Dwarf racial tree rebalance

[Vellrad]

Any race other than human or bladeforged, or some sort of elf for some caster builds is a flavor choice currently in game.

In case of dwarf, they get +2 con at a cost of 2 chan and extra feat, and very little of their racial tree is any good, and those good things are gated behind expensive garbage when compared to humans.

Here, I propose dwarven racial tree rebalance.

Currently, ehnacements are as follow (copied from ddo.wiki.com):

Cores
Dwarven Toughness: You gain 10 HP.
AP Cost: 1	Level: 1	Progression: 0	No requirements
Dwarven Constitution: +1 Constitution
AP Cost: 2	Level: 4	Progression: 1	Requires: Dwarven Toughness
Dwarven Toughness: You gain 10 HP.
AP Cost: 1	Level: 7	Progression: 2	Requires: Dwarven Constitution
Dwarven Constitution: +1 Constitution
AP Cost: 2	Level: 11	Progression: 3	Requires: Dwarven Toughness
Dwarven Toughness: You gain 10 HP.
AP Cost: 1	Level: 16	Progression: 4	Requires: Dwarven Constitution
Tier One
Requires Dwarven Toughness
Kundarak Dragonmark Focus: +1/+2/+3 dragonmark use per day, +1/+2/+3 Search
AP Cost: 1	Ranks: 3	Progression: 1	Requires: Least Dragonmark of Warding
Iron Stomach: When you drink you gain a Remove Poison/+Remove Disease/+Heroism effect for 2 Minutes.
AP Cost: 1	Ranks: 3	Progression: 1	No requirements
Stout: +1/+2/+3 Balance and Saves against Poison.
AP Cost: 1	Ranks: 3	Progression: 1	No requirements
Dwarven Weapon Training: Choose one:
Axe Training: +1 to hit and damage with battle axes, dwarven waraxes, hand axes, greataxes, and throwing axes.
Pick and Hammer Training: +1 to hit and damage with heavy picks, light hammer, light picks, mauls, throwing hammers, and warhammers.
AP Cost: 2	Ranks: 1	Progression: 1	No requirements
Dwarven Armor Mastery: +1/+2/+3 Armor Class and Armor Maximum Dexterity Bonus.
AP Cost: 1	Ranks: 3	Progression: 1	No requirements
Tier Two
Requires 5 APs spent in tree
Lesser Dragonmark of Warding: Lesser Dragonmark Spell: Spell Resistance. No spell point cost. (Cooldown: 10 seconds.)
AP Cost: 2	Ranks: 1	Progression: 5	Requires: Least Dragonmark of Warding, Kundarak Dragonmark Focus
Dwarven Tactics: Grants a +1/+2/+3 bonus on the DC of your combat feats.
AP Cost: 1	Ranks: 3	Progression: 5	No requirements
Child of the Mountain: You gain 2%/3%/4% Maximum Health and +1/+2/+3 Fortitude saves, but suffer -1/-2/-3 to Reflex saves.
AP Cost: 2	Ranks: 3	Progression: 5	No requirements
Dwarven Weapon Training: Choose the same Training from Dwarven Weapon Training, Tier 1:
Axe Training: +1 to hit and damage with battle axes, dwarven waraxes, hand axes, and throwing axes. +1 to hit and +2 damage with greataxes.
Pick and Hammer Training: +1 to hit and damage with heavy picks, light hammer, light picks, throwing hammers, and warhammers. +1 to hit and +2 damage with mauls.
AP Cost: 2	Ranks: 1	Progression: 5	Requires: Axe Training/Pick and Hammer Training (Tier 1)
Dwarven Shield Mastery: +5%/+10%/+15% Shield Armor Class and +1/+2/+3 Tower Shield Maximum Dexterity Bonus.
AP Cost: 2	Ranks: 3	Progression: 5	Requires: Armor Mastery of equal rank
Tier Three
Requires 10 APs spent in tree
Greater Dragonmark of Warding: Greater Dragonmark Spell: Radiant Forcefield. No spell point cost. (Cooldown: 1 minute.)
Note: Shares charges with Hands of Stone
Progression: 10	Requires: Lesser Dragonmark of Warding
Dwarven Runes: Gain +1/+2/+3 to saves against spell effects.
AP Cost: 1	Ranks: 3	Progression: 10	No requirements
Stand Like Stone: Action Boost: For 12/15/20 seconds you gain +10/+20/+30 Balance, Physical Resistance Rating, and stacking Energy Resistance, but have a 50% penalty to movement speed, sink in water, and cannot fly. (Cooldown: 3 minutes.)
AP Cost: 1	Ranks: 3	Progression: 10	Requires: Child of the Mountain of equal rank
Dwarven Weapon Training: Choose the same Training from Dwarven Weapon Training, Tier 2:
Axe Training: +1 to hit and damage with battle axes, dwarven waraxes, hand axes, greataxes, and throwing axes.
Pick and Hammer Training: +1 to hit and damage with heavy picks, light hammer, light picks, mauls, throwing hammers, and warhammers.
AP Cost: 2	Ranks: 1	Progression: 10	Requires: Axe Training/Pick and Hammer Training (Tier 2)
Tier Four
Requires 15 APs spent in tree

Hands of Stone: (Cooldown: 30 seconds. Metamagic: Empower, Maximize. Spell Resistance: No.)
Earthgrab.png Greater Dragonmark Spell: Earthgrab (Target corporeal creature is grabbed by earthen hands and rendered helpless. (Reflex DC 10 + Level + Constitution Modifier Negates.))
Note: Shares charges with Greater Dragonmark of Warding
AP Cost: 1	Ranks: 1	Progression: 15	Requires: Greater Dragonmark of Warding
Dwarf Fortress: While wearing full plate and using a shield, you gain +1/+2/+3 Armor Class, Intimidate, and Will saving throws vs. Fear, and you deal +3%/+5%/+7% additional weapon damage.
Note: This may not work if you wield a throwing axe and shield.
AP Cost: 1	Ranks: 3	Progression: 15	Requires: Stand Like Stone of equal rank
Dwarven Weapon Training: Choose the same Training from Dwarven Weapon Training, Tier 3:
Axe Training: +1 to hit and damage with battle axes, dwarven waraxes, hand axes, and throwing axes. +1 to hit and +2 damage with greataxes.
Pick and Hammer Training: +1 to hit and damage with heavy picks, light hammer, light picks, throwing hammers, and warhammers. +1 to hit and +2 damage with mauls.
AP Cost: 2	Ranks: 1	Progression: 15	Requires: Axe Training/Pick and Hammer Training (Tier 3)
Throw Your Weight Around: Choose the same Weapon Type from Dwarven Weapon Training, Tier 4:

Axes: You may use your Constitution modifier to determine the damage you deal with battle axes, dwarven waraxes, hand axes, greataxes and throwing axes.
Picks and Hammers: You may use your Constitution modifier to determine the damage you deal with heavy picks, light hammer, light picks, mauls, throwing hammers, and warhammers.
AP Cost: 1	Ranks: 1	Progression: 15	Requires: Axe Training/Pick and Hammer Training (Tier 4)

Here is how I think they should be redone:


1. Kundarak Dragonmark focus: +1/+2/+3 dragonmark use per rest. Dragonmarks regenerate at rate of one per 5/3/1 minute(s).
2. Iron Belly (2AP): When you drink, you gain +2 melee, ranged and spell power for 1 minute.
This enhancement was joke. Disease/poinson/heroism are all lvl1 potions its just 3AP for beign lazy. Idea here is to make it a buffing enhancement line.
3. Dwarf Tactics: relocated here from T2, but unchanged (+1/+2/+3 tactical DCs).
4. Dwarven weapon training: (2AP) multiselector, axes or picks+hammers. When wielding weapon from chosen group, gain +2 melee, ranged and spell power, and +1 to hit. (Bonus is not doubled while TWFing.)
+1 or +2 damage is not enough even for a single action point, not to mention 2APs
5. Dwarven Armor mastery: multiselector:

• Armor mastery: stays as now
• Runesmith: Requires magical training: -5%/-10%/-15% Arcane spell failure.

6. Spell resistance dragonmark: unchanged
7. Steel belly (2AP): When you drink, +5 melee, ranged and spell power for 3 minutes. This replaces Iron Belly.
8. Child of the Mountain: (1AP per rank) You gain +1%/+2%/+5% maximum hit points, and +1/+2/+3 to fortitude saves.
Reflex penatly made this a very bad enhancement, also, it costs 6AP for 4%HP, which would require to have 1,500 hit points for the same HP/AP gain ratio as toughness (+10HP for 1AP)
9. Shield mastery: stays as it is now.
10. Radiant forcefield dragonmark: stays unchanged.
11. Adamantine belly (2AP) When you drink, you dispel one random harmful magical effect from yourself. This cannot occur more often than once per 30 seconds.
12. Hold yer ground! (2AP) Action boost (2 min cd, 20s duration): You are determined to hold your current position at all cost. Your PRR and MRR is increased by 1 per level, your saves are incresed by 1 per 5 levels, you are immune to any effect that would knock you down, or move you (like dragon wing buffet), and you benefit from Freedom of movement for the duration, but your movement speed is decreased by 75%.
Flavor of Stand like stone is preserved, but benefits are actually decent instead of meh. To balance, movement speed penatly is increased
13. Advanced Dwarven weapon training (2AP): provides stacking +3 to melee/ranged/spell power when weilding appropriate weapon.
14. Dwarven runes: not changed, just relocated to make space for Adamantine belly.
15. Earthgrab dragonmark: not changed.
16. Stout (2AP): You gain +4 balance and are immune to hit points damag dealt by poison traps, and reduce other poison damage by 50%.
Stout's +1 balance and +1 saves vs poison per rank is joke. This makes user able to get past that annoying spellwards and poison traps. Notice, only HP damage gets reduced, stat, speed and whatever debuff poison may deal still apply fully.
17. Dwarf Fortess: (2AP) When wearing a full plate, gain +5 melee, ranged and spell power and +1 AC. When wearing shield gain +5 melee/ranged/spell power and +1 AC. When wearing both full plate and shield, gain +15 melee, ranged and spell power, and +3AC.
Instead of flat +x% damage, which multipers melee power it now gives flat melee power, and can be also used by those who are just shield or just plate but not both. Removed irrelevant save bonus.
18. Advanced weapon training: Gains +3 melee, ranged and spellpower and +1 to hit while using weapon from chosen group.
Spending as much AP as required for this line gives not enough benefit on live. +4 to hit and +4 (or +6 with 2 handers) for 8 AP is not enough, especially considering, to unlock 4th enhancement, you need to put more points somewhere in tree.
19. Throw your weigh arround (2AP). Works like on live, but costs 1 more AP, to compensate for buffed pre-req line.
I feel this is a good enhancement, but its problem was massive cost of worthless pre-reqs.
20. Toughness and 21. Constitution (2AP) cores feels fine, so they are unchanged.

[mezzorco]

I agree that racial trees are just not worth it like they are now.
They just have one or two nice things each, but you often do not even pick them because class trees are so much better.

Even with your proposed changes, dwarf tree isn't going to be used much, because APs are tight.

I think a completely different approach is needed, a true racial tree pass.


What I have in mind:

Make racial trees totally unrelated from class trees.
Players cannot spend standard APs on their racial tree.
Racial trees are reduced from 4 tiers to 3 tiers, and enhancements are rebalanced to make racial trees roughly equally good (no more 1 AP for 20% damage boost). These trees will focus on flavour and build diversity, like elves using dex for damage instead of str, drow gaining a +10% dualwield proc, or dwarves getting Steadfast Determination (CON for will saves).
Starting from level 6, players earn a racial action point per level, up to level 20. This way you have 15 racial APs, note that tier 3 only requires 10.
Every toon will spend 15 APs in its racial tree and 80 APs on class trees/harper.

This ensures that every toon will get its racial perks, increasing the feeling of playing a particular race.
But I know there will never be a racial pass.

[TackW5]

First, I like a lot of this. I can definitely see dipping in here, especially running in a single class without revamped enhancement lines.

Second, tweak suggestions:
I would say "Hold yer Ground" does not need the speed nerf; with the short duration and long cooldown it is already limited enough.

25 melee power walking around, with 27 while drinking, is quite a bit for a secondary tree. I would move 19 to 18, drop Fortress to 4/4/10, and change 13 to an active offensive ability (see idea below). This drops mp to 14/16, which is still more while drinking than Harper, but with specified weapons.

Thought for 13: Invitation to the Earth (20 sec cooldown)
Strike your opponent for +1[W] with +1 crit multiplier. On damage, your opponent's movement is slowed by 30% and attack speed by 10% for 15 seconds and it must succeed at a Fortitude save (DC character level + Con mod) or be petrified for 5 seconds. Monstrous humanoids damaged are instead killed if they do not succeed at their saves.