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Enhanced, Re-balanced Races of Tamriel

Having put hundreds of hours into Skyrim (playing as each race) I always felt like the races weren't balanced. In theme they made sense, but in game play some always felt more relevant than others. This mod is my response to this issue (within reason).

Please comment below with your thoughts. I welcome all feedback! If you have any ideas, I'd love to read them! You'll find the current patch notes below. Note: this description window limits how much text I can have, so forgive my brief explanations.


Argonians:
+100 to Starting Stamina
Passive Health Regen Improved (~8%)
+10 Pickpocket Total
+10 Sneak Total

Argonians are known to be incredibly agile reptile-humanoids from Black Marsh. I gave the health regen passive a slight buff (~8% improvement) after testing it's regeneration against damage-over-time spells (fire-based), as well as in-combat regeneration.

As for the bonuses to the other stats, I felt that Argonians needed a boost to Stamina. A real boost. Their agility is only reflected in their major stats (including Pickpocketing and Sneaking), so by giving them a natural +100 to their starting Stamina, the Argonian race can perform as great as other races with their usual thief-like play styles.


Breton:
Dragonskin Buff to 5 mins
35% Magic Resistance
+30 to Starting Magicka

I already felt like Bretons are among the better races in Skyrim, so I understand that buffing them seems a bit strange. Beyond the idea of "balance," I want each race to feel more powerful. I buffed Dragonskin to 5 mins to really let Bretons feel dominant in a spellcasting battle. I always felt that necromancers were a bit easier to defeat (versus other NPCs), so I'm hoping this Dragonskin buff, coupled with the 35% Magic Resistance (up from 25% MR), will enhance their defenses appropriately.

Bretons always feel so defensive, versus the High Elf especially, when it comes to magic users. I wanted to give Bretons a bit more to play with, so I gave a slight buff (+30) to their starting Magicka to give them some power when starting off. I played High Elves a lot, noticing how easy it was to begin the game as a mage with their original +50 starting magicka. I wanted other caster races to experience a similar ease at the beginning.


Dark Elf:
Removed Ancestor's Wrath
75% Fire Resistance
+30 to Starting Stamina
+30 to Starting Magicka

The major choice to remove Ancestor's Wrath was not a quick decision. I tried various adjustments to Ancestor's Wrath, but this racial is less useful with allies around. In fact, it basically falls off entirely once you're level 10. Racials that are based on a spell (anyone can learn) can be frustrating, as it almost feels like a waste of space.

I wanted Dark Elves to feel really powerful against fire (maybe too powerful?), so I boosted their Fire Resistance to 75% (previously 50%). I feel that boosting this Fire Resistance, combined with +30 starting stamina & magicka, is a good answer to give Dark Elves a great start to both Skyrim & the Dragonborn DLC (once they meet the appropriate requirements to go see that content). The Dragonborn DLC content felt difficult as any race around level 20. While that makes since, this new content takes place (mostly) in Morrowind, home of the Dark Elves. The 50% resistance to fire helps, but I remember still having trouble against the Ash creatures. 75% makes the Dark Elves feel really powerful here.


High Elf:
Highborn now lasts for 2 mins
+80 to Starting Magicka (Previously +50)

I have always argued that the High Elves felt (in many ways) like the most powerful race in the game. As I wanted to make them more powerful, I kept these changes simple. Highborn makes High Elves feel like complete badasses, slinging spells to no end for 60 seconds. I want High Elves to feel scarily powerful when they turn on Highborn. I also played with greater magicka regeneration, but the double-time at the original regeneration rate felt better.

Also, High Elves originally start at +50 magicka. This is already incredible, but being the masters of offensive magic, I wanted to make it even easier on High Elves starting out. From this, I boosted their starting magicka to +80.


Imperial:
+50 to Starting Health
400 Base Carrying Capacity (Usually 300)

Imperials are one of the weaker races in Skyrim. As I wanted to offer them more utility, I boosted their Base Carrying Capacity to 400 (usually 300), and gave them +50 to starting health. While imperials are known to take on all the roles of combat in Skyrim, they always seemed more built for tanky warrior types. Regardless of the play style, the health and carrying capacity bonus can be highly relevant and useful to anyone.

The Imperial race still feels a bit weaker than other races, so feel free to discuss your thoughts on this in the comments below.


Khajiit:
Night Eye increased to 5 mins
Claw Damage Doubled (Unarmed attacks do 30 points of damage before modifiers)

The Night Eye racial ability can be cast as often as a Khajiit player wants, but how annoying is it to have to cast it every single minute? I boosted this to 5 mins based on convenience. As for the Claw passive ability, I felt that unarmed combat (as Khajiit) still fell off in later levels. While I'm not confident this buff brings Khajiit up to par on physical damage, it's something I'm testing. Your thoughts are welcome.

Nord:
75% Frost Resistance
+50 to Starting Magicka
400 Base Carrying Capacity (Usually 300)
Nords can no longer be knocked down by any effects

Ah, Nords - the native race to Skyrim. I felt that they were already one of the stronger races to Skyrim, but the fact that their Racial Ability "War Cry" is a spell any player can learn...meh. Similar to my reasoning about Dark Elves, Nords should be the masters of Frost Resistance. Further, there are some great Mages that are from Nord ancestry. As Nords are sometimes known to be born with inherent magical talents, I wanted to give the Nords +50 to magicka. Starting as a mage can be difficult at first (drinking lots of mana potions, etc.) so this boost to magicka makes the Nord race easier to play as a budding mage.

Due to their heartiness, I felt that Nords should also have their carrying capacity base boosted to 400, as well as be resistant to knock-down effects. I find this particularly useful as a mage/thief, as that crowd control combined with high damage can be lethal.


Orc:
20 to Starting Smithing
20 to Starting Enchanting
+50 to Starting Health
Berserk now lasts for 5 mins
Orcs can no longer be knocked down by any effects

Orcs are already an incredible race for melee combat. I wanted them to have an easier life outside of melee combat, so Smithing & Enchanting has been boosted. Being melee fighters, I wanted to let them stay in combat as long as possible, feeling like powerhouses. The boost to starting health, immunity to knock-down effects, & making Berserk last for 5 minutes give Orcs the option to stay in the thick of combat for longer.


Redguard:
+30 to Starting Health
+30 to Starting Stamina
Natural Stamina regen increased by 20%

Redguards already feel powerful. I wanted to make their starting levels feel better. After testing a few active abilities, I felt that wasn't the answer. These passive boosts feel great with the usual play styles of Redguard.


Wood Elf:
+30 to Starting Archery
+100 to Starting Stamina
Command Animal now lasts for 1 hour (Up from 1 minute)

The coolest thing about Wood Elves is commanding animals. Now you can do it for an entire hour! Combined with incredible starting archery and a nice boost to stamina, these elves are the masters of the hunt.