Elves need some love.

[Zachski]

Its not that elves are underpowered - its that the two halfblood races, and warforged, are overpowered, which is utter chuggery. Of course I understand the reasoning - those are the "pay to stay in the game" races.

Elves are also inferior to the other free to play races, too.

Humans are better than them at everything important, as they have an extra feat they can drop on khopeshes, which are superior to scimitars even with all of the proper enhancements taken on an elf.

Dwarf gets resistance against enchantment and the bonus to Search as well, AND has +2 Con.

Need dex? Roll a halfling, where the -2 penalty to strength is not nearly as horrible as the elf's -2 penalty to con.

The only thing elves are better than any other f2p race is at bows. And we already know that bows are kinda underpowered.

Elves are inferior to every other race in this game, f2p or p2p. Even Drow are superior simply because they have higher stat maximums in intelligence and charisma, which makes them marginally better DC casters than humans... and even then, it fluctuates between humans being just as good at casting as Drow, and being slightly worse by one single point.

[noinfo]

Posted these ideas in another thread about "racial love" http://forums.ddo.com/showthread.php...ighlight=aesop

thought that a few updates to current Enhancements for a few races would be appropriate and at least interesting




Elf Ideas


Aerenal Weapon Mastery

1. lvl 4. 2AP. +1 Damage with Bows, Longswords and Rapiers

2. lvl 8. 2AP. +1 To Hit with Bows, Longswords and Rapiers

3. lvl 12. 2AP. +1 Damage with Bows, Longswords and Rapiers

4. lvl 16. 2AP. +1 To Hit with Bows, Longswords and Rapiers

5. lvl 20. 2AP. +1 Damage with Bows, Longswords and Rapiers

total +2 To Hit +3 Damage with Bows, Longswords and Rapiers


Valenar Weapon Mastery


1. lvl 4. 2AP. +1 Damage with Bows, Scimitars and Falchions

2. lvl 8. 2AP. +1 To Hit with Bows, Scimitars and Falchions

3. lvl 12. 2AP. +1 Damage with Bows, Scimitars and Falchions

4. lvl 16. 2AP. +1 To Hit with Bows, Scimitars and Falchions

5. lvl 20. 2AP. +1 Damage with Bows, Scimitars and Falchions

total +2 To Hit +3 Damage with Bows, Scimitars and Falchions


Valenar Dervish
Requires Weapon Finesse Feat and Valenar Weapon Mastery 1

1. lvl 6. 4AP. Scimitar counts as a Finesse Weapon


Aerenal Ascetic
Requires Whirling Steel Strike and Aerenal Weapon Mastery 1

1. lvl 4. 2AP. +1 Ki per Critical with Longswords while Centered

2. lvl 8. 2AP. +1 Damage with Longswords while Centered

3. lvl 12. 2AP. +1 Ki per Critical with Longswords while Centered

4. lvl 16. 2AP. +1 Damage with Longswords while Centered

5. lvl 20. 2AP. +1 Ki per Critical with Longswords while Centered


Elven Finesse

1. lvl 8. AP 2. Prerequisite: Weapon Finesse Feat, Elven Dexterity 1. Benefit: +2% Double Strike Chance with Finesse or Light weapons.

2. lvl 16. AP 4. Prerequisite: Elven Finesse 1, Elven Dexterity 2. Benefit: +2% Double Strike Chance with Finesse or Light weapons. (total +4%)


Valenar Great Weapon Mastery
note: this only applies to the Falchion
Requires: Valenar Weapon Mastery 1

1. lvl 1. 2AP. Weapon effects activate 2.5% more often

2. lvl 4. 2AP. Glancing Blows do 5% More damage

3. lvl 7. 2AP. Weapon effects activate 2.5% more often

4. lvl 10. 2AP. Glancing Blows do 5% More damage

5. lvl 13. 2AP. Weapon effects activate 2.5% more often

6. lvl 16. 2AP. Glancing Blows do 5% More damage

7. lvl 19. 2AP. Weapon effects activate 2.5% more often

total of 15% more Glancing Blow Damage and 10% more often that Weapon Effects activate.


Elven Deadeye

1. lvl 6. 2AP. Improve Point Blank Shot range by 5m and +1 stacking Seeker with Bows

2. lvl 12. 2AP. Improve Point Blank Shot range by 5m and +1 stacking Seeker with Bows

3. lvl 18. 2AP. Improve Point Blank Shot range by 5m and +1 stacking Seeker with Bows

total +15m to Point Blank Shot range and +3 stacking Seeker Bonus


Elven Arcanum

1. Wizard 1. 1AP. +20SP

2. Wizard 4. 1AP. +1 Spell Penetration

3. Wizard 7. 1AP. +20SP

4. Wizard 10. +1 Arcane Spell DC

5. Wizard 13. 1AP. +20SP

6. Wizard 16. 1AP. +1 Spell Penetration

7. Wizard 19. 1AP. +20SP

total +80SP, +2 Spell Penetration, +1 Arcane Spell DC


Elven Arcane Grace

1. lvl 5. 1AP. -5% Arcane Spell Failure

2. lvl 10. 1AP. -5% Arcane Spell Failure

3. lvl 15. 1AP. -5% Arcane Spell Failure

4. lvl 20. 1AP. -5% Arcane Spell Failure

Aesop

Some nice ideas and they focus on elves grace (drow should have an option here with regards to 2 weapon fighting instead of specific weapons)

I would also like to see 2 levels of defense base due to their speed and grace.
2 AP +1 Ac
4 AP +1 Ac

This will give elves (and drow) a specific area in melee appart from dps that they can perform at.

[lethargos]

I like the idea of buffing the casting ability of elves.

The thing elves have is AA, i think they need something more.

[Dwane_Diblie]

Put a bow in the hands of an elf and no one in the game should be better than them. NO ONE. An elf with a bow should beable to keep up with a melee on dps of the same class.

That would be all I ask for. I am relatively happy with elves.

[Mersi]

Besides the odd Halfling all my builds have been WF or HalfRace. I see no reason not to, no matter how much elves are boosted there wont be significant reason to. I see advantages, i like, but i compare to wf/halfrace and i like even more.

Following will be addressing all races, and HalfRace/WF (general) superiority
Lets look at my Clonk:

I was'a thinking at time of creation, what race? i came up w/ this:

Human: Extra Feat, Skill point, Human Vers. and Adapt.
Elf: 80 Sp from AP heavy line, SR, -2 Con +2 Dex
Halfling: well nothing really, no need for dex or thrown wep or sneak or ac
Drow: +Cha and skill point, -Con, shortsword extras, 28 pt
Dwarf: i feel no need tl get into this...
HElf: Human Adapt, Human Vers., Dilly. choice of Saves or SA or sorc UMD or anything under the sun
Halforc: No.
WF: LoB line for greatsword (forget monk lvls ofc) bonus to con, minus to wis/cha

Of Course this is for a particular multiclass, But make this list for ALL builds- dont look at one, say i like and make it.
Ive a halfling too so cant say im biased too much

GL though with your valiant pursuit of elven love. there aint much out there.

[NaturalHazard]

So much is needed, let's start with them being able to use Scimitars as centered weapons like they are able to in Eberon PnP.

If they did this could you imagine the screams for it to be nerfed?

[NaturalHazard]

That simply sums it up. It's also not like your elf is a gimp, it can still hold its own in endgame, it's just not the VERY TOP tier for DPS.

But it is well know that if your not the very *top tier* for dps at end game then dont come to the party if your not a horc barberian with ESOS, epic marilith chain, titans grip, madstone boots, either ravager or FB tod set dont come to the party.

oh and 3 monk past lives.

/sarcasm off.

[NaturalHazard]

Elves are also inferior to the other free to play races, too.

Need dex? Roll a halfling, where the -2 penalty to strength is not nearly as horrible as the elf's -2 penalty to dex.

.

fyi elves get a +2 to dex not -2, they get -2 to constitution.

[Zachski]

fyi elves get a +2 to dex not -2, they get -2 to constitution.

Huh. For some reason I typed dex instead of con.

I guess I had dex on the mind when I was typing that.

Either way, my point still stands.

It's not even about dealing top tier DPS, it's about the fact that elves get nothing that gives them an edge over the other races. -2 Con may not seem like a lot, but it's a heavily deciding factor, especially when helves get every meaningful advantage that elf has without the -2 con penalty.

Outside of the already gimp archery, it's not even that elves are gimp, it's that there's no reason to roll one. Dwarf gets their resistance against spells AND +2 Con AND +2 Search. Humans get an extra feat and no penalty to their stats. Halflings get a penalty in a stat that skyrockets anyways, so if you need dex go halfling. Drow get higher stat maximums in their caster and dex stats.

[Talias006]

Personally, I thought they gave Elves the raw deal for racial prestige.

I would've much rather they implemented a form of Bladesinger.
One that needed Weapon Focus (Slashing or Piercing), Arcane caster level 1, and one of Improved Balance 2 or Improved Tumble 2.
Maybe some other requirements for fluff filler.

It fits better than having a Perform of 5, since only Bards are allowed that.
And a Paladin Bladesinger sounds cool to me...

[NaturalHazard]

Huh. For some reason I typed dex instead of con.

I guess I had dex on the mind when I was typing that.

Either way, my point still stands.

It's not even about dealing top tier DPS, it's about the fact that elves get nothing that gives them an edge over the other races. -2 Con may not seem like a lot, but it's a heavily deciding factor, especially when helves get every meaningful advantage that elf has without the -2 con penalty.

Outside of the already gimp archery, it's not even that elves are gimp, it's that there's no reason to roll one. Dwarf gets their resistance against spells AND +2 Con AND +2 Search. Humans get an extra feat and no penalty to their stats. Halflings get a penalty in a stat that skyrockets anyways, so if you need dex go halfling. Drow get higher stat maximums in their caster and dex stats.

ok lol anyway some people might argue that elves would be better with -2 dex and +2 con

[Zachski]

ok lol anyway some people might argue that elves would be better with -2 dex and +2 con

They likely would be better

But unfortunately, the -con is one of those themes you can't break.

the +2 dex might actually be useful outside of qualifying for "just +1 dex tome" if AC actually mattered, but as it doesn't, that's bad.

Honestly, if there was any single thing I could suggest, it's that the first rank of Arcane Fluidity allows elves to wear light armor with no ASF, and then the next rank allows them to wear medium armor with no ASF.

People still wouldn't use it, but at least it might actually work.

Making armor have a dex AC penalty rather than a dex AC cap would also be great.

[NaturalHazard]

They likely would be better

But unfortunately, the -con is one of those themes you can't break.

the +2 dex might actually be useful outside of qualifying for "just +1 dex tome" if AC actually mattered, but as it doesn't, that's bad.

Honestly, if there was any single thing I could suggest, it's that the first rank of Arcane Fluidity allows elves to wear light armor with no ASF, and then the next rank allows them to wear medium armor with no ASF.

People still wouldn't use it, but at least it might actually work.

Making armor have a dex AC penalty rather than a dex AC cap would also be great.

still see quite a few elves running around, apparently having pointy ears and being so thin you look like a famine victim or a crack addict is sexy. . I have an elf, but its definately not for the looks. Its for the flavour I love my crack flavour.

[quijenoth]

Heres hoping that druids are geared towards complementing Elves.

I'm hoping druids with their wild shape will negate the -2 con penalty and that there spells will be geared towards elemental damage and SR based save or die spells to maximize the use of elven arcanum.

[Zachski]

Heres hoping that druids are geared towards complementing Elves.

I'm hoping druids with their wild shape will negate the -2 con penalty and that there spells will be geared towards elemental damage and SR based save or die spells to maximize the use of elven arcanum.

Actually, half orc will be the prime druid race, due to the lore of Eberron.

[Talon_Moonshadow]

Elves are currently my favorite race in DDO...at least for most classes.

But my reasons are mostly "style".
But I do believe in a useful aplication of style.


Scimitars are not bad weapons. Oh, I know they aren't your almight Khopesh, but they are still kinda decent.

Arcane Archers are fun. Yeah...I know ranged is gimped. But somehow we ranged lovers manage to kill things with it anyway....and have lots of fun.
I supose Half Elves are better though. But Half Elves are fugly!

Which I guess is a good time to mention how Elves look. The best looking race in DDO IMO. Especially for females.
Drow are close. But Drow have less numbers of good appearance options IMO.

Elf Wizards are (finally) kinda decent.
And they make a fun martial Wizard option. (although I admit this is kinda weak in DDO)

They make good Stealth toons.

The Displacement Dragon Mark is powerful. (once you get a GS Displace clickie less so...but that takes grinding.)

For most builds I would not take the Invis Dragon Mark by itself, but Invisibility is nice to have.

And an Invisible healer is powerful. Very powerful actually. And I am kind of surprised that no one else seems to have figured this one out. (works best in Robes with at least a 22 MS)

Clr/Pal raise dead at lvl 6 is nice. (but loses it's advantage after you have other ways)

True that other races have more going for them, but with a little creative thought some real fun builds can be made with an Elf.

(my vote is for a stealthy Ftr12/Rgr6/Mnk2, Invis/Displace DMs, WS strike, Zen Archery, Kensei II/AA )

[k1ngp1n]

All I want is to actually make my Elf play like a damned Valenar. Why is this so hard? Since when did the prissy Khoravar kick the Valenar's ass?

Besides when Turb's decided to make the game Pay2Win?

[Alabore]

True that other races have more going for them, but with a little creative thought some real fun builds can be made with an Elf.

That's the whole point.
I mostly play elves for the same reasons.
Besides, a lot of players complain about easy buttons - incidentally, they also complain about nerfs... but if the game was easy to begin with, nerfing stuff only brought game back to its not so easy status...

I see playing an elf as an extra level of challenge - with a character I can sympathise with.
You can't complain the game is too easy, when you're decked with gear to your gums, playing a char whose race could better defined as a cross between an ogre and a fire giant...

[grodon9999]

But besides the fact the the females look best in the strumpet outfits . . . what else does elf have going for it? Burying your head in the sand and saying "elves are fine" isn't gonna get anything changed for the better.

[licho]

But besides the fact the the females look best in the strumpet outfits . . . what else does elf have going for it? Burying your head in the sand and saying "elves are fine" isn't gonna get anything changed for the better.

Wait, whats other point of playing MMO beside running around with max-mobility-outfit digital preatties? ;-)

Up to bolded, its not only that elves are less powerful since they get hit to important stuff, got buff where it dosnt matter, and racial weapons are not enought.

The problem is that elves as a race are boring from mechanical point of view. And its that "just Your elves is boring, mine is blast to play!", no there are objectivly boring since they just dont have enchantment to play with.

Compare them with WF, you can argue if WF are a master race, but there are builds which make use from: combat tactics, hate generacion, arcane synergy, FvS synergy or ust have some fun with immunities. SInce playing WF at least changes gameplay. Playing elf do not change more than switching hard mode on.

So, one thing is to give elves little more power so they dont stay behind so much.
But it also please make them fun. There was some cool ideas, like giving scimies as centered weapon - since that would be something individual. Or allow elves to buy back caster levels if multiclass which open niche of this rog wizies. Give speed boost to reflect elves swiftness... do something to make elves more colorfull.

Oh, ok there is one thing: racial Arcane Archer which could make elves one and only, if only it wasnt copied to HEs as well. And HE have much more to offer than pure.