Does race make any difference?

[nazlfrag]

Re: Does race make any difference?

if the elvaan as much money as the taru taru and get the same gear that made the taru taru a good warrior, the elvaan would still be much stronger in that sense.

Not quite, the Elvaan and Taru should be getting different gear and food. The Elvaan needs accuracy, the Taru needs strength and HP. An Elvaan in +accuracy gear will outperform one with only +str and +hp gear, and vice versa for the Taru. Different gear for different races evens out racial imbalances to the point where most stats make little difference.

HP/MP is where the major imbalance lies, which skews Elvaan and Galka to melee and Taru to mages. It is pretty extreme, a lvl 75 Galka whm/blm has 1200hp and 453mp, vs 822hp and 760mp for the taru.(using this http://www.datasync.com/~dsmith/FFXIStats/ ) The Taru has a whopping 307 more MP than the Galka, but in return the Galka has 378 more HP. The Galka has 3/5ths of the mana.. making the Taru worth 1 and 2/3rds of a Galka in MP terms. Thats almost a whole extra Galka. With the same access to +MP items (barring RSE) the Galka has quite a lot of catching up to do, and will never match even a poorly equipped Taru in terms of MP.

However, max MP is just one small aspect of a mage job, and can be compensated for in playstyle. The Galka would be a better whm in terms of survivability. When the whm dies, it's not long before everyone else follows. Slightly higher mnd helps make up for lack of MP too. With RSE and all the +MP/-HP items floating around a Galka stops having MP problems fairly early. As such, the Taru might have more MP to play with, but I know which one I'd prefer to use Benediction with ~.^ But as Icemage said, "Tarutaru White Mages? In most cases, better than the competition, and when geared and played correctly, better than all the competition." And I have to agree. This doesn't make Galkan whms useless, but they will be outshined by a good Taru whm.

Simply put, I'd say that race does make a difference, a noticable one at that, but not so much that it upsets game balance.

[Rostum]

Re: Does race make any difference?

I am a Taru PLD, so Taru PLD ftw!

[Theyaden]

Re: Does race make any difference?

I'ld have to agree that race does matter. It is not an end all preventing trying a combo it just means I have to work harder to get the same results. Leveling blackmage as an Elvan was fun especially RSE gear being so int loaded however 1st time I had a Taru blackmage same level whos equipment int bonus were 2 or 3 lower than mine in party it really laid out the differences. He consistantly outdamaged me on the same mobs with the same spells usually compared totals on magic bursts since thats when we would cast spells as the same time. My elemental skill was capped I assume his was also, but a taru base int is much higher it's to be expected neither of us had specific elemental boosts on including gearswaps. Do I mind him having that advantage? No, I know that while I can't hit as hard with the same spells and I have to be better at mana conservation at lower levels I can pull hate off the whitmage in a disaster and survive for the tank to get hate under control again.

Never let your races drawbacks stop you from leveling, but be aware of what your weaknesses are so you can compensate for them. I've never had anyone give me flack for being an Elvan blackmage so you should still get the invites.
BTW I've been told Taru paladins are cool to watch it's a constant stream of mana cementing hate to the paladin. Haven't seen it in person never any paladins seeking when I'm blackmage /cry.

[Asir]

Re: Does race make any difference?

In the hands of a skilled player, the race doesn't matter. In the hands of a crappy player... It can be painful to watch. I'm talking football to the groin type of painful.

Before I deleted my taru, I tried for a month with melee. I started with MNK and sure, I looked adorable every time I threw my H2H weapons in the air but there was no way I could match my hubby's galka damage unless I threw tons of gil at the job. The lack of survivablity was a factor in me switching races as well.

I've seen some fine Galkas playing mage and some fine tarus dealing mighty damage. Unfortunately, that kind of challenge isn't for me since I lacked the funds.

[Hamlet]

Re: Does race make any difference?

Jesus Christ, could you have made that poll any more complicated?

Besides the joke answers, the poll to me is really about the current top two picked answers.

The first one says that it doesn't matter as far as being able to play the job, but sort of implies that a maxed out taru whm will do better than a maxed out galka whm.

The second one says that it doesn't matter so much that it almost matters in the opposite way, i.e. that a Galka whm will always be better than a taru whm if they gear for it (and even if the taru gears for it, too). Keep in mind this option also implies that a taru mnk will always be better than a galka monk if they gear for it, too.

Also important is the current 4th answer which says that a taru whm will always be better than a galka whm regardless of gear.

Really, I could've made the poll with just those 3 choices, but I chose 10 options and decided to fill them in mostly with joke answers.

[Murphie]

Re: Does race make any difference?

Who cares about WHM and MNK? I want to know which will make a better SMN/PUP.

[Jugil]

Re: Does race make any difference?

First off, any race can play any job. Yes, they have different stats; but in the end those stats don't amount to too much of a difference. Get appropriate gear for your job, keep your subjob leveled, and do your best.

Galka's really shouldn't be playing WHM. lol I partied with one when leveling Ranger out of dunes. He only had 74ish max MP. It wasn't much, and we often didn't live because he ran out of MP so fast.

But anyways, there's a large imbalance between the races. Galkas get the worst part of it, being socially banished from ever going near a caster job, and all.

Galka can play any job just as well as anyone else (insert random comment about how Galka get a great mp boost with equipment). WHM, in and of itself, is not about having the biggest mp pool in the world anyways; it's about how you manage it.

It's really unfair to gauge people in the dunes anyway: people are just learning to play their jobs as it is, and the lower levels are where the stats make the greatest difference.