The purpose of the guide

The aim of this guide is not to tell you what to play. It is to raise issues worth considering and educate you accordingly to allow you to make the decision for yourself. Do you care about your animations more than the racials? If you care about the racials, how impactful are they? Do they help you in PVP? These are all questions you should be able to consider and answer for yourself.

Your Heart or your Head?

I feel like the most important thing to establish before getting into this is deciding what is important to you. Are you happy leaving damage on the table for the sake of looking cool and choosing a race which fits your own identity? Or are you the type of person who will not be able to handle that, and always looking for the gains no matter how small?



I myself have wrestled with this decision. I have decided on going with my head. I would not feel comfortable leaving a percentage or two damage behind for the sake of cooler animations. But that is me, not you! If you feel strongly about the theme and identity of a certain race, enjoy the animations and such, then that is awesome. If that is the case, read no further! Go with your gut and close the tab.



As with any RPG, approach the game the way you want to. Not how anybody else thinks you should play the game.

Faction Differences

This barely warrants a section as most people have an idea, but it is important for those that done. Most of the time this is going to be determined by where your friends are. It certainly was for me. I went Alliance because of my friends, and re-rolled Horde because of my friends. In Classic I will be playing Horde because of my friends, but if they went Alliance I would do the same. This very much is a heart decision. There is no real best faction. Faction balance was much more even than it is currently in retail WoW. I will outline some the differences as far as raids are concerned if you and your friends are undecided on what faction to play.

For the newer players, the most obvious difference is the difference in levelling zones and general aesthetic. Alliance themes generally features well-constructed, clean buildings. Night Elf motifs include nature. While Dwarf motifs include dark masonry and lava. Gnome motifs include engineering and metal work. Horde generally fall under two motifs. Orc, Troll and Tauren usually have rough, hand-crafted huts. Usually barbaric looking and made of wood. Undead motifs are similar to Human, however the buildings are slightly run down with a more creepy tone. There are images below to help you decide.

For performance oriented players, the only difference aside from the actual racials is the inclusion of Paladin’s in your raid if you are Alliance, and Shaman if you are Horde.

Paladin or Shaman

Totems are limited to party only. Blessing can buff the whole raid. As such Paladins create greater utility across the raid. Totems are also range limited, whereas blessings obviously are not.

Shaman can only place one totem of each type down at once, however in the case of air totems is may be possible to allow melee to benefit from both Windfury and Grace of Air at the same time via totem twisting. Essentially the Shaman places Windfury to apply the 10s buff to his party, then replaces the totem with Grace of Air. As the buff is about to expire, the process is repeated. This allows the entire party to benefit from both totems simultaneously.

What would you rather have in your raid? Tough one. I think Paladin is probably the most well-rounded and least awkward. The totem party and range limitations could be frustrating to navigate, these limitations mean you need more Shaman in a given raid. Blessings are set and forget, without the troublesome limitations. The reduced threat without damage sacrifice is great from Paladins, in a world where threat is extremely important. Whereas as a Shaman, if your party wants threat reduction they will have to sacrifice Windfury or Agility. Arguably Shaman has the greater toolset for PVP. But the functionality is so different it is hard to compare. Shaman definitely have more, the impact is up for debate.

My view is Paladins’ are a tiny bit better overall, but Shaman are more fun are arguably require more skill. The truth of the matter is, you cannot go wrong with either. There is a reason this debate raged on 14 years ago, and it will never be settled. They are closely matched, and so thematically different and it is another reason why Classic WoW is so great. From both a DPS and functionality standpoint they are going to be relatively even matched.

So if you are considering Horde or Alliance due to the inclusion of these classes in your raids and battlegrounds. Go with your heart, what you identify with, and what you find most fun.

What is your playstyle?

Are you a PVE’er? Are you a PVP’er? Do you intend to engage in both? One more than the other? This is a question you need to establish yourself. Some racials have much bigger implications in different elements of the game. Escape Artist clearly has more applications in PVP. Sword Specialisation has more application in PVE. Do you intend on participating all elements of the game, perhaps pick a race which have racials which enhance both such as Orc.

The Racials That Matter

This list will cover the racials that come into play when deciding what to play. 10 frost resistance wont make you choose Dwarf or make any difference in optimising for PVE or PVP on the whole. This is has cut the crap. There are one or two tenuous racials holding on, I am looking at you Beast Slaying. But for the most part, this is what you need to consider.



Players intending to play a Priest have an additional section as Priest’s have additional racials in Classic.

Alliance

Human

Diplomacy | Reputation gains increased by 10%

There are several rep grinds. PVP factions. Argent Dawn. This is a time saver.

The Human Spirit | Spirit increased by 5%

Spirit increases health out of combat, and mana regeneration after not casting spells for 5 seconds.

Perception | 3min CD, 20 sec duration | Increases stealth detection.

A PVP racial to help you deal with Rogues and Druids.

Sword and Mace Specialisation | Increases skill with these weapons by 5.

Massive PVE DPS increase. Increases chance to hit. Increases damage dealt on glancing blows.

Dwarf

Stoneform | 3min CD, 8 sec duration | Increases armor by 10%. Provides immunity to bleeds, poisons and diseases.

Mainly a PVP racial, but has some PVE use. It will also remove these debuffs. Minor CD for tanks due to armor.

Gun Specialisation | Increases skill with these weapons by 5.

Minor/Moderate DPS increase. Increases hit chance.

Gnome

Expansive Mind| Intellect increased by 5%

Intellect increases mana and spell critical strike chance.

Escape Artist | 1min CD, 0.5s cast | Remove all roots and slows.

A PVP racial to help you stay mobile.

Night Elf

Quickness | 1% Dodge

Handy for tanks, total damage avoidance on dodges.

Shadowmeld | 10s CD, Instant | Stationary stealth.

Cannot be used in combat. Moving will cancel the effect. Primarily used in PVP to hide and ambush.

Horde

Orc

Axe Specialisation | Increased axe skill by 5.

Massive PVE DPS increase. Increases chance to hit. Increases damage dealt on glancing blows.

Command | Hunter and Warlock Pet Damage increased by 5%

PVE and PVP applications.

Hardiness | Passive | 25% change to resist stuns

A PVP racial, but some limited PVE application also.

Blood Fury | 2min CD, Instant | Base melee attack power increased by 25% for 15s, healing effects reduced on your for 50% for 25s.

Great DPS CD in PVE and PVP. Be careful of the healing reduction. Does not scale.

Undead

Cannibalize| 2min CD, Instant, 10s | Regenerate 7% of total health every 2 seconds. Only usable on Humanoid or Undead. Damage or movement will cancel the effect.

Mainly beneficial during levelling to prevent downtime.

Will of the Forsaken| 2min CD, Instant, 5s duration | Provide immunity to charm, fear and sleep. Usable while afflicted.

PVP racial as a CC break. Some PVE application on few PVE fights.

Tauren

Endurance| Passive | Total health increased by 5%.

Good all-round. Mainly benefits tanks.

War Stomp| 2min CD, 0.5s cast, 2s duration | AOE Stun

PVP racial as a CC and interrupt. Also great in dungeons as an AOE CC and interrupt. Scales well.

Increased Melee Range due to hit box.

Troll

Berserking| 3min CD, Instant, 10s duration | Casting and attack speed increased by 10% to 30% depending on health. With speed increasing as health lowers.

Great DPS CD in PVE and PVP regardless of health. Scales into late game.

Beast Slaying| Passive | Damage dealt to beasts increased by 5%

Limted use while levelling, also some limited PVE applications

Bow Specialisation | Increases skill with these weapons by 5.

Minor/Moderate DPS increase. Increases hit chance.

The Priest Section

Human

Deperate Prayer | 10min CD, no mana | Instant self-heal

Feedback | 3min CD, 10s duration | Casts against you drain enemy mana and deal shadow damage.



Dwarf

Deperate Prayer | 10min CD, no mana | Instant self-heal

Fear Ward | 30s CD, 10min duration |The next fear used against the target will fail



Night Elf

Elune’s Grace | 5min CD, 15s duration | Reduces damage taken and increases dodge by 10%

Starshards | 30yd channel over 6s |Deals X damage over 6 seconds.



Undead

Touch of Weakness | 2min duration, Instant | Reduces melee damage dealt by target. Shadow damage dealt on first attack.

Devouring Plague | 3min CD, Instant DoT |Deals X damage over 24 seconds. Heals the Priest for the damage dealt.



Troll

Hex of Weakness | 2min duration, Instant | Reduces melee damage dealt by target. Reduces effectiveness of healing by 20%.

Shadowguard | 10min duration, Instant cast, 3 charges | Attackers will be struck by Shadow damage.

PVP Trinkets

An important consideration for PVP focused players, but also with some limited applicability for PVE players is how the PVP trinket can help open up the CC’s that you can escape from.



For example, lets consider a player considering which Horde Rogue race to choose from a pure PVP perspective. The two clear options are Orc for Hardiness, and Undead for Will of the Forsaken. For Rogue’s the PVP trinket can already break fear, but it cannot break stun. This gives more value to Orc to get Hardiness and cover the gap.

If you have already established what class you intend to play consider the table below to establish which race may be most beneficial for your class and faction preference.

Credit to u/Seguren – Reddit

Base Stats

Last and definitely least, base stats. These are not massively significant. But for some of you this might tip the scales. Perhaps you’re a pure PVE focused Rogue and cannot decide between Orc and Troll?

If you still cannot decide…

Here is a list of my recommendations depending on your playstyle.



Where there is a choice, they are listed in order of my personal judgement of value. But there is no clear best. Pick what you think is coolest.

For Alliance Holy Priests. Dwarves Fear Ward is extremely valuable on the fights where it is relevant. Outside of this however, the 5% Spirit from Humans is huge for you personally. Keep in mind Dwarf Priests will get free invites to raids for Fear Ward alone. If you can accept that, Human is better for the actual healing.



For Alliance Rogues, the recommendation is based on the earlier availability of Swords in the initial raids. As you transition to daggers as they outpace swords, Human no longer retains its no.1 PVE spot. In this situation I would argue its a free-for-all. No real big PVE racials remain, with just toolkit racials remaining.

For Alliance and Horde, Druids can only be Night Elf and Tauren respectively.

Thanks for reading, I hope it helps!