Last Edited: August 26, 2019 at 9:01 PM
One of the most important questions every player has when creating a character – which race will you pick for the class you choose? Each of the races for both the Alliance and Horde come with their own racial abilities, and depending on which class you play as and how you want to play them, some racial abilities may be more enticing than others.
This page lists all racial abilities and which classes are bolstered the most by certain racial abilities.
Important: Despite what you may read, the most important choice you can make comes down to your own tastes. Racial abilities are varied and some are important in very specific scenarios – but at the end you should be picking the race and class based off your own preferences. Once chosen, you’ll have to stick with the character you’ve made, and there’s no sense leveling a character to 60 that doesn’t look pleasing to you because of one racial ability that’s best used in very specific situations.
Below you’ll find a list of all the different races for each faction, and each ability they possess.
| Alliance Races | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Race | Abilities | |||
| Human | Diplomacy – +10% Reputation Gain | Mace Skill +5, Sword Skill +5 | Stealth Detection Increase | Spirit +5% |
| Dwarf | Treasure appears on minimap | Frost Resistance +10 | Gun Skill +5 | Stoneform – Grants Bleed, Poison, Disease immunity, +10% Armor |
| Gnome | Intelligence +5% | Arcane Resistance +10 | Engineering Skill +15 | Escape Artist – removes immobilization or speed reduction |
| Night Elf | Nature Resistance +10 | Move 50% Faster in Ghost Form | Dodge +1% | Shadowmeld – Grants stealth or improved stealth |
| Horde Races | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Race | Abilities | |||
| Orcs | Axe Skill +5 | Pet Damage +5% | Stun Resist +25% | Blood Fury – Increase base melee attack power 25%, reduces healing effects -50% |
| Trolls | Damage vs. Beasts +5% | Bow Skills +5, Throwing Skills +5 | Regeneration – Health regen rate +10% | Berserking – Increase casting and attack speed +10-30% the lower your health |
| Tauren | Herbalism +15 | Nature Resistance +10 | Maximum Health +5% | War Stomp – Stuns nearby enemies for 2 seconds |
| Undead | Shadow Resistance +10 | Underwater Breathing Time +300% | Cannibalize – Regen 7% of total health every 2 sec for 10 sec on humanoid or undead corpses | Will of the Forsaken – Immunity to Charm, Fear, and Sleep when activated |
Below you’ll find a list of the best races for each class based on their available racial traits -rated for both PvE and PvP. As mentioned before, these abilities can be seen as highly situational, so the final decision should rest with you on which race appeals to you best!
Unlike other classes, only one faction for each race can become a Druid in World of Warcraft Classic. Alliance Druids can come from Night Elves, while Horde Druids can only come from Tauren.
Interestingly enough, each of the races provides more benefits for one of the different forms a Druid can take: the Night Elf’s ability to Shadowmeld allows more uses for stealth, while Quickness increases your dodge chance which is great coupled in Cat Form.
On the other side, Tauren’s Endurance allows Bear Form to tank a bit better with increased health, while War Stomp acts as an extra form of crowd control.
Two Alliance races and three Horde races can become a Hunter. They are:
- Dwarves
- Night Elves
- Orcs
- Taurens
- Trolls
It’s important to note that of all the races, the Night Elf boasts the highest base agility. While it doesn’t add up to too much more, it does give them the best amount of base damage per second of everyone else.
The best races to pick for a Hunter for PvE to consider are the Night Elf for the increase to dodge, and the ability to shadowmeld and stay out of danger. Trolls are also a great pick as beast slaying and bow specialization to increase their viability when fighting certain enemies.
The best races to pick for a Hunter for PvP are usually the Dwarf for the Stoneform ability to remove bleeding, poison and disease, making them more viable against other melee classes. Orcs are generally a great pick for PvP-centric players due to their ability to better resist stuns from other classes, and the Blood Fury ability (though it only shines in melee combat!)
A Tauren’s War Stomp and increased health is generally seen as better defensive perks than offensive, since a Hunter is usually at their best when at range and not taking damage.
Two Alliance races and two Horde races can become a Mage. They are:
- Humans
- Gnomes
- Trolls
- Undead
Gnomes are usually seen as the better pick for a mage, as their increase to Intellect bolsters the best stat a mage can have, and in PvP, the ability to use Escape Artist can prevent you from getting stuck in the sights of an incoming enemy. Meanwhile, Humans ability to detect Rogues can be a blessing, but its a lot more situational.
Trolls are a good pick for Mages that want to focus on PvE, thanks to their increased damage on beasts, and their ability to use Berserking to increase casting stats, and Regeneration to reduce downtime leveling or grinding. Meanwhile, Undead are usually regarded as a better PvP choice due to the Will of the Forsaken, which lets them get the edge on Priests and Warlocks.
As the Alliance is the only faction that can choose Paladins, you can pick from two races: Humans or Dwarves.
Humans are generally seen as a great pick for both PvE and PvP, as their increased sword and mace skill is great for increasing hit chance for leveling and grinding, while Perception can give them an easier time locking down Rogues.
Meanwhile, Dwarves ability to cure poison, bleed, and curses can be a big help in PvP, but they won’t be able to make use of their gun skill at all.
Unlike other classes, Priests have another unique twist in addition to racial talents – as each race also learns to spells from quests that are unique to that class. The racial spells are:
- Dwarf: Desperate Prayer (Instant self heal), Fear Ward (Wards a target against fear once)
- Human: Desperate Prayer (Instant self heal), Feedback (counters any incoming spell to damage attacker with shadow damage for each point of mana burned)
- Night Elf: Starshards (Rains shards down on an enemy for 6 seconds), Elune’s Grace (Reduces damage taken and increase dodge chance)
- Troll: Hex of Weakness (Weakens enemy to reduce damage caused, and healing done), Shadowguard (Strikes incoming attackers with shadow damage every few seconds and a chance to stun for 3 charges)
- Forsaken: Touch of Weakness (the next strike on the caster will hit attacker for shadow damage and reduce damage dealt for 2 minutes), Devouring Plague (Casts disease on target that inflicts shadow damage over 24 seconds, healing the caster)
Due to the amount of racial abilities each priest gets, there’s a lot more to consider when choosing a race. For Alliance, Dwarves are generally regarded as the best picks due in part to Fear Ward being incredibly useful both for raiding and even in PvP encounters alongside Stoneform and Desperate Prayer.
For Horde, both Trolls and Undead are great picks. Trolls have a lot of utility with their priest spells for weakening enemies, on top of their beast slaying and Berserking, while Undead’s Will of the Forsaken can help immensely in PvP in addition to their Priest spells to deal tons of damage and weaken attackers.
Almost all races can become a rogue in World of Warcraft classes, the only exception being the Tauren.
Humans are seen as a great pick for Rogues, especially in PvE situations due to having better hit chance when using swords, while Perception can give them the edge in PvP against other rogues. Gnomes are generally seen as the weaker pick as Intellect does little and the only boon they get is Escape Artist (and a Rogue can get Improved Sprint instead).
For Horde, Both Orcs and Undead are seen as good picks for a Rogue. Orcs can combine their Blood Fury trait to boost their damage output for finishers, and Hardiness lets them endure stuns from other Rogues and Warriors better. Meanwhile, Undead’s Will of the Forsaken allows them to defeat Priests and Warlocks with little to fear.
As the Horde is the only faction that can choose Shamans, you can pick from three races: Orcs, Tauren, and Trolls.
All three races are equally great picks – as Trolls are seen as good decisions for PvE focused Shamans due to better beast killing and the ability to combine Berserking with their hybrid abilities. Orcs are also a good pick for PvP-centric Shamans due to their Blood Fury to boost alongside their burst spell damage at close range, and the ability to resist stuns from other classes, while Axe Specialization ensure more attacks landing.
Finally, Tauren are still good picks but not nearly as exciting, with increased health helping for a low-armored class, and War Stomp to stun enemies while the Earthbind Totems kick in.
Two Alliance races and two Horde races can become a Mage. They are:
- Humans
- Gnomes
- Orcs
- Undead
Like mages, Gnomes are seen as the more practical pick for Alliance Warlocks, due to their increase intellect for better stats, and Escape Artist helping in PvP, while the Humans Perception is a bit more limited.
Both Orc and Undead are great choices for a Warlock, though more of the Orcs racials are rendered useless compared to the Undead as Orc Warlocks can’t take advantage of Blood Rage or Axe Specialization, and Undead can still use Will of the Forsaken to great effect in PvP against other Warlocks.
Unlike other classes, every race from every faction can become a Warrior in World of Warcraft Classic.
Humans are generally seen as a great pick for Alliance Warriors due to their increase skill in both swords and maces for extra hit, while Perception can help out when encountering Rogues. Gnomes are also a good pick for PvP geared Warriors, as Warriors can easily be kited without Escape Artist, but their increased Intellect won’t help that much. Dwarves also have some favor for their stoneskin ability – but its the only big ability they have going for them.
On the Horde, Taurens are generally a great pick for Warriors as they are natural tanks with a better health pool and the ability to stun many enemies at once that surround them. Orcs are also a good pick for Warrior with their Blood Fury and Hardiness being great in PvP and PvE, and Axe Specialization is a bit more focused than humans, but still a good investment. Undead have the Will of the Forsaken to help them get out of situations where a Warrior could be kited, and Trolls have better regeneration capabilities that make them ideal for lowering the downtime when leveling – which Warriors are notoriously slow at.
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