Okay, so I’ve been diving deep into Final Fantasy XIV lately, and one thing that always bugged me was the whole race thing. Like, do the stats really matter? I decided to finally figure this out for myself, so here’s what I did.
My Experiment Begins
First, I rolled a bunch of new characters. You know, one of each race and sub-race, just to get a good spread. I made sure they were all the same class – Gladiator, to keep things consistent. I jotted down their starting stats: Strength, Dexterity, Vitality, Intelligence, Mind, the whole shebang.
It was kind of tedious, I’m not gonna lie. Lots of clicking through menus and writing stuff down. I almost gave up a few times, but I powered through!
Looking at the Numbers
After I had all my baby Gladiators, I started comparing their stats. I whipped out a spreadsheet (yeah, I’m that guy) and plugged everything in. I wanted to see the actual differences between, say, a Roegadyn Sea Wolf and a Lalafell Plainsfolk.
And you know what? The differences were there, but they were pretty small. Like, we’re talking a point or two here and there. A Highlander might have slightly higher Strength than a Midlander, but it wasn’t a HUGE gap.
Leveling Up
But starting stats aren’t everything, right? So, I decided to level up a few of these characters. I picked a couple that seemed pretty different stat-wise – a beefy Roegadyn and a tiny Lalafell – and grinded them up to level 10.
- Focused mainly on the main strory quests.
- Tried to complete my hunting log.
- Joined a few FATEs whenever I was free.
It was a bit of a slog, but I wanted to see if those initial differences got bigger or smaller as they leveled. Honestly, it felt pretty much the same. My Roegadyn was hitting a little harder, sure, but the Lalafell was dodging a bit more. Nothing game-changing.
My “Expert” Conclusion
So, after all this, what’s my take? The race stats in Final Fantasy XIV do matter, but not a whole lot. At least, not enough to stress over. You’re not going to be totally useless because you picked a race with slightly lower stats for your class.
My advice? Pick the race you think looks coolest, or the one whose lore you vibe with the most. Seriously. You’re going to be spending a lot of time looking at your character, so you might as well enjoy it. The tiny stat differences aren’t going to make or break your gameplay. Just have fun!
