Shattered Kingdoms

Size small armor means a lots less weight and means more dodging. As Pes0 said, tank not damage dealer.

Well, to be honest the only real problems I ever had with dwarves was small sized arrows weren't that good for dwallstrom so I had to fight with my hasted gsed pets more then skirmish. For Roath the problem was his int was to low to hold sa, sanc, and fight and get bashed. He couldn't really tank, but there are ways around that.

Fact of the matter is being a dwarf never really hindered me but I've always had alot of support for my characters. I hate to compliment Fepel but I don't recall a time when she ever turned Ulro away when I needed enchantments. I was able to hold my own 1 vs 1 against any character. The only time Ulro was ever totally owned 1 vs 1 was against Krok when my tanso sickle shattered on his ada armor. Every other char I don't remember them being able to beat or at least waste me. That could just be selective memory. With a certain MC spell Ulro was able to get 25v dex while hasted and 25 str as well. He was quite effective. A dwarf in the MC with the right players around you can be good.

I've already said what I would do to help dwarves. I don't usually critisize Dulrik but his earthmeld idea is a really bad one. I would prefer the stat boosts but I am just itching to use a dwarf that can fight with a good old dwarven axe effectively.

I played Bruck, dwarven barbarian with max str/dex/con and 25 hp (would have had 26 but he was only level 49). For the whole time I played him the only problem was damage output. He could take helacious beatings and dwarven RP concepts are infinite in SK. When you add their aging to their innate abilites and no real weaknesses they are dare I say balanced. Damage output is the problem but what we face here is this ... we make dwarves the new giants very easily by giving them something new. I dont really understand how dulriks improvement will change anything, it may actually be worse for dwarves because they are frozen and unable to be bashed/tripped etc while their opponents can now be kicking/dirting etc. Giants must be the solo winners because of their weaknesses and limitations when it comes to heavy-armed classes with everything else equal else no one would play them. Dwarves need to realize that they cant take a giant most times 1-vs-1 and everything is fine. That was hardest for me while RPing Bruck, understanding that any giant with decent HP and armor/weapon choice was going to beat me one on one. If we make dwarves have medium weapons or make them size medium they will be overpowered. I have long suggested giving dwarves +1 to dex. I never could understand how giants were equal in dexterity to dwarves. +1 dex may be the only viable option that way on mood defensive (which dwarves should be againsts giants) the fight will become closer but dwarves will still lose slightly. This is the best way to "balance" them IMHO without them being overpowered.

my 2 cents

On second thought, the only giant I was consistently beaten by was a harlequin so we know how that goes. Dwarves with GS and Haste are at least equal to any other fighters and more often than not they should own. As I said damage output is the weakness of the dwarf with only one exception, fury. Once a dwarven barb has furied he does more balanced fighting. Mercs dont get it but if spec'd right can be faster and more defensive. +1 for dex, thats all you'll hear out of me.

I haven't posted in a while so I figured I'd give my 4 cents instead of two.
Dwarves with earthmeld, if only lagged and not completely frozen would smoke people as a shaman or fistor ...or any other lethal combination because they could heal without ever really being stopped or cast anything continuously. Also on a sidenote, centaurs should also get a rise on dexterity because they are nearly going extinct for fighters. 16 dex is a worthless fighter, i say bump dwarves up to 19, centaurs to 18 and giants to 17 or something along these lines.

Dwarves are fine, fix the players!

Asking the impossible again Peso?

i haven't played any dwarves since grimbold, but they used to be the awesome. I guess I need to see how they handle on this new combat system before I can make a stance...I've seen poor performance in the field though from other people.

I doubt that any dwarf fighter one on one with a Giant will ever win and resistance to bash and trip will not change that.
I think that adding to their strength makes sense IC as well, can you imagine a human stronger than a Dwarf? I know that a strength incensement is not something that requires any specific tactics from the players but it will offset the lack of damage output.

Allow dwarves wield LARGE sized axe without penalties, nomatter what their class, and they are fixed and awesome.