Race changes for the layman

Stanx · March 2019

Hi guys, I was hoping someone could give me, or link me to, a cheat-sheet for the racial changes.

I've done a quick forum search but as these are organised chronologically most of what I can see are complaints about the race change token. Other posts seem to list graphs that I'm afraid I lack the intelligence to understand.

This is more out of curiosity as I'm not going to change my main's race. But I have a few alts I can about less so would probably prefer to chase meta.

In short -what races are best suited to which type of classes now?

Thanks!

NordSwordnBoard · March 2019

Patch Notes on the forum

Donny_Vito · March 2019

Stam -- Orc probably
Mag -- depending on what type you play...High Elf or Khajit, maybe Dunmer.
Tank -- Imperial probably.....Argonians might still be good though.

Probably arguments to be made whether my list is 100% accurate or not, but those will get you in the right direction. I'm getting the impression you're not a min/maxer so my suggestions will be fine for you.

Stanx · March 2019

Donny_Vito wrote: »

Stam -- Orc probably
Mag -- depending on what type you play...High Elf or Khajit, maybe Dunmer.
Tank -- Imperial probably.....Argonians might still be good though.

Probably arguments to be made whether my list is 100% accurate or not, but those will get you in the right direction. I'm getting the impression you're not a min/maxer so my suggestions will be fine for you.

I appreciate the reply! Thank you for your time and the info!

Katahdin · March 2019

If you're not a min maxer and you like your characters, don't worry about it

Fluke.Slywalker · March 2019

Um... as I understand it.

Stamina dps - Redguard (use at least 1 set which buffs weapon damage) or Orc (use at least 1 set which buffs sustain).

Magicka dps - Breton (use at least 1 set which buffs weapon damage) or Altmer (use at least 1 set which buffs sustain).

Dark elf is viable for both as you gets magicka/stamina & Weapon & spell damage passives, you still have the flame resistance so vampire works for the 10% sustain passive.

Breton is probably the best for a Healer now with all the sustain passives and I would say, IMO Imperial is best for tanking.

Like I said this is all in my opinion, I don't have all the numbers and figures

Stanx · March 2019

Fluke.Slywalker wrote: »

Um... as I understand it.

Stamina dps - Redguard (use at least 1 set which buffs weapon damage) or Orc (use at least 1 set which buffs sustain).

Magicka dps - Breton (use at least 1 set which buffs weapon damage) or Altmer (use at least 1 set which buffs sustain).

Dark elf is viable for both as you gets magicka/stamina & Weapon & spell damage passives, you still have the flame resistance so vampire works for the 10% sustain passive.

Breton is probably the best for a Healer now with all the sustain passives and I would say, IMO Imperial is best for tanking.

Like I said this is all in my opinion, I don't have all the numbers and figures

Thanks for the reply. Opinions are absolutely what I'm looking for.

I've had a peruse of patch notes but struggle to differentiate between what the changes are and what impact they have / how they stack-up against changes to other races.

Fluke.Slywalker · March 2019

Oh - sorry I meant use a Spell Damage set with a Breton, not Weapon Damage Lol! Only noticed when you quoted.

EDIT: Magicka dps - Breton (use at least 1 set which buffs SPELL damage) or Altmer (use at least 1 set which buffs sustain).

Yeah, it can get confusing, especially when there are so many threads and posts about it.

Stanx · March 2019

Fluke.Slywalker wrote: »

Oh - sorry I meant use a Spell Damage set with a Breton, not Weapon Damage Lol! Only noticed when you quoted.

EDIT: Magicka dps - Breton (use at least 1 set which buffs SPELL damage) or Altmer (use at least 1 set which buffs sustain).

Yeah, it can get confusing, especially when there are so many threads and posts about it.

I didn't even notice but assumed you meant spell damage. Same way a weapon damage glyph will also work for spell damage too.

Ratzkifal · March 2019

Tl;dr
All races are closer together in terms of dps, meaning that all are viable.
For leader board runs the theoretical top races are (from memory):
Mag DPS - Altmer
Stam DPS - Orc
Healer - Breton
Tank - Nord (if you want more ults)

Dunmer has pretty much identical dps to Orc and Altmer in stam and mag as the difference is negligible.

Argonian tanks got nerfed and are not a good choice for werewolfs if you wanted poison resist, but their potion passive is still strong despite the nerfs.

Khajiit are now the only race that has a bonus to sneaking, but is now also a viable choice for mag DPS although ranking 4th behind Breton.

Bosmer have similar sustain and damage to Redguards (unless you are tank) but lost their disease resist and stealth related passives. They can now see invisible targets aka cloaking NBs as long as they stand shoulder-to-shoulder to them. Keep in mind that attacks that can miss still won't hit them and that you are already in range for enemy melee attacks before you spot them. Mage Light works about 75% better than this passive and allows all damage to hit.

Stanx · March 2019

Ratzkifal wrote: »

Tl;dr
All races are closer together in terms of dps, meaning that all are viable.
For leader board runs the theoretical top races are (from memory):
Mag DPS - Altmer
Stam DPS - Orc
Healer - Breton
Tank - Nord (if you want more ults)

Dunmer has pretty much identical dps to Orc and Altmer in stam and mag as the difference is negligible.

Argonian tanks got nerfed and are not a good choice for werewolfs if you wanted poison resist, but their potion passive is still strong despite the nerfs.

Khajiit are now the only race that has a bonus to sneaking, but is now also a viable choice for mag DPS although ranking 4th behind Breton.

Bosmer have similar sustain and damage to Redguards (unless you are tank) but lost their disease resist and stealth related passives. They can now see invisible targets aka cloaking NBs as long as they stand shoulder-to-shoulder to them. Keep in mind that attacks that can miss still won't hit them and that you are already in range for enemy melee attacks before you spot them. Mage Light works about 75% better than this passive and allows all damage to hit.

This is great. Thanks for replying!

zaria · March 2019

Difference in dps is 5-7% depending on class, that is from an no useful passives like an Breton stamina build or an Bosmer magic build. that is less than 1.5-2.2K dps if you do 30K dps.
As long as you select an relevant race Altmer, Breton for magic. Orc, Bosmer, Redguard, Imperial for magic or simply Dunmer or Khajiit for any of them diference is less than 1% or 300 damage if you do 30K.

Note that sustan races like Breton, Redguard and Bosmer are easier to play unless you add plenty of sustain into your build either food or enchantments / sets.

starkerealm · March 2019

Stanx wrote: »

Hi guys, I was hoping someone could give me, or link me to, a cheat-sheet for the racial changes.

The episode Kyle and I did on races is still (mostly) applicable. Most of the changes (aside from the Bosmer) have been pretty minor tweaks on them.

As of right now:

Nords, Imperials, Orcs, Bretons, and Argonians all make for good tanks. Redguard and High Elves aren't terrible choices either. That doesn't mean you can't tank on something else.
Nords, Imperials, Orcs, Redguards, Bosmer, Khajiit, Dark Elves will all make good Stam DPS.
Bretons, High Elves, Dark Elves, Khajiit, all make for good MagDPS or healers. Argonians also make for good healers.

There are a few little synergies here:

Nords with their passive ult gen will pair very nicely with DKs.
Argonians still have their hilariously broken potion passive. It's been nerfed, but it's still there.
Khajiit have a nice crit buff which makes them very nice for any crit focused builds (mostly Nightblades and Templars)
Bretons have nice mag discounts, which will help slightly more with classes that have resource issues (DK, Templars), but really everyone benefits.
Redguard are normally thought of as a stam race, and they do have (near) infinite stam sustain. That said, you don't need to run one to do Stam DPS, as the sustain doesn't actually improve your DPS (once you know what you're doing), though it is a nice crutch when you're learning. It can also make them attractive for tanking, where resources are always in short supply (in DLC vet content). Redguards are also weapon skill focused. Just something to keep in mind.
High Elves are a bit trickier to manage with this patch. They get resources for your off stat back. This means you can get more dodge rolls or sprinting in. Also where they can be useful for tanks, as resource return is resource return. (That said, they're certainly a non-standard tank pick at the moment.) If you do choose to run a stam High Elf, remember that you'll get mag back from your class abilities. This can be very useful for Stamdens, StamSorcs, and StamKnights, as all three will be spending magicka as part of their buffs. StamBlades are the one outlier here as they don't have any Mag abilities they need. Stamplars are in a similar situation, as they might not be using any mag powered abilities.

Biggest thing though? Don't worry about your race. Play what you want. The endgame hyper-meta crowd overfocus on the value of race. Post-Wrathstone, this is far less important than they've ever been.