The best race for every class.
Every race in Forever has two actives and two passives, and six new race and class combinations opened up, so the Classic answers no longer hold. These picks are reasoned from the racials as of the October 15 beta build, which removed the weapon specialization racials, with the number that decides each one. Numbers can still move before launch.
Warrior
Horde: Orc · Alliance: Night Elf
OrcDPSBlood Fury is 10% Attack Power for 15 seconds on a 3 minute cooldown, Hardiness cuts stun duration by 20%, and that is the whole kit now that the October 26 pass swapped Savage for Command, which only feeds pets. Still the best Horde Warrior race, on the strength of the active.
TaurenTankingEndurance is 5% health and nothing else since the October 26 pass, and War Stomp is an 8 yard stun for 2 seconds on a 90 second cooldown. The health and the stun are what a tank wants.
Night ElfDPSElune's Light is 10% crit with all attacks for 15 seconds on a 3 minute cooldown, the Alliance answer to Blood Fury, plus 1% dodge and 2% run speed from Quickness.
HumanDPSRuthless is a flat 1% crit with any weapon, cut from 2% in the October 26 pass, and Will to Survive breaks stuns on a 3 minute cooldown. Night Elf's Elune's Light is the bigger damage racial now.
DwarfTankingStoneform now cuts physical damage taken by 10% for 8 seconds and clears bleeds, poisons and diseases. That is a tank cooldown on a 3 minute timer.
Paladin
Horde: Undead · Alliance: Human
UndeadAll rolesThe only Horde Paladin. Will of the Forsaken breaks Charm, Fear and Sleep, Cannibalize now returns mana as well as health, and Touch of the Grave drains on hit with a 25 second internal cooldown.
- HumanHealing and Retribution
The Human Spirit is 10% Spirit since the October 26 pass, which matters because Reverence and the itemization change feed regen. Ruthless adds 1% crit to spells and abilities alike, no sword needed.
- DwarfTanking
Stoneform is 10% physical damage reduction plus bleed, poison and disease immunity for 8 seconds. Artisan's Precision is 1% hit on spells and attacks since the October 26 pass, which every Paladin spec can use.
Skyborne cannot be Paladins on either side.
Hunter
Horde: Troll · Alliance: Night Elf
TrollPvE and levelingBerserking is 10% attack and casting speed for 10 seconds, Beast Slaying is 5% damage against Beasts, and 10% of your health regen continues in combat. Half of what you kill on the way to 60 is a Beast.
- OrcPvP
Blood Fury adds 10% Attack Power, Hardiness shortens every stun, and Shatter Curse dispels Curses and Banes with 5% magic damage reduction.
- Night ElfPvE and PvP
Elune's Light is 10% crit for 15 seconds, Shadowmeld now works in combat as a soft aggro drop, and Quickness adds dodge and run speed that stacks with other speed effects.
- DwarfLeveling
Big Game Hunter is 5% damage against Beasts, and Stoneform clears the poisons and bleeds that kill Hunters at 20.
Rogue
Horde: Orc · Alliance: Night Elf- OrcPvE
Blood Fury is 10% Attack Power every 3 minutes and Hardiness makes you 20% harder to stun-lock. Savage is gone since the October 26 pass, so the passive edge over Troll is smaller.
- UndeadPvP
Will of the Forsaken breaks Fear, Charm and Sleep, Cannibalize refills health between fights, and Touch of the Grave drains on hit every 25 seconds at most. Still the duel race.
- TrollSustained damage
Berserking is 10% attack speed for 10 seconds, which stacks with Slice and Dice.
Priest
Horde: Undead · Alliance: Gnome- UndeadHealing
Cannibalize now restores 7% mana every 2 seconds for 10 seconds off a corpse, Will of the Forsaken breaks Fear, and the Undead class racial Dark Sacrifice converts health to mana on a 10 minute cooldown.
- TrollShadow
Berserking is 10% casting speed, and the Troll class racials Shadowguard and Hex of Weakness are both damage and PvP tools.
GnomeHealingExpansive Mind is 5% mana, Eureka! makes your direct heals cost 10% less and heal 10% more for 8 seconds, Power Word: Shield included, and the Gnome class racial Contingency Plan is a proactive ward. Gnome Priest is new and it is the mana race.
- Night ElfShadow
Elune's Light is 10% spell crit for 15 seconds, and the Night Elf class racial Starshards is now a channelled 816 damage nuke on a 30 second cooldown at 38.
- HumanSpirit healers
The Human Spirit is 10% Spirit since the October 26 pass, the biggest regen racial in the game, and the Human class racial Divine Grace removes Weakened Soul.
Shaman
Horde: Orc · Alliance: Dwarf- OrcEnhancement
Blood Fury is 10% Attack Power and Spell Power on the same button, which is exactly how the new Enhancement scales. Savage was removed in the October 26 pass.
- TrollElemental and Restoration
Berserking is 10% casting speed for 10 seconds and Rapid Regeneration channels back half your health.
- TaurenPvP
War Stomp stuns five targets every 90 seconds, Endurance is 5% health, and Plainsrunning ramps to 60% run speed on roads since the October 26 pass.
- DwarfEverything
The only Alliance Shaman. Stoneform is 10% physical reduction plus bleed, poison and disease immunity, and Artisan's Precision adds 1% hit to spells and attacks since the October 26 pass, a real upgrade on the old 2% crit damage.
Skyborne Windshapers can be Shamans on the Horde side, with 3% haste and a glide; a paid race, and since the October 15 build a slightly better one.
Mage
Horde: Orc · Alliance: Gnome- OrcPvE
Orc Mage is new, and Blood Fury is 10% Spell Power for 15 seconds on a 3 minute cooldown. Shatter Curse clears Curses and cuts magic damage taken by 5%.
Warlock
Horde: Orc · Alliance: Gnome- OrcPvE
Blood Fury is 10% Spell Power on demand. Shatter Curse is a curse and bane cleanse with magic damage reduction, which matters in a game where Warlocks use Banes.
- UndeadPvP
Will of the Forsaken breaks Fear, Cannibalize returns mana, and Touch of the Grave procs on 30% of casts, at most once every 25 seconds.
- TrollHaste
Troll Warlock is new. Berserking is 10% casting speed and Regeneration now keeps 20% of health regen in combat, which makes Life Tap cheaper.
- GnomePvE
Expansive Mind is 5% mana and Eureka! takes 10% off your direct spells and adds 10% damage for 8 seconds. Warlocks live on mana efficiency.
- HumanCrit
Ruthless gives 1% spell crit with any weapon; The Human Spirit adds 10% Spirit since the October 26 pass, which is the pick for Shadow and healing alike.
Druid
Horde: Tauren · Alliance: Night Elf- TaurenTanking and PvP
Endurance is 5% health, War Stomp is a 2 second stun on five targets every 90 seconds, and Cultivation grows herbs without the profession. No offensive passive since the October 26 pass.
Skyborne (Windshaper)CastersWind Blessed is 2% haste on everything since the October 26 pass, Walk on Air is a glide, and the forms are unique. Paid race, but the haste is still a real edge.
- Night ElfEverything
Elune's Light is 10% crit with all spells and attacks for 15 seconds, Shadowmeld stealths Druids as if one level higher, and Quickness is 1% dodge for bears and stacking run speed.
Skyborne (High Order)CastersWind Blessed is 2% haste since the October 26 pass, and Read Ley Line is now a 15 second regen burst that doubles for an hour after you visit a ley line. Paid, but a real edge.
How these were picked
Offensive actives first (Blood Fury, Berserking, Elune's Light, Eureka!), then survival actives for tanks and PvP (Stoneform, War Stomp, Will of the Forsaken), then the passive that matches the class's resource (Expansive Mind, The Human Spirit, Cannibalize's mana). Weapon specializations only count when the class will realistically hold that weapon.
Blizzard said racials were tuned so the offensive value is comparable across races. The gaps here are small on paper and get smaller once the beta rebalances. Pick the race you want to look at for six months if the pick above is not the one you like.
Still torn? Spin the class randomizer and let it pick the class, race and faction for you.
Sources
Racial text from the BlizzCon demo via talentsforever.com (CC BY 4.0); race and class combinations from Blizzard's Deep Dive recap. The full list is on the racials page, with Wowhead tooltips.