How important are racial passives

Resipsa131 · May 2014

Choose One;

1. They are very important. I choose my character based on the racial passives
2. They are worth consideration when choosing a character
3. They are largely insignificant and have no bearing when choosing my race/build.

I love the Dunmers, I always have since I started playing in Morrowind. But I got critized on my Sorc last which is a healer and uses dark magic. Apparently to get "the most out of the character" I should be using a flame staff and destruction magic to take advantage of the passives. Or I should have been a DK and used the Ardant Flame line. Is there any merit to that line of thinking?

Terminus · May 2014

2. They are worth consideration when choosing a character

They're worth considering, but should they be what drives your choice?
No. Unless, that's the way you want to play.

If you want to min/max, then you should definitely care about passives.
If you want to have fun? Choose the race you want.

I chose Altmer because it matches my egotistical view of the world.
The extra magicka and regeneration are fantastic as a support dps/healer.
Also, I can see over the heads of other people at sporting events.
Gotta love that.

Csub · May 2014

1 is true for my character but it is sort of a learning character. All my alts will be created in the light of what I want instead of racial bonuses.

You will do just fine if you don't use the race best suiting your style/class.

TicToc · May 2014

2)

They are nice to have, but they will not make, or break, your character.

Some people are obsessed with squeezing every possible point out of a character build. Ignore them. Play the race that you will enjoy the most. You will likely not notice a difference.

Hawke · May 2014

Resipsa131 wrote: »

3. They are largely insignificant and have no bearing when choosing my race/build.

This one.

The numbers are so small that it really does not matter.

Go with the appearance rather than the passives. That is my suggestion as a gamer and MMO player since UO.

If the racial passives were more cosmetic, as in having a small pet follow you around, or have a halo on your head, or an emote specific to the race, then maybe... otherwise, go with the appearance.

yodased · May 2014

I dunno making a non imperial tank is kind of shooting yourself out of the gate.

Rosveen · May 2014

TicToc wrote: »

2)

They are nice to have, but they will not make, or break, your character.

Some people are obsessed with squeezing every possible point out of a character build. Ignore them. Play the race that you will enjoy the most. You will likely not notice a difference.

This. I choose a race based on lore and aesthetics. If the passives are useful for my build, that's great, but if not, it's not the end of the world. It will not discourage me from playing that race.

AlexDougherty · May 2014

Somewhere between 2 & 3, a good racial passive is useful, but hardly the be all and end all, I've built characters were some of the racial passives are completely useless for the class. And other were the synergy is brilliant, and the answer is definately a mix of two and three.

tinythinker · May 2014

I say #2. Many stats have (soft) caps, so once you get to high VR levels your gear, provisions, and potions will boost you with more than enough stamina, magicka, and health (both your totals and your regeneration rates). Still, they can be useful while leveling. And some stats aren't capped as far as I know -- for example, the boost on healing received and potion effectiveness enjoyed by Argonians.

Hawke · May 2014

yodased wrote: »

I dunno making a non imperial tank is kind of shooting yourself out of the gate.

Let me ask you this.

If you have the 12% passive for health increase how much extra health will you have at 1000 health?

120 points.

2000 health?

240 points.

That is not enough to justify picking a race, sorry. At least for me anyhow.

nudel · May 2014

I would agree with most of the other postings. Somewhere between 2 and 3. The bonus is only really noticeable early on and can quickly be made up by other sources. Personally, I would choose the race that you want to play whether it fits an archetype or not. The racial skill lines are fluff in a way. It's nice to have them. Yeah they make your choice of race feel like more than just cosmetics. Yet at the end of the day, they don't make or break a build.

Talmet · May 2014

I'm generally a min/maxer, so I pick races for character based on their racial bonuses. I am aware that the actual benefits are extremely slim, but to me they are worth it.

I wouldn't tell someone else that their character sucked because they weren't using a fire staff as a dunmer though. I'd tell them their character sucked if they were wearing full heavy armor enchanted for magicka & used only weapon skills though.

yodased wrote: »

I dunno making a non imperial tank is kind of shooting yourself out of the gate.

Except for the fact that argonians are actually the best tanks....

12% max health sounds like it's awesome true....but +6% healing received is much more useful for a tank (especially as max health gets overcharged).

DenverRalphy · May 2014

The starting passives may seem inconsequential, but later levels when you've unlocked most/all of them, they can make a substantial difference. ie.. Altmer/High-Elf passives are substantially effective and significant to Sorcerers. You'd be hard pressed to use gear/enchants to make up for all of them.

Shiaxi · May 2014

2)
they're usefull but in the end it's not the racials that make the character.
I play a breton dk; in theory the passives of the breton fit a spellcasting dk pretty well.. but I wanted her mostly as a sword and board heavy armor (5 heavy 2 light) type using the weapon skills.

altho the bonus to magicka resistance and the magicka pool do help

TicToc · May 2014

DenverRalphy wrote: »

The starting passives may seem inconsequential, but later levels when you've unlocked most/all of them, they can make a substantial difference. ie.. Altmer/High-Elf passives are substantially effective and significant to Sorcerers. You'd be hard pressed to use gear/enchants to make up for all of them.

Not nearly as substantial as you think.

A little extra XP gained with Destro staff:
Not really a factor.

Increased max magicka and magicka recovery:
Both have soft caps that you will likely hit at some point, likely fairly early on. That magicka bonus is not that much to begin with and it is worth a lot less once you have hit the soft cap. That bonus amount can easily be made up with a single piece of equipment, if it is even needed. Not to mention, the OP is playing a Dunmer which also has a max magicka bonus, plus a max stamina bonus.

Increased elemental damage:
A very small percentage that you are not going to miss. It practically useless to the OP who is playing their Sorc as a healer and using dark magic.

Plus you get the passives of the other race, which have their own benefits.

The racials look good when you are first starting out, but in the long run they don't make that much difference.

DenverRalphy · May 2014

TicToc wrote: »

DenverRalphy wrote: »

The starting passives may seem inconsequential, but later levels when you've unlocked most/all of them, they can make a substantial difference. ie.. Altmer/High-Elf passives are substantially effective and significant to Sorcerers. You'd be hard pressed to use gear/enchants to make up for all of them.

Not nearly as substantial as you think.

A little extra XP gained with Destro staff:
Not really a factor.

Increased max magicka and magicka recovery:
Both have soft caps that you will likely hit at some point, likely fairly early on. That magicka bonus is not that much to begin with and it is worth a lot less once you have hit the soft cap. That bonus amount can easily be made up with a single piece of equipment, if it is even needed. Not to mention, the OP is playing a Dunmer which also has a max magicka bonus, plus a max stamina bonus.

Increased elemental damage:
A very small percentage that you are not going to miss. It practically useless to the OP who is playing their Sorc as a healer and using dark magic.

Plus you get the passives of the other race, which have their own benefits.

The racials look good when you are first starting out, but in the long run they don't make that much difference.

You can easily make up for any 1 or 2 of the passives with gear, sure. But to make up for all of them, it will require a bit of work, and still not quite work out as best you'd like.

I'd sooner take all the passives to guarantee soft caps on all of those skills without having to rely heavily on focusing on equipment to do it. Then dump all my attribute points into health.

TicToc · May 2014

DenverRalphy wrote: »

You can easily make up for any 1 or 2 of the passives with gear, sure. But to make up for all of them, it will require a bit of work, and still not quite work out as best you'd like.

I'd sooner take all the passives to guarantee soft caps on all of those skills without having to rely heavily on focusing on equipment to do it. Then dump all my attribute points into health.

What are you talking about? I went through all of the passives.

Extra XP gain with a weapon is a non-factor. That only leaves 3 passives to even consider.

Hitting the passives is not difficult. You are going to hit them one way or another (your primary ones).

It is all well and good that you "prefer" to hit the cap with your racial passives and then put points into health. That is your choice, but that doesn't make it the only choice. You would do equally well with having a racial that gives a bonus to health and putting points into magicka, for example. In this case, the OP chose a race that also gives bonuses to magicka as well as other stats.

The last passive is elemental damage. This is a small percentage difference (4% at max) and does not apply to all the damage you do. Again, this is something that might be nice to have, but is not that big of a deal. The OP isn't even using elemental abilities so that would be completely worthless to them. Many others might consider other passives, like defensive ones, more valuable to them than a tiny increase in damage.

Talmet · May 2014

TicToc wrote: »

DenverRalphy wrote: »

You can easily make up for any 1 or 2 of the passives with gear, sure. But to make up for all of them, it will require a bit of work, and still not quite work out as best you'd like.

I'd sooner take all the passives to guarantee soft caps on all of those skills without having to rely heavily on focusing on equipment to do it. Then dump all my attribute points into health.

What are you talking about? I went through all of the passives.

Extra XP gain with a weapon is a non-factor. That only leaves 3 passives to even consider.

Hitting the passives is not difficult. You are going to hit them one way or another (your primary ones).

It is all well and good that you "prefer" to hit the cap with your racial passives and then put points into health. That is your choice, but that doesn't make it the only choice. You would do equally well with having a racial that gives a bonus to health and putting points into magicka, for example. In this case, the OP chose a race that also gives bonuses to magicka as well as other stats.

The last passive is elemental damage. This is a small percentage difference (4% at max) and does not apply to all the damage you do. Again, this is something that might be nice to have, but is not that big of a deal. The OP isn't even using elemental abilities so that would be completely worthless to them. Many others might consider other passives, like defensive ones, more valuable to them than a tiny increase in damage.

4% is not a huge thing...true.

but 4% ≠ 0%

Other passives might be better for him, true. But any bonus, even a tiny one, is still a bonus.

Will it turn an awesome build/gear/etc character into a crap one? No, but if you were attempting to make the absolute best possible character, then you have to take into account racial passives as well. They won't make a huge difference, but there will be A difference.

RazzPitazz · May 2014

Seems to that most racial passives are for the <50 leveling experience, amd become nigh inconsequential afterwards. There are a few passives that are nice reguardless, but not nice enough to make you feel like you made a bad choice in the end.

yodased wrote: »

I dunno making a non imperial tank is kind of shooting yourself out of the gate.

Said no DK tank ever.

Skjlvald · May 2014

It's all about what you want. I mean good lord, I have a character that's a nord sorcerer vampire.

AreoHotah · May 2014

Khajiit passives playing as nightblade are KICKAZZ

Merlin13KAGL · May 2014

They can help. The 3%'s here and there don't seem like much, but when they stack with other things, they can add up.

They won't (or shouldn't) make or break your character. If your character is less-than-optimized, it can actually add some flavor and challenge to what you play.

It's your world, remember...every DK doesn't have to be able to bench press a Volvo...every sorcerer doesn't have to be able to regen Magicka like crazy.

Don't build your character around the passives...use the passives to help define your character!

RazzPitazz · May 2014

Merlin13KAGL wrote: »

They can help. The 3%'s here and there don't seem like much, but when they stack with other things, they can add up.

They won't (or shouldn't) make or break your character. If your character is less-than-optimized, it can actually add some flavor and challenge to what you play.

It's your world, remember...every DK doesn't have to be able to bench press a Volvo...every sorcerer doesn't have to be able to regen Magicka like crazy.

Don't build your character around the passives...use the passives to help define your character!

Yea this. I rolled khajiit DK so I could play with my friend in the same alliance. Using the khajiit passives for health regen and crit chance for a fighter build. Lower levels were challenging butit feels pretty awesome right now. Then again its DK.

audabon2013 · May 2014

People who say 3 are OK with gimping themselves.

If you really love khajit and want to be a healer or other magicka user , go for it. Just remember that no amount of gear can compensate for losing breton or altmer passives. Flip that and take a breton as a stam based melee crit character, so bad.

The answer is 1 or arguably 2.

Talmet · May 2014

audabon2013 wrote: »

People who say 3 are OK with gimping themselves.

If you really love khajit and want to be a healer or other magicka user , go for it. Just remember that no amount of gear can compensate for losing breton or altmer passives. Flip that and take a breton as a stam based melee crit character, so bad.

The answer is 1 or arguably 2.

but then your khajit could be an extra sneaky healer!

Resipsa131 · May 2014

audabon2013 wrote: »

People who say 3 are OK with gimping themselves.

If you really love khajit and want to be a healer or other magicka user , go for it. Just remember that no amount of gear can compensate for losing breton or altmer passives. Flip that and take a breton as a stam based melee crit character, so bad.

The answer is 1 or arguably 2.

Can't you get to higher levels of Magicka/Regen with the argonians passives which aren't soft capped?

Aballister · May 2014

Handy while leveling, but by a certain level equipment and consumables are able to make up any shortfall from racial passive loss.

Cogo · May 2014

All racials are important, but Id say choosing a race that you like, is more important then the racials. Sure, they help certain things and you might end up with a build where none of your racials help.

But there are SO many skills that the racials will not "ruin" or make your char the most powerful.

I found out that the racials I really liked, wasnt so important and I wouldnt mind having another one. Still, works for me.

Go with race and looks. And if you are into lore, ESO connect Lore outstandingly well.

Sallakat · May 2014

At hindsight maybe I could've thought about it while making a templar healer, but I wanted to make a nord due to my personal background so that's what I did and I have no regret. Not like I could've watched a character on my screen constantly that has a tail and scales eeewww

Resipsa131 · May 2014

Sallakat wrote: »

At hindsight maybe I could've thought about it while making a templar healer, but I wanted to make a nord due to my personal background so that's what I did and I have no regret. Not like I could've watched a character on my screen constantly that has a tail and scales eeewww

Why, don't you like Godzilla?