@@Local_commentor Nexusmods has a mod that adds the gem-type dragonborn from Fizban's with their ability to fly. But being a discount Argonian is pretty great too in my opinon though!
same as bonzwah1. i am not too keen to RP a ace with such a sense of exceptionalism..now if the githzerai were in here, i would play those. though finally seeing how things turn out, i am becoming interested in playing a custom githyanki due to that major plot point involving that race. i have wiped those giths for my 2 playthroughs, first coz i didn't know better and in the second coz that was a sacred place of my light cleric's deity they desecrated...but having a gith PC would finally give me a good RP reason to let them survive.
I think you could also factor in the "WTF am I meant to be as this race" as well. Dwarves, elves and fantasy races in between are represented well in fantasy media so there are baseline concepts a player can run with.
They also don’t tell you what your class and subclass give at higher levels, which is an interesting choice. I’d prefer more information but I’m fine with them keeping it for you to discover as you play
I just picked drow cause of the aesthetics lol. I was surprised when the goblins just let me through after watching my boyfriend trying to get into the camp on his own playthrough.
Drow subrace also decides which options the cleric gets to pick for their god, no mechanical change but the difference in role play between lolith and eilistraee is fairly big!
kinda disapointed gods dont change anything. in NWN2 you could pick war as your domain, and gain their weapon proficiency and focus. so you could get a shuriken throwing cleric to turn into a ligthing throwing shuriken storm lord. which while not amazing, is hilarious. also domains gave passives, so you could pick earth and start with toughness for free. which was also nice.
Half-Drow also get a few of the Drow RP dialog options, but are inconsistently recognized as Drow. Compared to my Drow EA playthrough, it seems like "good" NPCs recognize my character as Drow while bad ones see them as a regular half-elf, lending to the lore that Half Elves never fit in anywhere. A nice touch, even if a little disadvantageous.
Just bought the game and was looking for a guide for the races. Went to your channel straight away and the video is 4 minutes old. Talk about perfect timing. Thanks!
When I saw that the monk hireling was a gith in the screenshots before launch, I was so excited because I was sure that it'd be a Githzerai, maybe even a Zerth. Then we'd get some cool lore/interactions given how prevolent both githyanki and illithids are in BG3 and how intrinsicly connected all 3 are. Huge missed opportunity imho, and my only real gripe with the game. Though I'm biased because my favorite D&D character I ever played was a monk githzerai back in 3.5ed.
@@hoboofserenity While I also love Githzerai (loved that companion on Neverwinter Nights 2), there is no need to add another faction. *SPOILERS* *ACTUAL SPOILERS* You find some Githzerai, and they are all badass psychic monk. Hell, you fight them on the astral plane and find someone REALLY important to them there. If we had the chance to go to a Githzerai *crepe* or whatever it's called and get quest, lore and conflicts it may bloat the game too much. We do get SOME lore from that fight and Lae'zel, so it's not like they skipped one of the coolest part of Gith lore (the division and the rebellion).
Absolutely. I loved Dak'kon from Planescape: Torment and the Rule of 3. I wasn't aware of the Gith before that and I have a soft spot for the Githzerai. I like the Githyanki too (they were in Neverwinter Nights 2) though.
I am close to finishing my first playthrough and my advice is to build your character from a roleplaying perspective instead of picking optimal stats. First decide what kind of character you want to make, then allocate points in a way that best reflects that character.
im playing as a drow and as someone who is completely new to all this lore, it was cool as hell to see ppl just be afraid of me, and treat me like a god lmao, was not expecting that at all...its been awesome!
Drow is really fun to play because of all the insane interactions you get throughout the game. I usually choose elf because of the innate perception proficiency that get; which can be huge. My current playthrough is as a Zariel tiefling vengeance paladin (they're made for paladins apparently) and I'm having a blast as they also have some really cool interactions in the game.
Githyanki gets lots of stuff some of it being quite goofy also ("what is cat?") :p I feel that no matter what u choose it turns out to be satisfying with the way the world interacts with u.
My current playthrough is as a drow, and the drow interactions are honestly funny in the sense that either the npc commits a microaggression against you or they kiss your feet there’s no in between
Just get it it's worth it lol I know it might seem overwhelming but just dive in! It's so cool to experience it all for yourself and make all your own decisions
I chose Mephistopheles for my bard, Zariel may fit a slight bit better with its thaumaturgy, but I like the idea of my bards mage hand helping out with the music, maybe slapping a drum
On the Githyanki, if you have the Deluxe Edition you can use Mask of the Shapeshifter to change form to something more aesthetically pleasing, and it doesnt change back if you remove it, so it doesnt even cost you the helm slot! Some have also pointed out that you can become a gnome to enter small spaces and get tossed up on ledges. Also as Storm Sorc (Draconic subclass), using the SS spell gives you a free fly, so that is infinitely usable.
Loving BG3 so far, but I wish they did a better job on showing what the races and classes give you, like PF:WotR does. Like elves get perception as a skill but I never found a place it tells you that, same with half-orc and intimidate I believe
Wood (full and half) elves also get stealth proficiency, once again, unlisted. I wouldn't be surprised if lightfoot halflings also get stealth, but haven't checked.
I found that my drow makes for an excellent paladin with the combination faerie-fire and smite. Also, because of the proficiency rapier and what else you get as a paladin, you get a very versatile and effective fighter after a few levels.
I was very tempted by Deep Gnome, because... well, this is the mind flayer game, right? Makes a lot of sense that the sub-race known for fighting them & living in the Underdark without turning into COMPLETE butt holes, would get something of a leadership position, right?
Yup. It's very fair for Mort to have missed this because it weirdly doesn't tell you in the 'Race' part of the character generator. I think if someone didn't play the tabletop game it'd be pretty easy to totally miss this.
I really like how he mentioned that darkvision is not that important because it really isn't I totally agree. in a game where you have infinite torch light is basically like not having it
Not to mention multiple illuminating spells if you’re desperate, playing as a dragonborn with no dark vision is easily solved with Komira’s locket or as you said, a torch, hell even finding items in the dark is easy with holding left alt
The same is true in D&D overall. They make it pretty easy to produce light by other means so that races with darkvision aren't greatly advantaged over other races.
I'm happy Larian removed the stats for classes, so people can roleplay or meme their run more interestingly. Also small races can enter some tiny holes. that's a proficiency not mentioned in the character sheet.
Nice guide. I appreciate that you break things in a clear and down to earth way. Rather than everything being about stats and being just overwhelming, it’s nice to hear “pick the class that looks coolest to you, just know what makes them useful or not”. I loved DOS2, but I still find this game overwhelming, so it’s nice to have some straightforward breakdowns of the world.
How can you not love cosmic warriors from the Astral Plane that ride atop red dragons all in service of their centuries if not thousands of years old lich queen.
Yeah my main guy is a Black Draconic Ancestry Dragonborn Sorlock and the racials are godaweful. So is Acid Damage in general :/. I'm keeping him as is cause i really like it flavor-wise but if i cared about power-gaming in any way i would had swapped both his race and ancestry a while ago. Just don't get how getting a tiny aoe that does 2d6 of damage in front of you somehow equate to getting Darkness, invisibility or Misty Step as part of your racial perks lol.
The resistances can be pretty good. If the breath levelled with your character it'd be perfect. But dragonborn is one of those classes that gets picked for appearances even if the bonuses are objectively bad.
@@Jenna_Talia breath weapon eeds to reset on short rest and level at the same rate as cantrips. Some of the subrace's resist can be good like red or green since fire and poison damage is fairly common but black for example is useless as there's like 3 enemies in the game who do acid damage.
Screw the Dragonborn, look what they did to Shield Dwarves! The most iconic Dwarfy race in the game gets... light and medium armor training... and not even shield training??
I picked a silver dragonborn (who get cold resist) because its cool rp as a paladin, but I've barely encountered any cold damage so far, whereas SO much stuff is on fire, and I'd have been better choosing a fire resistant subtype.
Such a shame you cant play as a Githzerai, playing through Planescape Torment and fell in love with Dak'kon, who is easily my favorite character, the Gith lore and culture is super cool. It would have been nice to see them as a sub-race and to see conflicts between the Githzerai and Githyanki.
The reduced movement speed is the bummer here, because enlarge/reduce is great for combat and getting into places you can otherwise not reach "nobody tosses a dwarf ... now give me a long distance boost i.e. toss me" and with invisibility you are finally a bit better at stealth even as a paladin.😅😊
I picked Githyanki Bard for power gamey reasons, but stayed for all the RP of a guild artisan crafter in exile who is curious about what else exists outside of the astral sea, while having a strong reason to play a "good" anti-illithid playthrough. Makes walking that line with Lae'zel's fervor fun!
Episode idea: a quick tutorial on all the things on how to make the game more efficient. I played EA and totally forgot I could alter multiple aspects of the hotbar until I saw you setting yours up during your liveplay. Of course, I didn't see the little lock button so I kept trying to drag buttons off to no effect until I searched the answer. Also, just read about using ctrl or shift like you would selecting files for inventory manipulation. I'm sure there's some other efficiency knowledge you could share with people unfamiliar with the game or, like me, spaced they were familiar with it because they were so excited about playing a spore druid Githyanki. The spores definitely make the character play more like a martial class making it feel more like a classic spellsword and I'm loving it.
Jesse - your content and channel is my no1 these days, or actually the only gaming channel I watch. I have been gaming since the 80’s and I recognize a true gamer when I see one:- I have a strong feeling that your channel will grow and become really big soon. Keep up the good work and always stay true 🕹️ 🕹️
something ppl often forget: highelf and half highelf cantrips scale of your int so more useful for Wizard, Eldritch Knight and Arcane Trickster i don't know what the tiefling spells scale off
It's honestly tragic how shafted stat-wise Dragonborn are in BG3. They were already considered the weakest PHB race in the tabletop ruleset, and somehow they're actually even weaker in-game than that, because their breath weapon got nerfed. It's puzzling, and one of my very few complaints about the game so far. Dragonborn really needed something more.
In the full game they can use their breath weapon again after short rest and it increases in power twice during level up Suffice to say ive only ever used it like 2 or 3 times and mainly to hit multiple enemies at once, but usually my companions are in the way Also i feel like people dont comment as much on me being a dragonborn as I'd like, most i remember is Lae'zel mentioning my scales and talking about me being descended from dragons
I mean while it's easy to overlook the resistance passives they have, you can stack them to really dirty effectiveness, basically in act 1 My dragon born-sorc had resistances to. Cold, fire, poison, acid and shock. And still had room for a potion of resistance. Rangers also can get easy 5 dmg type resistances in act 1 so yeah, while their passives aren't flashy, they sure as hell are effective against any magic user if you build em right.
I've always found the association of dwarves with axes and hammers kind of ironic, because those would be the worst possible weapons for people of very short stature as they have so little reach. A dwarf would be much better served by a pole weapon that could make up for their short bodies and arms while also leaning into their low center of gravity and general sturdiness. A dwarven pike phalanx would be very formidable indeed!
Woodelf monk is great. It's basically the zoomies build. I thought about maybe doing a monk barbarian multiclass but seems like it would be hard to pull off spreading your required stats that wide.
Very good overview, as usual! I do think you forgot one thing that I have found useful with elves, including drow, if you want to build a scout type character. For a scout you probably need perception and it is only a class skill for certain classes. Moreover there are no backgrounds that give perception. So when I decided to start a monk that I wanted to be scouting, lockpicking I choose a wood-elf. Then I could start with Perception (wood-elf), Sleight of Hand (background) and Stealth (background or class).
Came to the same conclusion but went drow instead of wood elf, the darkness spell sounded good if I ever went shadow monk (trying open hand first). The reduced movement shouldn’t matter in the long run no? Especially with all the monk movement. Also the lvl 3 spell giving advantage to all attacks in an area sounded good with how many attacks monks make
Ive got to point out that the stats that were just released are amazing! Also the fact that Larian is also redacting patch notes to not spoil any store aspect is to be commended!
I wish that they would show all the stuff the races get. In EA they showed that Woodelves got proficiencies in hiding, the new character creator does not.
Hope they add more races I'd love to play as a Shadar Kai. Blessing of the Raven Queen gives a 30 foot teleport which is always useful and resistance to necrotic damage
I stopped myself from playing the early access because of how excited I am for this game. Larian has never had a bad game ever. The last game I was this excited for was Divinity OS II.
I really like how alien Githyanki look, so that's a plus for me. I find their lore to be quite interesting as well. Their racial Astral Knowledge seems very useful. Would've been even better if we were able to play as Githzerai as well. Lae'zel probably wouldn't be too happy, to put it mildly.
Great video. I always go Wood Elf with pretty much any game that has it and my main is a Wood Elf Druid....however the way Larian has handled playing as a Drow makes them probably my favourite in game. My evil Dark Urge character is a Drow, and watching Goblins cower, or put fear into the Tiefling kids is too good.
One thing about race is that the more absurd the race the more extreme people's reactions to you will be. There are some encounters that can either be circumvented or be more difficult based on race and there is an advantage to playing a race people tend to fear or condescend because their perception of you is by no means required to be a reality ;)
As a side note, the camera makes weird things during cutscenes when you have a small race character... At the beginning, when Lae'Zel threatens you, the tip of her sword was inside the face of my glorious Dwarf.
Dragonborn is so damn cool looking, which is all the more reason that their class features feel too underwhelming. I know that this is pretty much how they are in the tabletop, too, but come on, could of given them something more useful. They are walking dragons with scaly skin.. That is natural armor, could have given them something based on that, kind of like Sorcerer's Dragonic Ancestry increases their AC. Or they could put that big mouth of theirs to use and bite down on an enemy to cause bleeding. Or at least make the breath attack more useful. There is a lot of cool stuff that they could have done with a literal humanoid dragon, but alas the only cool thing that they got is their visual design. I'll still play a DU run as a Dragonborn, but yeah, a bit underwhelmed.
Wood Elf Wildheart Barb with Elk totem lets you run all over the board, and it is especially nice when you have multiple attacks and are one-shotting/GWM activates. Feels like you're never held back due to movement.
Elf or Half Elf is actually good for a Paladin. The Friends cantrip is actually useful in dialogue. Just never see many people bring that up on these kind of videos
The buff to breath weapons makes Dragonborn much more viable imo. You get a free elemental resistance, you have solid movement options, good jump range. And a free spell that doesn't use a spell slot, scales to level, does AOE, and reacts to the environment. For example frost breath freezing water, and fire breath igniting oil. The lack of proficiencies does limit their usefulness for certain classes, however they are arguable more useful for certain builds than other races. For example I think White or Silver Dragons, make the best Tempest Cleric/Storm Sorcerer Multi-class since this match relies a lot on using water to set up for Lightning damage. However Cold also synergizes with water, so having an extra cold attack is useful, but gaining resistance to Cold and Lightning damage is invaluable for a character that is often, "Wet."
The choice was made wayyyyyy back when I played BG1.... Drow. ;) Yes... we did not have the Drow subclass way back when.... so it meant making an Elf with Black skin and White hair..... and being a Drow in my own head canon. ;) Although later on we did get the Drow race in IceWind Dale 2. So I would copy the Drow voice dialogue from IWD2 and edit them to import them in BG1. ;) Another fun bit was making a Half-Dragon in IWD2... I forget if I used a mod.... or Dalekeeper 2?? but it was fun pretending to be a Half-Dragon. ;) I made a Human Fighter the very first time I played D&D.... and that was the last time I played a Human. I am a Human everyday..... so in a fantasy game..... I want to be something I am not. ;) Usually.... Drow gets first pick.... if available. ;)
Looking to do a good/neutral play through as a warlock. Going fiend/pact of blade… I don’t know what race… zeril teifling for legacy smites… or githyanki for med armor proficiency?
So wood elves and wood half-elves get stealth proficiency even though its not listed in the sub race features section, it was listed in early access but not in the full release. But if you look at your list of skill proficiencies at character creation it does get added to the list of skills.
When I created my main character I play on Bg3 I wanted to create the character I have in an actual dmd session Im in with my friends. The thing is that my dnd version is a goliath, but bg doesnt have the race so I chose drow for how similar it looked to me based on the skin color of the base character you get to customise and then I got surprised by the admiration I got from the goblins in the goblin camp 💀
Patch 1 made the breath weapon for Dragonborn scale with their level
Also it now refreshes on short rest, not long.
To😅o p
But they can't flyyyyy so i am just discount argonian
@@Local_commentor Nexusmods has a mod that adds the gem-type dragonborn from Fizban's with their ability to fly. But being a discount Argonian is pretty great too in my opinon though!
@@bigbongtheorem3821 I Played monk bronze dragonborn and create water with the electricity breath is really good
Githyanki being the least selected race despite having so many bonuses really goes to show how much appearance matters to players.
@@bonzwah1 fair enough. For me they're just too skinny. A Gith barbarian would look comical.
same as bonzwah1. i am not too keen to RP a ace with such a sense of exceptionalism..now if the githzerai were in here, i would play those. though finally seeing how things turn out, i am becoming interested in playing a custom githyanki due to that major plot point involving that race. i have wiped those giths for my 2 playthroughs, first coz i didn't know better and in the second coz that was a sacred place of my light cleric's deity they desecrated...but having a gith PC would finally give me a good RP reason to let them survive.
I think you could also factor in the "WTF am I meant to be as this race" as well.
Dwarves, elves and fantasy races in between are represented well in fantasy media so there are baseline concepts a player can run with.
Bae'zel disapproves.
Definitely, its the no nose and skinny.
I really like how you acknowledge that picking based solely on how cool they look is entirely valid
That’s how I play most of my games lol
If my character isnt a hot girl then why play? Picking the vulva is extremely important.
Abilities that you gain by race should absolutely be in the character creation menus. That is REALLY important information!
I do hope they add that in patch 2
Agreed. So much missing information.
They also don’t tell you what your class and subclass give at higher levels, which is an interesting choice. I’d prefer more information but I’m fine with them keeping it for you to discover as you play
@@thestatusjoe9949 I feel like knowing that information can inspire build ideas tho..
@@ProfKisutoif you need to you can always search it up though, so its not the biggest deal. Would be nice if they had it but oh well
No one ever mentions that Goblins fear and respect Drows on sight. USEFUL
Drow also get alot of unique dialogue in general all throughout the game. Sometimes useful, sometimes deadly.
Drow are so badass, I love them @@david5310
I'm brand new to the game and yeah, that was a happy surprise for me at the goblin camp in act 1 😂
I just picked drow cause of the aesthetics lol. I was surprised when the goblins just let me through after watching my boyfriend trying to get into the camp on his own playthrough.
I love how in certain situations your race can help or hinder you in exploration and quests. A small touch but really lends to the roleplay aspect
"Amazing, so many different species and classes now!"
*creates human fighter*
Me: “wow so many playable races!”
Also me: chooses the most lizard man looking one every time
The most boring combination
"Why yes I exclusively play White male fighters in RPGs, how could you tell?" 💪🏻💪🏻💪🏻
Drow subrace also decides which options the cleric gets to pick for their god, no mechanical change but the difference in role play between lolith and eilistraee is fairly big!
I’m guessing Lolth for lolth-sworn and Eilistraee for Seldarine?
@@danitron4096you only get lolth as lolth sworn and nothing else. seldarine can pick any god except lolth
kinda disapointed gods dont change anything. in NWN2 you could pick war as your domain, and gain their weapon proficiency and focus. so you could get a shuriken throwing cleric to turn into a ligthing throwing shuriken storm lord.
which while not amazing, is hilarious. also domains gave passives, so you could pick earth and start with toughness for free. which was also nice.
Half-Drow also get a few of the Drow RP dialog options, but are inconsistently recognized as Drow. Compared to my Drow EA playthrough, it seems like "good" NPCs recognize my character as Drow while bad ones see them as a regular half-elf, lending to the lore that Half Elves never fit in anywhere. A nice touch, even if a little disadvantageous.
Just bought the game and was looking for a guide for the races. Went to your channel straight away and the video is 4 minutes old. Talk about perfect timing. Thanks!
I wish we could have played Githzerai. It would allow some really interesting interactions with Lae'zel and the Githyanki.
When I saw that the monk hireling was a gith in the screenshots before launch, I was so excited because I was sure that it'd be a Githzerai, maybe even a Zerth. Then we'd get some cool lore/interactions given how prevolent both githyanki and illithids are in BG3 and how intrinsicly connected all 3 are. Huge missed opportunity imho, and my only real gripe with the game. Though I'm biased because my favorite D&D character I ever played was a monk githzerai back in 3.5ed.
@@hoboofserenity While I also love Githzerai (loved that companion on Neverwinter Nights 2), there is no need to add another faction. *SPOILERS*
*ACTUAL SPOILERS*
You find some Githzerai, and they are all badass psychic monk. Hell, you fight them on the astral plane and find someone REALLY important to them there. If we had the chance to go to a Githzerai *crepe* or whatever it's called and get quest, lore and conflicts it may bloat the game too much.
We do get SOME lore from that fight and Lae'zel, so it's not like they skipped one of the coolest part of Gith lore (the division and the rebellion).
@@JonsonerThese are all Githyanki though? The only Githzerai in the game is one of the brains in the Illithid colony
Might add em for dlc maybe
Absolutely. I loved Dak'kon from Planescape: Torment and the Rule of 3. I wasn't aware of the Gith before that and I have a soft spot for the Githzerai. I like the Githyanki too (they were in Neverwinter Nights 2) though.
I am close to finishing my first playthrough and my advice is to build your character from a roleplaying perspective instead of picking optimal stats.
First decide what kind of character you want to make, then allocate points in a way that best reflects that character.
im playing as a drow and as someone who is completely new to all this lore, it was cool as hell to see ppl just be afraid of me, and treat me like a god lmao, was not expecting that at all...its been awesome!
Drow is really fun to play because of all the insane interactions you get throughout the game. I usually choose elf because of the innate perception proficiency that get; which can be huge. My current playthrough is as a Zariel tiefling vengeance paladin (they're made for paladins apparently) and I'm having a blast as they also have some really cool interactions in the game.
Githyanki gets lots of stuff some of it being quite goofy also ("what is cat?") :p
I feel that no matter what u choose it turns out to be satisfying with the way the world interacts with u.
My current playthrough is as a drow, and the drow interactions are honestly funny in the sense that either the npc commits a microaggression against you or they kiss your feet there’s no in between
I'm always torn between actually playing the game and binge-watching videos about it
Same
Just get it it's worth it lol I know it might seem overwhelming but just dive in! It's so cool to experience it all for yourself and make all your own decisions
My problem is not having a beefy computer to play it...
@@GuaguadeathI spend my money on cyberpunk😂 lmao gotta wait for sale
Play and watch at the same time😂
3:29 As of Patch 1, Dragonborn breath attacks do scale with level now!
I chose Mephistopheles for my bard, Zariel may fit a slight bit better with its thaumaturgy, but I like the idea of my bards mage hand helping out with the music, maybe slapping a drum
Half orc rogue assassin dark urge evil solo playthough. So powerful and so on point.
"Maybe the real critical throw was the friends we made along the way"
~Deep Gnome
Possibly the worst race gameplay wise
On the Githyanki, if you have the Deluxe Edition you can use Mask of the Shapeshifter to change form to something more aesthetically pleasing, and it doesnt change back if you remove it, so it doesnt even cost you the helm slot! Some have also pointed out that you can become a gnome to enter small spaces and get tossed up on ledges. Also as Storm Sorc (Draconic subclass), using the SS spell gives you a free fly, so that is infinitely usable.
Loving BG3 so far, but I wish they did a better job on showing what the races and classes give you, like PF:WotR does. Like elves get perception as a skill but I never found a place it tells you that, same with half-orc and intimidate I believe
Wood (full and half) elves also get stealth proficiency, once again, unlisted. I wouldn't be surprised if lightfoot halflings also get stealth, but haven't checked.
I so miss that feature, and how we can click information whenever a character mention a lore.
yyy under Proficiencies in Race section of character creator you can find that info, and I'm surprised that Mortismal did not mention that.
I found that my drow makes for an excellent paladin with the combination faerie-fire and smite. Also, because of the proficiency rapier and what else you get as a paladin, you get a very versatile and effective fighter after a few levels.
Faerie fire should also work exellentely for arcane trickster rogues. If I can catch some archers with that I might even dip monk.
I was very tempted by Deep Gnome, because... well, this is the mind flayer game, right?
Makes a lot of sense that the sub-race known for fighting them & living in the Underdark without turning into COMPLETE butt holes, would get something of a leadership position, right?
Deep gnomes are one of my favorites too. I'm playing as a wood elf now but am strongly considering deep gnome for my next playthrough
Half Orc + Barbarian is fun for the various intimidation checks you can do. A lot of them I can just stare down the opposition into submission.
Elves and Drow also come with a free proficiency in perception.
Edit: And Orcs come with intimidation too.
Do half elves also get that proficiency?
@@Halaurissadly no
Well I may have to go full elf then.@@skunkjulio
I like the duergar, they get 2 spells, enlarge at level3 and invisibility at level 5, that makes them much better than other dwarves.
Super Darkvision doesn't hurt either
Great paladin/rogues, also because that increases your auras.
Wood Elf and Wood Half Elf also get proficiency in Stealth.
Yup. It's very fair for Mort to have missed this because it weirdly doesn't tell you in the 'Race' part of the character generator. I think if someone didn't play the tabletop game it'd be pretty easy to totally miss this.
Yes right, I am not sure why they removed it, it was there during early access.
@@Provokedcarp
Also, Elves appear to still receive “Keen Senses” (perception proficiency), despite it also not showing.
Great guide Mortym. Been avoiding most of the BG3 content for now as I’m just on Act 2, but your efforts are much appreciated as always 🙏
I really like how he mentioned that darkvision is not that important because it really isn't I totally agree. in a game where you have infinite torch light is basically like not having it
Not to mention multiple illuminating spells if you’re desperate, playing as a dragonborn with no dark vision is easily solved with Komira’s locket or as you said, a torch, hell even finding items in the dark is easy with holding left alt
The same is true in D&D overall. They make it pretty easy to produce light by other means so that races with darkvision aren't greatly advantaged over other races.
I'm happy Larian removed the stats for classes, so people can roleplay or meme their run more interestingly. Also small races can enter some tiny holes. that's a proficiency not mentioned in the character sheet.
gnome wizard. where are my short kings at
Halfling bard here.
Jan Jansen here
Shield Dwarf sorcerer for that sweet armor proficiencies 😍
Forest Gnome, Emo, Bard here. Spreading hate and depression through song and drums.
Rock Gnome Necromancer here, leaving the work for the undead to enjoy the life
Nice guide. I appreciate that you break things in a clear and down to earth way. Rather than everything being about stats and being just overwhelming, it’s nice to hear “pick the class that looks coolest to you, just know what makes them useful or not”.
I loved DOS2, but I still find this game overwhelming, so it’s nice to have some straightforward breakdowns of the world.
I picked forest gnome Druid because it’s thematic and I get to speak with animals. The animal dialogues are the funniest ones in the game imo
The Gith are quickly becoming my favorite race! Thank you so much for this guide Mord
How can you not love cosmic warriors from the Astral Plane that ride atop red dragons all in service of their centuries if not thousands of years old lich queen.
@@brentbentKRFP becuase they're ugly
@@brentbentKRFP Their apperance is a hard sell
I'll be picking a Drow Rogue on my PS5 - excited to play and have been studying up on youtube lol.
There's so many options it sounds fun to replay the game just for the race options alone.
Forest Gnome Ranger Beast Tamer has been a lot of fun in my co-op playthrough.
Wish the game gave more tool tips like explaining what abilities these races get at higher level.
I hope the modders help out the dragonborn class to both have better racial benefits and even cooler looks.
Yeah my main guy is a Black Draconic Ancestry Dragonborn Sorlock and the racials are godaweful. So is Acid Damage in general :/. I'm keeping him as is cause i really like it flavor-wise but if i cared about power-gaming in any way i would had swapped both his race and ancestry a while ago.
Just don't get how getting a tiny aoe that does 2d6 of damage in front of you somehow equate to getting Darkness, invisibility or Misty Step as part of your racial perks lol.
The resistances can be pretty good. If the breath levelled with your character it'd be perfect. But dragonborn is one of those classes that gets picked for appearances even if the bonuses are objectively bad.
@@Jenna_Talia breath weapon eeds to reset on short rest and level at the same rate as cantrips.
Some of the subrace's resist can be good like red or green since fire and poison damage is fairly common but black for example is useless as there's like 3 enemies in the game who do acid damage.
Screw the Dragonborn, look what they did to Shield Dwarves! The most iconic Dwarfy race in the game gets... light and medium armor training... and not even shield training??
I picked a silver dragonborn (who get cold resist) because its cool rp as a paladin, but I've barely encountered any cold damage so far, whereas SO much stuff is on fire, and I'd have been better choosing a fire resistant subtype.
Such a shame you cant play as a Githzerai, playing through Planescape Torment and fell in love with Dak'kon, who is easily my favorite character, the Gith lore and culture is super cool. It would have been nice to see them as a sub-race and to see conflicts between the Githzerai and Githyanki.
Pour one out for everyone's favorite Zerth. May the Karach strike true.
Dont forget that like the Gith, the Duergar were also slaves/test subjects to the mind flayers.
The reduced movement speed is the bummer here, because enlarge/reduce is great for combat and getting into places you can otherwise not reach "nobody tosses a dwarf ... now give me a long distance boost i.e. toss me" and with invisibility you are finally a bit better at stealth even as a paladin.😅😊
I picked Githyanki Bard for power gamey reasons, but stayed for all the RP of a guild artisan crafter in exile who is curious about what else exists outside of the astral sea, while having a strong reason to play a "good" anti-illithid playthrough. Makes walking that line with Lae'zel's fervor fun!
Episode idea: a quick tutorial on all the things on how to make the game more efficient. I played EA and totally forgot I could alter multiple aspects of the hotbar until I saw you setting yours up during your liveplay. Of course, I didn't see the little lock button so I kept trying to drag buttons off to no effect until I searched the answer. Also, just read about using ctrl or shift like you would selecting files for inventory manipulation. I'm sure there's some other efficiency knowledge you could share with people unfamiliar with the game or, like me, spaced they were familiar with it because they were so excited about playing a spore druid Githyanki. The spores definitely make the character play more like a martial class making it feel more like a classic spellsword and I'm loving it.
Jesse - your content and channel is my no1 these days, or actually the only gaming channel I watch. I have been gaming since the 80’s and I recognize a true gamer when I see one:- I have a strong feeling that your channel will grow and become really big soon. Keep up the good work and always stay true 🕹️ 🕹️
something ppl often forget: highelf and half highelf cantrips scale of your int so more useful for Wizard, Eldritch Knight and Arcane Trickster
i don't know what the tiefling spells scale off
I've played the intro sequence like a dozen times just to pick new race/class combos of all my old tabletop characters lol
It's honestly tragic how shafted stat-wise Dragonborn are in BG3. They were already considered the weakest PHB race in the tabletop ruleset, and somehow they're actually even weaker in-game than that, because their breath weapon got nerfed. It's puzzling, and one of my very few complaints about the game so far. Dragonborn really needed something more.
In the full game they can use their breath weapon again after short rest and it increases in power twice during level up
Suffice to say ive only ever used it like 2 or 3 times and mainly to hit multiple enemies at once, but usually my companions are in the way
Also i feel like people dont comment as much on me being a dragonborn as I'd like, most i remember is Lae'zel mentioning my scales and talking about me being descended from dragons
I mean while it's easy to overlook the resistance passives they have, you can stack them to really dirty effectiveness, basically in act 1 My dragon born-sorc had resistances to.
Cold, fire, poison, acid and shock.
And still had room for a potion of resistance.
Rangers also can get easy 5 dmg type resistances in act 1 so yeah, while their passives aren't flashy, they sure as hell are effective against any magic user if you build em right.
I've always found the association of dwarves with axes and hammers kind of ironic, because those would be the worst possible weapons for people of very short stature as they have so little reach. A dwarf would be much better served by a pole weapon that could make up for their short bodies and arms while also leaning into their low center of gravity and general sturdiness. A dwarven pike phalanx would be very formidable indeed!
Woodelf monk is great. It's basically the zoomies build. I thought about maybe doing a monk barbarian multiclass but seems like it would be hard to pull off spreading your required stats that wide.
Very good overview, as usual!
I do think you forgot one thing that I have found useful with elves, including drow, if you want to build a scout type character. For a scout you probably need perception and it is only a class skill for certain classes. Moreover there are no backgrounds that give perception. So when I decided to start a monk that I wanted to be scouting, lockpicking I choose a wood-elf. Then I could start with Perception (wood-elf), Sleight of Hand (background) and Stealth (background or class).
Came to the same conclusion but went drow instead of wood elf, the darkness spell sounded good if I ever went shadow monk (trying open hand first). The reduced movement shouldn’t matter in the long run no? Especially with all the monk movement. Also the lvl 3 spell giving advantage to all attacks in an area sounded good with how many attacks monks make
Don’t Wood Elves automatically get proficiency in Stealth? You could be getting another proficiency
@@moongirl786 True
I chose half elf drow and its been super useful for exploration
The Dragonborn look so good I had to go with one for my first playthrough, even though they are probably the worst race in BG3
Ive got to point out that the stats that were just released are amazing! Also the fact that Larian is also redacting patch notes to not spoil any store aspect is to be commended!
I wish that they would show all the stuff the races get.
In EA they showed that Woodelves got proficiencies in hiding, the new character creator does not.
I still prefer the UI for the character creator from EA tbh
Githyanki wizard, amazing! I can use magic, big swords and protect myself.
Dragonborn players represent!
"You will play Githyanki, and you will be happy."
-- Larian Studios
one thing i wish that was added for classes/races what a breakdown at character creation of all the things you get at what level
Hope they add more races I'd love to play as a Shadar Kai. Blessing of the Raven Queen gives a 30 foot teleport which is always useful and resistance to necrotic damage
I stopped myself from playing the early access because of how excited I am for this game. Larian has never had a bad game ever. The last game I was this excited for was Divinity OS II.
Nah, Beyond Divinity was terrible, even Larian says so lol but yeah this is fantastic
I really like how alien Githyanki look, so that's a plus for me. I find their lore to be quite interesting as well. Their racial Astral Knowledge seems very useful. Would've been even better if we were able to play as Githzerai as well. Lae'zel probably wouldn't be too happy, to put it mildly.
Great video. I always go Wood Elf with pretty much any game that has it and my main is a Wood Elf Druid....however the way Larian has handled playing as a Drow makes them probably my favourite in game. My evil Dark Urge character is a Drow, and watching Goblins cower, or put fear into the Tiefling kids is too good.
I do hope they incorporate monster races as a future dlc or update. I want to play a kobold so bad!
2:10 now that's a murder hobo if I ever did see one. Onward 300k. All glory to the algorithm.
One thing about race is that the more absurd the race the more extreme people's reactions to you will be.
There are some encounters that can either be circumvented or be more difficult based on race and there is an advantage to playing a race people tend to fear or condescend because their perception of you is by no means required to be a reality ;)
As a side note, the camera makes weird things during cutscenes when you have a small race character... At the beginning, when Lae'Zel threatens you, the tip of her sword was inside the face of my glorious Dwarf.
IMO a human or half elf monk would be decent because you could use polearms as monk weapons from lvl 1
Hey Mort! Thanks for the upload. Can you do a video about the race feats you get when levelling up?
one of the best breakdowns i've seen
Dragonborn is so damn cool looking, which is all the more reason that their class features feel too underwhelming.
I know that this is pretty much how they are in the tabletop, too, but come on, could of given them something more useful.
They are walking dragons with scaly skin.. That is natural armor, could have given them something based on that, kind of like Sorcerer's Dragonic Ancestry increases their AC.
Or they could put that big mouth of theirs to use and bite down on an enemy to cause bleeding.
Or at least make the breath attack more useful.
There is a lot of cool stuff that they could have done with a literal humanoid dragon, but alas the only cool thing that they got is their visual design.
I'll still play a DU run as a Dragonborn, but yeah, a bit underwhelmed.
My race of choice in the Elder Scrolls is the khajiit. So I was hoping tabaxi would have been a choice in this game.
Drow are the most attractive race.
The movement boost makes it hard to ignore elf/half elf wood elf.
@@danboyd6180 I think they also get misty step around level 5
Wood Elf Wildheart Barb with Elk totem lets you run all over the board, and it is especially nice when you have multiple attacks and are one-shotting/GWM activates. Feels like you're never held back due to movement.
Half Orc supremacy.
This is the best video of its type. Nice work
Love your work.
You are a machine!
My favorite is githyanki with their Astral knowledge 😊
Elf or Half Elf is actually good for a Paladin. The Friends cantrip is actually useful in dialogue. Just never see many people bring that up on these kind of videos
The buff to breath weapons makes Dragonborn much more viable imo. You get a free elemental resistance, you have solid movement options, good jump range. And a free spell that doesn't use a spell slot, scales to level, does AOE, and reacts to the environment. For example frost breath freezing water, and fire breath igniting oil. The lack of proficiencies does limit their usefulness for certain classes, however they are arguable more useful for certain builds than other races. For example I think White or Silver Dragons, make the best Tempest Cleric/Storm Sorcerer Multi-class since this match relies a lot on using water to set up for Lightning damage. However Cold also synergizes with water, so having an extra cold attack is useful, but gaining resistance to Cold and Lightning damage is invaluable for a character that is often, "Wet."
Also GIth are the most optimal best race for almost any class, at least imo.
Absolutely loving my half orc, oath of vengeance paladin
half orc assassin.
The choice was made wayyyyyy back when I played BG1....
Drow. ;)
Yes... we did not have the Drow subclass way back when.... so it meant making an Elf with Black skin and White hair..... and being a Drow in my own head canon. ;)
Although later on we did get the Drow race in IceWind Dale 2.
So I would copy the Drow voice dialogue from IWD2 and edit them to import them in BG1. ;)
Another fun bit was making a Half-Dragon in IWD2... I forget if I used a mod.... or Dalekeeper 2?? but it was fun pretending to be a Half-Dragon. ;)
I made a Human Fighter the very first time I played D&D.... and that was the last time I played a Human.
I am a Human everyday..... so in a fantasy game..... I want to be something I am not. ;)
Usually.... Drow gets first pick.... if available. ;)
Also worth mentioning that Halflings have powerful pumpkin allies.
Just the information i was searching for! Thx
Wtf, Githyanki got misty step for free?? Brooo
Looking to do a good/neutral play through as a warlock. Going fiend/pact of blade… I don’t know what race… zeril teifling for legacy smites… or githyanki for med armor proficiency?
So wood elves and wood half-elves get stealth proficiency even though its not listed in the sub race features section, it was listed in early access but not in the full release. But if you look at your list of skill proficiencies at character creation it does get added to the list of skills.
When I created my main character I play on Bg3 I wanted to create the character I have in an actual dmd session Im in with my friends. The thing is that my dnd version is a goliath, but bg doesnt have the race so I chose drow for how similar it looked to me based on the skin color of the base character you get to customise and then I got surprised by the admiration I got from the goblins in the goblin camp 💀
Good info! Wish the game told you , at creation, what the races unlocked at lvl 3 and 5
Morty, I just gotta say--you do the best damn RPG videos on UA-cam. Fun, informative, and interesting to boot. Rock on with your bad self, bro!
I really wish they implemented variant human that extra feat at the start was always nice
I’m going to assume humans are the most numerous race and pick them, hopefully being human let’s me reason with other humans
I just went, oh drow have big nightvision, usefull.
Gotta say, githyanki seem a little overloaded compared to all the other races. They get access to so many useful tools.
Seldarine great old one warlock drow here we goooo!
Tottaly up for this kind of video in order to prepare for PS5 release😏
Thank you for the amazing content.
Another Excellent video. Thanks, Mortym!
I picked a deep gnome rogue for stealth proficiency and so that Karcach could throw her at the enemy while enraged, which is hilarious.