best race for each elite specialization

[Abodeuke.1407]

I want to make a character for each elite spec so far i made list and these are the best races in my opinion for each elite spec, would like to hear more from you guys and what might you want to  change.

berserker: norn
spellbreaker: human
dragon hunter: norn
firebrand: human
herald: norn
renegade: charr
soulbeast: sylvari or norn
druid: sylvari
daredevil: human or sylvari
deadeye: human or charr
scrapper: charr or asura
holosmith: charr or asura
reaper: human
scourge: human or asura
tempest: human or norn
weaver: human
chronomencer: human
mirage: human or sylvari

[Vayne.8563]

I have to confess, I don't understand the logic behind most of these. I mean some of them make surface sense, like scrapper being charr or asura, each being a tech class and engineer being a bit more technical.  But the way this game's lore works it's hard to say any race would be better for any elite specialization.

 

I mean norn, who are racial shapesifters might be a lock for soulbeast.  The druid sylvari thing feels like you're looking at sylvari as elves, but they're not.  Humans have healers and rangers, who might worship dwayna or melandru respectively.

 

It's almost like you're trying to fight stereotypes into stereotypes to get a list of what is most likely. Some of the more famous necromancers from game lore, for example, are Sylvari. 

But this game has gone out of it's way to break genre stereotypes. Rangers use swords, necros use daggers and axes (and even greatswords), warriors use bows and rifles.

 

I'm not saying you shouldn't do what you want, but I try to get away from stereotyping my characters when I make them.  I'm not saying you should but this whole thought process wouldn't work for me.

[DeanBB.4268]

Race matters not, so your preferences are your own. Unless you have some criteria you're not sharing?

[Abodeuke.1407]

7 hours ago, DeanBB.4268 said:

Race matters not, so your preferences are your own. Unless you have some criteria you're not sharing?

No there is not really a criteria here it is just what first come to my mind when i tried each of those elite spec, and after reviewing each race culture.

[Kalocin.5982]

For me it's pretty much whatever the artwork is lol

[Vayne.8563]

8 hours ago, Abodeuke.1407 said:

No there is not really a criteria here it is just what first come to my mind when i tried each of those elite spec, and after reviewing each race culture.

I could make a case for any number of races being pretty much any elite spec, though.  

 

I mean take warrior. Norn is obviously a warrior race, they're a race of warriors. So a berserker for a norn would be pretty normal. But...there are human warriors, who worshipped the god balthazar.  There are charr warriors, in the blood legion.  There are Sylvari warriors, since their culture only really goes back 25 years.  A  sylvari could be anything.  Probably the only race I wouldn't immediately think of for a warrior would be Asura.

I just don't like to limit my choices when I make new characters, so I'm not so quick to assign values to any race/class combo. Some might make slightly more sense in lore, but individuals exist in every race.

[Cyndercat.7615]

I think for the warrior elites, charrs are more fitting than humans. I think norn could also fit well in the druid specialization.

I cant see charr being a deadeye or holo personally. Would definitely add asura to weaver and chronomancer.

Other than that i agree with your list. 

[Fueki.4753]

Druids (the tree-like spirits) were followers of Melandru, who transformed and eventually shed their bodies.

Since the elite specialization is loosely based on that group, I consider Humans to be the best fit for it.

[Panda.1967]

I’ll start with the easy ones…

 

Scrapper: Charr — Charr engineering is all about scrapping the old to make something new.

Soulbeast: Norn — the Norns connection to the spirits of the wild make the Soulbeast a natural evolution of their own talents.

Druid: Sylvari — Druidism in Tyria can be traced back to Ventari, who planted the pale tree, so it only makes sense for Sylvari to draw upon the power that gave them life.

Berzerker: Norn — the emphasis on strength found in many parts of Norn culture makes this elite spec a perfect fit for them.

Chronomancer: Asura — the highly inquisitive minds of the Asura would certainly delve into applications of magic to manipulate the flow of time. After all, imagine how many experiments could be done perfectly if you could simply wind back the clock to correct any mistakes, how fast you could advance if time was under your control.

Spellbreaker: Human — innovative and unexpected ways to use tools and techniques is the very essence of humanity when surrounded by races with superior intellect, strength, endurance, and longevity. The Spellbreaker embodies that very ideal.

Renegade: Charr — channeling the spirit of a legendary Charr… need any further explanation be given?

Reaper: Human — the reaper draws inspiration from the Human god Grenth, more so than most necromancy does… even going so far as to become a shadowy avatar of Grenth.

Holoforge: Asura — holographic technology is something that the Asura have been tinkering with for ages, though they didn’t create the technology originally, they are the only living race that fully comprehends how it works.

Dragon Hunter: Norn — only the Norn would think to blend the spiritual powers of a guardian with the hunting prowess of a Ranger to the very degree that is the Dragon Hunter.

 

and that is where the easy matches end…

Deadeye, Daredevil, Tempest, Weaver, Scourge, Firebrand, Mirage, & Herald all have a complete lack of cultural influence in their design that denotes any one race as their origin or inspiration…

 

as for the upcoming elite specs…

Virtuoso: Norn — This is really more of a gut feeling than anything… the concept of a dagger wielding Mesmer who creates more daggers rather than clones just feels like a more Nornish adaptation of the Mesmer class. Emphasizing personal power rather than deception.

Harbinger: Human or Asura — Alchemy is an entirely human practice. When Asura speak of “the eternal alchemy” they speak of alchemy as a conceptualization rather than a science, which is rather odd for a race so heavily focused on science… but the actual practice of alchemy is a skill most seen in human society… but either race would fit for the Harbinger still…

Willbender: Human — the elite specialization is derived entirely from a single part of human culture. It is the single most human elite spec we have seen to date.

 

[Jijimuge.4675]

1 hour ago, Panda.1967 said:

Druid: Sylvari — Druidism in Tyria can be traced back to Ventari, who planted the pale tree, so it only makes sense for Sylvari to draw upon the power that gave them life.

This isn't entirely right.  The druids predate Ventari, with the last of them having been seen in physical form about 100 years before Ventari's time....so also greatly predated the Sylvari.

My understanding of Ventari is that his teachings are more about pacifism and nonviolence.  The druids seem a bit different, focussing more on nature than on nonviolence.

The druids of GW were actually Krytan humans at one time and it's speculated that they were devout followers of Melandru.

Link- https://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/Druid

That said, the Sylvari do clearly have an affinity to Druid spirits as evidenced by the racial elite skill "Summon Druid Spirit".

So I could see it being quite lore-friendly for a human (esp one devoutly following Melandru) or sylvari to want to tread the ancient paths followed by the original druids.  Perhaps Druids (as a spec) would be most naturally favoured by Humans or Sylvari, though there's no reason why someone of any race couldn't follow that path.

As an aside, IMO a Sylvari who has a preternaturally strong connection with Ventari might simply become...a revenant.  Then they'd channel Ventari's qualities more directly...

[Buran.3796]

 Some are logic to guess, as Norn Rangers or Asuran or Charr Engineers. But sometimes is jus the other way: magical based classes doesn't fit well in the Charr files because (outside Flame Legion) spellcasters and magic overal is poorly embraced by the Charr. In the same way, Norn are highly individualist, so Guardians doesn't fit well (with DH being maybe the exception).

 

  But yes, I think that some races fit better some roles than others, and the same happens with the specializations. As an example: Holsomith fits remarkably bad in the Norn or Silvari cultures, which are more linked to nature than to technological prowress...

[Zacchary.6183]

All: Charr

[Andrew.2604]

Warrior > Berserker > Spellbreaker > Charr/Norn

Guardian > Dragonhunter > Firebrand > Human

Revenant > Herald > Renegade > Sylvari/Norn

Ranger > Druid > Soulbeast > Sylvari/Norn

Thief > Daredevil > Deadeye > Human

Engineer > Scrapper > Holosmith > Charr

Necromancer > Reaper > Scourge > Asura

Elementalist > Tempest > Weaver > Asura

Mesmer > Chronomancer > Mirage > Human

This is based on official Arena Net artwork/wallpaper and specialization artwork to be the most stereotypical race for each profession, some professions work with many of the races better or worse depending on perspective, but Engineer seems to be the most pigeon-holed in the game as the aesthetics are predominately Charr themed, and lore-wise Charr created the Engineer spec. Although, the way the game tells its story pretty much all race/profession combos make complete sense, just some more than others.

 

[oscuro.9720]

berserker: asura (get mad easy, just bring up their height)
spellbreaker: asura 
dragon hunter: asura (It’s a classic David vs Goliath, asura vs dragon)
firebrand: asura (many buttons, requires big brain)
herald: asura (Glint is an Aaria at heart)
renegade: asura (you would think charr, but I’m pretty sure cats don’t have souls, so no revenant for them)
soulbeast: charr (yay, furries!)
druid: Asura (masters of subjugating other beings)
daredevil: asura (they insane, more likely to be lunatic “daredevils”)
deadeye: asura (they smol, makes them better at the sneak sneak)
scrapper: charr (gyros are definitely the second rate work of a charr)
holosmith: asura (because charr r 2 stoopid to understand what a hologram is)
reaper: asura (look at the artwork for necro; it’s an asura)
scourge: asura (see above)
tempest: asura (clearly the only race capable of understanding magic well enough tos Irvine overloading themselves)
weaver: asura (hooman too stoopid to use 2 Magic’s at once, clearly can’t be weaver)
chronomancer: asura (only the heightened mind of an ashes could harness time)
mirage: asura (it’s harder to tell what’s a clone and what isn’t on asura)

[Zekent.3652]

I'll never understand the logic on "humans fits on every single class or most of classes but your orc doesnt fits as a healer" like WHY? Lol

[Logos.3042]

I think Norns are best suited for Revenants b/c their racial skills suck and arent worth using ever...

[Panda.1967]

8 minutes ago, Logos.3042 said:

I think Norns are best suited for Revenants b/c their racial skills suck and arent worth using ever...

That can sadly be said of all races… I still firmly believe that racial skills should be buffed or we should be given a dedicated racial skill slot…

to my knowledge the ONLY “good” racial skill is the Sylvari’s Healing Seed.

[Fueki.4753]

25 minutes ago, Panda.1967 said:

I still firmly believe that racial skills should be buffed or we should be given a dedicated racial skill slot…

Arenanet once stated that racial utilities are undertuned on purpose, so that they can't compete with profession skills.

This supposedly is to prevent the race from having an impact on the effectiveness of builds.

[Logos.3042]

9 hours ago, Panda.1967 said:

That can sadly be said of all races… I still firmly believe that racial skills should be buffed or we should be given a dedicated racial skill slot…

to my knowledge the ONLY “good” racial skill is the Sylvari’s Healing Seed.

I think Asura Poison Field, Human Lyssa Utility, Sylvari turret utility and turret elite are all worth using for some professions and some builds. Norn Ice Worm turret is also good if you have a character that needs a pet to tank and take some heat off.  

The others, Norn in particular, but also other elite racial skills like Charr Warband Elite would be more fun if they simply had reduced cooldowns for more frequent use than 360 or 240 seconds.  These are simply NOT overpowered.  Would love to see them at a 180 and call it good.  

Edited October 23, 2021 by Logos.3042

[Panda.1967]

9 hours ago, Fueki.4753 said:

Arenanet once stated that racial utilities are undertuned on purpose, so that they can't compete with profession skills.

This supposedly is to prevent the race from having an impact on the effectiveness of builds.

I am perfectly aware of this… I disagree with their stance. There is literally zero reason to even have racial skills in the game if they are deliberately weaker than all other skills.

The only way they can make the weak racial skills have a purpose without giving us a dedicated racial skill slot is if they were at the very least enabled as our default utility skills and all usable at level 1… they would atleast then serve as introductory abilities and would have a built in lore reason for them to be weaker… this could even work with revenants by having them disabled as they unlock their legends…

Edited October 23, 2021 by Panda.1967

[Sons.5493]

Here's my suggestions

 

berserker: human female
spellbreaker: human female
dragon hunter: human female
firebrand: human female
herald: human female
renegade: human female
soulbeast: human female
druid: human female
daredevil: human female
deadeye: human female
scrapper: human female
holosmith: human female
reaper: human female
scourge: human female
tempest: human female
weaver: human female
chronomencer: human female
mirage: human female

 

My take anyway

[vardeleanu.8972]

necro should be human for gerenth elite chill synergy with reaper/roleplay or norn for the transform snow leopard dash and stealth 

 

theif should be sylvari for the interaction between panic strike and grasping vines

 

engineer gets very good toolbelt skills from all sylvari racials and holo replaces the missing toolbelt for take root, and seed turrets match with the theme of engi turrets, through char comes in close

 

elementalist's lightning rod has a very nice interaction with asura technobabble where you get a 0 cast time 3 sec daze that damages and weakens a foe on 1200 range, and while it has 45 sec cooldown it's definitely worth it for the enemy healing skill. 

 

the above works about the same with guardian who has chill and cripple/slow+burn on disables, and also theif and mesmer to same extent

 

Apart from these I'd say sylvari and charr are usually the best races for most classes, as their utility skills are simply the best (for example by running 2nd set hammer and having grasping vines on hfb means you don't need separate druid/pusher for samarog).

p.s. mirage should be sylvari too since the healing seed gives you permanent regen for condition damage, which you don't have otherwise

 

Edited October 23, 2021 by vardeleanu.8972