For those of you who listened to our first podcast (and if you haven't, stop reading this, go subscribe to the podcast, listen to both, and come back!), you know that my #1 wish for FFXIV was for there to be no differences between the races. From what I knew of the armory system it seemed like there really shouldn't be, and I was comforted.
So - imagine my surprise when I saw this posted on FFXIVcore.com today. Apparently the character creation process has been modified since closed beta and information on starting stats has been added. And the stats are different for each race. Someone (lucky bastard who was actually able to get a key and start beta!) took the screenshots linked above. Wut.
My heart sank, especially upon seeing that my preferred race, Seeker of the Sun Miqo'te, had some of the lowest magical stats out there. I prefer playing caster jobs, and I probably will only play as DoW if/when the fatigue system gets to me on Thaumaturge and Conjurer. First thought - I'm going to be playing from behind again, just like I was as a Mithra mage in XI. My worst nightmare came true. /cry
Or did it? Here's all the information pulled together:
| Race | STR | VIT | DEX | Melee Total | INT | MND | Piety | Magic Total |
| Plainsfolk Lalafell | 13 | 13 | 17 | 43 | 16 | 15 | 16 | 47 |
| Dunesfolk Lalafell | 12 | 12 | 15 | 39 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 51 |
| Seeker of the Sun Miqo'te | 16 | 15 | 17 | 48 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 42 |
| Keeper of the Moon Miqo'te | 13 | 12 | 16 | 41 | 14 | 18 | 17 | 49 |
| Midlander Hyur | 16 | 15 | 14 | 45 | 16 | 13 | 16 | 45 |
| Highlander Hyur | 18 | 17 | 15 | 50 | 13 | 15 | 12 | 40 |
| Wildwood Elezen | 14 | 13 | 18 | 45 | 17 | 12 | 16 | 45 |
| Duskwight Elezen | 15 | 14 | 15 | 44 | 18 | 15 | 13 | 46 |
| Sea Wolf Roegadyn | 17 | 18 | 13 | 48 | 12 | 16 | 14 | 42 |
| Hellsguard Roegadyn | 15 | 16 | 12 | 43 | 15 | 17 | 15 | 47 |
You get around 8 points to distribute among these stats each time your physical level increases (less at the lowest levels). I'm really just 7 points - less a level's worth of points - behind my apparently more magically inclined relatives the Keeper of the Moon Miqo'te (when looking at the stats that matter for DoM - INT, VIT, and Piety), and 9 points behind the most magically gifted of them all, the Dunesfolk Lalafell. 11 points separate the worst casters (Highlander Hyur) from the Dunesfolk.
Looking at the melee side of things, those same 11 points separate the worst melee starting stats - the Dunesfolk - from the best melee starting stats, the Highlanders.
11 points? We can handle 11 points. Plus at some point down the road you'll likely want to throw a few points in those other stats anyway, whether it is because you're tired of your fragile mage self being beat up by blue con (e.g., easy prey) rats, or because your melee character needs some MND for some Chi Blast-esque ability. Or, you know, because the fatigue system finally got to you and you're exping that job you thought you'd never touch (if you see me playing Marauder, you know this is why!). So just consider yourself to have a wee bit of a head start when/if that happens.
All in all - assuming there haven't been any other adjustments undiscovered as of yet (like caps on how many points you can add to any one stat, thereby keeping the differences between the races intact - please don't do this SE!), rest assured that you can largely ignore those starting stats and that everything can balance out in the end. So choose the race you want to be (yes, even you manqo'te out there) and enjoy your life in Hydaelen!
Brady Bunch background created by Sassi16.

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