All races in The Elder Scrolls Online are being revamped and will receive new passive abilities. Here’s what the changes mean for you.
Why is ESO changing the racial bonuses? Players are currently encouraged to choose a specific race based on their class. For example, many players choose a High Elf if they want to play as a Mage, as High Elves provide Magicka bonuses. The same issue exists with Redguard. These are currently the best race if you want to play a damage dealer that relies on stamina.
In The Elder Scrolls Online, players should be able to build the class they want to play. However, the current racial bonuses do not allow this, as certain race and class combinations are better than others.
The changes are set to go live with Update 21. PC players can try out the changes on the ESO Public Test Server starting next week.
All Races Are Being Revamped
Here’s how the racial bonuses are changing: In The Elder Scrolls Online, there are 10 different races, of which only 9 are included in the base game. If you want to play as an Imperial, you must purchase the Imperial Edition from the Crown Store.
The following are all the changes being made to the passive racial bonuses. Abilities that remain unchanged, such as the increased swimming speed of Argonians, will not be listed.
- High Elves receive bonuses that enhance their Magicka and increase their spell damage. They also recover Magicka or Stamina when they use a class ability, and damage taken is reduced by 5% while channeling an ability.
- Argonians have more health, are immune to diseases, and can resist them better. Their healing is increased by 4%, they have more Magicka, and they recover Magicka, Stamina, and health when they drink a potion.
- Wood Elves regenerate Stamina faster and have more of it. They are immune to poisons and can resist them better. Additionally, they detect cloaked targets from a greater distance, and after a roll, their movement speed increases by 20% for 3 seconds.
- Bretons gain more maximum Magicka. They also take less damage from spells and regenerate Magicka faster. Their abilities cost 7% less Magicka.
- Dark Elves gain more maximum Magicka, Stamina, and health. They also cannot be ignited and can resist fire better. Their weapon and spell damage is increased.
- Imperials have more maximum health and Stamina. Additionally, they have a 15% chance to heal for 1,750 when they deal direct damage. The costs of blocking and interrupting are reduced by 5%.
- Khajiit regenerate health, Stamina, and Magicka faster. Additionally, their maximum Stamina, health, and Magicka are increased. Their critical strike chance for spell and weapon damage is increased by 8%. They are also harder to detect.
- Nords gain more maximum Stamina and health. They also receive 5 ultimate power every 10 seconds when they are hit. They take less damage from physical and magical attacks and can resist cold better.
- Orcs have more maximum health and Stamina. They can recover 380 health and Stamina every 4 seconds when they deal damage with a weapon skill. Healing on them is 4% more effective. Their weapon damage is increased, sprinting costs less Stamina, and they sprint faster.
- Redguards gain more maximum Stamina. The costs of their weapon skills are reduced by 8%. When they deal direct damage with an attack, they recover 950 Stamina every 5 seconds.
Every account will receive an item that allows them to change the race of one character once.
Changes Will Affect Players Differently
In the official ESO forum and on Reddit, players are discussing the announced changes. While some players feel that the developers have mostly tinkered with class balance and haven’t really changed much, others are not yet able to assess the extent.
They want to experiment with the racial bonuses on the ESO Public Test Server to see how they affect their builds. Many players hope for multiple free race changes, as some have up to 15 characters and may need to adjust multiple races to adapt to the changes.
Your Thoughts on the Changes
Mein-MMO users are for and against: When developer Zenimax announced changes to the races, players reacted very differently. A survey in the ESO forum found that only 31% of players viewed the changes positively. In contrast, 26% were neutral and 40% saw them negatively.
In the comments on the article “ESO is making large-scale changes to races – players wonder: Why?” there were also voices for and against.
Reader Faceplam writes, for example, that in ESO the choice of race should only be cosmetic. Soldier224 shares a similar opinion. He wants to choose races not because of the bonuses, but because of the culture.
For reader N0ma, a problem is that there are races in The Elder Scrolls Online that work better with certain builds. He suggests that the race change should be free for everyone at all times. Reader David Blizzard Naumann is also in favor of changing the racial bonuses.
Reader Compadre is neutral about the whole situation. He finds it makes sense that an Orc is not good at casting magic. However, no race is currently useless.
What do you think about the changes to the racial bonuses?
