Races of EQII: The Neutral

Races of EQII: The Neutral

MMORPG.com EverQuest II Correspondent Vernon Reich writes this overview of the races available in SOE's EverQuest II. In this part of his article, Vernon looks at the Neutral aligned races.

The neutral races of EQ2 have a lot of variety, both in where they can start, and the racial traditions they gain every 10th level. Here's the quick list.

Barbarians

Barbarians are a tall, primitive folk that look a bit like vikings. Loving ale as much as the dwarves do, they can summon a glass of potent ale with alarming frequency, and drinking it WILL blur your screen, with a single glass hazing it up a bit, to complete psychedelic head trip level at about twenty glasses! The only other racial trait they start with is a 5% speed buff that's always on, but it doesn't stack with horses. Barbarians can start in Qeynos, Freeport or Gorowyn. Qeynos and Freeport both have barbarian neighborhoods to give you a bit of barbarian back story and culture, Gorowyn doesn't.

Barbarian Racial Traditions

• Tundra Slam: Attack that knocks target back, blurs it's vision and stuns it. Scales to level.
• Tribal Strength: Adds 3% to health totall.
• Halasian Authority: Adds 5 points to strength.
• Blizzard: Raises mitigation versus cold damage by 3%.
• Barbaric Rage: Defensive skills go up when the barbarian is under 30% health.
• Defender of Everfrost: Double Attack 1% of the time, add 1% to melee crit chance, gain 5 points of Parry.
• Sprint into Battle: Reduces power cost of sprint by 25%, and adds 10 to speed.
• Brewmaster: Increases provisioner chance by 5%.
• Battle Reprieve: Buff that raises strength and out of combat health regeneratio.
• Herbology: Raises chemistry skill by 5 points.

Erudites

Erudites are slender, bald, glowing-sigil covered humanoids that prize magic professions. Having an innate connection to magic, they have Auravision, the ability to see if anyone in their line of site is a spell caster and of what sort, by a glowing energy field surrounding them. Being infused with magic, they also regenerate their power at a much faster out of combat rate then other races. They have slow fall, the same ability shared by elves and fae. They can start in Qeynos, Freeport or Gorowyn.

Erudite Racial Traditions

• Arc of Lightning: Area of effect lightning attack, scales to level.
• Castng Fury: Increases casting speed by 5%, and spell crit chance by 2%.
• Intellect of the Sage: Adds 5 points to intelligence.
• Magical Protection: Raises mitigation versus magic by 3 points.
• Ward of Glyphs: Very short duration ward versus all types of damage.
• Homeward Bound: Reduces recast timer of all recall to home city spells by 10 minutes.
• Scholarly Pursuit: Increases the success rate of the sage skill by 5%.
• Intellectual Feasting: Food lasts 25% longer.

Gnomes

Gnomes are...well, they're still gnomes, a short, long nosed race known for reckless inventing. As a race known for their tinkering talent, they get a starting tinkering bonus and a power cost reduction when tinkering. As tricksters, they combine illsion with tinkering in a strange way...they can appear as small, flying steambots! This ability is absolutely useless, but pretty fun. Like so many races, Gnomes are blessed with Ultravision. They can start in Qeynos, Freeport or Gorowyn, but don't have the racial newbie quests in Gorowyn.

Gnome Racial Traditions

• Clockwork Army: Summons three small clockwork to attack a target, scales with level.
• Flash of Insight: Raises max power by 3%.
• Akanon's Innovation: Raises intelligence by 5 points.
• Steamfonts Magical Barrier: Raises mitigation versus magic damage by points.
• Lost in the Crowd: Reduces threat from target and shrinks the gnome.
• Meldrath's Teaching: Increases spell crit chance by 2%, raises focus skill by 5 points.
• Clear Mind: Buff raises intelligence and out of combat power regeneration.
• Forge Invention: Lowers the power cost of weaponsmith arts.
• Healthy Appetite: Food durations increased by 25%.
• Chemical Calculations: Raises the percent chance of alchemy by 5%.

Half-Elves

Half-Elves are a race anytime you get elves and humans living too close together. EQ2's Half-Elves have Infravision, the ability to see hot things as reds, yellows, and oranges and cool things as hues of blue and black. They have camouflage, letting them turn invisible for a brief period of time and have a one second reduction on gathering or woodcutting, thanks to their ties to nature. Half-Elves can start play in Freeport, Gorowyn, Kelethin or Qeynos, the most options of all the races.

Half Elf Racial Traditions

• Piercing Stab: Attack that lowers targets physical mitigation, scales with level.
• Hardiness: Increases max health and power by 1.5%.
• Elven Reflexes: Raises agility by 5 points.
• Rebellious Spirit: Raises mitigation versus magic damage by 3 points.
• Misfits Trickery: Lowers threat from one mob.
• Mixed Knowledge: Raises ranged and melee crit chance by 1%, add 5 points to perry skill.
• Tend Wounds: Buff raises strength and out of combat health regeneration.
• Ayr'Dal Adornment: Raises artificing skill 5 points.
• Forest Navigation: Raises in and out of combat speed by 5, stack with buffs, but not mounts.
• Gift of the Faydark: Increases the success chance for the woodworking skill by 5.

Humans

Humans are the standard by which other races are judged in games, and stat-wise, they shine as the most balanced. But in EQ2, your races stats are quickly outpaced by your equipment bonuses, so the stats aren't all that much good in the long haul. Judging the race by it's abilities is fairly sad, since the dev's only gave them two. Humans can summon poor quality water and have a 1/2 second reduction on all gathering/harvesting times. They can start in Freeport, Gorowyn or Qeynos. On an up note, they are easy for most people to relate to, since most players are human.

Human Racial Traditions

• Bayle's Strike: A piercing attack, scales with level.
• Ruggedness: Adds 3% to max health.
• Perserverance: Adds 5 points to stamina.
• Environmental Adaptability: Adds 2 points to mitigation versus heat and cold.
• Diplomacy: Area of effect that lowers the aggro radius of a group of critters.
• Versatilty: Raises Bashing, slashing piercing, ranged, defense, disruption and ministration by 7 points.
• Tend Wounds: Buff raises strength and out of combat health regeneration.
• Clothier: Increases tailoring skill checks by 5%.
• Urban Sprawl: City recall ability available 10 minutes earlier.
• Diversity: Raises artificing, artistry, chemistry, fletching, metal shaping, metalworking, scribing, sculpting and tailoring by 5 points.

kerrans

Kerrans were, in the past, hunted by the Erudites for sport. Nowadays, after the cataclysm, they are accepted nearly everywhere. Kerrans have the speed and stealth of large cats, and can accelerate themselves by 50% in bursts, in or out of combat and gain 15% movement bonus whenever moving invisibly or steathfully. Lastly, like the Ratonga, they have Sonicvision, a high-contrast yellow nightvision. They can start in Freeport, Gorowyn or Qeynos, but as usual, gain no racial quests in Gorowyn.

Kerran Racial Traditions

• Claw: Attack that lowers targets physical mitigations, scales with level.
• Tribal Knowledge: Raises max power by 3%.
• Fleetness of Foot: Raises agility by 5 points.
• Ancestral Protection: Adds 3 points to mitigation versus divine damage.
• Leaping Grace: Reduces hate from one monster and teleports Kerran to a random spot in 10 meters.
• Murrar Shar's Guidance: Raises melee crit chance by 2% and raises parry 5 points.
• Feline Grace: Decreases falling damage by 25%.
• Gift of the Land: Reduces alchemy power costs by 10%.
• Kerra Speed: Increases out of combat movement speed by 5, stacks with buffs but not mounts.
• Timber Shaper: Increases fletching skill by 5 points.
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Ok, that wraps up all nineteen (19!) races of EQ2, so please drop in and try the fourteen day trial and see all the races for yoursef, or check out the new features and maybe give it a second chance!