The world of Azeroth and World of Warcraft is filled with a large variety of races that can take on a lot of roles throughout the world as they engage in various battles. However, some classes of players are more focused on the healing and restoration of allies than they are on dealing constant damage against foes.
Priests are one of the few roles that players can take on in World of Warcraft that doesn’t involve them trying to be the greatest warrior possible. They are tasked with healing allies and even raising their fallen friends after death. All of this makes Priests incredibly important, and few races are well-known for their ability to take on the Priest role capably.
Updated January 11, 2024, by Chris Harkin: World of Warcraft is filled with history, lore and many different styles of characters. Though it has been out for twenty years now, the huge game shows no signs of slowing down. As such, there will always be changes and updates, changing which races are best for which types of characters. The priest’s role is still hugely valuable in World of Warcraft, and as such, debates will continue over which races make for the best priests. Continuing updates will possibly even change the answers which players give.
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8 Void Elf
Played By 1.8% Of Players
- Make For Great Lore Shadow Priests
- Driven Mad By Their Old Gods
The Void Elf race is deeply steeped in magical ancestry, and so any magical-based class such as Priest will find them a strong contender simply for the lore and look. But their racial abilities also generally make an impact when considering the type of role that a Priest will play in any party.
Void Elves make for great Shadow Priests in particular, due to their Preternatural Calm, which means they don’t suffer push-back from spells that can interrupt their casting. Entropic Embrace is another ability that is hugely influential for this role as it gives a damage boost that works well under the types of damage Priests will normally operate. Finally, they have Spatial Rift to help get themselves out of immediate danger,. This is useful since Priests normally don’t get a lot of help with moving quickly to help allies they aren’t close enough to.
7 Goblin
Played By 2.7% Of Players
- Driven By Greed To Seek The Holy Light
- Steal From Other Religions To Form Theirs
Another race, but a Horde one, which is great for Shadow Priest work, the Goblins are small in stature and therefore have the right look for fearsome creatures who operate best in the background on the battlefield. Goblins are uncommon for front-line warriors that get up close with the enemy, but as backup characters that can help heal and use magic on enemies, they are highly effective.
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One of the best things about Goblins in World of Warcraft is their ability to reposition with Rocket Jump, helping the lack of Priestly mobility immensely. They also have a small, but important passive in Time is Money, which gives a boost to haste that Priests will make great use of with their rotations.
6 Pandaren
Played By 4.5% Of Players
- Pray To The Holy Light
- Fight For Both Sides
The Pandaren are the first race available in World of Warcraft to both the Alliance and the Horde, and they make for great Priests for a number of reasons. Their neutrality in the great battle between Humans and Orcs helps to make them feel like a race whose lore and personality are built for players to create Priestly characters who heal the sick as opposed to wantonly murdering their way through Azeroth.
The active racial for Pandaren, Quaking Palm, allows Pandaren to incapacitate targets just long enough to back away from combat. This is another great way for Priests to help friends in combat, and they can also gain a Psychic Scream that helps as a defensive technique as well. All of this put together with the abilities a Priest can gain makes a Pandaren the ultimate defensive and buffing tool for any party.
5 Troll
Played By 5.8% Of Players
- Worship Loa Spirits
- Unconventional Voodoo Priests
The Troll race is another one that can make for unusual Priests. Indeed, they don’t pray to the Holy Light. Instead, they worship their own Loa Spirits, who give them powers that are similar to those of the Light. They are considered the closest thing that World of Warcraft has to voodoo priests, and they dress accordingly.
The look is impressive. While Trolls don’t come with as many abilities specifically geared to help them as priests as some other races, their lore and appearance alone convince many players to take them on. They do have extra health regeneration, which allows them to stay in battle for longer helping their allies. One of their racial reduces movement impairing effects, making it harder for enemies to stop them escaping the heat of the battle.
4 Tauren
Played By 6.1% Of Players
- Seem To Use Light Of The Sun In Their Spells
- Can Become Priests Since The Cataclysm
The Tauren gained the ability to become Priests more recently, following the Cataclysm, and seem to draw power from the same place as Tauren Paladins. The idea of a huge Tauren as a Priest is quite unusual, but the lore of the Tauren race and their appearance makes it hugely fun to put a character like this together.
The shamanistic roots of the Tauren make for a fascinating bit of lore that can be built around a Tauren Priest. Their racials include a buff that adds 2% to healing, and they naturally come with heightened stamina that can help them stay out of the thick of the fight. All of this makes Tauren useful as Priests, and it could be something different since it isn’t often used.
3 Undead
Played By 6.7% Of Players
- Known As Forsaken Priests
- Clerics Of The Cult Of Forgotten Shadows
Probably the best of the Horde options when it comes to becoming a Priest, the Undead seem like a strange choice to be the ones healing the sick and regenerating the dead. However, their Will of the Forsaken ability stops them from being caught by effects such as charms and fears. This means that they won’t be interrupted in providing vital healing and other positive effects for their party in combat.
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The Undead also comes with useful passive abilities such as Shadow Resistance and Touch of the Grave, which can help reduce the shadow damage that the player takes while also dealing some out to enemies. In addition to the great lore of the Undead faction and the wonderful look that an Undead Priest gets, all of this makes them highly suitable for a place as Priests.
2 Night Elf
Played By 11.6% Of Players
- Originally An All-Female Priesthood
- Pray To The Moon Goddess, Elune
The Night Elves are an Alliance race who have several particularly great traits and abilities for taking on the role of Priests. Their active racial Shadowmeld makes them immune against powerful attacks and large numbers of opponents. Night Elves are incredibly useful in all magical roles and classes, and their passive abilities can also be hugely significant to Priestly duties.
Shadowmeld also allows players to escape combat to replenish their mana. Meanwhile, the Quickness ability gives extra movement speed and dodge chance, so players can stay near the combat without putting themselves in as much danger as normal. Additionally, Touch of Elune is a passive ability that increases haste during the day and critical strike during the night. All of this makes a Night Elf a great choice for a Priest class, especially since their appearance and lore fit with the style very well.
1 Human
Played By 15% Of Players
- First Race To Discover The Holy Light On Azeroth
- Led Most Alliance Races To Their Belief
It is difficult, with the slight level of difference between most factions in any class, to discount Human as a great racial option for almost anything. Humans have the active racial Will to Survive, which allows them to break stuns regularly. The Human Spirit passive trait increases all of their secondary stats by a small percentage.
Both of these traits, along with the great designs for humans, the wonderful lore that is built around them in-universe. The beautifully designed areas of Azeroth that fall under the human domain, make them a great choice for Priest duties.
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World of Warcraft
- Released
- November 23, 2004
