Which race is best for each class?

Racials are small compared with talents and gear, so play the race and faction you enjoy. If you want a tie-breaker, these are the racials that matter most for each class, based on the ability text in the current client:

Class Strong picks Why
Warrior Orc, Human, Dwarf Blood Fury and Axe Specialization; Sword Specialization and Will to Survive; Stoneform
Paladin Human, Dwarf, Undead Sword Specialization; Stoneform; Will of the Forsaken — Undead Paladin is new
Hunter Night Elf, Troll, Orc Shadowmeld and Quickness; Berserking and Beast Slaying; Blood Fury
Rogue Human, Gnome, Undead Perception and Sword Specialization; Escape Artist and Eureka!; Will of the Forsaken
Priest Undead, Human, Dwarf Will of the Forsaken and Touch of the Grave; The Human Spirit; Stoneform
Shaman Orc, Troll, Tauren Blood Fury; Berserking; War Stomp and Endurance — Dwarf Shaman is new for Alliance
Mage Gnome, Undead, Troll Expansive Mind and Escape Artist; Will of the Forsaken; Berserking — Orc Mage is new
Warlock Orc, Undead, Gnome Blood Fury and Shatter Curse; Will of the Forsaken; Expansive Mind — Troll Warlock is new
Druid Night Elf, Tauren, Skyborne Shadowmeld and Quickness; War Stomp; Wind Blessed and Skysight on either faction

For PvP, abilities that break crowd control — Will to Survive (stuns), Will of the Forsaken (fear, charm, sleep), Escape Artist (slows and roots) and Stoneform — are usually worth more than a small damage bonus.

What is new compared with Classic?

  • Six new combinations for the original races: Human Hunter, Dwarf Shaman, Gnome Priest, Orc Mage, Undead Paladin and Troll Warlock.
  • The Skyborne: High Order (Alliance) and Windshaper (Horde) can each play five classes and share the same racials. See the Skyborne page.
  • Racials were rebalanced. Every race now has its own mix of an active ability, a defensive or utility ability and passive bonuses; open a race in the matrix above to read them.

Do racials show exact base stats?

Base attribute values by race are not in the talent and ability data we use, so this page does not list them. The racial ability numbers above do come straight from the game client for build 70009.

Plan the rest of your character with the class chooser and the talent calculator.