[edit] Playable races of darkfall online

Playable racesThere are six playable races in Darkfall.[20] Unlike other MMORPGs, racial choice does not heavily influence your characters choices or progression options: 95% of the skills may be learned regardless of your race, the remainder are race-specific abilities. Each race begins play in their own homeland, and have their own unique storylines, histories, and racial alliances/enemies.
While certain races have friendships and hatreds with other races in Darkfall, these are not strictly enforced upon the players, and it is possible for allied clans to declare war upon both their own race and their racial allies. Declaring war against a clan will prevent players of the declaring clan from sustaining alignment penalties associated with attacking and killing players of the opposing clan, regardless of race.
It is possible to form mixed-race clans of opposing factions, but this choice comes with some disadvantages: NPCs will always behave according to their racial faction, and will thus react with hostility to racial enemies even if accompanied by and/or allied with friendly races. A recent developer journal has indicated however that the NPCs of cities built by an all-race clan will not attack members of the owning clan, regardless of race.
The races are as follows:
The six playable races of Darkfall; from top: Alfar female with Shulgan drake mount, two male dwarves and one female dwarf, human female, mirdain (elf) female with aerdian cat mount, mahirrim male, ork female.
Alfar (Dark Elves)Homeland: Nagast Allies: None Enemies: Everyone Racial mount: Shulgan Drake The Alfar are the cruel, hate-spawned cousins of the Mirdain. Abducted eons ago by their insane god-king Melek, these former Mirdain have been mutated and warped by his diabolical influence and his mother's Silver Circlet into fearless, rage-driven killers. Striking their enemies from the shadowy, spell-blasted lands of Nagast, the Alfar tear a bloody swath of destruction wherever they go, disappearing as quickly as they appeared. Gifted with an innate affinity for the magical arts, the Alfar are skilled spellcasters who draw their power from their volatile God. Due to this unpredictability, Alfar spells fluctuate in power, creating a slight variance in result with every cast. Alfar have a deep seated hatred for all other life on Agon; though they can join clans of other races, they loathe doing so.[21]

DwarvesHomeland: Dvergheim Allies: Humans, Mirdain Enemies: Mahirim, Orks, Alfar Racial mount: Garmir Ram Grim-faced, iron-strong and unshakable in courage and convictions, dwarves are trueborn children of the mountains. They are an introspective and taciturn race who scorn all gods in preference of a multi-millennial path to perfection that was laid out by the legendary founder of their nation. The dwarves follow the teachings of Ymir, a legendary mastersmith who forged many of Dvergheim's greatest wonders, as well as the nation itself. Ymir spent his final years writing a book that laid out a detailed, step by step plan for the next 20,000 years of dwarven civilization. Ymir's teachings told the dwarves what to strive for, what to practice and what to create, and he told them how and when they should approach each task.[22]

HumansHomeland: Mercia Allies: Dwarves, Mirdain Enemies: Mahirim, Orks, Alfar Racial mount: Warhorse Humans in the game live very much like their real life counterparts did in medieval times, with a feudal system, and a constant power struggle between the King and the Church. Humans are a versatile race, with no particular strengths and weaknesses.[23]

Mirdain (Forest Elves)Homeland: Mirendil Allies: Dwarves, Humans Enemies: Mahirim, Orks, Alfar Racial mount: Aerdian cat The Mirdain are a sophisticated race of skilled diplomats and traders. They prefer diplomacy and subtle manipulation to direct conflict, but Mirdain are still brilliant tacticians whose expert troop movements and cunning ruses allow them to defeat enemies many times their number. Working deep from within their forest home of Mirendil, the Mirdain are a peaceful and cultured race in a world torn by war. The Mirdain are somewhat magically adept, and most of them are able to direct a modest number of spells. They are also skilled hunters, proficient with the bow from an early age.[24]

MahirimHomeland: Tribelands Allies: Orks Enemies: Humans, Mirdain, Dwarves, Alfar Racial mount: None; able to run as fast as a mount on all fours when out of combat. A fierce race of predators from the untamed wilds of the Tribelands, the Mahirim are a race who still seem at odds with their recent move to civilization. While they have laws now, they retain all the finely-honed instincts and predatory skills of their pack-hunter ancestors. Though they have recently evolved to walk on two-legs, the wolf-like Mahirim retain the ability to run on all fours, and can easily out-pace all other races on foot and match other races' mounts for speed, whilst retaining the capability to ride other races' mounts. Given their long history of aggression and their somewhat arrogant nature, the Mahirim have few friends. They do, however, have a small degree of respect for the Orks, who are very capable warriors and equally warlike.[25]

OrksHomeland: Morak Allies: Mahirim Enemies: Humans, Mirdain, Dwarves, Alfar Racial mount: Death Pig Until very recently the Orks used to roam the swamps like the Goblins do now: no permanent settlements, no civilization, spending their time hunting or at war. But, an evil deity tamed the Orks and taught them how to build cities and enslave workers. Modern day Orkish society is built on the enslavement of the Goblin race, as they do all the manual labour for the Orks. The Orks also control an evil cult of Dwarves who design buildings and weapons for Orkish conquest; they live in much better conditions than the Goblins. The Orks believe that one day their God will rise from the Volcano and kill all non-Orks.[26]