... they seem to be one of the best non-specialized races, if my logic is right.. and I was curious as to why there aren't more of them, especially in the Serenguard (where they seem to be best)?

4.14.8 The Igasho Race

Descended from the Elder God Igaso, the igasho are by far the largest of
the mortal races. They tend to be solitary wanderers, though their
personality is generally jovial and good-natured. Their thick fur and
hide allows them protection against the harshest of weather, and igasho
native to arctic regions have long, white fur. Most igasho prefer forests
and open ranges rather than prolonged confinement in cities. Slow to
anger, when roused, an igasho makes a ferocious fighter as they are
extremely strong and hardy.

STATISTICS:
Strength : 16 Dexterity : 8 Constitution: 17
Intelligence: 9 Charisma : 12 Size : 18

ADVANTAGES:
o Have a racial language, igasho.
o Have a level 2 resistance to cutting damage.
o Have a level 2 resistance to blunt damage.
o Have a level 2 resistance to magic damage.
o Have a level 1 resistance to cold.

DISADVANTAGES:
o Are susceptible to fire, level 1.
o Have level 2 slower balance.
o Have level 1 slower equilibrium.
o Gain experience more slowly, level 1.

An Igasho Serenguard could have:
20 Str and 19 Con (or vice versa), lvl 3 Magic resistance, lvl 3 cold resistance (or a level 2 fire resistance), they could flip their balance/equilibrium penalty with face paints, get a super-sip by using Medicine Bag, and get a lvl 1 regen from StagForm.

So.. why aren't there more of them? I mean, it just seems that, as a Serenguard, all of their real disadvantages pale in comparison to what they'e capable of. Is there something i'm missing?

Susceptability to fire, all around slowness, low int.

-2 Balance recovery, no one wants that, because they are set in the mindset of the speed knights from other IRE games.

Hmm really slow but really painful warriors that don't take much damage from magic. Sounds cool. I'll wait and see what some Serenguard say.

The fire susceptibility is very very low. And it doesn't matter because they have such huge health.

Still, it's a nasty element to be weak too, even if it is low. That wasn't the main thing, anyway.

Fire susceptibility - With Fitness, Frost sip, Fire-proofed Cloak they end up with a lvl 2 Fire RESISTANCE (add in a stacked Robe when you know you're fighting against fire-damage, like Aqua, and you end up with lvl 3)

Low int - Stag-users don't really need int.

Lvl 2 Balance - Using Swiftstripes, they can switch their balance/equilibrium penalty to 1balance/2equilibrium, which isn't all that bad.

I like the igasho, there should be more around. I rarely fight anyway but there has been a few time I have been hit by demesnes and staffcasts. It didn't make me panic so it must be good.
I don't really know much about how it would actually handle in combat though.

MORE ORCLACH AND TAURIAN!

...AND FURRIKIN

Orclach really aren't that bad either.. with Fitness, Frost Sip, and a cloak, they have no fire penalty at all, which means they at least don't get totally raped by Aquas. (add in a stacked robe, and they can have lvl 1 fire resistance and lvl 3 magic resistance)

The fire resistanc eshould be moved down to -2, and add in a level 1 sip bonus, then it'd be pretty balanced (on par with non-specialist races, aside from Dwarf).

I still don't know why Orclach don't get a specialization for ur'Guard.. they really should.. with Viscanti getting the specialization for Nihilist and Geomancer.. but.. come on, Orclach have always been the ur'Guard.. why do Viscanti somehow get the bonus, while Orclach's get nothing at all?

Something to make them worth playing would be nice, but I don't think it will happen, too many people would whine about it. If I do reincarnate, though, I would probably go Orclach.

There aren't many Igasho around because we're so mind-numbingly slow. Terrible at duels, but decent for support. And the resistances don't really kock that much damage off. Also, surge isn't worth it, with the low intelligence.

You wouldn't be slow as a Serenguard with the speed facepaints, and besides, Tae'Dae make do with worse, hm.

And if it's true the resists don't help much, it's equally true that with all those buffs the fire penalty won't hurt you much either.

I guess I'm a good candidate to speak on this topic, as I WAS an Igasho Serenguard.

Yes, the CON and STR were great, but Igasho are just too slow compared to other races. I'm laughing a bit about everyones statements on the face paints...have any of you actually tested them? I think not. While in the Serenguard I did, and I posted to a guild news about the results.

The facepaints only increase the speed by about 1/4 of a point. So instead of -2 balance recovery, it's -1.75...it's barely even noticable. In addition to that slight increase in speed, it hurts your armor rating. The tradeoff is horrible, I NEVER used facepaints after I ran those tests.

I switched to Dracnari, and faired much better. Though Dracnari don't have quite the same strength, the increased speed allows them an extra hit for every so many times the Igasho can hit. That extra hit more than makes up for the slightly less damage due to strength. In addition to that they can complete other skills (non blademaster/bonecrusher) quicker. The increase mana is MUCH more useful, and with surge I have more hitpoints than I did as an Igasho with surge.

On paper the Igasho appear to be very good, in practice however they are not. They're certainly not a sub-par race, however they're not the best either.

I was a tri-trans druid who used Lightning heavily.. it makes a DRASTIC difference. Your tests are just wrong.

No, they weren't. I used a built-in timing function in my client, and used it to test many things successfully (comparing results with others using other methods). The times it tested with stripes and without were compared over 20-30 different tests. The average was taken, and that's what it was. Now these tests were done about 2 months ago, so it's possible that things have been changed/fixed.

You're also talking about a different class, and a different type of balance. It's very possible that stripes do/did effect different types of balance differently.

the strenght difference of one point makes bugger all, when your str varies as an ur'guard by -1 to +2 from base depending on time of day.

Not only that, int has a big effect on your max health surged, as a dracnari i prefer a knowledge blessing over life blessing for the extra health

The tests were correct. Swiftstripes reduces balance by 0.25 secs. Level 1 balance penalty adds about 0.5 - o.8 second (4.8 sec per swing on my machine). So I am guessing it's around 5.5 - 5.8 sec per swing for Level 2 balance penalty. Swiftstripes or not, good luck getting out of ectoplasma.