I originally posted this as a comment to an Announcement board thread. Oops!

Most people have shaken their heads at some point or another when they realized that dark-elf anti-paladins and fire giant anti-paladins have the same exact experience penalty. Given the vastly contrasting successes of the two races while using that class, it just doesn't make sense that dark-elves should be handicapped in the same way.

A fire giant has a set of innate abilities and stats that make him mean from day 1 of the character's creation. The dark-elf has cool stuff that is certainly useful, but I'd argue that their abilities are in no way equal or superior to the fire giant's. The problem really hits home when you look at the PK ranges of two equally experienced anti-paladins of these races. It is quite common for both of them to have opponents on the order of 8 or 9 levels above them, which is a HUGE challenge. The fire giant can actually survive and even win these fights due largely to his damage dealing...he doesn't need to cast spells, typically, because the axes are doing to do all the talking. The dark-elf is up #### creek because not only does he have less HP, he's way more likely to not land spells against these higher-level opponents. Their skills, which often affect strength, are much more likely to land.

I just think that the rift in potency between fire giants and dark-elves is too wide, and there should be more compensation.

Sure, anyone can argue that a dark-elf can be as lethal as a fire giant, but look at the numbers, not the theoretical potentials.

Note: I am using these two races as an example. I think every obvious mismatch should get a reduced XP penalty to keep things more sane.

Does anyone else agree or disagree? Please argue your point(s).