Hey all, been playing on live server for about a month now trying out different duos. I've tried a Nec/mage, Monk/dru and BL/bard so far. I like the BL and bard the best so far, only up to about lvl25. I'm wanting to try one last duo before committing which will be a SK/Shm. So, I keep reading that I should go Ogre with my SK. However, I've always disliked playing large races because i hate feeling cramped in tight spaces. So I was leaning more towards an Iksar, DE or Human. Will I regret not having the frontal stun immunity? How good is Iskar Regen on live servers atm? Is it crazy to consider a DE or Human? Also, i think I'll just roll a female Barb for my shaman for aethetic reasons mainly. THanks for replies. I plan on rolling this duo up tomorrow. I'm already excited. Been a really good time being back in the EQ world.
On live servers, the all/all usable Guise of the Deceiver is available to everyone via the Shadowhaven casino. You can be a dark elf, for size, regardless of your starting race. edit: so be an Ogre. frontal melee stun immunity is super nice.
I'm not sure what level you get it, but the SK will be immune to melee stun from all angles not just frontal via an AA. Which for a tank makes the ogre frontal immunity useless. Most race abilities are made irrelevant by aa eventually. Iksar do get a small innate ac bonus which is good if you want to magelo pad.
Iksar get the regen bonus and displayed AC bonus. Trolls get the same regen bonus that Iksar get. Vah Shir get racial Sneak, which can be quite useful if you know how to use it. Dark Elves get racial Hide, which is less useful. Ogres get the frontal MELEE-stun immunity (they can still be stunned by spell). Halflings get either racial Sneak, Hide, or maybe both? I’m honestly not sure. I’m not sure which racial bonus(es) Wood Elves get. Half Elves, Humans, Barbarians, Erudites, do not get any. Gnomes, think they only get Tinkering? Of all the racial bonuses though, IMO Sneak is the best, long-term. Used properly, with planning and with some room, it can be used to get past see-invis mobs. Tinkering could also be considered the best, depending on how useful you find tinkered gadgets.
I'd say the constant bother of needing an illusion so you don't get stuck everywhere makes ogres not worth it (unless you play for the asthetics). The stun immunity is countered by tank AAs, so play what you want.
Unless something changed VahShir can't be SKs DE racial hide is moot after you get invis AA Ogre stun immunity has been covered Gnomes get tinker, so there is that I guess?
I chose to play a race/gender that I would like to look at most for the many hundreds of hours I have spent looking at my character.
The ogre get the stun immunity but what is more important is the push resist that they also get. There's tons of each to get illusions/shrink clicks that make it worth it.
They don't actually get a push immunity. Being a large race, you just notice the push less (same way it seems like you are moving slower as a large race vs medium/small race).
There is definitely less push back. I race changed my SK to ogre from frog to help out when doing swarms. Went from hardly being able to cast due to push/stun to rarely getting interrupted/pushed.
Stun and push and interrupt are three separate things, so your statement is a little confusing Ogres get frontal stun immunity. This most definitely helps at lower levels. But, at level 85, all subscribed Shadowknights on Live servers automatically get rank 8 of Steadfast Will, which "grants you a 100% chance to endure what would otherwise be a stunning melee attack, from any angle, without being stunned." So, by level 85 at the very latest, the Ogre's main racial advantage is negated. Some important considerations to temper personal/subjective observations (your ability to resist a stun will change with your level, regardless of race): Melee isn't the only thing that can stun you. At level 105, SKs can have 15 ranks of Persistent Casting, which grants a 66% chance to channel a spell through a stun (avoid interrupt). Push back/knock back is separate from stuns, and it's effect on interrupts is unclear. The pushback mechanic was overhauled with the EoK expansion last year, but the post detailing the changes was lost when they took away last year's beta forums. At level 105, SKs can have 5 ranks of Stoicism, which grants 50% reduction in incoming melee attack push back. Some questions I haven't seen answered: Presumably, getting pushed around less ALSO equates to getting interrupted less. But is this true? Are mounts useful in getting interrupted less or getting knocked back less or both? The size of your toon (ogre vs gnome) will definitely affect your perception of your toon's movement, but may not actually affect the distance you are moving, and consequently, may not have an effect on whether you are interrupted. An ogre getting knocked back a foot might not be noticeable, but on a gnome, that's gonna look like a full step or two.
To the OP: as I mentioned in my prior post, the racial advantage of an Ogre is completely gone by level 85. The other races' racial combat advantages also fade out as toons level (some still persist, but have negligible impact, like Iksar regen/ac). As a 105 Gnome SK raider, I don't see any reason to be concerned with race, other than the two things you mentioned: size (for moving around in the world) and personal aesthetic taste.
Knock back has nothing to do with race. I spend plenty of time getting knocked back on my ogre. It just feels like less if you are a large race who is un shrunk. (It also feels like you're moving slower as an unshrunk large race - you move the same speed it just "feels" slower)
While that much is true, I was trying to cover more of the bases than just the races that can be SK’s. Just in case the TC decided to ask about a different class down the line omewhere.
Talking about racial advantages for a tank race. Well if Drakkin breath weapon wasn't aggro capped it'd be the best racial advantage, if it weren't capped. It's been covered, unless you want to tinker then there's nothing about any race that gives it any advantage once you've hit 85
Since half my toons are iksars, I say welcome to the party.. but know this, iksars are hated by all races so you'll likely be Kos in most places and iksars get exp at a slower rate.. race penalty. Iksar sk and vah Shir shm!
