How different are the different races?

[mattig]

Hidy ho all, I just got to ostagar with a dwarf rouge I made. But, in truth, I prefer my characters to be as close to me as possible. and a dwarf...well...really isn't like me.

So I was wondering if there was a big difference between the races. So I wasn't missing out on a big part of this game if I play a rouge with an else or (more probobly) a human.

[Unchangeling]

The origins change quite a bit of the plot & how people react to you, but the actual race you pick makes less of a difference to your chosen class - basically just some minor stat bonuses.

• Humans get +1 strength, +1 dexterity, +1 magic, and +1 cunning.
  
  
• Dwarves get +1 strength, +1 dexterity, +2 constitution, and a 10% chance to resist enemy magic.
  
  
• Elves get +2 Willpower and +2 Magic - oddly no dex bonus or anything, which makes them microscopically less suited to being rogues (not that the +1 bonus of the other two races makes much difference). The extra willpower means they cope slightly better with fatigue, and can cast more spells, than other races.

The race and origin you pick also gives you two skills and a talent; this probably makes more of a difference than the racial stat bonuses.

The skills and talents you get for each origin/class are:

• Mages always get Herbalism and Combat Tactics plus the Arcane Bolt spell, whether human or elf. Elves make for marginally better mages in general, but humans are slightly tougher and probably make better Arcane Warriors.
  
  
• City Elves always get the Coercion skill; if they're warriors, they get Combat Training and the Dual-Weapon Sweep talent, which means they're a good pick for dual weapon warriors. In addition to Coercion, Rogues will get Poison-Making plus Dirty Fighting, like all rogues.
  
  
• Dalish Elves always get the Survival skill; if they're warriors, they get Combat Training and the Pinning Shot talent, so are a good choice for archer-type Warriors. Rogues get Poison-Making plus Dirty Fighting, in addition to Survival.
  
  
• Dwarf Commoners always get Stealing as one of their two skills. Rogues will also get Poison-Making plus Dirty Fighting (like all rogues), and warriors will get Combat Training plus the Dual Weapon Sweep skill (probably the best choice for dual-weapon warriors).
  
  
• Noble Warriors - whether Dwarf or Human - get Combat Training, Improved Combat Training, and Shield Bash, making either a solid choice for sword-and-board types.
  
  
• Noble Rogues - again, human or dwarf - get basic Combat Training, plus the usual Poison-Making and Dirty Fighting talent. These are good choices for the more combat-oriented rogue.

[Unchangeling]

Also, none of the origins start out with two-handed weapon talents - that makes that a slightly harder choice to start off as than other weapon/class combos.

[Unchangeling]

Here I've organised it by class, which is probably clearer:

Mages always get Herbalism and Combat Tactics plus the Arcane Bolt spell, whether human or elf. Elves make for marginally better mages in general, but humans are slightly tougher and probably make better Arcane Warriors.

Rogues always get Dirty Fighting as their talent, regardless of race/origin, and likewise one of their skills is always Poison-Making - their origin only affects the choice of second skill for them:

• City Elf: Coercion skill
  
• Dalish Elf: Survival skill (ranger types)
  
• Dwarf Commoner: Stealing skill
  
• Human/Dwarf Noble: Combat Training skill (combat rogues)

You'll probably end up buying every one of those skills except Survival for most rogue builds, so really there's not much difference other than personal preference between choosing City Elf, Dwarf Commoner, or Human/Dwarf Noble; the extra willpower elves get makes them slightly better choices for characters that need a lot of fatigue for sustained abilities, such as Bards, whereas the others all get +Dex and other attributes. IMO Survival is not a particularly useful skill, so the Dalish Elf option is the least appealing to me.

Warriors always get basic Combat Training as one of their two skills, but the other skill and the talent vary a lot:

• City Elf: Coercion skill, Dual Weapon Sweep talent
  
• Dalish Elf: Survival skill, Pinning Shot talent (archer warriors)
  
• Dwarf Commoner: Stealing skill, Dual Weapon Sweep talent
  
• Human/Dwarf Noble: Improved Combat Training skill, Shield Bash talent (sword and shield warriors)

Dwarves, especially Nobles, are good choices for tank-ish type warriors, since they get extra Constitution and a small chance of avoiding magic. If you want to go dual-weapon, you might think about using a rogue instead - set up right (Assassin/Duelist), they can probably do a better job of it. I'm also not sold on the idea of an archer warrior - you'd probably be better off with a rogue for that too (especially since you can go Bard and/or Ranger). Sword and shield is surprisingly fun - there are a lot of great ways to smash your shield into someone's face; I've never really mucked about much with two-handed weapons, because there's no origin that really encourages that.

[Unchangeling]

As far as story goes (mild spoilers):

City Elf - after playing through this, you will want to kill every human you see. Revenge!

Dalish Elf - is kind of boring. You like trees.

Dwarf Commoner - you will want to kill nearly every dwarf you see (and steal their money).

Dwarf Noble - has the potential to make more money than any other origin (even though you start with practically nothing once recruited). I imagine it makes coming back to the dwarf city later on kind of awkward, but I haven't actually played that far with this origin.

Human Noble - You get a doggy at the start! Although this really only affects one quest (where the dog replaces a generic soldier - the dog is way more useful, though); other origins can optionally pick up a dog later on with a sidequest. You also have additional reasons to hate at least one of the secondary bad guys.

Mage - You will probably start with Strong Opinions about the Templars and Chantry.

[mattig]

Wow...thanks for that. Was expecting to have to piece that all together, instead of getting it all from one guy.

[Unchangeling]

引用自 mattig89ch：

Wow...thanks for that. Was expecting to have to piece that all together, instead of getting it all from one guy.

I had a lot of free time yesterday!

glad it helped.

[Unchangeling]

Now that I think about it, it basically boils down to: as a rogue (the class with the most options, IMO), every origin but Dalish* is roughly the same, and as a warrior you should probably pick one of the two noble origins. For mages, it makes no real difference at all, unless you really care about tiny differences in stats.

I mean, they're all workable, and there's really nothing stopping you from any choice other than Dwarf Mage, but that just saves you from having wasted investments in skills or talents you'll probably never need.

* The poor Dalish really are the worst choice for most characters, plus their story is probably the least interesting - on the other hand, it's probably the quickest origin to play through, so I guess it's the best choice if you're desperate to get to Ostagar and start the real game, and don't mind the wasted choices forced on you.

[Smoke Eater]

引用自 Bastard son of Jeff Minter：

Now that I think about it, it basically boils down to: as a rogue (the class with the most options, IMO), every origin but Dalish* is roughly the same, and as a warrior you should probably pick one of the two noble origins. For mages, it makes no real difference at all, unless you really care about tiny differences in stats.

I mean, they're all workable, and there's really nothing stopping you from any choice other than Dwarf Mage, but that just saves you from having wasted investments in skills or talents you'll probably never need.

* The poor Dalish really are the worst choice for most characters, plus their story is probably the least interesting - on the other hand, it's probably the quickest origin to play through, so I guess it's the best choice if you're desperate to get to Ostagar and start the real game, and don't mind the wasted choices forced on you.

human ftw

[BerserkxELF]

Dalish Elf origin is actually quite a bit of fun when you go to the woods. Changes quite a bit.

By the way, the "canon" grey warden is a female elf with an alistair romance. Both city and dalish fit the best, but I think she is supposed to be a wizard.

[Shellbie]

引用自 iorf1s4b5m：

Dalish Elf origin is actually quite a bit of fun when you go to the woods. Changes quite a bit.

By the way, the "canon" grey warden is a female elf with an alistair romance. Both city and dalish fit the best, but I think she is supposed to be a wizard.

Aye sir.