Pros and Cons of DDO Character Races-Dwarfs, Elves, and Drow

Getting Started

When you first start playing Dungeons and Dragons there are a few choices when it comes to picking a race. Each race has their own abilities as well as drawbacks. I’ve tried my best to explain here the different best and worst qualities of playing a specific race. Hopefully, this will aid in your decision of making your first character on DDO.

There’s also a great article right here at Bright Hub which gives a bit of insight into the backgrounds of Dungeons and Dragons Online, as well as a bit of a review of game mechanics so that you can see for yourself whether it’d be something you’re interested in even creating a character on.

It also helps to understand what the terms such as Dex and Con are, so that when you’re making a build you don’t start out with a disadvantage based on the race you’ve chosen. For example, Sorcerers are better with a high Cha (Charisma) so you wouldn’t want to choose a dwarf as a sorcerer because of their negative penalty to their charisma. Brighthub has a great article explaining all sorts of terms that will help with your MMO gaming experience.

Drow Elf

• +2 to Dexterity (Dex)
• +2 to Intelligence (Int)
• +2 to Charisma (Cha)
• -2 to Constitution (Con)

Drow are immune to magical sleep effects, get +2 saving throw bonuses against enchantments, and an extra +2 will save bonus against any spells and spell-like effects. Drow also start with a spell resistance of 11 which can be increased as they gain character levels.

Skill-based bonuses include a +2 bonus on listen, search, and spot checks. When it comes to weapons, Drow Elves are proficient with rapiers, shortswords, shortbows, and shuriken.

Dwarf

• +2 to their Con
• -2 to their Cha

Because most dwarfs used to be stone workers, they get a +2 bonus to search checks. Dwarfs also get a:

• +4 to their balance checks,
• +2 on saves versus poison
• +2 to saves against magical spells.

Dwarfs are proficient with (of course!) dwarven waraxes. They are considered to be a martial weapon to a dwarf, unlike the other races which consider them to be exotic weapons

Elf

While Drow are a type of elf, elves do differ in some ways from their “dark elf” Drow counterparts. They do share some likenesses such as the immunity to sleep, and the +2 bonus against enchantments.

• +2 bonus to their Dexterity
• -2 to their Constitution.

They also receive the +2 bonus to listen, search, and spot checks. Unlike Drow, Elves do not get any spell resistance, nor the Will save versus spells. Preferred weapons for an elf include longsword, rapier, longbow, and shortbow.

Halfling

• 

• +2 to their Dex
• -2 to their Strength (Str).

Halflings have a bit thicker skin than the other races so they get a +1 to their Armor Class (AC). They also get a +1 to their attack roll. Since they’re smaller and more agile than the other races, they also get a +4 to their hide checks, but cannot carry as much as other races and only have ¾ the carrying limit that the other races receive.

The Halfling race is lucky when it comes to avoiding dangers and receive a +1 bonus on all saving throws and that increases to +2 versus saves against fear. When it comes to weapons, Halflings prefer thrown weapons and receive a +1 attack roll bonus when they use them.

Human

While the Human race does not get any bonuses to any of their abilities, they are the most versatile and are great with any class you may choose to play.

Humans receive four extra points to be put into their skills at level one, and one extra skill point at each level after that. Humans also receive a bonus feat at first level.

Warforged

As constructs built for war and battle, the Warforged race receives

• +2 to their Con
• -2 to both their Wisdom (Wis) and Cha.

Since they are constructs, Warforged are immune to sleep effects, poison, paralysis, disease, nausea, fatigue, and exhaustion. Warforged cannot be healed as well as other races and rely on being repaired in order to heal. Cure spells can be cast on them, but it will only be half as effective as on the other races.

Warforged natural bodies are used in lieu of robes or armor and they receive a +2 armor bonus. The drawback, however, is they also receive a 5% arcane spell failure. Lastly, the Warforged race also receives light fortification. This translates to a 25% chance that when a critical hit or sneak attack is scored against a Warforged, the damage is negated and instead the damage is rolled normally.