Table Of Racials

This post is an attempt to thoroughly answer the extremely common question “What Is The Best Race For X Class?”

Since the answers are usually quite different depending on whether you prefer PvPing and raids, I have split the choices into 2 columns, 1 for PvE and 1 for Pvp.

I have also divided the races into their factions, since the majority of people choose their faction before choosing a race. For those that have no faction preference, a third table at the end selects what I think is the best race from either faction.

For the purpose of these tables, I assume the following for PvE:

1. PvE primarily means “End-Game Raiding”

2. Paladins and Shamans will be healing.

3. Warriors and Druids will be tanking.

4. Priests will be Shadow DPS.

5. For DPS classes, the only racials that make any difference are those that improve DPS of either yourself or other raid members, as most other racials (e.g. Warstomp, Arcane Torrent) cannot be used on raid bosses. Symbol of Hope, for example, counts as increased DPS because it regenerates mana.

For PvP, it assumes everyone will be DPSing.

Alliance:

Class	PvP Race	Racial	PvE Race	Racial
Mage	Gnome	Escape Artist	Draenei	Heroic Presence
Priest	Dwarf	DP, FW, SF	Draenei	SoH, HP, FW
Hunter	Dwarf	Stoneform	Draenei	Heroic Presence
Shaman	Draenei	No Other Choice	Draenei	No Other Choice
Warlock	Gnome	Escape Artist	Gnome	+5% Int
Paladin	Dwarf	Stoneform	Draenei	Heroic Presence
Druid	Night Elf	No Other Choice	Night Elf	No Other Choice
Rogue	Gnome	Escape Artist	Human	Sword Specialisation
Warrior	Gnome	Escape Artist	Draenei	Heroic Presence

Horde:

Class	PvP Race	Racial	PvE Race	Racial
Mage	Undead	WOTF	Troll	Berserking
Priest	Undead	Devouring Plague, WOTF	Undead	Devouring Plague
Hunter	Orc	Hardiness	Orc	Blood Fury, Command
Shaman	Tauren	Warstomp, Endurance	Orc	Blood Fury
Warlock	Orc	Hardiness, Blood Fury	Orc	Blood Fury, Command
Paladin	Blood Elf	No Choice	Blood Elf	No Choice
Druid	Tauren	No Choice	Tauren	No Choice
Rogue	Undead	WOTF	Orc	Blood Fury
Warrior	Orc	Hardiness, Blood Fury	Tauren	Endurance

And if you would rather have the most powerful racials regardless of faction:

Overall:

Class	PvP	PvE
Mage	Gnome	Draenei
Priest	Undead	Draenei
Hunter	Orc	Orc
Shaman	Tauren	Orc
Warlock	Orc	Orc
Paladin	Dwarf	Draenei
Druid	Tauren	Tauren
Rogue	Gnome	Orc
Warrior	Gnome	Tauren

Note: It is almost impossible to differentiate between the Gnome Racial “Escape Artist” and the Undead ability “Will Of The Forsaken”. Both are great PvP abilities, I have gone for Gnome in most cases purely because Escape Artist is usable in more situations. Since classes that can be Gnomes can usually also be Undead, this is the most difficult choice to make if you plan on PvPing a lot. Choosing your faction first should make the choice a lot easier though

I would welcome anyone who would like to argue that my choices are wrong to do so in the comments. Please make an actual argument why one racial is better than another though, “yer a retard lrn2play” type comments will just be deleted.