Poll: Will you group with Warforged?

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Updated Fri, Feb 13, 2009 by Ralsu

Refuse to Group with Warforged?

By Ralsu

This is DDO Build Week here at Ten Ton Hammer. Today's featured build used the warforged race. Right now, the official DDO forums blaze with the intensity of a thousand flames about warforged and their role in parties. People play warforged for a reason, be it the benefits of their racial traits or for a role playing purpose. Regardless of why people select the warforged race, the players behind warforged pay $15 per month just like the rest of us to play DDO. At the same time, warforged are considerably harder to keep alive due to their Living Construct racial trait (Cure spells are half as effective; Repair spells are fully effective). Thus, some gamers insist, a person who plays a warforged is extending an unnecessary burden to the party.

The Case for the Warforged
Warforged get nifty immunities (via Enhancements) and nice natural armor Feats. A carefully designed warforged can have a ton of hit points and be a valuable damage dealer for the party. Alternately, some warforged build arcane casters who specialize in healing other warforged in addition to their other class roles. Those warforged immunities can keep a warforged party member healthy when another race would require a Cure spell or Remove Poison/Disease. Experienced warforged players often say, "You should try a full warforged group. Nothing compares."

The Case for Clerics
Because warforged receive only half of the normal benefit from healing spells, many clerics find it inefficient to heal a warforged party member. Several DDO players estimate that 30 spell points spent healing a warforged fighter for 10 hit points with Cure Light Wounds means two less heals of 6 each for another party member. The truth of the math is that it takes more spell points to heal warforged (and they will take damage eventually, regardless of immunities) than warforged are worth.

The Case for Sorcerer
The Repair Wounds line of spells frequently saddles sorcerers and wizard with the job to "keep the warforged alive." In a full party of warforged, this situation is no different that using a party slot for a cleric. In a mixed party, however, the party still needs a cleric to heal the other players. Sure, arcane casters can attempt to perform their traditional roles of damage and crowd control in addition to healing, but this leads to a less than optimal scenario. The arcane casters will have to make tough decisions in the heat of battle. Should I cast Web now for crowd control and try to save everyone some hits? Or should I heal the warforged who is rapidly losing health? In the end, many number-crunching players claim it is better to let a warforged die and save the rest of the party some hits.

The Case for Wands
One of the solutions the DDO community has reached to solve the "warforged problem" is to use wands of Repair to heal them. Wands require no spell points to use, but they cost gold. Many people demand that warforged supply their own wands or the fund to replace wands used on them during the party's adventures. Others won't heal warforged even with a wand, citing weapon/wand swapping or the loss of a stat boost from not having their normal weapon equipped as too great a price to group with warforged.

The Case for Segregation
Taking a page from America's shady past, a few gamers advocate keeping warforged separate. These people will not group with a warforged in any circumstances. Most respect the players behind the toons, but some go so far as to automatically dislike any person who wants to play warforged. These warforged racists say that a person who plays a warforged is being selfish and bringing undue difficulty to the party.

Now it's your turn to speak on the issue.

VOTE IN OUR POLL!

Will you group with warforged?

It’s all about the skill of the player. I’ll group with any race, including warforged.
If warforged bring their own wands to help heal them, I will group with them.
I’ll group with warforged, but I will not heal them.
Warforged are more trouble than they’re worth. I will not group with them.

VOTE HERE

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Poll: Will you group with Warforged?

Refuse to Group with Warforged?

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