Shattered Kingdoms

How about Delf Mercs using weapons that benefit from Dex? Wouldn't this race kick [REDACTED] with a long bow speciality? I remember Inzaarid used to slay with a bow.

No. Deep elves are not innate archers, else that same bonus would apply to scouts as well. Their origins aren't wilderness, they're SUBTERRANEAN.

Forgive my ignorance, as I play casters. But doesn't Dex affect archery?
If so, doesn't the d-elf merc get a bonus over other races? I say that due to dex, skirmish, and weapon specialization.

Deep-elf mercenaries have an edge dex wise over human mercenaries. They do not, however, have an edge over half-elf mercenaries.

As far as scouts go, Deep-elves are on par with humans, but actually SUB-par to half-elves.

Also note that elven mercenaries are more dexterous than deep-elf mercenaries for some reason.

The reason being that they actually have more physical straining traditions than deep-elves, who live in caves.

IMO, both these races need a boost. Not because they're not balanced with the other races stat-wise, They're perfectly fine. The problem is, there are huge rp limitations to both delves and elves which pretty much cripple them in many aspects of the game.
True, elf or delf mercenaries are not the best that may come about, but you can still roll one for RP reasons. Thing is, given the RP limitations, then the mechanic limitations, and the racial weaknesses, the list of -'s gets too long for someone to actually play this combination for long, given the way SK is currently played (omg I must mastar every skillzor and find l334 peekay comboz) by most (and by most I mean 51% or more)

Imo, what elves and delves need are unique things to them. Items that crumble in the hands of any other race, specific skills or spells available only to them, areas only they can enter. Not so many that will make everyone stop playing any other race and go elf/delf, but a few things that will give them an edge enough for people to play something other than the typical delf necro/sorc or elf paladin/sorc/bard

An intriguing suggestion.

Thanks GL, I did not know that half-elves matched Deep-elves in dex.

On the spell caster front, I do not think I would ever play a D-elf. The extra concentration may be cool, but the low mana is a b-atch.

Low mana just means you regen your pool faster

mana is not really an issue if you know what you're doing, at times.

Having played a deep-elf, human, half-elf (never doing that again) and gnome caster to fairly high levels, deep-elves definitely have their advantages. If you are honestly concerned with your mana pool, mana trains are available. HP trains as well if you wish to make them not so frail. What I loved about a delf- I wasn't afraid of taunt.