Guide: Which Race Should You Pick in Skyrim on PS4?

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim - Special Edition is a massive role-playing game that you can sink hundreds of hours into. As such, you need to carefully consider what kind of character you want to play as, lest you find yourself wanting to start over 50 hours down the line. In Skyrim, there are ten different races to choose from when first creating your Dragonborn, each with their own strengths, weaknesses, and special abilities. In this guide, we're going to try and help you choose which race is best for you by outlining their unique talents and how useful they are.

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However, it's worth noting that character progression in Skyrim is very open ended. Any race can become a master of any specific skill - it's just that some may take a little longer to get to that point than others. With that in mind, you should never feel as though you've done wrong by creating a character that you find enjoyable - even if they're not the very best at what they're doing. That's part of role-playing, after all.

Anyway, let's get the basics out of the way first.

What are skills?

Skills are the basis of character growth in Skyrim. Whether you're swinging a sword, blocking with a shield, firing blasts of ice from your hands, or brewing potions, you'll be levelling up a specific skill. As your proficiency in a given skill increases, you'll unlock perks that further enhance your character's ability. For example, if you're constantly using archery in combat, you'll be developing that skill, and you'll unlock perks that grant you bonuses like being able to slow time when taking a shot.

So, how do skills tie into choosing a race? Well, each race has skills that they're naturally gifted in, meaning that you'll start the game with a slight boost in certain areas. The base level for any skill is 15, but Orcs, for instance, start out at level 25 in the heavy armour skill. This means that, initially, Orcs will take less damage from enemy attacks when they're wearing heavy armour.

Skills bonuses sound useful on paper, but in practice, they shouldn't really influence your decision when creating your character. As we mentioned earlier, any character can eventually reach maximum level in any skill, so an Orc in heavy armour may be a little tougher to kill during the opening hours of your adventure, but it won't take long for a character of a different race to reach that same heavy armour skill level.

In other words, it's each race's unique powers and abilities that you should be paying attention to when creating your character.

What are racial powers and abilities?

Each of the ten available races in Skyrim have their own racial powers, and most have their own abilities. Powers are basically unique magic spells that can be used once per day in-game. They don't cost any magicka, and their effects are generally quite powerful. Think of your power as a kind of ace up your sleeve - something to activate when the going gets tough.

Abilities, on the other hand, are bonuses that are always active.

With the basics out of the way, let's move on to a breakdown of each race. We'll also be including our own thoughts on how practical each power and ability is.

Argonian

Racial power: Histskin
What it does: When activated, Histskin allows Argonians to regenerate their health ten times faster for 60 seconds.
Our thoughts: Histskin is a useful power when survival is your top priority. Regenerating health at ten times the speed can make you very hard to kill in a fight, and against strong enemies, it can potentially level the playing field, giving you that extra resilience that you may need to survive powerful attacks.

Racial ability (1): Waterbreathing
What it does: Allows you to breathe underwater, meaning that as an Argonian, you'll never drown.
Our thoughts: A very straightforward ability, Waterbreathing can come in handy when you're exploring dungeons that have submerged areas or you're diving into the depths of the ocean, but for the most part, it's not an overly useful ability purely because there's not much to find in Skyrim's waters.

Racial ability (2): 50% Disease Resistance
What it does: Various enemies in Skyrim can inflict diseases upon your character through normal attacks. Diseases generally damage your statistics, making your character weaker in one way or another. Having Disease Resistance makes it harder to contract diseases.
Our thoughts: Diseases can certainly be a bit annoying, but they're easily cured by either using a potion of cure disease, or activating a shrine. As such, having 50% Disease Resistance isn't especially important.

Breton

Racial power: Dragonskin
What it does: When you're hit with magic spells and Dragonskin is active, you'll absorb 50% of the damage, and regenerate your magicka in the process. Dragonskin lasts 60 seconds.
Our thoughts: Dragonskin is a great power to have on hand, especially when you're fighting against enemies that primarily use spells. Mages can be a real danger in Skyrim, so being able to activate Dragonskin and lessen incoming damage can easily save your life. What's more, if you're a mage yourself, you'll be able to get a lot of your own spent magicka back so that you can retaliate.

Racial ability: 25% Magic Resistance
What it does: Nullifies 25% of damage from incoming spells.
Our thoughts: Having 25% Magic Resistance is a really good passive ability due to the fact that many enemies in Skyrim use spells to attack. In combination with the Breton's Dragonskin power, you'll have an impressive advantage over magic wielding foes.

Dark Elf

Racial power: Ancestor's Wrath
What it does: When activated, Ancestor's Wrath coats your character in flames, dealing fire damage to anything that gets too close for 60 seconds.
Our thoughts: A nice way to do extra damage when engaged in close combat, Ancestor's Wrath works well if you prefer more personal encounters. It's useful when on the defence, too, as even when you're busy blocking with a shield or weapon, the flames will still damage your opponents.

Racial ability: 50% Fire Resistance
What it does: All incoming fire damage is lessened by 50%.
Our thoughts: 50% resistance to anything is useful to have around, so this is a solid racial ability.

High Elf

Racial power: Highborn
What it does: When activated, you'll regenerate 25% of your maximum magicka every second for 60 seconds.
Our thoughts: A brilliant power for mages, Highborn essentially allows for near infinite magicka for a whole minute. Usually, this will be enough to destroy whatever enemy you're facing as long as you're using spells that are powerful enough.

Racial ability: +50 Magicka
What it does: Gives you a bonus 50 points to your total magicka pool.
Our thoughts: Just about as simple an ability as you could ask for, High Elves get 50 extra points of magicka, which is actually a pretty hefty bonus. This may allow you to use more powerful spells earlier on in the game, as you might be able to afford the high magicka cost.

Imperial

Racial power: Voice of the Emperor
What it does: When activated, nearby people (that's non-playable characters and enemies who are of the ten races) are calmed, meaning that they'll immediately stop any aggression. The effect lasts 30 seconds.
Our thoughts: Although it's quite a situational power, Voice of the Emperor definitely has its uses. If you're up against a tough group of bandits, for example, you can use this power to give yourself some time to either run away or heal your wounds. It's also useful when you've accidentally made an NPC aggressive and you don't want to kill them.

Racial ability: Find more gold
What it does: As an Imperial, you'll find more gold in chests, containers, and on bodies.
Our thoughts: A nice little bonus, but gold isn't that hard to come by in Skyrim - especially later on in your adventure, when your pockets will more than likely be overflowing with coin.

Khajiit

Racial power: Night Eye
What it does: When activated, allows Khajiit to see better in the dark for 60 seconds. Unlike other racial powers, though, Night Eye can be used multiple times per day in-game.
Our thoughts: Not much use in combat unless you're struggling to see your enemies in a very dark environment, Night Eye isn't the best power in Skyrim. That said, it can at least be used more than once per day, so it could come in handy if you enjoy exploring at night.

Racial ability: +15 Unarmed Damage
What it does: Allows Khajiit to do more unarmed (no equipped weapon) damage than any other race in Skyrim.
Our thoughts: This ability makes Khajiit the most effective unarmed fighters in the game, without question. Unarmed attacks are not governed by any skill, and therefore do not get any stronger. As such, Khajiit will always deal more damage than any other race when it comes to using their fists, or indeed, claws. This makes them a prime candidate for players who don't want to use melee weapons when brawling up close.

Nord

Racial power: Battle Cry
What it does: When activated, enemies will stop what they're doing and flee. The effect lasts 30 seconds.
Our thoughts: Battle Cry is a lot like the Imperial's Voice of the Emperor, but it's useful in more situations as it will frighten any enemy type, not just people. It can be used both offensively or defensively, as you can either chase after your fleeing foes and finish them off, or, while they're escaping, take the time to heal your wounds.

Racial ability: 50% Frost Resistance
What it does: All incoming frost damage is lessened by 50%.
Our thoughts: Like the Dark Elf's fire resistance, a whole 50% resistance to frost is bound to come in handy at some point.

Orc

Racial power: Berserker Rage
What it does: For 60 seconds, your Orc takes half damage from all sources, and deals double damage with all attacks.
Our thoughts: A very, very good power to have in any combat scenario. For a whole minute, you can become an incredibly dangerous fighter, capable of dishing out massive damage and shrugging off blows that would otherwise take chunks out of your health bar.

Orcs have no racial abilities.

Redguard

Racial power: Adrenaline Rush
What it does: When activated, Redguards regenerate stamina ten times as fast for 60 seconds.
Our thoughts: Adrenaline Rush may not seem quite as useful as an Argonian's Histskin since it regenerates stamina instead of health, but it can still be a very effective power when used correctly. If you're a fan of dual wielding at close range, for example, and want to get the most out of deadly heavy attacks, you can activate Adrenaline Rush and smash your opponent repeatedly. The same goes for defensive techniques like shield bashing.

Racial ability: 50% Poison Resistance
What it does: Some enemies in Skyrim can poison you with their attacks, causing you to gradually lose health. Poison Resistance makes you lose less health when under the effects of poison.
Our thoughts: Poison can be a pain in Skyrim, but it's not encountered all that often, and poison generally doesn't do a huge amount of extra damage. Still, being a 50% resistance, it'll likely come in handy at some point.

Wood Elf

Racial power: Command Animal
What it does: When activated, all nearby animals, such as wolves, bears, and mammoths, become the Woof Elf's allies for 60 seconds.
Our thoughts: A very situational power, Command Animal obviously requires wildlife to be nearby. Still, having a small army of animals help you take down a dragon is a pretty cool concept.

Racial ability (1): 50% Disease Resistance
What it does: Various enemies in Skyrim can inflict diseases upon your character through normal attacks. Diseases generally damage your statistics, making your character weaker in one way or another. Having Disease Resistance makes it harder to contract diseases.
Our thoughts: Diseases can certainly be a bit annoying, but they're easily cured by either using a potion of cure disease, or activating a shrine. As such, having 50% Disease Resistance isn't especially important.

Racial ability (2): 50% Poison Resistance
What it does: Some enemies in Skyrim can poison you with their attacks, causing you to gradually lose health. Poison Resistance makes you lose less health when under the effects of poison.
Our thoughts: Poison can be a pain in Skyrim, but it's not encountered all that often, and poison generally doesn't do a huge amount of extra damage. Still, being a 50% resistance, it'll likely come in handy at some point.

So, which race tickles your fancy? How will you be playing Skyrim? Create a horribly overpowered character in the comments section below.