Best Races For Death Knights

World of Warcraft is filled with a variety of options for players as they seek to build new characters from the various choices available to them in the game. There are over twenty factions and when players decide to take on a role such as that of a Death Knight, they will need to choose which of the various races they will choose to focus that character around.

The role of a Death Knight is one of a great warrior brought back to life by the Lich King. The terrifying idea is a cool place to start with a new character’s story. However, there are some races in World of Warcraft that aren’t allowed to become Death Knights and others that aren’t as good at providing the stats a Death Knight will want moving forward in their story.

Updated January 11, 2024, by Chris Harkin: Death Knights, like every other playable class in World of Warcraft, will probably never stop changing. With twenty years of history already, this incredible game shows no signs of slowing down. Since there are many races capable of playing the Death Knight class, and since each race and class can change with every update, there will be a never-ending debate over which is the best to play. With lore, aesthetics and abilities to consider, World of Warcraft fans will be able to argue about this for a long time to come.

8 Mechagnome

Self-Heal Racial Trait

The Mechagnome race is a strange blending of different ideas to form a race of highly evolved, if diminutive, creatures that can be hugely useful in battle. While a Death Knight will normally be a much larger, imposing creature, there are specific reasons that this half-mechanical gnome subset that has sided with the Alliance is a great idea.

The main one is the battle analysis ability. In combat, Death Knights need strength more than anything, and the strength of a Mechagnome goes up exponentially as a battle rages on. For tough fights, everybody wants a Mechagnome around them, to keep them going in battle for long enough. They will learn about their enemy, so quickly they can learn to defeat them far more easily as the battle continues.

7 Goblin

Escape From Combat When Needed

The Goblins are another horde race that could easily contend for being one of the best Death Knight options in World of Warcraft. The reasoning behind their capability is simply that the role of a Death Knight comes with the huge weakness of being unable to escape combat situations when the worst danger presents itself.

What any Death Knight needs is a quick way to survive in this situation. This is provided by the Goblin ability Rocket Jump, which can jump players forward far enough to escape negative effects and brutal numbers of enemies. Goblins also come with Time is Money, which helps with haste boost; and Rocket Barrage, which helps with extra damage. These other abilities are relatively minor for a Death Knight but help all the same in choosing which races perform the role best.

6 Dwarfs

Easily Reduce Damage Taken

The entire idea of a Death Knight is that they stay in any fight until they win or die. As such, Dwarven Death Knights are common in Azeroth because dwarves fit the bill. They can stay in a fight for a long time, have the right traits to be heavily armored and good in melee combat, and are not likely to try running away anytime soon since they are short and slow.

The best Dwarf trait for becoming legendary Death Knights is their racial trait Stoneflesh, which allows them to clear debuffs every two minutes. Secondly comes their Might of the Mountain racial, which can help players with self-healing. In any situation, whether it is PvP or PvE, Dwarven Death Knights will be a great asset.

5 Worgen

Look The Part Perfectly

One of the biggest considerations about choosing a race in World of Warcraft is appearance. Obviously, players want to make sure the racial and passive traits of their race match well with the class they’re using, but the lore of their character and appearance can also be huge factors. Worgen look the part in heavy armor, especially the plate armor of a Death Knight.

Additionally, they have some useful traits. One of their passive traits gives players an extra critical hit chance, which is useful in combat. One of their racial abilities, Darkflight, helps players escape. This is a particularly useful trait for Death Knights, who tend to move quite slowly and struggle to escape when overwhelmed.

4 Troll

Perfect For Prolonged Battles

One of the potential roles for a Death Knight is to be a tank who has to absorb a lot of damage and stay in battle for a long time. Trolls are perfect for this, coming with a higher health regeneration rate than normal. With these traits, they can take on the role of a Death Knight with ease.

They also have a passive that reduces the lasting time of movement impairs, allowing them to escape when needed, another significant aspect for a Death Knight. Trolls are also naturally big creatures that look the part wearing the heavy armor of a Death Knight, helping to create lore for a Death Knight character.

3 Orcs

Have Multiple Amazing Racial Traits

The main face of the Horde forces is the Orcs, and for good reason. In playing them, new characters get to explore some of the most brilliant and fun lands and characters at the beginning of their journey. What’s more, any Death Knight needs one thing above all others, and that is the strength to do damage to their opponents and win battles.

Melee damage and strength are hugely important to Unholy Death Knights. Orcs generally have great strength and physicality in World of Warcraft, making them ideal choices for such a position. Their “Blood Fury” gives them one of the best attack buffs available in the whole game, which is hugely useful to this class.

2 Human

Racial Trait Is Overpowered

The Human race is either a nice one or a boring one for World of Warcraft players. Their racial trait, The Human Spirit, boosts all secondary stats from all sources, making them a good option for practically every class in the game. Their lore, starting area, and popularity all help as well, and the NPCs are generally well-rounded and interesting.

Besides all of that, playing as a human is a good choice for beginners to World of Warcraft, as they make it easy to get to grips with the game and world. Human Death Knights work well as they have similar strength to the Orcs, though without quite the same level of bulk and pure strength.

1 Blood Elf

Most Popular Race In World of Warcraft

Blood Elves are one of the Horde factions who are the very best for playing as a Blood Death Knight. While Death Knights are traditionally one of the most tank-like classes in the game, there are some gaping weaknesses in the Death Knight style that have to be addressed if players wish to survive.

Arcane Torrent is the best emergency save for a Death Knight in World of Warcraft. It allows Death Knights to dispel enemy effects while gaining back runic power that most of the Death Knight abilities will require. All of this, in addition to the great appearance and lore of Blood Elves, make them one of the most surprisingly great options for Death Knight status.

World of Warcraft is currently available on PC.