The release of World of Warcraft Classic is officially less than a month away and players who have been begging for the vanilla WoW experience are finally about to get their wish. Along with the increased requirements for each level, old skill trees, and the inevitable gold grind mounts; players also have to take racial abilities and perks into consideration. Over the years, racial abilities have been basically nerfed out of relevance, but in vanilla WoW some classes were definitely better when paired with the right race.
Regardless of which class players want to dive in with, there is likely a perfect race options on either the Horde or Alliance side (just don't forget that Paladin and Shaman are back to faction-exclusivity in World of Warcraft Classic). If players want to start from the other direction and have a particular race in mind, but not a specific class, this guide can also help explain what each race is best suited for.
Note: Players can obviously stray from these recommendations, especially if they aren't super worried about min-max'ing their new character. Also, this guide is primarily concerned with class performance in dungeons, raids, and leveling. PvP focused players should take different factors into consideration.
Mage
Alliance - Humans and Gnomes are equally strong for this class.
Horde - Trolls get the pick here, over Undead, thanks to Berserking (a very powerful racial ability that will come be the tiebreaker for a few toss ups).
Priest
Alliance - Humans are the strongest option, thanks to The Human Spirit racial. Dwarves are the second best choice, thanks to the utility that Fear Ward provides.
Horde - Trolls get the win here, since Berserking offers the ability to increase spell casting speed.
Rogue
Alliance - Humans are very well positioned for this class, thanks to Sword Specialization and Mace Specialization.
Horde - Despite the lack of flavor, Orcs are actually the best Horde option for fans of the Rogue class. Trolls will get the job done, as well though.
Hunter
Alliance - Although the Dwarf appears in the cinematic trailer, Night Elves actually have the edge here. The higher base agility makes them the best Alliance choice for Hunters.
Horde - Trolls have a slight edge thanks to their Bow Specialization. That, in addition to the handy Berserking racial ability make Trolls slightly better than Orcs on the Horde side when it comes to Hunters.
Warlock
Alliance - Gnomes are the best option, thanks to the intelligence boost offered by the Expansive Mind racial ability.
Horde - Forsaken are fine as Warlocks (and have the edge in PvP, as usual), but we recommend Orcs for the more traditional PvP situations.
Druid
Alliance - Night Elves are the only option.
Horde - Tauren is the only option.
Warriors
Alliance - Much like with Rogues, Humans are best here due to Sword Specialization and Mace Specialization.
Horde - The Horde has some great options when it comes to the Warrior class. Taurens have War Stomp, which is a great AoE threat generator and Orcs are the best option for DPS Warriors thanks to Blood Fury and Axe Specialization.
Paladin
Alliance - Humans are the way to go for this class.
Horde - Class unavailable.
Shaman
Alliance - Class unavailable.
Horde - This choice depends a bit on which spec the player is pursing. Orcs are great for melee, thanks to Blood Fury, but Trolls are preferable for the healing or ranged DPS trees.
This guide primarily focuses on PvE utility and strengths, so keep that in mind when making selections if you see a lot of PvP on the horizon. On the Horde side, Forsaken are nearly unstoppable in PvP and are the race of choice if PvP is your vice. The Alliance side is a little more balanced in terms of Racial Abilities and there is nothing quite as broken as Will of the Forsaken.
Be sure to check back in the near future for lots more World of Warcraft strategy guides, news, and updates. Until then, for the Horde!
World of Warcraft Classic releases August 27, 2019 on PC. World of Warcraft: Battle for Azeroth is available now on PC.