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Better Reason to Pick a Race?

Attributes vs. Racial
Abilities

By Ralsu

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October
10, 2007

I've been thinking about stats a lot lately. Even a casual player like
myself wants to be sure he is building his character so that he is
effective at later levels. With the races of style="font-style: italic;">Vanguard having very different
adventuring attribute progression and racial abilities, it is clear
that a player's choice of race is a big factor. But what is more
important? Attribute growth or racial abilities? I'll make the case for
each, but I want to hear what you think as well!



Note: The author understands that the
ultimate purpose of the game is to have fun and that people should pick
whatever race they want because it is fun. This poll is just about
those people who really care a lot about maximizing potential.

The Choice of Race is More Important for the Attributes

Look, the best attributes to
build for a warrior are dexterity, strength, and constitution. DEX
mitigates damage, increases the chance to resist spells, and makes
criticals more likely. Strength increases damage to help hold aggro.
Constitution gives hit points for longer life and better resistances to
spells. It just makes sense that someone concerned about maximizing the
defensive capabilities of a warrior would consider these attributes,
right?



So then, why wouldn't I consider making my warrior halfling to focus on
DEX? Halflings get a nice bonus to DEX based on their race, and they
can raise their total DEX score up to 368 through spending attribute
points as they level up. The average max DEX score for all the warrior
races based off of attribute growth is 273. That means the halfling
warrior has the chance to be 95 points of DEX better than the next
average warrior. If DEX is king for a tank, why would I look any
further than halfling?



The uniqueness of the races comes out in the way their stats progress
even when you consider the hard cap of 18*level (or 900 at level 50).
The halfling warrior will need to wear less DEX gear to max his
mitigation. He can focus on particular resistance gear to match the
encounter. Or he can boost hit points to last longer.



Even if you considered all three prime attributes as necessary to max
on a raid, the halfling is a better choice than, say, a goblin. With 10
attribute points to spend per level, every race gets the same number of
points to spend. But one of the halfling's attribute bonuses goes to
one of those three tank attributes. The goblin's racial bonuses are on
what most players consider wasted stats for a tank (VIT and INT). The
halfling will need fewer buffs or gear slots dedicated to tanking
attributes to reach the hard cap of 900 than a goblin. It's as simple
as that.



Race matters more for the
attributes. href="http://vanguard.tentonhammer.com/modules.php?set_albumName=album19&id=DEX&op=modload&name=Gallery&file=index&include=view_photo.php"> alt=""
src="http://media.tentonhammer.com/vanguard/gallery/albums/album19/DEX.jpg"
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Resources:

• href="http://vanguard.tentonhammer.com/index.php?module=ContentExpress&func=display&ceid=531">Warrior
  Creation Guide
  
• href="http://vanguard.tentonhammer.com/index.php?module=ContentExpress&func=display&ceid=536">Statistical
  Significance (Defensive Fighters)
  

The Choice of Race is More Important for the Abilities

At the end of the day, the hard
cap of 900 will be the target for all tanking attributes on a raid. No
one will care how your tank got there. If you're a halfling with high
base DEX, great. But buffs and gear will get the goblin there, too.
What will have a bigger impact are the racial abilities.



Imagine this: the main healer has run completely out of energy and the
melee group has wiped due to an overzealous ranger (isn't it always the
ranger?) who unloaded his damage too early in the fight. The goblin
warrior trying to tank the mob (even if her 3 tanking attributes are at
900 and his resists are buffed) will find Hex of Ghalnn of very little
use to her. Sure, she'll get a little HP and energy from the damage she
deals for a few seconds, but it probably won't save the day.



By comparison, a halfling warrior in the same scenario could have used
Pride of the Vael to build massive aggro and stop the melee group from
wiping in the first place, leaving that healer alive. A kojan warrior
might not have been able to prevent the wipe of the melee group, but he
could target the main healer and use Spirit of Jin (the racial ability)
to restore nearly half of the healer's energy.



After expansions and when raid gear is the common equipment for
adventurers, it is the racial abilities that make one player stand out
from the next. It's as simple as that.



Race matters more for the racial
abilities.



Resources:

• href="http://vanguard.tentonhammer.com/index.php?module=ContentExpress&func=display&ceid=531">Warrior
  Creation Guide
  

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Now it's your turn. Tell us which
racial benefit factors more into your character creation process!
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IN OUR POLL!

Which is a better reason to pick a race?

• Attribute bonuses
  
• Racial abilities
  

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(this poll is always open)