Race Hitboxes - Do They Matter?

Many action-combat MMORPGs feature hitboxes, as well as some "standard" combat games of the same genre. For those of you unfamiliar with the term, hitbox basically determines how hard or easy you are to hit with spells, depending on the physical size of your character.

Taller races are easier to hit, smaller ones are harder. On first thought you might think that playing a race with a smaller hit box is advantageous in all situations, but that's not the case with Tera Online.

Having a large hitbox is particularly beneficial for tanking: Lancers for example can block entire corridors and make sure to take all the damage. On the other hand, most other classes would want to avoid getting hit, therefore having a smaller hitbox is preferred for them.

This is particularly important in PvP as well. Making it as hard as possible for opposing players to hit you can obviously works in your advantage.

There is however a big downside to small hitboxes as well. Not only are you harder to hit by enemies, but you are also harder to target for your healers. You will see this quite often, as sometimes people can't properly target you in fights and that clutch heal you really need might never come.

That being said, it's fairly obvious that Lancers should play a race as big as possible, preferably Baraka or Aman. Damage dealing classes like Slayer or Warrior will likely want to be mid-sized, making Humans, High Elves and Castanics ideal for them. You are a bit harder to focus, but you'll make sure that your healers can keep you topped at all times. Healers might want to pick a race with mid-sized hitbox as well.

What most players opt out for however is a race that they like because of either their appearance or lore, and you shouldn't assume that's a mistake. There are also different racial traits, some of which are more useful for some classes rather than all, so if you want to read a more detailed article discussing this as well you can read it here.

While having a race and class with a smaller or larger hitbox does have its advantages, it's not absolutely crucial to pick the right one. Much like nobody should force you to play a particular class, you shouldn't let opinions of others influence your racial choice either.