Racial Tier List: Best Races for PvE and PvP

Racials have changed a TON in WoW Forever. Each race brings a different mix of damage, survivability, utility, mobility and PvP tools, with some racials being stronger depending on the type of content you’re doing.

This WoW Forever Racial Tier List ranks every race separately for PvE and PvP. The PvE rankings focus on things like damage, their utility in both raids and dungeons, as well as how valuable each racial package is across different classes. The PvP rankings put more emphasis on crowd control (CC), crowd control breaks, defensives, mobility, burst potential and racials that can directly swing a fight both defensively and offensively.

Keep in mind that these rankings are NOT set in stone. We still haven’t played at Level 60, so all the boss mechnanics are unknown and Blizzard has been adjusting racials and the class balance. Your class and spec also matter! A race ranked lower overall can still be an excellent choice for a specific build. Check out our Class Guides to see the best Race for your Class.

Use these tier lists as a general look at which race has the strongest racial packages currently available, rather than a rule saying you have to play a specific race.

S Tier

Human - Ruthless gives you 1% Crit Chance to ALL of your spells and abilities and the big thing here is just how universal that is. There’s no weapon requirement anymore, there’s no specific target type and there’s no cooldown you need to line up. You just get 2% Crit and that is MASSIVE for so many specs. Most classes that have Crit talents requires TWO talent points to be able to even get that much crit chance!

Humans also get 10% Spirit from The Human Spirit, which is more valuable for some classes than others, but even those without a specific benefit still get the much needed health and mana regen from it. That’s useful while leveling, in dungeons, in raids, on melee, casters, basically everywhere. Will to Survive is obviously more of a PvP focused racial, but will still come in handy when a mob stuns or an annoying boss mechanics that stun.

Skyborne have one of the most subtle, yet strongest racials in the game; Wind Blessed. This gives you 2% passive Haste. That’s just an incredibly strong racial for PvE.

Orc - Blood Fury gives you an on demand Attack Power and Spell Power cooldown, which means every Class gets something out of it. Shatter Curse is a niche but valuable defensive tool and Hunter and Warlock Orcs also get Command for 5% extra pet damage. And if that wasn’t enough, Hunter and Warlock demons and pets do an extra 5% damage!

A Tier

Night Elf - Elune's Light gives you a massive 10% Critical strike chance for 15 seconds, allowing for some crazy burst from many classes. And Shadowmeld acts as a fade, helping reduce threat slightly.

Gnome - Eureka! gives you a strong burst window where your spells and abilities deal more damage or healing while also costing fewer resources. Expansive Mind gives you 5% more of your primary resource, whether that’s Mana, Energy, or Rage, and Escape Artist can actually be surprisingly useful even in PvE with how many mechanics can slow or root you.

B Tier

Dwarf - Now have Artisan's Precision giving them 1% extra hit chance. This is massive since Hit is the most important stat for almost all of the classes. Stoneform is a fantastic defensive cooldown especially in certain encounters, and notably valuable for Tanks.

Troll - Berserking gives you a pretty strong offensive cooldown that increases your attack speed and casting speed by 10% for 15 seconds, although it’s much weaker than the Classic version.

Undead - Undead isn’t bad at all, but most of their strongest value is more PvP focused. Touch of the Grave has had various changes already but we think it's valuable enough in PvE to keep this race in the B tier. Will of the Forsaken is incredible too, but it obviously depends on encounters actually having Fear, Charm, or Sleep mechanics that matter.

C Tier

Tauren have no real benefit in any of their racials for endgame PvE content aside from Endurance for 5% increased total health. This is a marginal benefit for Tank Taurens but aside from that, War Stomp is too situational to be a notable benefit for raiding.

S Tier

Human - Will to Survive is one of the best PvP racial abilities in the game instantly removing stuns. Human's also have Perception to expose Rogues & Druids and the extra crit from Ruthless is another extra benefits to an already potent PvP Race.

Undead have Will of the Forsaken to break out of Fear, Charm & Sleep effects, making them notably effective against Warlocks, Priests, and even Warriors. Along with more niche items like Slumber Sand or Gnomish Mind Control Cap backfires. They also have Touch of the Grave for a 'touch' of extra burst and sustain, along with Cannibalize to get recover from fights quickly.

Gnomes have Escape Artist letting you break out of movement impairing effects and gives you three seconds of immunity afterwards which is incredibly valuable in PvP. Then you’ve got Eureka!, usable every two minutes, giving you 10% more damage for eight seconds while also reducing your Mana, Rage, or Energy costs by 10% along with Expansive Mind to 5% more total Mana, Rage or Energy. Engineering Specialization also reduces the chance your gadgets backfire by 20%.

A Tier

Orc's have 3 beneficial racial abilities for PvP. Hardiness helps reduce the duration of stuns by 20% which can't be underestimated. Shatter Curse provides some magical defensive strength in some matchups and Blood Fury adds an extra cooldown for extra damage or healing.

B Tier

Tauren keeps it's place in the B tier almost exclusively because of War Stomp. Having a quick 2 second stun every 90 seconds is too good to ignore. They will also see some benefits in open world PvP thanks to Plainsrunning but of course this is exceptionally situational.

Troll - Berserking can give you a nice burst window with increased attack and casting speed but how strong that is really depends on your class and spec. Rapid Regeneration can also be useful if you can get the channel off without getting hit.

Dwarf - Stoneform is the big reason to consider them for PvP, letting you remove Bleeds, Poisons, and Diseases while also giving you some extra strong defensive value for 8secs.

Night Elf - Elune's Light gives you a huge 10% Crit window for 15 seconds providing a decent boost to overall burst healing or damage. Shadowmeld has some niche value too if you're ambushing enemies in the open world.

C Tier

Skyborne - 2% passive Haste from Wind Blessed is not as effective in PvP as it is in PvE. Walk on Air has some niche utility for battlegrounds or possibly if you’re chasing someone down in the open world, and the faction specific racials Read Leyline or Skysight can be effective in the open world. We'll have to see how valuable they feel in battlegrounds after their rework and re-evaluate them again afterwards.

Hunter

PvP - Orc Night Elf Human
PvE - Orc Night Elf

Mage

PvP - Gnome Undead Human
PvE - Gnome Troll

Rogue

PvP - Gnome Human Orc Undead
PvE - Human Orc Night Elf

Warlock
PvP - Orc Undead, Gnome
PvE - Orc Human

Paladin
PvP - Undead, Human
PvE - Undead, Human

Warrior
PvP - Gnome, Orc, Human
PvE - Night Elf, Human, High Order Skyborne, Orc, Undead, Windshaper Skyborne

Druid
PvP - Tauren, Night Elf
PvE - Windshaper Skyborne, High Order Skyborne

Priest
PvP - Gnome, Human, Night Elf/ Shadow Troll. Discipline Undead.
PvE - Gnome, Human, Night Elf, Troll

Shaman
PvP - Dwarf, Orc
PvE - Dwarf, Orc, Windshaper Skyborne, Troll (Difference is minimal)