Choosing a race in World of Warcraft is one of the first things you do when creating your character in the game. This decision might seem unimportant at first, but you’d be surprised just how much of an impact a race choice can have in World of Warcraft.
To help you make that right choice, we’ll go through all the races in World of Warcraft and highlight the best ones for different scenarios.
Race in World of Warcraft represents the background of your character and defines the look and feel of your WoW class. Your looks, the way your character moves and all the things he/she is good at. Different races have different strengths, so it is up to you to choose the one you feel most connected to.
@ Blizzard
Race also offers some strong benefits through Racial Perks and Abilities. Some racials can be pretty powerful and enhance your combat capabilities in a significant way, but the majority boil down to small stat increases and simple quality of life features.
When it comes to World of Warcraft races, each faction can choose between 8 faction races and 5 allied races, each one bringing new interesting perks to the table.
Alliance see the Horde as a bunch of savages encroaching on their rightful land, but the Horde represents so much more. After freeing themselves from the Legion’s shackles, Orcs carved a new future on the desolate shores of Kalimdor. Here, they instantly bonded with the Trolls of Echo Isles and the proud Tauren of Mulgore. These three races fought side by side and created an almost unbreakable bond of trust and friendship.
Later on, Forsaken came into the picture. These were former Humans of the kingdom of Lordaeron, a kingdom ravaged by the Plague of Undeath. Determined to find their place in the world, Forsaken inhabited the old ruins of the once mighty city of Lordaeron and renamed it Undercity. They were accepted by the Horde, while being rejected by their fellow Humans.
The Horde also has Blood Elves, a race of ancient elves whose homeland was ruined when Arthas Menethil invaded Sunwell. While the Alliance shunned them, the Horde welcomed them with open arms. Today, they fight bravely for the glory of the Horde.
Goblins are an interesting bunch. They are small in stature and have weaker constitutions, but where they truly shine is their intelligence and ingenuity. They are responsible for nearly every major invention and building construction within the Horde territory, making them valuable assets to the Warchief.
Lastly, we have the Pandaren and Dracthyr, two races that are part of both Horde and the Alliance. Those who chose Horde now fight their former brothers and sisters who opted to join the Alliance.
Alliance races all fight for the Alliance and serve the king of Stormwind in their own ways. Dwarves and Gnomes control the neighboring areas of Ironforge and enjoy direct access to the capital where the Humans live. The rest of the races are strewn all around the world.
Night Elves and Draenei both have their cities in Kalimdor, a harsh continent ruled overwhelmingly by the Horde. Worgen from the kingdom of Gilneas have been isolated for years, and now find themselves under constant assaults by the Forsaken who occupy the nearby lands. They find solace and strength in their new allies.
@ Blizzard
Pandaren and Dracthyr both come from faraway lands, the continent of Pandaria and the Dragon Isles respectively.
Together, these races form the core of the Alliance and work in unison to keep the peace in Eastern Kingdoms and Kalimdor.
There are also five allied races within the Alliance, which we’ll mention next.
Allied races are some of the best races in WoW as they bring unique cool looks and interesting racial perks. Both factions gain access to 5 races, which balances things out. Here are all the allied races available to both Alliance and Horde.
This is a question that’s often asked, and the answer might be disappointing to some. There is no best race in WoW, and there’s a good reason.
Picking a race is a personal choice. Each WoW player has to weigh the pros and cons, and decide what race suits them the most. You can have a race that has a great racial perk you like, but you simply don’t enjoy how they look or how their in-game animation is displayed. There’s a lot of layers to this.
@ Blizzard
In terms of damage, every WoW race is almost identical. The dps difference is probably less than 1%, so there’s no need to even worry about that. What most players focus their attention on is the looks. Specifically, how the race looks in different WoW transmog sets. That’s what’s important nowadays.
Those who enjoy farming WoW gold don’t concern themselves with the dps or the looks, they just look for traits that will make them the most money and offer the most convenience. So as you can see, there’s plenty of reasons why someone might consider a specific race to be the best for them. You just have to figure which race that is for you.
While you can enjoy the game with every race and not feel much of a significant difference, we’ll still highlight a couple of racial perks that really stand out.
In certain scenarios, this talent can be almost game-breaking. If you ask any WoW PvP player what their favorite race is, they’ll probably answer Human, because of this exact trait. Will to Survive removes stuns and thus allows PvP players to equip two dps trinkets and not use the PvP trinket, significantly boosting their pressure and kill potential in high rank Arenas.
Orcs are similar to Humans when it comes to traits. Where Will to Survive completely removes a stun, Orc’s Hardiness trait reduces stun duration. This can be extremely powerful in certain PvP comps, especially when paired with similar talents that can stack with this racial perk.
Zandalari Trolls are an excellent race not only for their looks, but some great racial traits as well. The one that really stands out the most is the “Embrace of the Loa” trait, where players can pick several different buffs, with one of them being a flat 5% movement speed.
Those who enjoy farming WoW gold and running old dungeons find this talent invaluable. Those players tend to build speed sets to speedrun through content, so having an extra 5% movement speed just from your race is always welcome.
@ Blizzard
This is an amazing talent as it pretty much gives you a second Hearthstone on a short cooldown. Very strong perk for farming any type of content. This ability allows the Dark Iron Dwarves to easily port to either Ironforge or Stormwind, which is always useful.
Hopefully we’ve given you an idea of what different races in WoW are, and what they are good for. But to truly understand and get the feel for different races, you’ll simply have to try them all.
If you’re interested in more guides about WoW, check out our WoW news section where we have covered many similar topics.
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