[wycca]

Some points overlooked -

Gnome - looking thru walls is easiest on gnome (far superior than dwarf/halfling imo)

Brells clerics - Dwarf/Gnome - Awesome armor (if you have plat) and eventually a summon beer neck!

Innoruuk clerics - Dark Elf/Human - Snare neck (Ele forgot the human) - its a sk/nec low lvl spell, so doesnt last super long, but can be neat

High Elf clerics - best cha, useful if you like to lull around dungeons

Strength - This is a concern as a plate class. Most clr str is horrid tho, sorta leaves you with dwarf and human as the better options.

Wisdom - This is useful as it allows you to faster/easier swap to resist or hp gear.

Cultural -
Brell/Dwarf - Gnome/Dwarf usable, good stuff! Expensive!
Tunare/High Elf - Has some wis, useful in a couple of slots, has some MR
Human plate - some great stats, expensive! (Gold version stuff i think)
Human imbued plate -
Innoruuk is middling wis, very expensive
Emarr is simply outstanding imo - its super cheap and gives a large chunk of wis, plus some cha, minor amount of str, pink in color tho
Karana - large chunk of wis, dex, small amount of str
Rodcet Nife - large chunk of wis, some sta, minor amount of cha
Rallos Zek - no wis, great on str/sta
Bertox - too expensive

Sneak - amazing, can bank and quest stuff so much easier
Hide - useful for afking in some areas
Robes - Only 3-4 robes available, most you won't see, not a huge consideration imo

Tunare worshiper - There is a special quest for Tunare worshipers in Velious - cleric I think is a wrist.

Erudite/Humans - Aside from a few super cheap cultural options depending on deity, you get access to the Erudite Terror/Dread/Fright quests as a human if you faction. These are some pretty neat pieces.

Melee stats - If you want str/sta/etc - dwarf by far, good wis too. Barrell roll graphic.

Short races - Some issues with steps and ledges. This is worse in Velious, but also applies to some areas now, a few places in Kunark/VP come to mind.

Overall Good Options -
Brell Dwarf - melee stats & good wis (other perks above)
Tunare High Elf - highest wis & cha, tunare quest
Halfling - fastest leveling & sneak/hide
Inny Human - snare neck, decent all around stats, non-kos in tons of places, erudite quests
Emarr/Rodcet Nife Human - decent all around status, great armor set (9.5k for all non-jewelry pieces) - i personally prefer the cha on emarr greatly

Erudite - decent stats, just not sure theres a stand-out reason to play
Gnomes - worst wis/str, looks cool as heck, xray vision is great, tinkering, but not great when compared to any race
Other Deities not listed - nothing really stands out for them