Last life: what race?

[Ellihor]

After 3 fvs and 3 wizard lifes, im finishing my main character. She will be a pale master wizard 20. I just finished farming the 20 tokens for the hearth today, but now i dont know if i should do drow or human. Considering the enhancement pass, what race do you guys think to be the best one? And another question that comes with is: when is the enhancement pass coming? (i'm on fvs lv 20 now so wait more than 2 months for it would be too sad... dont like fvs).

[Erruun]

Elf is vastly superior to drow and human if you are planning on doing any EEs. The extra pen is much more useful then 1 or 2 dcs. This is especially true with a 3 fvs and 3 wiz PL setup because you can actually achieve enough pen to make casting enchantment and necro spells worth it on the high SR mobs.

[giggiddy]

I went Elf on mine and have the same past lives as you.

My build is here and works flawlessly in epic elites vs ANY mob.

http://forums.ddo.com/showthread.php?t=385681

[Ellihor]

Thanks for reps but no way i am going elf. For me its an absolute waste of hp/dc for spell pen. My meta is to hit a 54 spell pen for EE drow, and I don't need elf for that. Past 54 only a few mobs in the game (matrons are the only ones come to mind) that require more than that spell pen, and i'll be failing on them only if i roll 1-5. For me it's pretty enough, past 54 would be a too heavy sacrifice to get almost nothing.

The thing is more about drow or human. Without the enhancement changes i'm pretty sure i'd go drow right now, but I don't wanna TR again when it comes. They say human will have acess to all PREs as racial, but maybe drow get some +int enhancements instead of only +dex enhancements as they do nowdays.

Let's suppose i am right about these changes. So if i go human, what racial PRE would i take? Savant comes to mind, but it requires a spell focus evocation or conjuration, and my main focus is not nuking. Maybe one of the defender PREs for hp/prr?

[giggiddy]

Human would be your best bet for the extra feat as well as +1 more int from enhancements.

But the -2 con really doesn't affect you from elf lol. If 25 hp or breaks you at end game it isn't a problem with the race...

Since he suggested Elf I just linked my build and it rocks EE's for sure! Human would be my other option for sure.

[AtomicMew]

Human and drow are about equal IMO. It's really just a matter of whether or not you can take advantage of the extra int on drow for an extra int bracket. There's too many variables to be able to say where you'll end up definitively.

[Bacab]

I was going to say Warforged for the whole immunities and reconstruct option. I also like Archmage a lot over Palemaster....I like to focus on crowd control/enchantment.

But since you want to go Palemaster, I would suggest Elf for the bonus spell penetration. Also as a palemaster, going fleshy is pretty good with the self-healing.

PS...I am generally against anything that is elf...but for your past lives and such...I think elf would be nice.

[akash]

I vote for Elf.

[BeccaBop]

I've a completionist caster. 24 past lives (1 of everything, 3 of all casters, and 3 barbarian, for HP----I like this character a lot).

When the time came for the final life, I had to decide on race, too. For various aesthetic reasons, I went WF. And I decided not to go the DC-caster route.

Had I done so, though, I would have been best off to make Whatmanabar's/Giggidy's elf build. That thing is truly a sight to behold. "Trading DCs for spell pen" is a good thing when spell pen is a bigger problem than hitting a DC (and it certainly currently is).

Just sayin'---Giggedy knows his stuff, I would really listen to him.

If your character is male, remember, the majority of the problem with the elf race can be solved with a DDO store cosmetic mask.

[SirValentine]

My meta is to hit a 54 spell pen for EE drow, and I don't need elf for that.

Even if you don't NEED Elf to hit 54, having Elf lets you hit 54 in more ways, giving you more flexibility in other areas. Maybe you don't need to have both a Spell Pen and Arcane Augmentation equipped, so you have a gear slot freed up. Or you free up a Tier 3 twist.

[Iaga]

Even if you don't NEED Elf to hit 54, having Elf lets you hit 54 in more ways, giving you more flexibility in other areas. Maybe you don't need to have both a Spell Pen and Arcane Augmentation equipped, so you have a gear slot freed up. Or you free up a Tier 3 twist.

I'm going to second this advice. People aren't suggesting elf to max spell pen, they're suggesting it because it gives you more ways to reach that 54.

[Bacab]

I'm going to second this advice. People aren't suggesting elf to max spell pen, they're suggesting it because it gives you more ways to reach that 54.

Exactly...

Its like Marilith Chain on a melee opens up your Trinket such as Bloodstone for something better like a Mummified Bat!...or Litany.

Maybe having bonus spell pen from AP opens your weapon slot to full time a concord opp weapon or an exceptional XXXX resistance weapon. Or maybe you use a shield fulltime now for safety purposes...

Iono...I like options.

[Kinerd]

I don't see how the answer can be anything but elf. An extra feat sounds great, but do out your feat list. You'll probably already have iffy things like GSF: Enchant or Empower running around.

Another way Elf gives you new room is in AP: instead of spending 12 AP to get +3 spell pen (3 wizard), you can spend a mere 8 AP (2 wizard and 1 elf). There's always a place to spend 4 AP on a wizard.

Never consider a change that isn't in game yet, because there is zero guarantee it will ever be in game, let alone in game in a form remotely approaching what has been proposed.

[Syllph]

Elf. PM needs Spell pen and nothing beats elf spell pen.

[giggiddy]

Spell focus enchant is very useful in epic elites as crowd control is huge.

Ever tried epic elite devil assault with lackluster enchant DCs and crowd control? It's a blood bath lol.

I don't have empower cuz I don't really nuke that much on my wizzy. He's all DCs and is extremely useful.

It's all up to play style. With elf you don't have to twist in spell pen from draconic which means you can get more int and more spell points from angel twisted. All the while maintaining a 60 int and outstanding DCs as well as the best spell pen out there. You won't be disappointed.

[Ellihor]

But the -2 con really doesn't affect you from elf lol. If 25 hp or breaks you at end game it isn't a problem with the race...

Thats why i dont know if i go drow or human.

I don't see how the answer can be anything but elf. An extra feat sounds great, but do out your feat list. You'll probably already have iffy things like GSF: Enchant or Empower running around.

Toughness, Epic Necro Focus, Arcane Initiate, Epic Spell Pen, Maximize, Heighten, Quicken, Empower, Insightful Reflexes, Enchantment Focus. Thats 14 of 15 feats avaliable for a drow. Probably the 15th would be greater enchantment focus. No empower is not an option for me, i like big number over the head of things i cant instakill.

It's all up to play style. With elf you don't have to twist in spell pen from draconic which means you can get more int and more spell points from angel twisted. All the while maintaining a 60 int and outstanding DCs as well as the best spell pen out there. You won't be disappointed.

Whats the point of going elf to not twist +3 from draconic, -1 under human and get +1 int twisted? You are going to have less hp than human, less dc than drow and less ap than both. Anyways i dont need to twist draconic to get 54. Here is the breakdown:

25 lv + 2 item + 2 arcane augmentation + 9 pl + 3 magister + 8 feat + 2 wizard + 2 twisted from bard ED = 53 for all schools + 1 magister augmentation = 54 for necromancy. +1 to all schools if i spend more 4 heroic ap, but meh, 5% on enchantment is something i can live with if i get more dc. Anyways i am about to drop epic spell pen and get greater int if the new packs dont have many high SR mobs. So, if i wanna run drow content i could twist +3 from draconic and in the end of the day id be with -1 spell pen in quests with a lot of SR and -4 spell pen in quests where SR matters almost nothing, but with +1 int.

Here is the intelligence breakdown:

18 + 3 tome + 2 lich + 12 item + 2 yugo + 2 ship + 3 wizard + 2 capstone + 6 lv + 6 magister = 56
For drow: 56 + 2 base + 2 twist = 60 or i could use +1 litany + 1 greater int for a 62
For human 56 + 1 enhancement + 1 litany + 2 twist = 60
If i were a elf that would be something like 56 + 2 twist = 58

After an analysis, that its more something about human with spidersilk +3 and litany or drow with maabar and trinket +3. If thats the case, id prefer drow.