Cultural Options: Alliance & Race

Cultural attributes are ascribed to characters through the Racial skill line. Each race inherently receives the first skill (shown on a gray background) in the tables below. Upon reaching character level 5 this skill is granted to everyone of that particular race without cost. The other skills may be purchased with skill points as you level your character.

The alliance chosen during the race selection portion of character creation cannot be ever changed without an Alliance Change Token and owning Any Race, Any Alliance. The Crown Store does offer an upgrade option called Any Race, Any Alliance but it cannot be retroactively applied and must be purchased prior to character creation if you wish to play a particular race outside of its traditional alliance.

Racial changes later purchased in the Crown Store will not change your alliance to that of the new race but rather requires the chosen race to be permitted in your current alliance. This means that unless you also own the "Any Race, Any Alliance" upgrade, a racial change token will only allow changing to either of your alliance's two other default races.

Let me stress that again: The choice of an alliance forever locks in which team you will fight for within AvA areas (such as in Cyrodiil, the Imperial City, or Battlegrounds).

ESO has three alliances and ten player races. By default each alliance is made up of three races, with Imperials given the choice of which alliance to play for.

*These quotes were from the official website early in the game's history and may no longer appear there.*
Aldmeri Dominion	Daggerfall Covenant	Ebonheart Pact
An alliance among the peoples of southern Tamriel formed to protect the continent from further warmongering through order in the rule of law guided by patience & wisdom. Convinced that the younger, less sophisticated races have dominated Tamriel too long, the Dominion seeks to right the course of history. The cultured and typically reclusive High Elves have emerged from their ancestral home beside the Wood Elves and crafty Khajiit to usher in a new Era of peace and law.	An alliance among the peoples of northwest Tamriel formed to create stability and economic prosperity through trade. The Redguards, a disciplined and martial people, have grudgingly agreed to join the Orcs thanks to the cunning Bretons, whose political and economic savvy make victory for the Covenant seem possible. Despite internal struggles, the Covenant believes that only it can provide the strong leadership and plan for prosperity the Empire needs to survive.	An alliance among the peoples of eastern Tamriel initially formed in the name of freedom and mutual defense during the Second Akaviri Invasion they believe they've now earned the right to rule based on the power of their militaristic might. Tensions run deep between these unlikely allies, forced to stand together... The dour, magically-gifted Dark Elves have joined the reptilian Argonians — former slaves from mysterious Black Marsh — and boisterous Nords in a bid for sovereignty.
Altmer (High Elf) Bosmer (Wood Elf) Khajiit	Breton Orc (Orsimer) Redguard	Argonian Dunmer (Dark Elf) Nord
As natives of Cyrodiil, Imperials choose any alliance to save the Empire from corruption by sinister forces.

It should be noted that values shown below reflect the ability and/or morph once it is fully trained which sometimes differs from earlier costs, durations, or damage values. All costs and damage values here are without attribute points placed, without equipment, without passive skills acquired or active skills slotted and without champion points spent to make it easier to compare skills regardless of gear/build differences.

Since Mundus buffs can be changed but not removed, either no mundus buff was in place (template character on PTS) or the Lover mundus (which only alters penetration) was used.

Remember that if a skill costs Magicka, it scales with your maximum Magicka (and Spell Damage) while if a skill costs Stamina, it scales with your maximum Stamina (and Weapon Damage). Ultimate abilities and Synergies scale with the combination that provides you with the best offensive stats.

Traditional Alliance	Race	Passive Skill	Description of Skill
As natives of Cyrodiil they choose any alliance to defend the Empire.	Imperial	Diplomat	Increases experience in the Shield skill line by 15% and gold gained by 1%.
As natives of Cyrodiil they choose any alliance to defend the Empire.	Imperial	Tough	Increases Max Health by 600-1200-2000
As natives of Cyrodiil they choose any alliance to defend the Empire.	Imperial	Conditioning	Increases Max Stamina by 600-1200-2000
As natives of Cyrodiil they choose any alliance to defend the Empire.	Imperial	Red Diamond	Direct damage attacks always (when not on 5 second cooldown) restore 100-200-333 of Health, Magicka, and Stamina. Also, Reduces the cost of all abilities by 1%-2%-3% 2%-4%-6%.
As natives of Cyrodiil they choose any alliance to defend the Empire.	The racial skills of the Imperials reflect their combat training and perseverance in battle, giving them bonuses to gold drop rates, shield proficiency, base health and stamina, and resource recovery when fighting back to make them resolute fighters. Imperials are well-suited to tanking. This race may play in any alliance but is only available with the Imperial version of the game or with the Imperial upgrade option purchased in the Crown Store.

Traditional Alliance	Race	Passive Skill	Description of Skill
Aldmeri Dominion	Altmer	Highborn	Increases experience in the Destruction Staff skill line by 15% and increases all other experience gain by 1%.
	Altmer	Spell Recharge	Restore 200-400-640 200-400-625 Magicka or Stamina, whichever has the smaller resource pool, after activating a Class Ability (cooldown: 6 seconds). Also, reduces damage taken by 1%-2%-5% while you are using an ability with a cast or channel time.
	Altmer	Syrabane's Boon	Increases Maximum Magicka by 600-1200-2000
	Altmer	Elemental Talent	Increases Spell Damage and Weapon Damage by 86-172-258
	Altmer (high elves) might be chosen for Healer or magicka-based DPS builds, especially if one wanted to stay within the Aldmeri Dominion.

Traditional Alliance	Race	Passive Skill	Description of Skill
Aldmeri Dominion	Bosmer	Acrobat	Increases experience in the Bow skill line by 15% and reduces fall damage by 10%.
	Bosmer	Hunter's Eye	Increases your Stealth Detection radius by 1-2-3 meters. Also, after using Roll Dodge you gain a 3%-6%-10% 1%-3%-5% bonus to Movement Speed, and an additional 400-900-1500 300-600-950 Physical & Spell Penetration, for 6 seconds.
	Bosmer	Y'ffre's Endurance	Boost Stamina Recovery by 86-127-258
	Bosmer	Resist Affliction	Increases Max Stamina by 600-1200-2000, become immune to Poisoned status effects, and fortify Resistance against Poison and Disease Damage by 660-1320-2310
	Bosmer (wood elves) fit best as DPS in PvP fights. Their strengths come from defenses against Poison and their bonuses to base stamina & stamina recovery.

Traditional Alliance	Race	Passive Skill	Description of Skill
Aldmeri Dominion	Khajiit	Cutpurse	Increases experience in the Medium Armor skill line by 15% and increases the chance to successfully pickpocket by 5%.
	Khajiit	Robustness	Increases Health Recovery by 33-66-100 as well as increasing Magicka and Stamina Recovery by 25-50-85
	Khajiit	Lunar Blessings	Increases your Maximum Health, Stamina, and Magicka by 250-500-825 305-610-915
	Khajiit	Feline Ambush	Increases your Critical Damage and Critical Healing by 3%-6%-10% 4%-8%-12%. Also, reduces your detection radius in Stealth by 1-2-3 meters.
	Khajiit are utility builds (a unique stealth bonus for thievery & assassination) that could survive in any role, perhaps a good option for a healer. Thanks to their Critical Damage boost, consider dual-wielding daggers for DPS and placing 30 Champion Points in Ritual to further expand melee criticals!

Traditional Alliance	Race	Passive Skill	Description of Skill
Daggerfall Covenant	Breton	Opportunist	Increases experience in the Light Armor skill line by 15% and gain a 1% increase to Alliance Points earned.
	Breton	Gift of Magnus	Increases Max Magicka 600-1200-2000
	Breton	Spell Attunement	Increases Spell Resistance by 660-1320-2310 (doubled if afflicted by Burning, Chilled, or Concussed) and boost Magicka Recovery by 33-66-100 40-80-130
	Breton	Magicka Mastery	Reduces the Magicka Cost of your abilities by 2%-4%-7%
	Bretons fit well with many magicka-based builds, and really shine when making the most of their resistances & recovery. Try them out for any class, although they especially excel as Dragonknights.

Traditional Alliance	Race	Passive Skill	Description of Skill
Daggerfall Covenant	Orc	Craftsman	Increases experience in the Heavy Armor skill line by 15% and increases crafting inspiration by 10%.
	Orc	Brawny	Increases Max Stamina by 600-1200-2000 333-666-1000
	Orc	Unflinching Rage	Increases Max Health by 300-600-1000. Also, heal 175-350-600 700-1400-2125 Health upon dealing damage with a weapon. (cooldown: 4 seconds)
	Orc	Swift Warrior	Increase Spell Damage and Weapon Damage by 86-127-258. Also reduces the Cost of Sprint by 4%-8%-12% and increases Sprint's bonus to Movement Speed by 3%-6%-10%.
	With their health options & all-around weapon damage boosts, Orcs are a solid option for tanks or for offensive stamina-based builds.

Traditional Alliance	Race	Passive Skill	Description of Skill
Daggerfall Covenant	Redguard	Wayfarer	Increases experience in the Shield skill line by 15% and increases the duration of consumed foods by 15 minutes.
	Redguard	Martial Training	Reduces the cost of Weapon abilities by 2%-4%-8% and Snares applied to you are 5%-10%-15% less effective.
	Redguard	Conditioning	Increases Max Stamina 600-1200-2000
	Redguard	Adrenaline Rush	Restore 300-600-950 333-666-1005 Stamina after causing Direct any Damage. (cooldown: 5 seconds)
	Redguards are well-suited to stamina-based DPS characters who seek endurance for long single-target battles.

Traditional Alliance	Race	Passive Skill	Description of Skill
Ebonheart Pact	Argonian	Amphibian	Increases experience in the Restoration Staff skill line by 15% and increases swimming speed by 50%.
	Argonian	Life Mender	Increases Healing Done by 1%-3%-6%
	Argonian	Argonian Resistance	Increases Max Health by 333-666-1000 and fortifies your Disease and Poison Resistance by 660-1320-2310. Also grants immunity to Diseased status effects.
	Argonian	Resourceful	Increase Max Magicka and Max Stamina by 333-666-1000 Also, drinking a potion restores 1200-2400-4000 1000-2000-3125 Health, Magicka, & Stamina.
	Argonians strengths play to healers and let them survive as a viable (especially solo/self-healing) tank.

Traditional Alliance	Race	Passive Skill	Description of Skill
Ebonheart Pact	Dunmer	Ashlander	Increases experience in the Dual Wield skill line by 15% and reduces damage from environmental lava by 50%.
	Dunmer	Dynamic	Increases Max Magicka and Max Stamina by 500-1000-1875 600-1200-1910
	Dunmer	Resist Flame	Increases Flame Resistance by 660-1320-2310 1540-3080-4620 and gain immunity to the Burning status effect.
	Dunmer	Ruination	Increases Weapon Damage & Spell Damage by 86-127-258.
	Dunmer (dark elves) suit a variety of DPS builds and their inherent flame resistance makes vampire skills tempting.

Traditional Alliance	Race	Passive Skill	Description of Skill
Ebonheart Pact	Nord	Reveler	Increases experience in the Two-Handed Weapon skill line by 15% and increases the duration of beverages by 15 minutes.
	Nord	Resist Frost	Increase Max Health 333-666-1000 and fortifies Cold Resistance by 660-1320-2310 1540-3080-4620. Also gain immunity to the Chilled status effect.
	Nord	Stalwart	Increase Max Stamina by 500-1000-1500 Also, gain 1-2-5 Ultimate when you take damage up to once every 10 seconds.
	Nord	Rugged	Increases Physical and Spell Resistance by 1320-2640-3960 866-1732-2600.
	Nords offer a strongly defensive and ultimate-reliant build, especially suited for tanks.

Sunshine Daydream

Deadheads rocking Elder Scrolls Online