Now for some Oblivion race tiers.
With well-planned and effective training anyone can raise any group of two or three attributes 5 points every level. Also, the cap on all attributes and skills is 100, regardless of race.
This means, for example, that a Breton female (starting Strength 30) can wind up with just as high a Strength as a Nord male (starting Strength 50). It just takes her a few more levels. In fact, assuming both took the same sign and favored attributes, and assuming both trained with maximum efficiency every level, the Breton female would take a grand total of FOUR more levels to top out Strength than the Nord male would. Usually, this happens in the 10s in levels, and considering you can get up to around Lv. 50 or so, this difference of four levels is very minute in the grand scheme of things.
Which means that the ONLY thing left to consider is the races’ greater powers and special abilities. So without further ado:
Tier S:
Breton – Where to begin? Permanent 50% resistance to hostile Magicka, permanent 50 extra points of Magicka to use, and to boot, a great once per day spell in Dragon Skin that provides 50% physical damage resistance for a full minute. Those three special abilities make Bretons utterly OWN the game and every other race in gameplay past Lv. 20, no matter what path they choose. They seem tailored to be mages at the beginning, and indeed they do make the best mages overall (they’re more durable and survivable than High Elves), but Breton fighters, although they take longer to develop, are insanely awesome in their own right.
Tier A:
Redguard – Starts out the best fighter, and stays arguably the best (Orcs and Bretons may be in on the argument). The Adrenaline Rush massively fortifies everything important to a fighter for when the going really gets tough, and resistance to poison and disease are gravy.
Orc – Comparable in fighting ability to Redguards and Bretons. Their Berserk gives a substantial boost to Strength and a HUGE boost to Fatigue (at the cost of a massive Agility penalty). They also have resistance to Magicka, although it’s only 25% (versus the Breton’s 50%).
Tier B:
Dark Elf – 75% resistance to fire is nice considering the very point of the game’s main quest. Ancestor Guardian is also a cool little benefit, allowing regeneration of Magicka when needed if you have the Atronach sign. They can make solid fighters or mages.
High Elf – Boost to Magicka points is 50 points higher than the Breton’s (a total boost of 100), and they boast a 75% resistance to disease, but they also 25% gain weaknesses to fire, frost and shock attacks. So while Bretons are a magically-gifted race that can dish it out and take it in return, High Elves can dish it out, even more often than Bretons, in fact, but in many situations can’t take it. Still, High Elves are great for a true offensive-minded spammer of spells, and might be preferable over Bretons to some for that purpose alone. The elemental weakness isn’t crippling, but it does make you play more cautiously.
Argonian – All their abilities are definitely nice but not true must-haves. Still, there’s something cool (and pretty effective) about lizards that can breathe underwater, completely resist poison, and resist disease 75% of the time.
Tier C:
Khajiit – Eye of Fear is good when you’re getting wailed on, casting Demoralize with a magnitude of 100 on an entire mob, giving it a fairly high rate of success. Too bad you can only use it once per day, and its use otherwise is fairly limited. Eye of Night is basically a no-cost light spell.
Nord – The race specially made for beginners, basically. Nords dominate the lower levels with high starting combat attributes to match the Redguard and Orc. But as those starting stats mean less and less as the game goes on, Nords also fall off. Frost resistance is okay, but not as good as Magicka resistance, or even fire resistance. Nordic Frost quickly becomes weak after the first 10 levels, and Woad’s physical damage resistance bonus pales in comparison to the Breton’s Dragon Skin.
Wood Elf – Beast Tongue isn’t half as good as a decent Journeyman-level Conjuration spell, leaving the okay but hardly worth it alone 75% resistance to disease.
Tier D:
Imperial – There’s no nice way of putting this. Yeah, Imperials suck. Two once-per-day powers that Apprentice-level spells can match or exceed in effect? How the hell are Imperials the ruling race in Tamriel again?
Just learn the 2 attacks I’ve mentioned to the standart stuff (nothing more!) and see how godly it is (the lack of control doesn’t matter for real then). Exspecially, because you need no potions for being invincible and her Starshower thing just does tons of Damage. Quistis for example has no, absolutly no good Limit to compare both and well, Rinoa’s magic stats are anyway higher …