Horkval serpent in need of help

Sidasu

I was wondering what the best stats are for serpent and where I want to be at stat-wise.  I also went Horkval, is this a good choice? I was under the impression that their armor was pretty good(better than what other races can obtain).


Any tips and information would be greatly appreciated!


(Also didn't follow section guidelines, sorry!)

Klendathu

Serpent is unique in that its primary stat is Dex - the higher the dex, the faster your doublestab speed (until you hit the cap, which you can do with a level 2 artefact dirk if you pick the "right" stats and traits).

At lower levels, I would recommend going for Con over Dex, as you'll be biting rather than stabbing, and the extra health will be useful. As you progress on, you can re-spec (you get a free trait reset and a free reincarnation), if you want to.

I would spend some time playing with the class, but also take advice from people in your house / city.

Bronislav

Whoa. Whoa whoa whoa whoa no no no NONO.

Dexterity also impacts garrote speed HEAVILY, and you'll only be biting Sumac for as long as it takes you to drop lessons into Subterfuge for garrote. Dexterity is THE stat to get for a Serpent - I know there's a concern regarding squishiness and denizens, but seriously, garrote is 2x better than any venom you'll be biting and it stops missing the vast majority of the time after you drop lessons into Subterfuge, which is the skill you should be dropping lessons exclusively on (barring learning Selfishness in Survival, because newbies wear a target on their back that says "pickpocket me").

I know you mean well, @Klendathu, but trust me, the days where Serpents were Con-specialized are very much over, unless you have Level 3 Dex boots.

Shimi

You get garrote fairly early on, go DEX 

Sidasu

Thoughts on Horkval serpent?

Ayami

You're only missing out on 1 dex and have 1 con to offset it, so you'll be slightly slower and slightly higher health than an average serpent. Armor/horkval resistance doesn't compare well, though it's probably not a big benefit for a serpent that can wear scalemail. Leap isn't so useful when you have evade, but it is a bit faster maybe?

Sena

Horkval is a decent choice for serpent. Leap is significantly faster than evade (leap is 1 second, evade is 2), so it can be useful. Horkval resistances won't be very different from scalemail (the armour serpents use) in most cases, but they work in different ways so neither is universally better than the other. The stats are fine, the only races with potentially better stats are atavian and rajamala, and then only if you want to go with a pure dex build (16 dex 12 con). So there are no big advantages to horkval, but no problems either.