Which race is better: orcs or bretons?

[InDarkestNight]

Orcs have long been considered the most OP race due to their racial power. Using it on master for instance essentially reverts the game to adept during its duration. However, I've been thinking that may be partially due to a common misunderstanding on how it works. People often think it affects all damage, but in reality it only affects physical. In particular, this means it does nothing again magic damage you receive.

 

My last LotD playthrough attempt I opted to go Breton, because I decided that magic resist was better than physical protection. Thinking about it again though, that may not be the case. You can still get max magic resistance without being a breton, though you do have to use an enchantment slot to do so. On the other hand, the orc's racial power is still as effective even if you have max armor. Also, it does technically boost your damage too. The only real advantage a breton has is that they can make themselves completely immune to magic for 30 seconds by using their racial power with the atronach stone.

 

Orcs aren't completely better though. As said, they offer no defense against magic, and some of the highest damage in the game comes from magic (dragons in particular come to mind). Part of the reason I chose breton last playthrough was because doing the relic hunter challenge requires you to play with elemental dragons. Yeah, you can get the lord stone or atronach stone for extra protection against them, but honestly I found myself mostly running around with the steed stone for carrying capacity (i went heavy armor, so my carry weight was in short supply, I'll be going light armor this time but still).

 

Which is really better? Bretons offer free magic resist and the ability to temporarily become invulnerable to magic. Orcs have a racial power that increases your physical damage, and also reduces the physical damage you take even if you have max armor. To me, its sorta like comparing apples to oranges. One affects physical damage, the other magical. Can you really compare the two then?

 

Of course, playing my game with high level enemies I felt like I would've been better off with the orc racial power. Even at a low level things were just hitting me way too damned hard. I also wasn't amused at how Immersive Creatures (a mod required for the relic hunter challenge) spawns level 20 and 40 mounted rieklings on the side of the road even if you're low-level. I've also found rieklings op in general. They were clearly meant for higher level characters. So maybe orc is a wiser idea for this application at least. That still leaves open the question which is better overall?

[HeyYou]

Orcs have long been considered the most OP race due to their racial power. Using it on master for instance essentially reverts the game to adept during its duration. However, I've been thinking that may be partially due to a common misunderstanding on how it works. People often think it affects all damage, but in reality it only affects physical. In particular, this means it does nothing again magic damage you receive.

 

My last LotD playthrough attempt I opted to go Breton, because I decided that magic resist was better than physical protection. Thinking about it again though, that may not be the case. You can still get max magic resistance without being a breton, though you do have to use an enchantment slot to do so. On the other hand, the orc's racial power is still as effective even if you have max armor. Also, it does technically boost your damage too. The only real advantage a breton has is that they can make themselves completely immune to magic for 30 seconds by using their racial power with the atronach stone.

 

Orcs aren't completely better though. As said, they offer no defense against magic, and some of the highest damage in the game comes from magic (dragons in particular come to mind). Part of the reason I chose breton last playthrough was because doing the relic hunter challenge requires you to play with elemental dragons. Yeah, you can get the lord stone or atronach stone for extra protection against them, but honestly I found myself mostly running around with the steed stone for carrying capacity (i went heavy armor, so my carry weight was in short supply, I'll be going light armor this time but still).

 

Which is really better? Bretons offer free magic resist and the ability to temporarily become invulnerable to magic. Orcs have a racial power that increases your physical damage, and also reduces the physical damage you take even if you have max armor. To me, its sorta like comparing apples to oranges. One affects physical damage, the other magical. Can you really compare the two then?

 

Of course, playing my game with high level enemies I felt like I would've been better off with the orc racial power. Even at a low level things were just hitting me way too damned hard. I also wasn't amused at how Immersive Creatures (a mod required for the relic hunter challenge) spawns level 20 and 40 mounted rieklings on the side of the road even if you're low-level. I've also found rieklings op in general. They were clearly meant for higher level characters. So maybe orc is a wiser idea for this application at least. That still leaves open the question which is better overall?

I came to the conclusion that what race you choose, only has any real impact in the early stages of the game. Once you get up some levels, there is essentially no difference between the races.....