Best race and stat questions

[Maelwys]

Which is truly better?

Sea Wolves: +6 Vit, +5 Str, +1 Dex, +2 Pie (slightly more MP for Flash)
Highlander: +5 Vit, +6 Str, +3 Dex

Really doesn't matter between those two, because the extra Str and Dex is very very rarely going to be able to push you into another Block/Parry tier, and more HP is always helpful.

The main reason why you should pick either Sea Wolf or Highlander though is because they are both epic enough to be able to *just* hit over 7k HP (with the best i90 equipment and full stat distribution into Vit, in a party, and when eating HQ Toast: 7029 HP for the Sea Wolf, 7014 HP for the Highlander, 6999 for the next-best Hellsguard!)

Any thoughts on crit and ring comparison ?

Yeah, overmelded Gryphonskins are basically an expensive means of trading a little Vit for a lot of Str/Dex.
They can be viable once your HP is sufficiently high to (i) prevent you dieing from sudden spike damage (ii) let the Party's healer not overheal you with a Critical Cure II.

The difference between Crit and Det is minimal, but basically always go for +Det over +Crit for a Paladin.