The gold increase is a lame joke

Technically, you can use it for magicka DPS. It doesn't get a max magicka bonus, but Red Diamond returns magicka, and reduces mag costs. (Even if it's negligible.)

I wouldn't recommend picking Imperial as your first choice for a mag build, but it's not like you're gated off from using magic as one.

Yes, you can. Just create an Imperial and use it as you'd use a Breton. There you go.

Now, really, your request makes no sense. Wood Elves don't have magicka based passives, just like Nords, Orcs and Redguards. On the other side, Breton is only magicka based. It's following the lore, so being behind a paywall is irrelevant, as it should be.

ACamaroGuy wrote: »

I don't think it's irrelevant at all. The fact that it's paid for, should make it more universal. think of it from a business standpoint. You're asking somebody to pay 'X' amount of dollars for a product. You can only use this product as 'A' and 'B'. Now while using it as 'A' and 'B', it's at the lower end of products you get for free. To top it off, we are going to give you the option to use it on the lower tier of the game for two of the three playable styles. What kind of marketing is that?

Magicka based Imperials weren't a selling point, so yes, it's irrelevant. You can buy the package if you like Imperials and that's it. You don't need it, all of the other races already have the roles filled. If you want to min-max, play as an Altmer or Breton.
Bending the lore just because you want is ridiculous.

devaneiosonho wrote: »

Bending the lore just because you want is ridiculous.

Ironically, the lore is probably the strongest argument that @ACamaroGuy could make. From a game mechanics standpoint, the Imperial Cyrods are presented as a single race. However, in the lore, they're split into two ethnic sub-groups, the Nibenese, and the Colovians. The Imperials we play are (probably) Colovians, and the stam/health focus makes sense in that context. The most prominent Imperial mages tend to be from Nibenese ancestory (including the Tharn family.)

So, there is a strong lore argument to be made. Even if the mechanics don't really require it.

It is viable. You have extra stamina, extra help with sustain and extra health, which is always nice to have. I do not see a reason, why Imperial passives should be reworked or why it is not viable as tank or stamina dd. You can even make a healer or magica dd, extra stamina for mages is very helpful, especially in pvp environment.

1% bonus may seem little on paper, but this depends on the sum of earned money in general. For example, In Skyrim, Imperial finds just about 10 septims more then other races and it made the difference of many thousands of septims in the long run.

starkerealm wrote: »

No, all player characters have (arguably) been Colovian. We've seen many Nibenese Imperial NPCs in the games.

Worth pointing out that under the hood Morrowind, Oblivion, and Skyrim did not distinguish between these two groups. So, it's not like there's ever been two mechanically separate Imperial races, it's exclusively a lore schism.

Yes, that's what I meant. And yes, it's a stretch. A big one.

I love Nibenay, but there is absolutely NO LORE regarding such physical difference. There were never a point in any game where it was said that Nibeneses have natural magic affinity. You're theorizing or straight out assuming.

Right now, there's no lore to assume Imperials main characters were always Colovians and anything to support Imperials with natural magic affinity as a whole group. Would be cool to have some kind expansion on their lore? Would, but right now, there's not enough to justify something like this. Hopefully they'll set something up with the new chapter. Nibenay is love.

devaneiosonho wrote: »

starkerealm wrote: »

No, all player characters have (arguably) been Colovian. We've seen many Nibenese Imperial NPCs in the games.

Worth pointing out that under the hood Morrowind, Oblivion, and Skyrim did not distinguish between these two groups. So, it's not like there's ever been two mechanically separate Imperial races, it's exclusively a lore schism.

Yes, that's what I meant. And yes, it's a stretch. A big one.

I love Nibenay, but there is absolutely NO LORE regarding such physical difference. There were never a point in any game where it was said that Nibeneses have natural magic affinity. You're theorizing or straight out assuming.

No, you're conflating a physical difference (which doesn't exist) with a cultural difference (which certainly does. There's even a difference in naming conventions between the Colovian and Nibenese.) The single player games base the starting skills off of a character's cultural background. There's no separate "breed" of Imperials that are inherently better at magic, however there is a subculture of Imperials that are more likely to have had a magical education, while there's a separate subculture that are more likely to have a martial education.

If it helps, you can think of them like the difference between the House Dunmer and the Ashland Dunmer. They're all Dark Elves, but they do have distinct cultural identities.

Now, in your defense, the Imperial stats are somewhat amalgamated. The mercantile/speech bonuses are associated with with the Nibenese, while the martial skills are associated with the Colovians, while the single player games offer bonuses in both groups. Morrowind and Oblivion accounted for this, to some extent, with the character's class, as the base bonuses to skills accounted for a character's more specialized education, though Skyrim abandoned this.