Ok... now that race does matter.... (if you could start it all over)

[Legion11]

I started a brigand up recently, mainly just to run around Freeport and see how the other half lived (all my other toons are goodies).  While running a few quests and the newbie zones, I started to really like this class.  Also seeing what they can do on the high-end makes me want to invest more time and level this guy up.

However, with the racial revamp, it got me thinking about re-creating him.  It's not too late for me, only a few hours invested that are easily redone.  I feel bad for you 70s that have put years into your brigands, upgraded everything to Master, max AAs, raid gear, etc.  If you knew then what you know now, how would your choice of racial selection differ? 

Right now my brig is a human.  I favor humans or those close to it, so I'd like to limit this to a few races to keep true to his original concept.  However, if one race is so overwhelmingly superior, I might consider scrapping the name and coming up with an entirely new concept.

Human - optimally I'd just keep the toon as is

Half-elf - it's workable.... still has 50% human blood

Erudite/Barbarian - also workable, as both of these races are offshoots of humanity - each emphasizing one trait over the other (brains or brawn)

I don't want to play any of the big monstrous races, or the shrimps either.  I read in another post that halflings, ratonga, and darkelves are the current rage - being they can augment poisons... but I'm not crazy about any of those three options.  I'm currently leaning towards a barbarian brigand, and I'll just model him on the smallish side, with no obvious facial tats.  He would just look like a really buff human - maybe like 1/4 barbarian blood in him.  Also the racial ability to stun opponents would work well right?  Can't go wrong with adding yet another means of disabling the opponents....

Thoughts?

[TheSpin]

First of all, I'm glad you're not just blindly following what everyone is saying and scrapping everything for a dark elf.  There is a lot more to consider about these racials than people believe.

I'll go over a few things that might help you choose between the 4 races you listed as posibilities.  This list is tentative as it is a day or two old and I hear a few things have already been changed on beta, plus it's not official in anyway.  I'll comment on the racials specifically beneficial to Brigands (I have a 70 brigand).

Half ElfInnates:Elven Heritage - 1s reduction to gathering and foresting (P)Camouflage - 1 min duration power draining stealth, 3 min recast (A)Choices:Ayr`Dal Adornment - 5 jewelcrafting (P)Gift of the Faydark - 5% Fletching success chance increase (P)Tend Wounds - str + health regen out of combat, 3 min dur, 10 min recast (A) This would be beneficial if the str bonus were good, or if you take the FD AA abilityForest Navigation - 5% movement bonus - says out of combat (P)  This is beneficial for leveling up if you quest muchMisfits Trickery - 1 threat position drop + deaggro, 10 min recast (A)  This is pretty majorRebellious Spirit - magic resist (P) Resists are good for everyoneElven Reflexes - 5 agi (P)Mixed Knowledge - Melee: 1 ranged crit, 1 melee crit, 5 parry | Caster: spell crit + focus (P)  melee crit is useful, parry only somewhat because brigands perform best by stunning and staying behind their targetPiercing Stab - dd + mit debuff, 30 sec recast (A)  Mitigation debuffs are the reason people love brigands, so this is definately not badHardiness - 1.5% power 1.5% health (P)  health would be better, but 1.5% to both is not badHumanInnates:Multitalented - .5s reduction to all harvesting skills (P)Will to Survive - water summon (A)Choices:Clothier - Tailoring 5% success chance (P)Diversity - +5 to all tradeskills (P)Tend Wounds - str + out of combat health regen, 3 min dur, 10 min recast (A)  Half elfs have same thingUrban Sprawl - 10 min faster recast of city recall spells (P)  This could be useful for writs, but not majorDiplomacy - Soothe spell, 'reduces awareness of enemies', does not affect epics, 20 sec dur, 2 min recast (A)  once you know how to use this it's great, but for a stealth class may not be as usefulEnvironmental Adaptability - heat/cold resist (P)  resists are goodPerserverance - 5 sta (P)Versatility - 7 to crush, pierce, ranged, slash, disruption, ministration, defense, deflection (P)  Weapon skills are underrated.  If you miss a walk the plank while soloing it could very well mean  you lose the fight.  This is the only race that gets weapon skills to all types of weaponsBayle's Strike - DD, 30 sec recast (A)  Direct damage is better than aoe for a brigand because aoe your not very good anywayRuggedness - 3% max health (P)  health is more useful than power

BarbarianInnates:Tundra Endurance - +5 run speed (P)  good for anyone, should stack with pathfinidngSummon: Halasian Brew - summon alcoholic halasian brew (A)Choices:Brewmaster - 5% provisioning success chance (P)Herbology - 5 Alchemy (P)Sprint into Battle - reduced initial sprint power cost by 25%, +10 sprint speed (P)  might be useful for brigand, especially because power isn't usually an issueBattle Reprieve - STR + out of combat health regen, 3 min dur, 10 min recast (A)  humans and half elves both get thisBarbaric Rage - Below 30% health sees a gain to defensive skills (P)  This could be nice when you run out of combat arts and it's all about whoever gets the last few hits in on solo, in groups it won't likely matterBlizzard - Cold Resist (P)  resists are good, cold is a kinda tricky one to raise for someHalasian Authority - 5 str (P)Defender of Everfrost - Melee: 1 melee crit, 1 double attack, 5 parry / Caster: healing crit + ministration (P)  double attack is better than crits in some people's opinion...note no weapon skill bonus hereTundra Slam - dd + 2.5sec stun/knockback, 30 sec recast (A)  soloing is all about stuns so an extra stun is goodTribal Strength - 3% health (P)  better than power for a brigand

EruditeInnates:Clear Mind - Out of combat power regen (P)Falling Grace - Feather Fall toggleable buff (A)  could be nice but you have safefall anywayChoices:Scholarly Pursuit - +5% sage success chance (P)Chemist - 5 alchemy (P)Homeward Bound - 10 min reduction in recast of city recall spells (P)Intellectual Feasting - 25% food duration (P)Ward of Glyphs - ward, 5 min recast (A)  this is useful for both solo and grouping, the half elf deaggro would only be useful for grouping

Magical Protection - magic resist (P)Intellect of the Sage - 5 int (P)Erud's Teachings - 2 spell crit chance + 5 disruption skill (P)Arc of Lightning - ae magic attack encounter dd, 2 min recast (A)  might be nice but probably not enough to help too much since brigands are already weak on aoeCasting Fury - 5% casting time reduction, 2% max power (P)  casting speed is nice, but this isn't enough to matter much on a combat art class

[Legion11]

Thank you TheSpin - that was some good insight and exactly what I was looking for.  I had read those lists of the various abilities, but to hear a level 70 brigand comment on them intelligently was very helpful.

I will definitely be taking the FD AA - thanks for pointing out that half-elves, humans, and barbarians all have some form of temporary health regen booster.  I've crossed erudite off the list (it was never really in the running anyway) and all but eliminated half-elf, as it seems to have options that the other can do just as well or better (other than the mit debuff).  It's down to barbarian and human - which were my two favorites from a conceptual standpoint anyway.

Human - plus 7 on all weapon skills is very tempting.  The fact that it's always active appeals to me.  Useful in soloing/grouping/ and raiding epic content.

Barbarian - an additional stun every 30 seconds can be a true life-saver, and a boon for utilizing all the various abilities.  Sounds like a huge help in soloing, a good ability in grouping... but unfortunately no value during raids.

Ok, those two races are neck-and-neck right now.  I can get by using items and adornments to raise weapon skills, whereas an additional inherent stun would be hard to find anywhere.  However, not being able to use it vs epic mobs takes alot of value away... I'll probably just wait a week or so to see if anything else changes.  They're so close in my mind that just a slight alteration after RoK goes live would be enough to tip it in either's favor.  Thanks for all the help TheSpin.

[Ze]

I know this doesn't answer your question... but as things have changed now, they might change again in the future. An attribute you consider overpowered now might soon be obsolete due to new gear/AAs. Race traits could change again. Game mechanics might be rewamped. What I am trying to say is... rerolling just because something looks better right now is foolish - because you don't know what it will look like 1 or 2 years down the road.

[TheSpin]

Zerp wrote:

I know this doesn't answer your question... but as things have changed now, they might change again in the future. An attribute you consider overpowered now might soon be obsolete due to new gear/AAs. Race traits could change again. Game mechanics might be rewamped. What I am trying to say is... rerolling just because something looks better right now is foolish - because you don't know what it will look like 1 or 2 years down the road.

This is true, but the OP said he'd only put a few hours into the race so it's definately not too late.

I believe the stun may have it's recast tweaked and the damage increased...I heard that's happened with a few of the abilities.  Basically everyone is complaining so much about the dark elf fury of innoruk ability that they are trying to do a combination of buffing the other skills in damage and nerfing fury of innoruk.

Since you obviously want a neutral race, I would suggest you wait til the expansion is released and then you can start in the new city.  Plust then you can get a better look for yourself about the racials (they are changing the interface for picking racials so you should be able to see them all right away).

I made a dwarf on Unrest and have since moved to the Antonia Bayle server and decided to make a new brigand myself.  I'm also having a hard time deciding which race to choose....definately not dark elf for me though.  The most serious races I'm considering for my reroll are halfling and troll (weird I know).  I think the troll is nice because they get + slashing (which they only share with humans) and I'm sure the fear immunity will come in handy at times....plus they get that stun attack.  The halfling gets 25% more charges on poisons, and +piercing skill, as well as a small self ward.  I think either way it would end up being pretty even so it's become a matter of preference.  I'm 90% sure that when epics come out it will be a piercing weapon so that's something to consider also.

[Jeger_Wulf]

> If you knew then what you know now, how would your choice of racial selection differ? 

I'd like to see people's answers to this question if ALL races are in the mix - not just the four the OP mentioned.

[Klaktar]

I haven't looked into all the new racial traits yet, but I don't think I'd switch from Half Elf. I'd MAYBE pick Ratonga, maybe. The extra mit debuff, and detaunt you get with half elves kicks [Removed for Content]. Though it kinda sucks that our free racial trait is camouflage =P

[TheSpin]

I had a 70 brig on Unrest, it was a dwarf.

I've now moved to AB (and regretting it lately with the population overload), but I'm rerolling my brigand and decided to make it a Kerra.  I have a few reasons for choosing kerra.  One small reason is that kerra get a mitigation debuff as their special attack and since that's what brigands do, it makes sense to have more of it.  The other reason lies in all of the movement buffs the kerra get and safehouse.  The only thing I don't like about my choice is that kerra get +parry instead of +piercing/slashing, but at least this way I don't have to worry about using a piercing over a slashing weapon.

[Lyasa]

go with what you like the looks of.if you're torn between 2, then start looking at the racials.i don't think people are going to reject non-ogre tanks, or non-DE scouts offhand, so have fun with it.

[Kegofbud]

Well, I will say it. I'm very glad I'm a dark elf. The buffs are nice. Would I re-roll just to get them; not if I was >35ish.

[TheSpin]

With a combination of stealth movement, the activateable burst of speed, and safehouse, there are some things a Kerra could do that probably couldn't be done by anyone else.  Sure maybe a DE might get slightly better dps than me once every 5 minutes, but even before given these handy movement buffs I was doing some pretty interesting pulling with safehouse.

[Bryarfo]

Main is iksar brigand.

If I could re-roll rce I would go Arasai no question. The racial multi-melee boost skill is awesome.

[TheSpin]

Bryarfoot wrote:

Main is iksar brigand.

If I could re-roll rce I would go Arasai no question. The racial multi-melee boost skill is awesome.

I know I'm in the minority, but I don't find the arasai/dark elf racials all that attractive.  I basically figure it to equal about 4 additional auto attacks (for the dark elf haste, not sure how the arasai dps would factor, but similar),  1 additional combat art during dispatch, and at most 2 additional crits during these 30 seconds.  When you consider that to be on a 5 minute cooldown it's definately nice, but I like some of the 1 minute cooldown attacks better.  Hence my reason for rolling kerra and getting an extra physical mitigation debuff (800 at level 80 I hear).

[Lyasa]

as a gnome i get permanent +2 melee crit/ +5 parry, 5min recast swarm pet that auto attacks for about 100 on a 3s delay (x3, for 30s does about 3k damage unless it gets killed), 3% boost to max power, and 1position+1200 hate drop (5min recast)i'm content.

[DataOutlaw]

I really don't think the racial choices make that much of a difference. For max/min folks I guess its important but honetly +5 here or there one a couple skills is pretty meaningless and can be easily made up for with different choices in high end equipment.

I choose my race / class combinations based on what I think makes the most sense from a roleplay and fun aspect then anything else. Eventually I would like to have an alt representing every race and every class except for bard which hold no interest for me. For the longest time I only played Qeynosians though since I really hate Freeport. Since the release of Darklight I started an Arasai necro and Iksar Brigand and now with RoK I am working on a Sarnak Shadow Knight and Erudite Coercer.

I don't have a dark elf character yet as I jsut can't seem to find that perfect class that fits for me as a dark elf.

IMHO play what you think will be the most fun and don't worry about the racial bonusses.

[MRidcully]

Wow, I've always had almost all of my characters as Dark Elves. So basically now I'm FotM and might have to reroll as a Half-Ogre or something?

[Wilin]

I'm very happy with my HE brigand. Melee crit, more mit debuffage, more hate position reduction. It might not be the best choice but it certainly doesn't suck.