Now, there are many factors as to why the dwarves are the least played race in Zurefgar. Like rakhs, their size also became a problem. They are not easy targets, but their shorter stature than humans had made them problematic in their own way.

They have a very limited range compared to any other races, causing their melee classes to have to get very close to actually hit something. This was one of the main reasons I chose humans over dwarves for the guardian paladin. Other than humans, it is actually a very overpowered race.

Also… do I need a constant reminder that I am short? Meeting my already towering deskmate in his rakhs form as a human does not help at all with this inferiority complex. It would have been worse if I were a dwarf.

Back to the dwarves… their class-race unique abilities are also one of the reasons they are not preferred even by the ranged classes. Because these abilities all came as active abilities instead of passive ones. Since ranged characters, especially damage dealers, have certain optimised ability rotation, the class-race abilities would be a hassle to be fitted in. However, they will not get any bonus power if they do not utilise it. Therefore, passive abilities are better, right? Riiiight?

Not really. They just lack imagination. Many of the dwarven players that I know are an absolute menace to fight against. Even the GM Gary actually took the form of a dwarven guardian paladin, and rumours are he was one hell of a fighter.

The dwarven race are gifted with [It’s Hammer Time!] passive that allows them to use a race specific weapon, the war hammer. While other races use maces, the dwarves can gain access to a war hammer instead which has a longer shaft and much easier to wield. It has the properties of both piercing and shock damage in one weapon. When a dwarven player receives a dropped mace weapon, they could trade it with their race specific merchant NPC for an equivalent war hammer.

Speaking of the merchants, the dwarves have [Tools of All Trades] which allows them to gain extra proficiency on the usage of tools on any profession they take. Not to mention, they also level up their profession faster than any other races.

Finally they are gifted with [Furor and Discipline], where [Discipline] mode enables them to gain increased stats when they are in a formation regardless of the races of their party members. This ability could be activated to turn on the [Furor] mode that increases their movement speed in a short time while being almost immune to crowd control effects.

[Guardians of the North] is the activatable ability of the dwarven guardian paladins. This will give them a temporary light shield whose powers are based on the maximum Mana and the total armour value of the paladin. Seriously, this ability alone almost made me take the dwarven race.

Meanwhile, their warriors could perform a line-breaking charge with [Rams of the Highmountain]. Putting them on the front of a charging formation or multiple of them in a team would definitely cause a huge havoc. I know how insanely powerful this move is, I have seen one before.

Amusingly enough, dwarven hunters have some sort of berserking ability named [Survivor of Frozen Tundra]. When activated, the hunter would lose all armour value which would gradually recover. During this time, the hunter and their companion would receive a boost in damage output. If you ever see a dwarven hunter use this and you are not confident with outranging them, you better run.

When [Secrets of Dark Earth] is activated, the dwarven warlocks would unleash a terrible spell which mimics the type of the last spell they use, enabling for a quick pseudo twin-spell effect. Their wizards are also interesting with the [Weather Ball], a small mechanical ball that they threw to the opponent and would unleash a damaging vortex of energy depending on what element it touches. For example, if a person is burned, then it would cause a fiery explosion. Amazingly enough, the ball is capable of exploding holy and shadow magic if it comes in contact with it.

Finally, the famous dwarven priest received [Bulwark of Northern Lights]. This ability is not a mere shield. It actually gives additional effect depending on the path focus of the priest. Discipline gives them better shielding effect, Atonement gives healing based on the damage absorbed, Twilight Reach gives much better range and duration, Psychic Agony for some reflected damage, and Plaguebearer will cause the shield to give a backlash curse to the opponents attacking it.

Now, if you are thinking that any of these abilities are actually overpowered, you are not wrong. They are overpowered… but just a bit harder to use.

Therefore, I will say it again, people really lack imagination.

~AVK~