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Message: <blockquote data-quote="AbdulAlhazred" data-source="post: 4721004" data-attributes="member: 82106">Devoted Cleric is the ONLY build in 4e that matches dwarven ability modifiers. In fact it is the ONLY build that would be best built as a dwarf, so yes, I think dwarves are quite shortchanged. BRV fighter MIGHT arguably be another, but even then it depends on what sorts of armor you intend to wear.I didn't say that any of the races necessarily have bad racial traits. However the traits of the various races are mostly fairly balanced, so while resistance to forced movement is nice, and minor SW is pretty nice they are no more than balancing, at best, other race's traits. Thus the thing that really determines build suitability for a race is pretty much entirely whether or not their attribute bonuses match the key attributes of the build. If they don't, then the character IS taking a permanent -1 someplace that can never be made up for. With a few builds that -1 is just for one or two powers and you can argue that synergy between the role of the build and the race's traits more than makes up for it, but those are judgment calls. Just as an example, the Dwarf better matches the attributes for a Devoted Cleric than any other race, except humans, which are equal. OTOH the DragonBorn is the best match in 5 of the 14 PHB1 builds and an equal or better choice for 8 of them, more than any other race, except Half-orc. Analyzing the other 'classic' races, Elves and Half-elves are the best match in ZERO cases each. Halfling is the best match for Artful Dodger, but nothing else. Eladrin come out SLIGHTLY better (though it is arguable if you would consider them a 'classic' race), being clearly superior in one build, War Wizard. Tieflings are actually kind of the orphan of the new races, with only one superior build, Deceptive Warlock. Gnomes again have zero builds where they best match, depending on exactly how you define best match. At most they are best in one build.Given their 'flex' attribute allocation, humans come out as second choice in all builds, and in about 1/3 of them they are equal to the best build.Of course you can build a viable character of any race/build combination, but you will find that when you get into paragon and especially epic tier the character will suffer at least minor and often major penalties. These penalties CANNOT be made up due to the nature of the 4e scaling math.</blockquote>

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