Kind of something im a bit confused about. Besides some racial bonuses, I dont understand why certain races are more suited for certain types of play styles just because of starting skill bonuses. For example, a khajit starts with 25 in sneak and an orc starts with 15, but i can easily get my orc to 25 in sneak in very short time. since it seems that most skills are fairly easy to build up from 15 to 20 or 15 to 25, i dont see why it would be so much more of a pain in the ass to make a thief orc as opposed to a thief khajit or argonian. Im sure im missing something but any info that helps clear things up would be much appreciated as i am fairly new to the TES world.

Myself I don't really care about bonus stuff... I only play what I like at most, and I also made orc warrior for sake of that OP racial xD

A lot of them don't seem to matter that much really. The orc racial is insane, though. Double damage, while only taking half damage from enemies is well worth it, haha.

See, it comes down to time. You say it doesn't take you long at all to skill up a thief Orc. You're right. But, the Khajit Thief that started off with the bonuses will still be ahead of your Thief Orc, given similar experiences, training paths, and time.

Does it really matter? Not really. But, to make the most use of your time, it's just easier to start with a race that gives you the proper bonuses. That's the beauty of the Elder Scrolls, you can do whatever the heck you want.

EDIT: If I recall, Bethesda stated during an interview that the character leveling is supposed to get faster when you level your higher level skills. Which would mean to me that a Khajit thief will also gain levels quicker than an Orc Thief that has to really work at getting his skills up. (Gotta try and find the article that stated that)

EDIT2: FOUND IT!
IGN: How will skill progression and the leveling system in Skyrim work? What sorts of decisions will need to be made upon a level up and what do you need to do to qualify for a level up? Is the improve-by-use skill system still in place? Will all the skills from Oblivion be used in Skyrim or have there been changes?

Todd Howard: Skill increase works like Oblivion, the more you use it, the more it goes up. The skill list is similar, but tweaked for the gameplay we have now. The big difference is in how you gain levels. All your skills affect leveling. The higher the skill, the more it pushes you to the next level. So it's a nice self-balancing system, you're rewarded for using your higher skills. It urges you to focus. Skill increases become the equivalent of our XP for leveling. The higher your level, the more you need. When you level up, you pick one of your main stats to increase, and then you pick a perk. Perks are where a lot of the power is, and it's what defines your character, more so than your skill numbers. So each skill has its own "perk tree". And, those perks range from doing extra damage with a certain weapon to all new things like special moves, disarming and critical strikes.

http://pc.ign.com/articles/115/1158651p2.html

So, moral of the story... does it really matter what race you use for what class? No. But the race that does what it is intended to do will excel more at it.

Race has never mattered in the end, anyway. Just choose what you like based on looks or starting skills.

I've got a redguard assassin and an orc mage. I'm doing fine.

Race matters but it's not as crippling to pick an orc mage or an altmer warrior.



Elderscrolls games aren't your typical fantasy and battlemages are the most prominent type of mage in the elder scrolls universe.

Yeah, I know that. Just seems a little elitist, I guess, to go build something that doesn't really have much of a shortcoming. I just grew up with Ultima ][ on the Apple, so I'm a bit purist when it comes to rpgs, and it shows in my characters in TES. =D

It can matter, but not nearly as much as in ES IV. Kind of like the freedom to play what I want without feeling too gimped for picking a less able race (like Imperial).

I'm a dark elf, and a lot of nords hate me.

meh

race do have some stat differences.

Only aesthetically. The race specific dialogue is pretty poor in skyrim. The only difference i've noticed on my Khajiit from my Breton is that I cannot ask the caravaners about their homeland and every once in awhile someone calls me cat.

My orc racial is crazy when I get into a tough fight.

With the level scaling system though i imagine I'd be about 2 levels lower if I picked khajit and used the same skills so when I'm a level 20 orc I'd be fighting the same enemies as a skilled to level 22 kitty.

In the long term it wouldn't make a huge difference... infact since the khajit racial is kind of useless and the orc racial is kind of awesome I'd rather be an orc end game.

There is also responses seen even though there is a liked charm system like in previous TES games. I bet a lot of nord stormcloaks are rude to imperials before they give them the exact same mission in the end.

if you want to power level, it wqould be wise to pick an opposite race to be fair, more skill increases. But it doesnt really, there is story driven races though

Morrowind:dunmer
Oblivion: Imperial
Skyrim: nords

To skills? No.

Powers and passives? Oh yes. Dunmer laugh at fire breathing dragons.

For me races are mostly a cosmetic feature. But some have pretty nice racial powers like orcs got berserker rage and high elfes got highborn
:spotted owl:

I find that it really doesn't impact my game play all that much, and honestly I kind of like it. I would have preferred to have more social based events that are affected by it, but I do enjoy that I can play a character as I want it to be. If I want to be an orc who runs around collecting poetry and learning magic, then I'm not exceptionally screwed. Unlike other games where it can be a real blow to the character to play it as a different arch-type than the designers wanted.


Also, I've always preferred the idea of the battle-mage for adventuring types. Because, you know, if I'm going to go crawling through dark dungeons and caves looking to kill dragons, of course the first thing that comes to mind is to wear a nice flammable cotton robe! Wearing well fitted armour that offers protection while not hampering movement much would be an incredibly stupid and illogical thing to do when I can instead wear a huge, floppy pointed hat, and a large flowing robe. What better attire to try wandering through thick woods in?

Different races have stat bonuses and they help you progress faster, but also different races give different bonuses, like High Elf gives Magicka bonus right at the beginning so you can start out with more magicka.

Short Answer: No

Not-So-Short Answer: It's mostly about asthetics. Unless racials are that big of a deal to you (I forget about mine most of the time). The skill differences are also negligable unless you are trying to min/max. Unless you are really strict on sticking to lore or one of the reasons stated above, just go with what you think fits to you.

I pick certain races for certain aesthetic, and role playing reasons.

Elves have always been a stealthy nimble sort, so a bosmer is my choice for a sneaky bowman.
The racial description seals the deal even more. The bonus to skills are just little extras.

Orc warriors just seem to fit right in. I decided to make a 2 hand heavy armor guy. Orc with dreadlocks
it is! They look right at home swinging an axe, and they really fill out heavy armor. I especially like
the helmet with HUGE horns I found while dungeon diving.

EDIT: Also, I like the savage nature of orcs and bosmer. I made my bosmer
look like someone who lives in the forrest and mugs passers by. I made my orc
look like someone who has been through a tough decade of war.

When I get around to a mage I'll give him the whole "pristine because I've spent my life
in the mage college look".

High elves are much faster than the other races or atleast my high elf is faster than my Nord

It matters to me but i certainly don't choose anything based on racial bonuses