D&D 4E Which 4e races do you like mechanically

[The Human Target]

I really like Dwarves, Half Elves, Eladrin, and Humans mechanically.

Halflings just don't get anything flashy that screams out awesome to me. Second chance is useful, but not really that fun or consistent. Plus it lets the bad guys hit you even harder in theory.

I don't like Bloodhunt or Infernal Wrath for the Tieflings. There just fiddly additions of numbers and not anything neat.

Elves have a nice choice of weapons, and a nice bump in speed. But Wild Step, Elven Accuracy, and group awareness are meh.


Dragonborn are okay, they just overall excel at character types I don't gravitate towards.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Spoiler

So... it looks like they did a pretty good job with the assorted player races, except for three of them: the elf, half-elf and the tiefling.

Personally I voted for halfling and elf because of the good racial ability and ok stats. (the halfling makes a makes a great cha based paladin, while the elf is a really good ranged ranger.)

Why is this posted using the spoiler tag?

 

[deadsmurf]

I like a bunch of the races in the MM mechanically the best.

But I can see myself playing just about any of the other races quite easily.

One of my main problems is not with the races per-se, but with the rules for small size. Why exactly can't there be small size scaled two-handed weapons for smaller dudes? and I think a halfing/otherwise small wizard would be able to use a staff of normal size, just not as an effective quarterstaff. So you could use it to channel attacks as an improvised melee weapon and still use it to channel powers and stuff. you would look damn funny though!

 

[Korgoth]

Does anyone actually like tieflings?

Not me.

Wow... 20% approval rating. Worse than some presidents!

I think the Eladrin has a cool-sounding power. Humans and half-elves seem interesting enough. The Dwarf sounds reasonable. The Elf is probably the most powerful, at least in a world where Cascade of Blades is available.

 

[outsider]

I'd say elves are definitely my favorite. All their benefits are great for strikers(particularly archer rangers).

Eladrin, dwarves, dragonborn, and halflings are all great too.

Humans and half-elves I consider dark horses at this point. They aren't great now, but the fact that they get to choose their racial powers could become very useful. Humans already seem to make good wizards, due to the wide variety of at useful at wills wizards get. Once other classes start getting more at wills, I see humans(and half elves) becoming more useful.

Tieflings seem to suck. Their saving grace seems to be the +1 to hit bloodied foes, as to hit bonuses are rare now and you'll obviously end up making attacks on bloodied foes in every fight. The fire resistance seems very situational, and their infernal wrath power isn't that great either. Their feats seem decent though. Pity a race that will be so thematically popular will be so weak mechanically.

 

[Nifft]

Tieflings seem to suck. Their saving grace seems to be the +1 to hit bloodied foes, as to hit bonuses are rare now and you'll obviously end up making attacks on bloodied foes in every fight. The fire resistance seems very situational, and their infernal wrath power isn't that great either. Their feats seem decent though. Pity a race that will be so thematically popular will be so weak mechanically.

The key to Tieflings is that, as you point out, attack bonuses are hard to get.

Tieflings can take a feat to gain +1 to attacks and damage with Fire and Fear effects. That's amazingly strong for a Wizard or Warlock, who can focus on such effects. Infernal Wrath is nice for the attack bonus, but also for the Push (via Feat) and fire damage (via Paragon Feat) -- you get a sweet encounter power, and really, what else were you going to do with those feats? If you're playing a Paladin, you effectively gain Smite Badguy as a per-encounter power, thanks to the Charisma damage. Just yell "SMITE!" instead of "Infernal Wrath!"

In terms of Wizardry, the +2 Charisma seems lame, since Wizards want Wisdom and/or Dexterity. But when you get to Paragon level and you have a 13 Charisma, you'll appreciate the feat Spell Focus.

Tieflings make great Warlocks of any stripe -- their bonus to Fire and Fear makes up for the missing +2 Con (for both Infernal and Star pacts), and their Charisma bonus works perfectly for Fey pact. The Intelligence bonus is beneficial to all pacts.

Anyway. I like Tieflings.

Cheers, -- N

 

[Cadfan]

Dragonborn are solid, as are dwarves and elves. Halflings are mechanically solid, but they're not real people. Still, I voted them up. Eladrin are mechanically solid, but a little narrow.

I like tieflings, but just barely. They feel overly tied to their charisma score. I also feel that they are less unique because there are so many other races with charisma bonuses.

Humans are good, but are shafted by the small number of at will powers. They're great with wizards, rogues, and a few others, but weak with things like THFighters and Clerics. Still, I voted them up, because what they do well they do very well.

Half-Elves are a bit meh. I voted them down. They aren't worthless, there are character classes they do well. But they don't do enough well, and their skill bonuses are particularly obnoxious.

 

[outsider]

The key to Tieflings is that, as you point out, attack bonuses are hard to get.

Tieflings can take a feat to gain +1 to attacks and damage with Fire and Fear effects. That's amazingly strong for a Wizard or Warlock, who can focus on such effects. Infernal Wrath is nice for the attack bonus, but also for the Push (via Feat) and fire damage (via Paragon Feat) -- you get a sweet encounter power, and really, what else were you going to do with those feats? If you're playing a Paladin, you effectively gain Smite Badguy as a per-encounter power, thanks to the Charisma damage. Just yell "SMITE!" instead of "Infernal Wrath!"

In terms of Wizardry, the +2 Charisma seems lame, since Wizards want Wisdom and/or Dexterity. But when you get to Paragon level and you have a 13 Charisma, you'll appreciate the feat Spell Focus.

Tieflings make great Warlocks of any stripe -- their bonus to Fire and Fear makes up for the missing +2 Con (for both Infernal and Star pacts), and their Charisma bonus works perfectly for Fey pact. The Intelligence bonus is beneficial to all pacts.

Anyway. I like Tieflings.

Cheers, -- N

I'll be happy if experience proves me wrong on this one. Like I said, that +1 to hit is at least good. Experience may prove it to be better than good though. Time will tell.

 

[silentounce]

Pity a race that will be so thematically popular will be so weak mechanically.

Who finds them thematically popular? No one I know does. That's nothing against those that do, I just don't get it. And why include them, but not the aasimar?

 

[small pumpkin man]

Who finds them thematically popular? No one I know does. That's nothing against those that do, I just don't get it. And why include them, but not the aasimar?

Probably because Nice Guys Finish Last.