04-19-2005, 01:26 PM
A few weeks back I had complained to Tal that I wished I had rolled a Human for my level 60 Priest, not a Night Elf, because the racial bonuses for Humans appear to be quite superior. That got me to start thinking about race/class choices more thoroughly. Given my love of alts and my boredom of playing level 60's - I enjoy leveling up more than being capped, I give no real qualms about restarting a Priest and leveling her up again. But what about other chars?
While none of the racial abilities are real game breakers, barring Will of the Forsaken for the Horde, the fact is that some classes would do best to choose one race over another.
Come to think of it, what would be the "best" configuration of characters possible, given these constraints:
1) All classes for the Alliance must be represented: Priest, Mage, Warlock, Paladin, Warrior, Hunter, Rogue, Druid.
2) Eight characters would be created, one per class.
3) No repeats of race or gender are allowed - so there must be two characters of each race, one of each gender per race.
This would form my "army" of eight Alliance characters and allow me to have the optimum choices possible given the above constraints. This gives variety of play, too, which is a bonus. Even if it were possible, playing 8 Gnomes or 8 Humans would start to bore the heck of of anyone, even me, who secretly longs for Gnome Priests...
So what are the racial bonuses for the Alliance? Let's review them, shall we? :)
NIGHT ELF
Shadowmeld - active: Activate while immobile and out of combat to enter stealth mode - lasts until canceled - no cooldown
Quickness - passive: Dodge chance increased by 1%
Wisp Spirit - passive: Become a wisp when dead with movement speed increase of 50% (25% faster than normal ghost)
Nature Resistance - passive: All Night Elves get +10 Nature Resistance
DWARF
Stoneform - active: While active, grants immunity to Bleed, Poison, and Disease effects. In addition, Armor increases by 5% and speed reduced to 70% of normal. Lasts 20 sec. - 3 min cooldown Gun Specialization - passive: Dwarves get +5 to Gun Skill
Frost Resistance - passive: All Dwarves get +10 Cold Resistance
Treasure Finding - passive: Activate to see treasure chests on mini map - lasts until canceled - no cooldown
HUMAN
Perception - active: Activate to increase stealth detection radius by 10 yards - lasts 20 sec - 3 min cooldown
The Human Spirit - passive: Increase Spirit by 5%
Diplomacy - passive: 10% bonus to faction point gain
Sword Specialization - passive: Humans get +5 to Sword skill
Mace Specialization - passive: Humans get +5 to Mace skill
GNOME
Escape Artist - active: Activate to break out of a Root or Snare effect - 1.5 sec cast - 1 min cooldown
Expansive Mind - passive: Increase Intelligence by 5%
Arcane Resistance - passive: All Gnomes get +10 Arcane Resistance
Technologist - passive: 15 skill bonus to Engineering
Then, an added twist: what about tradeskills? What tradeskill combinations would be optimum for such a group as well? The possibilities are endless for 8 characters. Tradeskills (as I see it) fall under five distinct groupings:
a) Herbalism/Alchemy
b) Tailoring/Enchanting
c) Mining/Engineering
d) Mining/Blacksmithing
e) Skinning/Leatherworking
Add to that the fact that there are specializations of Blacksmithing and Leatherworking at high levels, so you could have more than one Blacksmith and Leatherworker and go down different paths. What race/class/tradeskill combinations make the most sense? I figured on having one Herbalist/Alchemist, one Tailor/Enchanter, and then two of each of the remaining tradeskill combos (due to specialization and the fact that only Engineers can use most Engineering items).
Here is the configuration I came up with. What do you think of it? I will list them by class, and why I chose the race to go with it. Gender is swappable, of course, and would be a matter of preference.
1) Druid - Night Elf
Explanation: I start with the Druid because it's the easiest. Only Night Elves can be Druids. Done deal. All this means is that a Night Elf spot is automatically assigned, leaving just one to decide on.
Tradeskills: Skinning/Leatherworking for the Leather and Mail later on.
2) Rogue - Night Elf
Explanation: I selected Night Elf for the Rogue. This is due to Shadowmeld which provides a boost to stealth when in stealth mode, and the 1% chance to dodge bonus. Rogues love dodging, and this seems to fit in the best compared to the other races.
Tradeskills: Skinning/Leatherworking, since Rogues are major Leather wearers.
3) Warrior - Dwarf
Explanation: Gun specialization for ranged attacks and the situationally awesome Stoneform provide useful bonuses for a tanking Warrior.
Tradeskills: Mining/Blacksmithing, since Warriors are major platemail wearers.
4) Hunter - Dwarf
Explanation: Gun specialization for teh winxorz! I can't see that losing to any of the other race bonuses in the Hunter's case. This was more of a "fill in the blank" combination since the Hunter doesn't get much direct use out of any race's bonuses except this one.
Tradeskills: Mining/Engineering, because crafting your own shot and guns is fun to do.
5) Paladin - Human
Explanation: The sword and mace specializations are sweet, and although the 5% bonus to spirit isn't so useful on a Paladin, it's more useful to this class than a Warrior. Only Dwarves and Humans can be Paladins, and Paladins don't need Stoneform that much when they have Purify. The Purify thing is the clincher that moves the Paladin to Human and the Warrior to Dwarf.
Tradeskills: Mining/Blacksmithing, since Paladins are major platemail wearers.
6) Priest - Human
Explanation: 5% spirit boost, aww yeah. I love Insane Mana Regen.⢠Mace specialization doesn't hurt, either, for when the Priest is using one over a staff. The Human Priest special spells with Desperate Prayer are more useful than the Night Elf Priest Starshards attack spell (which I have found with my level 60 Night Elf Priest to be no more useful than a Smite or Mind Blast, it just looks prettier) and Elune's Grace, which lowers ranged physical attack damage a bit.
Tradeskills: Hebalism/Alchemy, because somebody's gotta do it.
7) Mage - Gnome
Explanation: Um, 5% Intelligence bonus. I believe that's a "Nuff said."
Tradeskills: Mining/Engineering, because the passive Engineering bonus should be taken advantage of.
8) Warlock - Gnome
Explanation: 5% Intelligence bonus, yes, but also Escape Artist. Warlocks lack an "escape" skill and this can help a little bit if they are snared. While Mages can Blink/Frost Nova and Priest can Psychic Scream if they're in trouble, a Warlock has no real multi-enemy "oh crap" ability, and can use all the help they can get.
Tradeskills: Tailoring/Enchanting, because Warlocks get free mounts and Enchanters are always hard up for cash. At least they won't have to pay for a mount on top of all that money drain.
Anyhow, I hope some of you find this a fun theoretical exercise as I do. Last night I restarted my level 19 Rogue and my level 12 Paladin to fit in with this scheme, and my level 60 Priest is retired. I'm hopeless, aren't I?
Talk amongst yourselves; I'll give you a topic: what's the optimum Horde configuration, given the same limitations? After all, there are eight classes there too (replacing Paladin with Shaman), and you could have eight distinct race/gender combinations as well.
-Bolty
While none of the racial abilities are real game breakers, barring Will of the Forsaken for the Horde, the fact is that some classes would do best to choose one race over another.
Come to think of it, what would be the "best" configuration of characters possible, given these constraints:
1) All classes for the Alliance must be represented: Priest, Mage, Warlock, Paladin, Warrior, Hunter, Rogue, Druid.
2) Eight characters would be created, one per class.
3) No repeats of race or gender are allowed - so there must be two characters of each race, one of each gender per race.
This would form my "army" of eight Alliance characters and allow me to have the optimum choices possible given the above constraints. This gives variety of play, too, which is a bonus. Even if it were possible, playing 8 Gnomes or 8 Humans would start to bore the heck of of anyone, even me, who secretly longs for Gnome Priests...
So what are the racial bonuses for the Alliance? Let's review them, shall we? :)
NIGHT ELF
Shadowmeld - active: Activate while immobile and out of combat to enter stealth mode - lasts until canceled - no cooldown
Quickness - passive: Dodge chance increased by 1%
Wisp Spirit - passive: Become a wisp when dead with movement speed increase of 50% (25% faster than normal ghost)
Nature Resistance - passive: All Night Elves get +10 Nature Resistance
DWARF
Stoneform - active: While active, grants immunity to Bleed, Poison, and Disease effects. In addition, Armor increases by 5% and speed reduced to 70% of normal. Lasts 20 sec. - 3 min cooldown Gun Specialization - passive: Dwarves get +5 to Gun Skill
Frost Resistance - passive: All Dwarves get +10 Cold Resistance
Treasure Finding - passive: Activate to see treasure chests on mini map - lasts until canceled - no cooldown
HUMAN
Perception - active: Activate to increase stealth detection radius by 10 yards - lasts 20 sec - 3 min cooldown
The Human Spirit - passive: Increase Spirit by 5%
Diplomacy - passive: 10% bonus to faction point gain
Sword Specialization - passive: Humans get +5 to Sword skill
Mace Specialization - passive: Humans get +5 to Mace skill
GNOME
Escape Artist - active: Activate to break out of a Root or Snare effect - 1.5 sec cast - 1 min cooldown
Expansive Mind - passive: Increase Intelligence by 5%
Arcane Resistance - passive: All Gnomes get +10 Arcane Resistance
Technologist - passive: 15 skill bonus to Engineering
Then, an added twist: what about tradeskills? What tradeskill combinations would be optimum for such a group as well? The possibilities are endless for 8 characters. Tradeskills (as I see it) fall under five distinct groupings:
a) Herbalism/Alchemy
b) Tailoring/Enchanting
c) Mining/Engineering
d) Mining/Blacksmithing
e) Skinning/Leatherworking
Add to that the fact that there are specializations of Blacksmithing and Leatherworking at high levels, so you could have more than one Blacksmith and Leatherworker and go down different paths. What race/class/tradeskill combinations make the most sense? I figured on having one Herbalist/Alchemist, one Tailor/Enchanter, and then two of each of the remaining tradeskill combos (due to specialization and the fact that only Engineers can use most Engineering items).
Here is the configuration I came up with. What do you think of it? I will list them by class, and why I chose the race to go with it. Gender is swappable, of course, and would be a matter of preference.
1) Druid - Night Elf
Explanation: I start with the Druid because it's the easiest. Only Night Elves can be Druids. Done deal. All this means is that a Night Elf spot is automatically assigned, leaving just one to decide on.
Tradeskills: Skinning/Leatherworking for the Leather and Mail later on.
2) Rogue - Night Elf
Explanation: I selected Night Elf for the Rogue. This is due to Shadowmeld which provides a boost to stealth when in stealth mode, and the 1% chance to dodge bonus. Rogues love dodging, and this seems to fit in the best compared to the other races.
Tradeskills: Skinning/Leatherworking, since Rogues are major Leather wearers.
3) Warrior - Dwarf
Explanation: Gun specialization for ranged attacks and the situationally awesome Stoneform provide useful bonuses for a tanking Warrior.
Tradeskills: Mining/Blacksmithing, since Warriors are major platemail wearers.
4) Hunter - Dwarf
Explanation: Gun specialization for teh winxorz! I can't see that losing to any of the other race bonuses in the Hunter's case. This was more of a "fill in the blank" combination since the Hunter doesn't get much direct use out of any race's bonuses except this one.
Tradeskills: Mining/Engineering, because crafting your own shot and guns is fun to do.
5) Paladin - Human
Explanation: The sword and mace specializations are sweet, and although the 5% bonus to spirit isn't so useful on a Paladin, it's more useful to this class than a Warrior. Only Dwarves and Humans can be Paladins, and Paladins don't need Stoneform that much when they have Purify. The Purify thing is the clincher that moves the Paladin to Human and the Warrior to Dwarf.
Tradeskills: Mining/Blacksmithing, since Paladins are major platemail wearers.
6) Priest - Human
Explanation: 5% spirit boost, aww yeah. I love Insane Mana Regen.⢠Mace specialization doesn't hurt, either, for when the Priest is using one over a staff. The Human Priest special spells with Desperate Prayer are more useful than the Night Elf Priest Starshards attack spell (which I have found with my level 60 Night Elf Priest to be no more useful than a Smite or Mind Blast, it just looks prettier) and Elune's Grace, which lowers ranged physical attack damage a bit.
Tradeskills: Hebalism/Alchemy, because somebody's gotta do it.
7) Mage - Gnome
Explanation: Um, 5% Intelligence bonus. I believe that's a "Nuff said."
Tradeskills: Mining/Engineering, because the passive Engineering bonus should be taken advantage of.
8) Warlock - Gnome
Explanation: 5% Intelligence bonus, yes, but also Escape Artist. Warlocks lack an "escape" skill and this can help a little bit if they are snared. While Mages can Blink/Frost Nova and Priest can Psychic Scream if they're in trouble, a Warlock has no real multi-enemy "oh crap" ability, and can use all the help they can get.
Tradeskills: Tailoring/Enchanting, because Warlocks get free mounts and Enchanters are always hard up for cash. At least they won't have to pay for a mount on top of all that money drain.
Anyhow, I hope some of you find this a fun theoretical exercise as I do. Last night I restarted my level 19 Rogue and my level 12 Paladin to fit in with this scheme, and my level 60 Priest is retired. I'm hopeless, aren't I?
Talk amongst yourselves; I'll give you a topic: what's the optimum Horde configuration, given the same limitations? After all, there are eight classes there too (replacing Paladin with Shaman), and you could have eight distinct race/gender combinations as well.
-Bolty
Quote:Considering the mods here are generally liberals who seem to have a soft spot for fascism and white supremacy (despite them saying otherwise), me being perma-banned at some point is probably not out of the question.