Sunday, December 20, 2009

Alliance Racial Abilities Do Matter!


As promised, though a bit late, here I am to say that the Alliance have overpowered racials and should be nerfed! Well, not really. Where Horde racial abilities certainly seem have a PvP angle on them, most people seem to think that Alliance racial abilities are directed more to the PvE game.

Let's start with the quintessential Alliance race, the Human. I, personally, have a hard time playing this race, because I am human, and this is not a big escape for me. However, for those that do, they enjoy racial abilities such as Diplomacy, specialization in maces and swords, increased spirit, and a get out of fear free card. Diplomacy itself is the reason many level a human, for the reputation increase. Dwarves have a heftier mace specialization, so if you love maces, I would roll a dwarf. For those that PvP, Every Man For Himself is a great skill to have, equivalent to Will of the Forsaken. The Human Spirit is a great buff for warlocks, priests, and mages of certain talent specialties. So, if you want to play as yourself, roll a human.


Dwarves have some interesting abilities. Some would argue that their treasure finding ability is all but useless in Northrend, where there are no hidden chests of goodies. I argue that they are able to find Everfrost Shards more quickly than the rest of us, speeding up the Sons of Hodir reputation grind. Stoneform is a nice ability, useful in both PvE and PvP for removing bleed, poison, and disease effects. Gun specializaion is great for dwarven hunters, who should never be caught with a bow or crossbow, it just wouldn't be proper! Finally, a passive resistance to frost is nice in this expansion of frost tossing monsters.


Gnomes are interesting creatures. This is another race I have troubles playing, mostly because I picture them as large footballs, and I feel the need to punt them. For those fond of PvP, their escape artist skill gets them out of traps and snares. Gnome casters have the benefit of their head being larger than their body, giving them a 5% bonus to intellect. Gnomish engineers get a skill boost to their engineering, which helps them get to their epic goggle patterns faster. Last expansion, gnomes must have been pretty happy about their passive resistance to arcane magic. The Kirin Tor have a handle on most arcane users these days, but there are still a few rogue mages out there.


Night elves, to me, have the worst racial abilities in the game. Only rogues and druids benefit from elusiveness, at least until they allow mages to return to Teldrassil. Shadowmeld is similar to ice block for it's threat reduction abilities, in that when it is cancelled, your threat is at the same level as when you cast it. It is a save, but a temporary one at best. Let's not forget that with both spells you can't move, one because you are a block of ice (duh!) and the other because it breaks when you move. Quickness is a good trait for PvP and PvE, and probably the strongest of the Night Elves traits. This is a great skill for the evasive rogue and the tank who needs a bit more dodge. Wisp spirit is nice if you die a lot, but let's be realistic. We don't want to die, so at best it is just a consolation prize. And finally, passive nature resistance is nice. Maybe it will be useful during the Cataclysm expansion.


Finally, we come to the Draenei. This race has a few wonderful racials, great for PvE and PvP. Gift of the Naaru is a fabulous racial, making it possible for non healers to help out during fights, or save themselves while soloing. Heroic Presence most Alliance players count on when grouping, allowing them to stack less hit rating in favor of beefing up other stats. They also have a passive shadow resistance skill, which is helpful in this land of the undead. Finally, a bonus to gem cutting skill is helpful to those draenei who chose that profession.

I know this is no news for those who have altitis as badly as i do, but I'm sure some will find this helpful as they consider which race to convert to, or even which new character to start up while in wait for Cataclysm. I welcome comments. Tell me if I missed a good use for one of these skills!

No comments: