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WoW Classic Races Guide - The Best Races Guide for Vanilla!
wow classic races guide
There's a lot to consider when creating a character in Vanilla WoW. Race choice is extremely important to optimize your character. The races differ not only by looks, but they also by base statistics and racial skills. That makes certain races synergize better with specific classes or builds. Check out the contents of this WoW Classic Races Guide to learn about the best class choices for each of the eight races!
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table of contents
Alliance Races
Humans
In the game's lore, Humans are the youngest race of Azeroth. Descendants of Vrykul - a race of fearsome half-giant warriors. Vrykul of Northrend, afflicted with Curse of Flesh, casted upon the Titans by the Old God Yogg-Saron, gave birth to weaker members of society, that lacked the strength, and size of half-giants. Children born, weak and ugly as they say, were murdered by the orders of King Ymiron. Those who survived, raised in secrecy by their half-giant parents - escaped to start a new life as Humans, slowly creating a prosperous society, and forming the very first Human Nation - Arathor, becoming one of the most intelligent and charismatic creatures in the world of Azeroth.
Alliance was founded by Humans. Thanks to their diplomacy skills, they became wonderful leaders, as it was shown during the Second War, in which Humans, banded up with allied forces pushed Horde away, claiming back their lands, and slowly rebuilding what was lost during the First War between Humans and Orcs.
Human Racials
Diplomacy - Reputation gains increased by 10%. With numerous factions available in WoW - players will have to complete various quests to gain reputation, which will enable them to access stores, get discounts from NPCs, get faction-exclusive mounts, and accessing special quests that require a certain amount of reputation. Humans will reach these Exalted caps faster, and since questing is an important part of leveling up in World of Warcraft, it’s a very nice passive to prosper faster in that regard. This racial will by itself save you days or even weeks of farming. The only downside to this is that this racial will lack any meaning when you reach Exalted with all available Factions, but when the updates and expansions come to WoW Classic servers - it will become really useful again.
Mace Specialization - Skill with Maces and Two-Handed Maces increased by 5. Increasing your Weapon Skill is very important, as it can make a difference, between getting dodged, parried, blocked, or you dealing critical damage to your enemy. Weapon Skill is used in many calculations, but we won’t dig deep into them in this WoW Classic Races Guide. You can check it yourself using a proper calculator tool for WoW. You will hit more often, you will get more crits, your attacks will have less chance to be avoided, which basically means - more Damage per second. Not only that, mechanic known as Glancing Blows will enable you to deal more damage to enemies that have a lower level than you, as long as you have more Weapon Skill points than the Defence points of your enemy. The bigger the difference, the higher the damage will get.
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Active: Perception - Dramatically increases stealth detection for 20 seconds. Rogues were overpowered in Vanilla WoW. A good Rogue, at max level, can come up to you in stealth with a 1-3 Dagger, and apply so many Crowd Control abilities, stunlocking you in place, and 100-0 you without issues, while you are standing there paralyzed, not being able to do anything, if you do not resist anything. This 3-minute cooldown ability will increase your vision radius, when it comes to detecting stealthed enemies, enabling you to react a bit faster. While there are better racials that counter Rogues (Stoneform of Dwarves, Hardiness of Orcs), it’s a very nice skill to have on the Battlegrounds, in PvP, or when both factions are clashing against each other.
Sword Specialization - Skill with Swords and Two-Handed Swords increased by 5. Same case with Maces, but it works for Swords and Two-Handed Swords. A great thing to have, makes Rogue, Warrior, and Paladin Humans really proficient with their Sword-based attacks. It’s also worth to mention, that for each point, that your Weapon Skill exceeds your opponent’s defense, you will gain 0,04% to miss chance decrease, crit chance increase, opponent’s block, parry, and dodge chance decrease. It will make a huge difference during a fight.
The Human Spirit - Spirit Increased by 5%. Nice addition useful for all classes that Human can access. Each Spirit point gained by either leveling up or from various item enhancements will increase health and mana regeneration in and out of combat. Very useful for Tank Warriors to regenerate HP, for Casters to replenish Mana quicker in combat, for all classes really, and especially for Human Priests, who will combine that with Spiritual Guidance passive. And to have it increased by 5%, it makes for a noticeable difference.
Human Class Selection
In PvP they will be a bit weaker as PvP Warriors, and Rogues, than other Alliance races, simply because they lack racial mobility, or cure skill, like Stoneform for Dwarves or Escape Artist for Gnomes, but the Perception detection radius bonus will be very useful for dealing with Rogues and Druids, so you can easily use that to your advantage. When it comes to Paladins - Human will remain at top tier, as Retribution Paladins rely heavily on Normal Attacks thanks to the Seal of Command skill. And as PvE Paladins, that will in 99% of the time end up as Holy healers, Human will still be the best for that. Even in PvP as a Paladin, Human will be better than Dwarf, simply because Paladin’s Cleanse ability is better than Stoneform, and Weapon Skill will always be there for a human
When it comes to Spell Casting classes - Human will be an amazing Priest thanks to increased Spirit, that stacks wonderfully with Spiritual Guidance, but Human Priest is not top tier. This title belongs to the Dwarves thanks to the Fear Ward, that Human does not possess. For Mages - Human is absolutely outclassed by Gnome, but it doesn’t mean that you should not roll a Human Mage. It’s possible, and you can have some success with that, but it will be a bit harder, as you don’t have anything that will increase your prowess as a Mage. The same case with Warlock class, Human will be much weaker than Gnome. He’s bigger, he has no escape racial, it’s easier to find him in a crowd, compare it to the gnome that can escape slows and roots, and is harder to target thanks to his smaller frame. High Intellect makes them viable in the spell caster classes.
Conclusion - Human will be an amazing as a PvE Melee class, thanks to increased Weapon Expertise, dealing more damage, gaining more rage, and generating threat. In PvP they will be weaker in some cases, due to vulnerability to Crowd Control. They will be weaker than other classes when it comes to Spellcasters, but a good player will make it work anyway. Thanks to Diplomacy passive ability, Humans will progress faster than other classes, since they will get more quests that can be accessed at higher reputation caps.
Dwarves
Dwarves are a courageous, sturdy, and brawny race. Short descendants of Titans in the current era are split between three dominant clans, Bronzebeard Clan, Dark Iron Clan, and Wildhammer Clan. Dwarves are somewhat...special. Average Dwarf is very composed, observant, and steady, both in work and in combat, but they have certain tendencies. For you see, when you make Dwarf lose his temper, then congratulations, you have awakened a ferocious rampaging beast. When the situation calls for it, or if some punk manages to hurt those Dwarven feelings, their self-restraint gets ditched completely, and they will stay persistent in their fierce zeal. So if you happen to find yourself in a Tavern with a Dwarf - and Dwarves do love drinking alcohol, Happy Hour and all of that - do not, I repeat, do not say a bad word about a Dwarf or his friends.
Dwarves are loyal creatures. When an allied race calls the banners, preparing for a battle, each Dwarf, capable or not, will rise up to defend his friends and allies with truly unmatched valor and courage. Dwarves very quickly became the most trusted race in Alliance ranks, as they are always there for their allies, always ready to aid them in upcoming battles.
Dwarves also specialize in refining metals, mining, and metalsmithing. Some will even say, that no bauble will ever match the beauty of Dwarven jewelry.
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Dwarf Racials
Find Treasure - Allows the Dwarf to sense nearby treasure, making it appear on the minimap. If there’s one thing that Dwarves love the most besides mountains, alcohol, crafting and their closest friends, it would’ve treasures. To pinpoint those bigger Dwarven noses for a good ol’ coin, this Dwarven racial lets you pinpoint various treasures scattered around the map. This racial will track chests, lockboxes, food crates, and other types of resources that you can gather. Finding a treasure chest in a local mine, and getting that perfect Green-titled piece of steel for you to smash your enemies with it - is the greatest feeling early on, as it will really help your grinding speed. And grinding speed will mean almost everything when the Classic servers launch.
Frost Resistance - Frost Resistance increased by 10. The defense is always useful. Defending from frost will be useful in PvP against frost mages, in Naxx, and in Wrath of the Lich King expansion, if it’s ever coming out for WoW Classic servers. There’s nothing more to it. You take less damage from frost-related attacks and abilities. Simple as that.
Gun Specialization - Guns Skill increased by 5. As mentioned in the Human Racials section above, Weapon Specialization will enable you to dish out more DPS in a fight. You will not hit harder, as there are no Glancing Blows on the ranged weapons, but you will hit more often, your enemy will less often dodge, parry, or block your skills and Normal Attacks. Everything is a Hunter Weapon, but increased proficiency in Guns will make a Dwarven Hunter truly powerful.
Stoneform - Removes all poison, disease, curse, magic, and bleed effects and reduces all physical damage taken by 10% for 8 sec. Truly wonderful racial for Dwarves. It’s an amazing activated ability against Rogues. This is why Dwarf in Classic WoW makes a great Rogue. Just thanks to this single ability, you can be a great Rogue - the strongest class in Classic WoW - while countering other Rogues. A huge chunk of Rogue’s damage depends on various Damage over Time abilities, that apply something like Bleed, or Poison. You can use this buff every 3 minutes, to not only cleanse yourself out of these DoTs, but to become invulnerable to them for 8 seconds total. It’s absolutely insane. Arguably - the strongest racial on Alliance’s side for PvP, and it can be used in PvE as a defensive tool for 8 seconds, or a way to remove debuffs. It’s truly powerful.
Dwarf class Selection
Dwarves will be close to top tier PvE Melee classes just below humans when it comes to PvE. Dwarven Rogues are really powerful thanks to the combination of racial Stoneform + Vanish for example. You will cure every major thing that might slow you through poisoning, damage you over time, or make you miss attacks due to affliction with blindness by some classes. Stoneform truly makes Dwarves one of the best races in the game for almost every scenario, which called for a nerf shortly after Wrath of the Lich King released, as in Classic WoW - it’s simply too strong in too many scenarios against powerful classes. Death Knight from WotLK, for example, couldn’t do much to Dwarves, especially Dwarven Rogues, as most of DK’s damage came from curses.
A dwarf can roll a Hunter and be the best at it on the Alliance side, in both PvE, and PvP. Night Elves have better base stats for being a Hunter, but there’s one mechanic in the game that makes Dwarven Racials better. There’s a mechanic called Dead Zone. Basically if your target is too close, you will not be able to shoot, and you will have to either gain some distance or switch to melee. And if someone uses Crippling Poison on you then what are you going to do? That’s right, Stoneform yet again comes into play. You use it, you use your mobility to gain some distance, and you continue the fight. And let’s not forget about Weapon Skill increase - Gun Specialization, that will increase your DPS by roughly 2% or so, if you make specific calculations. It’s not much in the beginning, but it will make a difference at higher levels when you make deal more damage with each of your skills and Normal Attacks with your Gun.
Dwarves will make amazing Priests too. While they don’t have Spirit bonuses that scale with some of the Priest’s passive abilities, they have a wonderful ability, exclusive to their race as Priests. We’re talking of course about the Fear Ward ability, that is absolutely amazing for any PvP scenario against classes that possess Fear Crowd Control, like Warlock for example. A Fear can last so long that you won’t be able to do anything as you are slowly but surely going from 100% health to absolutely nothing. Fear Ward places a lingering shield on your target that will completely negate the next fear. It has a 30-second cooldown, and the protective ward lasts for 10 minutes. And it will counter a single Fear, using up the Warp charge. It’s truly amazing, it’s an instant cast, and it only costs 100 mana. Huge, absolutely huge. Combined with the damage over time from skills like Devouring Plauge it can work wonders.
Night Elves
Mysterious and glorious race of proud, thirsty for magic and power creatures that created a flourishing, yet corrupted ancient empire. Previously immortal species, they sacrificed their immortality and the World Tree to halt the actions of Burning Legion, prior to the events of World of Warcraft. New generation ditched arcane magic, to instead rebuild their civilization to live in peace and harmony with nature.
Night Elf Racials
Nature Resistance - Nature Resistance increased by 10. Less damage taken from abilities and attacks that deal Nature Damage. Druids, Hunters, Rogues and Shamans will deal a bit less damage, and this Nature Resistance statistic becomes really useful, especially in Ahn’Qiraj, and Zul’Gurub.
Wisp Spirit - Transform into a wisp upon death, increasing movement speed by 50%. Considering how easy it is to die in WoW Classic, when you accidentally pull more mobs than you should, especially as a Warrior, that has no self-perseverance abilities. 50% movement speed is a lot and it will make a difference, making you arrive to your body x1.5 faster than other players. If you are going to exp somewhere, where you might die if you misstep this is a great racial. It’s also a running meme, that Night Elves make the best Warriors in Classic WoW, just because inexperienced Warriors die so much when they are solo grinding.
Quickness - Dodge chance increased by 1%. Just what the racial skill descriptions says. One percent is not enough, but it’s always something. Becomes useful for tanking. While it’s certainly not consistent at all, as sometimes you might dodge a couple of hits in a row, and sometimes you will not be able to dodge anything for days. It’s a small chance but it surely can make a difference. Sometimes one attack will wipe out your entire team, and you will be the only one who survives just thanks to the dodge, sometimes you will dodge a powerful hit while tanking, it’s a nice thing to have.
Shadowmeld - Activate to slip into the shadows, reducing the chance for enemies to detect your presence. Lasts until canceled or upon moving. Night Elf Rogues and Druids with Shadowmeld are more difficult to detect while stealthed or prowling. 10-second cooldown stealth that enables you to be infinitely stealthed as long as you do not take any action. It can be really useful in ambushes and hiding in the plain sight to get intel for your teammates. It’s a surprising thing to be completely alone at one point, and seeing an unstealthed Warrior charging your way like a train of a man the he is preparing a hamstring combo that will keep you in his range for eternity and beyond. It’s also worth to mention that it’s a perfect AFK tool that will keep you alive for as long as you remain undetected.
Hidden Leaf Ninja Flip Technique - Night Elves channel their hidden ninja spirits, sending a signal from their brains through nerves to their paralyzed limbs, jumping high in the air while doing a sick frontflip. That’s all there is to it really. Night Elves have a ⅓ chance to do a flip when they jump. When you time your jumps correctly you can frontflip infinitely. Blizzard knows what kind of players play Night Elves so they included that gimmick specifically for that reason alone.
Night Elves Class Selection
Night elves can make decent heavy armor PvE Warrior tanks. They won’t generate as much threat as a human does due to the Weapon Specialization difference, and won’t deal as much damage, but the Dodge Chance Racial Bonus can really help in tanking, as sometimes you will end up dodging the big hits just like that, avoiding all damage or Crowd Control. It’s the only direct tanking buff, that will apply to every situation, as Nature Resistance will only be useful against Nature Damage, and Quickness is enabled at all times. They will be also strong in PvP, as going for Shadowmeld will enable you to charge out of nowhere, which becomes really strong in Battlegrounds, and World Player versus Player scenarios.
Alliance has a Druid class, that is only accessible for a Night Elf player. Druid is a really powerful and really versatile class that can do well both in solo and group scenarios. Druids can go for DPS build, Tank builds, and they are absolutely amazing as healers. You really don’t know what to expect from a good druid. Some will outdamage you with pure damage, sometimes they will tank every hit you deal, and sometimes they will just keep themselves and their allies alive with powerful healing abilities. Druids are amazing, and it’s great to have one on your side. This is one of the major reasons why Alliance players sometimes will choose to go with Night Elf. This, and a little thing about Hunters.
Hunter Night Elf can set up some amazing ambushes thanks to the racial Shadowmeld ability. With the right pet, that can turn invisible, you can creep on your enemies, staying undetected, unleashing huge damage from afar, without giving any chance to react. Also, Night Elves have the best basic stacks for hunter gameplay, and while Dwarf is more safe thanks to the Stoneform, in the right situation that involves an ambush or a surprising dodge from Quickness. High Agility also plays a part in this equation.
Night Elf Priest has two class-specific racials. Starshards that will deal some good damage to the enemy over the course of 6 seconds and Elune’s Grace will greatly reduce damage taken from ranged sourced by 95 points, and increasing your chance to dodge by 10% for 15 seconds. The first one looks pretty cool, as the size of this skill is reliant on the enemy’s size, meaning that if you would use it on a large enemy the stars that fall can become enormous, and it’s a very strong skill by itself. Elune’s Grace, on the other hand, is a powerful buff that will work against ranged attacks and abilities. Meaning that you or your buffed target will not only reduce the damage of incoming ranged projectiles, it will also increase dodge chance for 15 seconds. Combined with 1% from basic racials it can really help you dodge lots of shots and hits.
Gnomes
A race of quirky and smart little genius creatures absolutely obsessed with engineering, gadgets, and technology. Alliance’s madmen, nerds, and scientists, you will find them in a lab or a workshop tinkering something out of scrap.
This society delves in the wondrous techno-city of Gnomeregan, they provide Alliance with wonderful creations, various gadgets, bombs, weapons, grenades with different purposes, steam vehicles, and more. Or at least they were before the Gnomeregan got completely destroyed by Troggs, leading to its a downfall. Nowadays Gnomes share home with fellow Dwarves, back in Ironforge, making strong efforts to retake their former capital city in the meantime.
Gnome Racials
Arcane Resistance - Arcane Resistance increased by 10. Reduces damage taken from Spells and Attacks that deal Arcane Damage. Really useful against mages, and since they are arguably near the top tier in PvP - it’s really helpful to lower the damage taken.
Expansive Mind - Intelligence increased by 5%. Intelligence will be always useful for those who would like to learn certain things faster, to deal more damage with due to higher Critical Hit chance, or to simply have more resources to spend on casting spells. Each point of INT will increase your maximum Mana by 15 points, the rate at which you learn weapon skills will be increased, and it will increase your chance to get a critical hit while unleashing a spell, and while the crit chance is not great - as it’s about 1% critical hit chance for 60 INT at max level of a character - it’s always useful to have more chances at taking that huge chunk of that HP bar from your enemy with a successful critical hit with a spell.
Engineering Specialization - Engineering Skill increased by 15. Engineering is one of the most, if not the most profitable professions in the entire game. Contents made in this craft are very important for the end-game play as grenades made with this trade will be useful for a multitude of situations. 15 points of Engineering, in the beginning, will let you get started off a bit faster than others, and it greatly represents the genius of Gnomes, and their love for various, a bit dangerous gadgets. It’s a strong profession for both PvP and PvE. Your guild and friends will surely thank you for it, and you can make huge amounts of Gold thanks to this trade.
Escape Artist - Escape the effects of any immobilization or movement speed reduction effect. This racial is absolutely amazing for PvP. Frozen in one place by a Frost Mage? Escape Artist. Crippling Poison on you? Escape Artist. Warrior used Charge+ Improved Hamstring on you? Escape Artist. Rooted in place or slowed by a Druid? You guessed it - Escape Artist. Gnome Warriors will tell you how many times Escape Artist has saved them from the grasps of death, when fellow and a bit hostile Orc or Tauren wanted to hug them to death. This is definitely the best racial on Alliance side when it comes to pure PvP experience. And it’s a 1-minute cooldown ability with only a 0.5s cast time. It’s a great getaway card that will help you escape any kind of slow, root, any immobilizing effect that makes you slower or makes you stand helplessly in one place. It’s invaluable against lots of most played PvP classes, and it will make a huge difference in Duels, Battlegrounds, and World PvP scenarios.
Gnome Class Selection
These little creatures will be top tier for all spellcasting classes on the Alliance side. Warlock and Mage - Gnome racials will be invaluable. They will have more Mana - the main resource for casting spells, they will get more Critical Hit chance - meaning the potential for a better DPS thanks to Critical Hits.
When it comes to melee gameplay - Gnomes will be great as Warriors and Rogues in PvP, and slightly worse in PvE. If you keep a Warrior in place - they won’t be able to do anything. This is where Escape Artist will truly shine. This is why the most serious PvP Warriors on Alliance’s side will most of the time go for a Gnome Warrior. And Escape Artist is not the only reason for that. Gnomes have a really small frame, they are very easy to miss, and if a Gnome is standing in a group with other races, you will have a hard time to target him with Abilities that require a lock-on. Also - it’s absolutely hilarious to see a small creature with an enormous Two-Handed axe, squeaking, and huffin and puffin at your knee-level when your HP bar suddenly vanishes cuz he just critted you for ⅓ of your HP, while his Gnome friends cheer for him and mock you. And nothing hurts a Hordie’s pride more than being killed by a god damned little creature of a Gnome. Orc. A freaking Orc, murdered without remorse by a long-nosed, rage-inducing humanoid hamster without fur.
As for Rogues - hard to notice, Escape Artist always helps, Gnomes are great PvP Rogues.
Horde Races
Orcs
Orcs are the native race that came from the lands of Draenor. They came to the world of Azeroth through the Dark Portal, created by Medvich and warlocks from the Shadow Council led by Gul’dan. Orcs and ogres flooded the land of Azeroth, and poured into the glorious city of Stormwind, starting the First War between Humans and Orcs. Corrupted by the demonic blood of Mannoroth the Destructor, driven mad, they turned upon the Draenei and everything that lived in the land of Azeroth.
After losing the Second War Orcs slowly regained their former spirits and culture, breaking themselves free from the mind-chains of Burning Legion, slowly returning to their shamanistic roots. Nowadays Orcs are trying to carve themselves a nice piece of land to create their new home in Azeroth. Orcs are all about strength, honor, and obedience to the Warchief. While separated into various clans, they have a deep sense of honor and respect each other.
Orc Racials
Axe Specialization - Skill with Axes and Two-Handed Axes increased by 5. Hands down the best Weapon Skill related to racial in the entire game. Especially if you are going to roll a Warrior. Axes are by far the best melee weapon type in PvP, and arguably the best in PvE. This is because as you go down the Arms Talent Tree for a Warrior, you will also have a chance to put points into Axe, Staff, Mallet, or Sword Specialization. Swords will grant you a chance for a bonus attack that will launch indefinitely from your other Attacks after you deal damage to your enemy with a sword, Mallets will give you a chance to stun your enemy for 3 seconds with each swing, and Axes will increase your Critical Hit chance. Critical Hits are huge, especially for a Warrior with Arms specialization, as there are three talents that connect with each other, one will grant you Critical Hit chance, second will Bleed your enemies after the crit for a nice amount of damage that equals to the ¼ of your damage dealt, and the last one will increase your Critical Hit damage by a great amount. This is one of the two things that make Orcs the best Warriors in the entire game when it comes to pure damage output and threat stacking. Therefore if you want to focus on min-maxing your Warrior as a pure damage dealer - Orc is the best choice. Warrior is not the only class that will be able to use an Axe, but it’s certainly the most important one. Critical Hit might be the single most important thing to complement a skilled Warrior player. But the damage to other classes is a nice addition as well.
Blood Fury - Increases base melee attack power by 25% for 15 seconds and reduces healing effects on you by 50% for 25 seconds. This racial is absolutely disgusting for any melee class, Warriors, Rogues or Shamans. This is your Trump Card, that you will use when you need to go on a rampage, and deal the most damage possible in the shortest amount of time. The drawback in a form of the reducement of healing effects can be devastating if you misplay and use it at a wrong time. A must have in duels when there’s no one there to heal you, very useful at Battlegrounds or in World PvP scenarios. This is the second thing that makes Orcs the best Warriors in the game. If you need to go ham, and devastate your enemies - this is your go-to ability to use as you charge into battle.
Command - Damage dealt by Hunter and Warlock pets increased by 5%. A very nice racial that will aid your fellow in combat, granting it more DPS. Pets are very important for every Hunter or Warlock. They can deal lots of damage, sometimes they will tank, and sometimes they will be used for pure utility. Useful in PvP, at Battlegrounds, in World PvP and various solo situations, also in grinding. However during raids most pets will die off easily.
Hardiness - Chance to resist Stun effects increased by an additional 25%. Another racial that is absolutely busted, and applicable for the same class - for Orcs. ¼ of a time an Orc will just ignore your Stun attempts, and there are other stats that affect the ability to ignore a stun. Most Rogues will completely avoid attacking Orcs on the Battlegrounds, or in World Player versus Player. Some Rogue will just come up to you to apply a Stun and boom - resisted. There’s nowhere else to run, and you are pummeling that Rogue to the ground with your brute force or powerful spells. It’s absolutely amazing. Both in PvP and in PvE scenarios. We can arguably say that this is the best PvP-oriented racial in the game.
Orc Class Selection
Warrior will be most likely your best choice, as Orcish Racials simply give too many benefits for a Warrior. Axe Specialization will make a noticeable difference in DPS with Axes, and the even greater difference if you put some points into Axe Specialization in Arms Talent Tree. Hardiness will help you against classes with powerful Stuns, especially Rogues, and while it is useful for every class there is, it will be invaluable for Warriors, as hey are prone to Crowd Control. And Blood Fury will allow you to decimate your enemies in a blink of an eye.
Command will also benefit you during grinding sessions when you are playing as a Warlock or a Hunter. 5% can make a difference in damage, and since there are many DPS-oriented pets, you will find some good use for them. The usability is hardly noticeable in PvE, but it will be useful in PvP.
Orcs will make great Rogues on the Horde’s side. Since Rogues will opt to Stunlock the enemy and finish them while they are not able to do anything, stacking Crowd Control and dealing as much damage as possible - Blood Fury is absolutely amazing for Rogue playstyle. You are fighting to burst people down, stunlocking them for eternity, and 25% Bonus Damage from Melee will make a noticeable difference in battle. Rogues are already top tier when it comes to classes in Classic WoW, and with some of their damage increased by 25% - you have a perfect killing machine that will wreak havoc on weaklings at Battlegrounds and in World PvP scenarios. And statistically, if you are an Orc, and you are fighting any other Rogue with different race, you should come out on top most of the time. Just be careful when you are fighting a Dwarf Rogue, or any instance of Dwarf, as Stoneform is also a very powerful racial that counters other Rogues.
When it comes to Shamans, especially Elemental - Orc will be the best choice if you want to focus on PvP. Bonus to damage from Axe Specialization will always be there for you, Hardiness will protect you from stuns. And of course, Blood Fury will increase your damage by a large amount. And with that kit and racials, already very powerful Elemental Shaman will be even stronger with enormous Damage per Second. If you are going for Elemental Shaman, and you want to min-max your character - Orc will be your best choice both for PvP, and PvE.
Undead
Undead, or Forsaken if you will, having broken free from the tyrannous grasps of the Lich King, slowly create a new and thriving society. Previously Humans, now - emotionless walking sacks of bones and rotting flesh, bound together with the common cause of serving their banshee queen Sylvanas Windrunner. They’ve created a secret stronghold beneath the ruins of Lordaeron’s former capital City - Undercity. Right there, in the center of the purest evil, Undead work on creating a new plague that will end the rest of humanity once and for all.
Forsaken have joined the Horde, becoming one of the most unpredictable players in the politics of Azeroth, with no clear loyalties except that one for Sylvanas, they still remain unknown for other races of the Horde. One thing is certain, as long as they have a common enemy, there’s nothing to worry about if it comes to this Horde alliance, or is there?
Undead Racials
Cannibalize - When activated, regenerates 7% of total health every 2 seconds for 10 seconds. Only works on Humanoid or Undead corpses within 5 yards. Any movement, action or damage taken while Cannibalizing will cancel the effect. This one is a great tool for classes that don’t have any self-heal. With Cannibalize you won’t need to bring as much food in your backpack to heal yourself as other races. Just simply stop in your tracks during grinding, or after killing your enemy in a 1v1 Duel. While the Racial Description mentions only Humanoids and Undead, creatures like centaurs will work too for example. Basically, anything that has some parts that resemble a human will be edible for an Undead. It’s a great ability to have when you are leveling, as you will be able to heal yourself up every two minutes. Combined with edibles and First Aid - you should not have a problem staying on the spot for a little longer. It’s especially invaluable to Warriors because they have a very hard time staying alive while grinding, as they have to often stop in their tracks to eat or bandage themselves. This racial gives you one more solution to your Health Points issues. Amazing racial for those that prefer grinding solo.
Shadow Resistance - Shadow Resistance increased by 10. Most likely the strongest element Resistance racial in Classic WoW when it comes to PvP. Shadow Damage is very common in top-tier PvP, as Shadow Priests are considered to be one of the strongest end-game PvP classes in the entire game. For this reason alone it’s good to have some Shadow Resistance on your character to avoid the damage. It’s nothing big, but in a specific scenario, where you kill that Shadow Priest in a Duel, ending up with only 55 HP, you know why you managed to survive.
Underwater Breathing - Underwater breath lasts 300% longer than normal. Sometimes you will find yourself in a situation when you need to dive in the water for an extended period of time. This racial will allow you to stay underwater for an extended period of time without the need of heading towards the surface to gasp for air. It’s useful but only in scenarios where you literally have to go underwater. Very situational, and worthless outside of water. It’s there, but it wouldn’t make a big difference if you did not have it.
Will of the Forsaken - Provides immunity to Charm, Fear, and Sleep while active. May also be used while already afflicted by Charm, Fear, or Sleep. Lasts 5 seconds. This one is a very strong racial ability for PvP situations. It works similarly to Dwarven Stoneform, you can activate it at any point, when you are under the influence of certain Crowd Control, and even if you are absolutely free to move. You will not only clear Charm, Fear, and Sleep off of you, you will become immune to those effects for the next 5 seconds. When it comes to end-game PvP 5 seconds feels like an eternity. Let’s say someone has a specific combo that utilizes a specific Crowd Control, and you suddenly become immune to it. Your enemy starts panicking, as it’s not worth it to use next skills in his chain if you are going to ignore the CC that comes with them, they have to prepare for a scenario that they haven’t planned, and they have to restrain themselves from certain actions that are buried deep within their muscle memory. It will throw people off nicely. And of course, each one of these CCs is very powerful on its own, and to completely avoid it - it’s a game-changer in all situations.
Undead Class Selection
Undead Warriors will be pretty decent but only thanks to the Will of the Forsaken, but you can easily find a better option for Warriors in the Horde ranks. Also, Cannibalize will be really helpful if you grind solo, or if you are duo-leveling with someone who doesn’t have any heals.
Rogue will be a decent choice if you are going for PvP oriented character. It’s not top tier, as Orcs can dish out way more damage due to their racial, but you have a debuff cleanse in your racials each two minutes, so it’s up to you if you are going for a character with more guaranteed damage, or a character that will be able to counter powerful Crowd Control and withstand more damage from Shadow Priests.
Undead will also be amazing as priests in PvP. In PvE, they will do a bit worse than trolls, but Will of the Forsaken racial will be invaluable.
Warlock will also be a good choice, not only thanks to the Will of the Forsaken but for that extra Shadow Resistance from the racials.
Forsaken will also work great as a Mage in PvP, again due to the utility that Will of the Forsaken provides. It’s simply amazing for its duration and short cooldown.
Tauren
The Tauren - a race of strong bestial creatures who live somewhere in the center of Kalimdor. Deep-rooted commitment for shamanism only complements their love for nature and the green grasses, while their worship a deity, known to everyone as the Earth Mother. Taurens are the guardians of the earth.
Do not get disturbed with their enormous size and powerful strong frames. Taurens are massive and while they can pummel you into the ground without much effort when they get angry - they love living peacefully, maintaining the balance between wild living things of their lands, and relentless spirit of elements. Taurens are calm, composed, you can see them as the monks of Classic WoW. This race created a tribal, quiet, and creative society, built on being connected to nature. However, try to take that away from a Tauren, and you will have a serious problem as they can react with relentless brute strength. Just give them a reason, combine that with Tauren’s strong belief of fighting for something more and you have just created a true killing machine. They are intimidating and fearsome in battle, yet, these minotaur-like creatures are known to be noble, therefore justice and mercy are very important parts of their peaceful society.
Tauren racials
Cultivation - Herbalism skill increased by 15. It’s a nice thing to have when you want to focus on let’s say Herbalism + Alchemy. This racial will relieve you from having to level up your Herbalism between levels from fifty to one hundred. Sometimes you want to level your Herbalism up, but you are in a location where you are not experienced enough in gathering to be able to gather herbs that are in that specific location. Cultivation will help you with that. It’s there purely for convenience as Herbalism is not as profitable as other top tier professions. And that’s a shame. Cows picking up grass? Sign me the hell up!
Endurance - Total Health increased by 5%. Now, this is a nice racial that greatly complements what Taurens are about. While increased strength would be a nice addition, Blizzard left us only with a nice Health Points increase. Health is important and it will allow you to take more hits. And 5% bonus Health Points is absolutely huge. This is why if you want to pick a full-on PvE Protection Warrior Tank - Tauren will most likely be your best choice. Back in the days, most hardcore Raiding Guilds on Horde side would only accept Tanks into their ranks, that rolled with a Warrior Tauren. Thanks to Endurance you will tank longer, you will survive longer, and you have that extra amount of HP that will make a huge difference at higher levels.
Nature Resistance - Nature Resistance increased by 10, We’ve already covered that in the Night Elves section. Reduces the damage from Hunters, Druids, and Shamans, also helpful in some Dungeons and Raids. Simple as that.
War Stomp - Stuns up to 5 enemies within 8 yards for 2 seconds. This one is a great ability. A great thing to use both in PvE and PvP when you get swarmed with enemies. It’s an Area of Effect stun around you that will be useful in multiple situations. Some even consider this to be better than Orcish Hardiness, since it doesn’t depend that much on RNG. It’s a great racial active ability that has a 0.5 second cast time, it’s a swing-crush, meaning that it’s faster than a swing with any weapon, and it will beat that Normal Attack, when fired-off at the same time, with War Stomp being prioritized by the system. Truth be told - Player versus Player in Classic WoW is a game based around Crowd Control. And if you can stun an enemy for 2 seconds - it can make a huge difference in combat. It’s useful in PvP as well as in PvE, allowing you to either stun just to apply a strong CC, to gain some distance, to disengage, to stop powerful abilities from being cast, or just to meme on someone when you are winning already. Hard meme. And for some reason, this racial is very underrated by the majority if this wonderful community, even though it’s very useful in a multitude of situations.
Tauren Class Selection
Warrior will be the obvious choice for a Tauren that would like to utilize the Endurance to its fullest as a Tank. Not only for War Stomp but mainly for that nice Health Points increase. It’s an amazing racial for a full tank, and Tauren will look even more beastly with a large Two-Hander, sword or mace or axe, doesn’t matter. Everything will look absolutely great and imposing, especially from the point of view of your enemies.
Druid is an amazing class on its own, as it’s very versatile, Druids can opt to go for pure DPS, and be absolutely amazing at it, they can tank sometimes, not as reliably as Warriors, but it’s possible, but you won’t be a priority in end-game raid boss fights as nobody will let you tank as Druid, Warrior simply outclasses Druid in that regard. Druids can heal as well, and they are amazing at it, most useful PvE Druids will go for healing.
Shaman is a very powerful class on its own and is unique to the Horde. Tauren is a good class to roll a Shaman, but there are better classes that will use their racials to benefit from this class, especially when it comes to Elemental Shaman Talent Build.
And when it comes to Hunters, Taurens just look a bit strange with bows. But they can work just nice. War Stomp will be an amazing racial ability for hunters due to the mechanic known in Classic World of Warcraft as Dead Zone. If your enemy gets a little bit too close to you, getting in your face - you will not be able to fire off any shots out of your long-ranged weapon. You will need to gain some distance through Hunter abilities, however, War Stomp will give you two full seconds to gain some good distance. With other Hunter skills that help with gaining distance, you should easily be able to come back into your favorable range, from which you will benefit greatly as a Hunter.
Trolls
A tribal society that found their home in the Valley of Trials in Durotar. With so many tribes in Trolls’ society, only the Darkspear Tribe has sworn allegiance to the Horde after they’ve got driven away from their homeland in the Broken Isles by the naga and Murlocs. Saved by the Orcs, led by Thrall - a mighty Orcish Shaman. Now, they share their capital city with the Orcs - Orgrimmar.
Troll Racials
Beast Slaying - Damage dealt versus Beasts increased by 5%. All of your abilities and Normal attacks will deal 5% more damage to every type of enemy that can be described as a beast. Great thing for Dungeon runs and Raids filled with beasts, and it will also help your grinding speed in some locations, as it’s a flat 5% damage increase. Not only that, as when it comes to Beast-type bosses - you will not only increase your damage with Beast Slaying, you will also generate more threat, meaning that it’s a great racial if you are planning to roll with a Troll Warrior Tank
Berserking - Increases your casting and attack speed by 10 to 30%. At full health the speed increase is 10 to 30% with a greater effect up to 30% if you are badly hurt when you activate Berserking. Lasts 10 seconds. This is a great ability that will be valuable for all melee classes. Lots of top progression guilds will use Troll Warriors as their Main Tanks (MT), as thanks to this ability Troll will generate more threat, granting the attention of a specific target. When you have a strong weapon, 10 seconds of 10 to 30% bonus Attack and Casting speed will be absolutely huge for any situation. And since it has a 3-minute cooldown you will be able to use that very often during your leveling. It will either help you finish mobs quickly, or to get you out of a troublesome situation, where both you and your enemy are below 30% - Berserking can be a true life-saver.
Bow Specialization - Skill with Bow Weapons increased by 5. You will be a little bit more efficient with Bows if you decide to roll with a Troll Hunter. Sadly, Ranged Weapons do not possess the capabilities of Melee Weapons that gain a great damage boost thanks to Glancing Blows. Ranged Weapons get none of that, meaning that Bow Specialization will only increase your DPS in a way, that will make you miss fewer shots, as it will increase your accuracy and decrease the chance of your attacks being blocked, parried, or dodged. As if you could parry an arrow or a bullet.
Regeneration - Health regeneration rate increased by 10%. 10% of total Health regeneration may continue during combat. Regeneration is a hard meme in the Classic World of Warcraft community. It could’ve been a very useful racial if it wasn’t for one thing. If your gear is not Stamina-oriented, the amount of Healing received by Regeneration will be very small. Without a little Stamina increase from the Gear, Regeneration will have a very small value in comparison to other racial skills. However, this one can save your life in some scenarios, and with right playstyle and gear - this regen will be really noticeable in Combat. Sometimes Regeneration, combined with Berserking is the reason why most progressive guilds on the Horde side will roll with a Troll Warrior as the Main Tank.
Throwing Specialization - Skill with Throwing Weapons increased by 5. The least used weapon type in Classic World of Warcraft. And for a good reason. While Hunters can use powerful Ranged Weapons - those still require ammo. And with throwing weapons - the ammo that you purchase - is the ammo itself. Thrown Weapons didn’t have any connection to the skills of any class, they don’t have some greater rarity and powerful things that will change the outcome of the fight. And as soon as you throw this weapon - it’s gone forever, and you have to find or buy yourself a new one. Can be used for Roleplay sake, as thrown weapons have some cool aesthetics to them.
Troll Class Selection
Thanks to Berserking that is by itself incredibly powerful for every class, and Regeneration, with the right build and playstyle Troll Warriors, will make wonderful Main Tanks. Berserking helps you not only with the damage, but also will help you generate more threat, ensuring that you will stay as the enemy’s target at all times, and that is exactly what you want as a tank. Besides healers you will also regenerate your health points in combat, the more Health Points you have, the more you will regenerate.
Rogue Trolls will also be really powerful because of Berserking, you will hit people more frequently, and your abilities will also cast faster. The best thing is that this ability by itself can be very powerful while having literally no drawbacks. It’s less risky to use than Blood Rage for example.
Troll Shamans, especially those that are going for Elemental DPS Shaman builds will be amazing thanks to Berserking, as it will greatly increase your DPS. The shaman can heal himself easily due to his skills, and if you manage to get the full bonus of Berserking, you can heal yourself and still remain with maximum 30% Attack and Casting speed, since the bonus applies to the amount of Health Points that you had when you activated Berserking ability.
The troll will also synergize greatly with casting classes, like Mage and Priest, as Berserking becomes an ultimate top racial for Casting classes. There are lots of abilities in Mage and Priest’s classes that may be powerful, but they require longer cast times that most of the time will lock you in place for a good amount of time. Even if you are able to get that 10% Casting Speed buff from that racial it will be noticeable, and if you find yourself at low hp, and use Berserking the change in your cast time will make a huge difference. Whether you need to burst enemies down, or to heal your teammates fast - this is the best racial for that.
Troll Hunters are also really powerful. Troll is a go-to race for most Horde hunters thanks to the Bow Specialization synergy that will increase the DPS through less missed shots. Berserking will help with the damage output as well. It all makes Troll Hunters one of the most popular Horde setups, you will most likely see tons of them flooding every server.
Wow classic characters
That would be it for our WoW Classic races overview. In Classic WoW (both the Vanilla from back in the day and in the modern WoW Classic Beta) there's much fewer races and classes than in the current live version The eight playable WoW Classic races are: Dwarf, Gnome, Human, Night Elf, Orc, Tauren, Troll and Undead. At the same time, list of playable classes is also shorter. Druid, Hunter, Mage, Paladin, Priest, Rogue, Shaman, Warlock and Warrior. That being said, the number of class/race combinations is limited, since they don't all mesh together. The gener of your character won't mean anything though, you can play as male or female and have exactly the same skills, stats and possibilities.
If you started playing World of Warcraft relatively late, Classic might surprise you with a lot of things. Smaller choice of races and classes is just a tip of the iceberg. The progression is much slower, even as basic things as getting a mount will be a much more demanding challenge.
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