Shattered Kingdoms

Dwarves have better racial innates and their stats are similar in terms of importance for warrior classes.

The extra strength doesn't matter because fatigue isn't a mechanic anymore, they are equal in dexterity, dwarves have two extra constitution, better charisma, and don't have an innate weakness vs willpower saves (if it's innate and not a result of low wisdom since they have similar caps).

Dwarves get infravision, axe, detect buried compared to giants who get enhanced damage, bash, and boulders. You learn enhanced damage and bash as warrior classes, so it's not a bonus, and nobody uses boulders. It was cool that my idea to allow giants to dig up boulders was implemented, but their weight makes it so you will never use it except in the most fringe cases, and even then it's usually better/easier to use a crossbow/bow despite not having the skill.

Now, putting all that aside, dwarves live longer. That is a great bonus. Age ticks on a warrior class is crippling. Especially as a giant who has to carry armor and weapons that are disproportionally weighted such that a giant cannot wield certain weapons without giant strength after the first age tick, nor can they ever be below half weight without using energy gear and not adamantite.

So what do giants have going for them? Size giant. Increased damage. Dwarves get size small. Increased defenses, coupled with prone resistance. Dwarves are clearly the superior choice.

And minotaurs/centaurs being bad is just how they are coded. Centaurs don't like fire and a lot of things use fire. Minotaurs have no head armor and I wouldn't try it for that reason alone.

*Edit* Almost forgot. Being a giant also means you won't be able to pass through some entrances without some prep or a sorc. Even then I'd say the self-prep method is still buggy at best.

Gergi Did you consider size is a factor in being bashed? I believe the resistance to bash for dwarves was to bring them to par with other races in terms of resisting bashes against each other. As every other race gets increased dex with decrease in size where dwarves do not.

Im going to have to disagree with your thinking on aged ticks when looking at min/maxing. You should not be considering age your leveling vs played time is going to be low not to mention that you can level a replacement while maintaining your main until it is ready to replace them. Would you rather a character that lived half as long that had a bigger impact. When min maxing your impact is what you are aiming at increasing. This is why when haste cost age it was still often used by min/maxing players.

Boulders make giant barbs the only barbs with a ranged attack before special skills.
Comparing boulders to axes I would rather have boulders.

The self prep method for size has some issues but they behave in a predictable way so it is manageable. Infra vision and detect buried are similarly solvable.

Rarely is defense a viable tactic in SK. In PvE there are scripted attacks that make defense not as viable as offense. When it comes to PvP if you dont kill your foes they will attack you again with equal or greater power so defense loses again.

Yes. I considered size in more than just bash. They shouldn't be on par with other races. That is the whole point of different races with varying sizes.

You can disagree but you're wrong. You need GS to wield some weapons after your first age tick on a giant. I'm not talking about what kind of impact you can have throughout the life of your character, I'm talking mechanics.

Bows/crossbows are able to be used be anyone regardless of proficiency. A boulder will weigh upwards of 100 pounds whereas a few bolt and a crossbow is maybe 1/4 of that, not to mention the inventory space. As I said before, if you use boulders it's because you don't know better or you're in a bind.

It's solvable when you know where to find sources. I certainly do, but that's not the point. Another layer of prep is what differentiates the races. It makes a big difference when you're starting out and resources are limited.

False. Obviously killing something in one round is better than two or three. Does that mean front row characters are usually using two-handed weapons in PvP or PvE? No. They're usually using shields. Prove me wrong. Get some people to play giants with you and roll around with two-handed weapons exclusively. That way I can ask for size bonuses to be removed so everyone can be brought up to par.

*Edit*
This whole time I forgot to mention what made me bring this up. Realistically speaking it would make more sense. Imagine a human trying to bash a giant and a dwarf. It's obviously going to be easier to knock down a dwarf.

You think of giants being tougher to knock over because you are picturing a human vs a giant. But what about a giant vs a giant? When it comes to getting knocked prone, there was already a relative size bonus and there still is.

The dwarven racial bonus is gained regardless of relative size, because it's due to their center of gravity. Dwarves are short and squat and have a lower center of gravity, and so are innately more difficult to tip over prior to modifying for relative size.