were having Hlallu force through "reforms".

After that the Argonian's didn't actually hold anything that wasn't southern Morrowind. Plus attacking a people who have just come through a massive natural disaster isn't really a feat of strength. Then also as far as was implied, since Redoran took over leadership role of the Great Houses they'd actually started turning things around.

AlexDougherty

Valen_Byte wrote: »

AlexDougherty wrote: »

Valen_Byte wrote: »

AlexDougherty wrote: »

Valen_Byte wrote: »

diabeticDemon18 wrote: »

WraithAzraiel wrote: »

AlexDougherty wrote: »

Lorewise Nords, they can use dragonshouts, other than Dragons and Dragonborn, no-one else can.

@Arandear Altmer are strong magically, but not Technologically. They use some technology, same as the other races, but technologywise nobody is that strong. All races get so far, then use magic instead.

Dwemer, before they disappeared, were the only Technologically advanced race. And they were stronger magically than all the other races too. But they are gone, long long gone.

Actually I'm pretty sure any other race could use shouts if they received training. It just so happens the Temple at which the training is received is in Skyrim, hence more common are Nord Thu'umthrowers.

Lore says that only the dragonborn, a nord, and dragons can learn the ways of Thu'um. So no, other races could not learn the voice.

In TES V, you are the Dragonborn no matter what race you are. This alone disproves your theory that only a Nord can use shouts.

Almost forgot, Altmer is the strongest because thats what I play. lol

Read what you are quouting :rolleyes:

Lore says that only the dragonborn, a nord, and dragons can learn the ways of Thu'um. So no, other races could not learn the voice.

Bold the correct line

The point was, according to the lore (excluding the Ebon Warrior) there are three types who could learn a Dragonshout (Thu'um)

1. Dragon
2. Dragonborn
3. Nord

The fact that your character in Skyrim was a dragonborn, no matter what race, doesn't mean others of his race could learn a Thu'um.

Now the introduction of the Ebon Warrior (in skyrim, I didn't play enough to fight him), A redguard who uses Thu'ums, casts that lore into jeopardy. But the fact you were a dragonborn doesn't.

You cant just exclude the Ebon Worrior because he doesnt help your argument. He is in fact a Redguard who is not a Dragonborn.

I didn't discard him, I said he might be an anomaly, not that he was.

Others pointed him out to me, and they said he even refers to Sovengard (Nord Afterlife), which sort of points to him being an anomaly, ie something added to the game to be a challenge for high level players but not necessarily conforming to the games lore.

I'm actually open minded about him, if he is actually part of the lore, then non-nords can learn shouts. If he isn't, then it doesn't actually prove they can't. But all the ingame lore (books, what people say) says only Nords and Dragonborn can learn the shouts (Dragons actually already know them, it's their language after all).

AlexDougherty

diabeticDemon18 wrote: »

Lore says that only the dragonborn, a nord, and dragons can learn the ways of Thu'um. So no, other races could not learn the voice.

Kafolarbear wrote: »

My khajiit dragonborn says otherwise.

Does nobody actually read what they quote.

BBSooner

Anvos wrote: »

BBSooner wrote: »

Stranglehands wrote: »

The Dunmer.
The Nords failed, the Dwemer failed, and to all intents and purposes even two different dynasties of the empire failed to conquer them. About the only thing to ever put a dent in their borders was the oblivion crisis, but just about everyone was screwed when that happened

Chimer needed the dwemer to help them fend off the Nedes.
Tiber (Nord) had his army sack Mournhold and force Vivec (supposed diety) to hand over the Numidium before swearing allegiance to him. And finally, after the Oblivion crisis the Dunmer were forced out of Morrowind by the Argonians. Not even mentioning the Akaviri.

I love the Dunmer lore, but they get pushed around quite a bit.

Fairly sure the dunmer only gave him Numidian because nobody thought it could realistically be powered by anything but lorkhan's heart. Plus without Numidian working Talos' empire likely never conquers the dominion.

What happened in Oblivion falls squarely on the imperials as their deadric influenced leader helped Azura remove the Tribunal, and they then pulled out all their forces from Morrowind at the first since of Oblivion trouble. Also Redoran's forces had been busy by a rather convient nord raid right when the imperials were having Hlallu force through "reforms".

After that the Argonian's didn't actually hold anything that wasn't southern Morrowind. Plus attacking a people who have just come through a massive natural disaster isn't really a feat of strength. Then also as far as was implied, since Redoran took over leadership role of the Great Houses they'd actually started turning things around.

Whether or not the Dunmer thought the Numidium was activatable is moot as it was part of Tiber's demands, in addition to the "bending of the knee" of the Tribunal. The Dunmer had no choice in the matter, the city had been razed and the entire royal family within the city sans 5 year old Barenziah had been killed. They faced more defeat (very likely) had Vivec not tried making terms with Tiber.

I agree though that the aftermath of Oblivion and the Argonians pushing a good amount of Dunmer out of Morrowind wasn't a true play of strength, just taking advantage of the situation. I was just saying the Dunmer are far from infallible.

diabeticDemon18

Kafolarbear wrote: »

diabeticDemon18 wrote: »

WraithAzraiel wrote: »

AlexDougherty wrote: »

Lorewise Nords, they can use dragonshouts, other than Dragons and Dragonborn, no-one else can.

@Arandear Altmer are strong magically, but not Technologically. They use some technology, same as the other races, but technologywise nobody is that strong. All races get so far, then use magic instead.

Dwemer, before they disappeared, were the only Technologically advanced race. And they were stronger magically than all the other races too. But they are gone, long long gone.

Actually I'm pretty sure any other race could use shouts if they received training. It just so happens the Temple at which the training is received is in Skyrim, hence more common are Nord Thu'umthrowers.

Lore says that only the dragonborn, a nord, and dragons can learn the ways of Thu'um. So no, other races could not learn the voice.

My khajiit dragonborn says otherwise.

Answering the OP: The khajiit. The senche-rat breed is taller than 2 Altmer, and is used as a battlecat by other khajiit. In fact, if it were not for the deadly diseases that plauged Elswyher, I recon the khajiit would be more recognized, less scoffed at, and control huge swathes of land. Anyway, a biased opinion from a khajiit lover.

Your Khajiit being dragonborn doesn't disprove my lore... your Khajiit is dragonborn, a khajiit could be dragonborn... but being dragonborn as an individual, does not make a race strong.

Darkeus

lol since when 3 living gods got to their knees in front of Tiber? where do you get this lore... just curiouse

Fafnisbane

In Mundus? The Tsaesci from Akavir.

In Tamriel, the greatest warriors are the Nords and those of Nordic descent. They found a continent of Elves and made it a continent dominated by humans. (The Orcs are arguably as powerful, but they are fewer and less organized, which is why Orsinium has often been destroyed and rebuilt.)

The most powerful race in history, however, is surely the Dwemer.

The Altmer are much more culturally and magically advanced than the Nords, but except for the Dominion of the Fourth Age (Skyrim), they have rarely had the martial spirit or enthusiasm to challenge the human races militarily. And even then they were unable to completely subdue Hammerfall.

Neutronium_Dragon

BBSooner wrote: »

Whether or not the Dunmer thought the Numidium was activatable is moot as it was part of Tiber's demands, in addition to the "bending of the knee" of the Tribunal. The Dunmer had no choice in the matter, the city had been razed and the entire royal family within the city sans 5 year old Barenziah had been killed. They faced more defeat (very likely) had Vivec not tried making terms with Tiber.

Yes and no. It's not so much whether they could win as whether they felt it was worthwhile. The Tribunal very likely could have mustered their power and thrown Tiber back, but doing so would have wasted energy that they needed to keep Dagoth Ur and co contained; it would have been a Pyrrhic victory. Faced with that situation, Vivec essentially gave Tiber something else to do (go after the Altmer lands) so he'd stop being a (from Vivec's viewpoint) dangerous distraction. That the treaty allowed Morrowind to retain a greater degree of autonomy than most provinces was also telling. Tiber realized that it was better to cut a deal than expend all of his forces on a total victory and be left unable to content with the Altmer (among others).

NordJitsu

Imperials.

They've conquered and maintained Empires multiple times.

They have the combination that no one else has. Orcs and Nords have strength, but little magic. Khajiit, Argonians, and Bosmer have stealth, archery, ect. But they lack social organization and will. Redguards have great military skill, but little magic and little will to mess with the rest of Tamriel.

Imperials have physical strength, martial organization, the will to lead, the power to persuade, and magical knowledge.

2nd and 3rd are the Altmer and the Dunmer. Dunmer are 2nd with the Tribunal and 3rd after their fall.

Aeratus

Imperials have the largest population, but man-for-man, the strongest race is Dunmer, IMO.

Heishi

I would say the Khajiit are the strongest. They have versatility. They have the drugs. They have money (despite their poor routine),

There are 12 different types of Khajiit from house cats to humonoid bosmer looking ones. There's a type that are the size of werewolves and the Senchi-raht are supposed to be as tall as two Altmer. Though probably nothing compared to Altmer in magic, the Khajiit priest and priestess are nothing to sneeze at.

Controlling drugs can lead to control of many things. There's a money flow from it. It leads to influence of corrupt politicians and military leaders. Also once hooked on it, any performance and rational thought begins to degrade.

Not only drugs, being merchants and fences, they have a lot of control over the flow of what items go where. They spread across Tamriel pretending to be poor beggars and merchants. Beggars are already known to be the eyes of the thieves guild. Personally I think it's just an act, like a house cat that begs for food or water just because the bowl is empty, not because of hunger.

The downfall of the Khajiit really seems to be that so many of them are selfserving to the extent of not really working well in large collective groups.

BBSooner

inferneuseb17_ESO wrote: »

lol since when 3 living gods got to their knees in front of Tiber? where do you get this lore... just curiouse

Its an expression, meaning they surrendered. Living gods or not, they 1.) Let mournhold get completely sacked, 2.) Gave Tiber the means to conquer unimpeded, 3.) Surrendered and became a part of Tiber's empire.

I realize the whole Dagoth Ur situation, but that doesn't change the fact after having Mournhold sacked Vivec made terms for surrender - no matter how better off they ended up being than the other provinces.

Wolfenbelle

Although I don't know which race is the strongest, I can say from experience of having played and Imperial Templar since early release that the Imperial is the weakest.

WraithAzraiel

Vyle_Byte wrote: »

"The Thu'um can be taught through many means to men, mer and bestfolk alike. Individuals who are Dragonborn can learn the Thu'um faster."

elderscrolls.wikia.com/wiki/Thu'um

I take this as saying not just Nords and Dragonborn can learn.

Soooo I win

Kreetar

I'm not sure. I was tempted to say Breton at first since they're both magically inclined and steady with a weapon. I don't feel that the Altmer can be beat when it comes to magic. physical strength, I think Nord automatically. hmm.

seanvwolf

Kreetar wrote: »

I'm not sure. I was tempted to say Breton at first since they're both magically inclined and steady with a weapon. I don't feel that the Altmer can be beat when it comes to magic. physical strength, I think Nord automatically. hmm.

You can say that. The Bretons get their magic from the Aldmer, just like the Altmer, and their resilience from the Nedes, just like the Nords.

Their lack of a strong cultural identity in the past prevents them from being properly recognized, even by those on this forum, but they have proven themselves survivors in every aspect. They have trained those in or held the Imperial seat more times than any other race in Tamriel during the Third Era, which is nothing to scoff at. They are at war more often (with themselves even) than any other race and are practiced strategists. Their scholars are usually very quick at understanding Dwemer technologies and Daedric magics, not needing unnaturally long lives to understand them (ahem, Altmer). Their warriors grow up in a questing mentality without necessarily being crusaders (not overly religious but very ambitious). And they aren't tied down by cultural laws, which allows them to adopt new ways of thinking and are great mediators between other races in conflicts.

Kreetar

seanvwolf wrote: »

Kreetar wrote: »

I'm not sure. I was tempted to say Breton at first since they're both magically inclined and steady with a weapon. I don't feel that the Altmer can be beat when it comes to magic. physical strength, I think Nord automatically. hmm.

You can say that. The Bretons get their magic from the Aldmer, just like the Altmer, and their resilience from the Nedes, just like the Nords.

Their lack of a strong cultural identity in the past prevents them from being properly recognized, even by those on this forum, but they have proven themselves survivors in every aspect. They have trained those in or held the Imperial seat more times than any other race in Tamriel during the Third Era, which is nothing to scoff at. They are at war more often (with themselves even) than any other race and are practiced strategists. Their scholars are usually very quick at understanding Dwemer technologies and Daedric magics, not needing unnaturally long lives to understand them (ahem, Altmer). Their warriors grow up in a questing mentality without necessarily being crusaders (not overly religious but very ambitious). And they aren't tied down by cultural laws, which allows them to adopt new ways of thinking and are great mediators between other races in conflicts.

nicely put.

NovaMarx

Aett_Thorn wrote: »

The time of the Cat is coming!

Sssh!!! Do not reveal our secrets!

Zorrashi

Aren't Dragons considered a race? They are of mundus, and unlike the various beasts that share the realm, they have an unprecedented amount of 'higher' valued aspects that make them akin to being totally unrelated to beasts. Their self-awareness and their higher modes of thinking are but a few examples.

They are highly intelligent, have their own language (both written and spoken) and have an inclination toward magic. They even seem to have their own culture (of a sort) in that involves the idea of 'truth' being the supreme power. To them, the dominating thuum is the equivalence of being 'right' seeing as how a battle between dragons is actually a debate.

Combined with the fact that they ruled over mortals (particularly the nords) with their own system of governance that was highly domineering, I would think dragon should be considered a race on its own. A race that could be considered the "strongest" in various terms.

Their brute strength alone is at least 10 times the strength of any nord or redguard, have an innate sense of magic that can surpass any magic thrown by an altmer or breton, and had their own society that seemed beyond or parallel to any other society held at the time.

(But of course, even despite this, I suppose dragons could be considered more along the lines of 'creatures' rather than a 'race'. But that seems highly demeaning considering their higher thought processes.)