World of Warcraft’s Midnight may optimize classes, but these 2 races are forever doomed to be the worst

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The next major update to World of Warcraft, called Midnight, will bring several big changes, including a completely new housing system and the continuation of the War Within storyline. Players will also be able to play as the Haranir, a new playable race. A major focus of this update is simplifying gameplay by reworking the complexity of different classes. While these class changes haven’t been universally loved – some are still being discussed and debated by players, and the removal of certain abilities has proven controversial – the update offers less change to existing races. The Haranir are expected to be very powerful from the start, while two older races are falling behind.

Recent updates to World of Warcraft have focused on letting players experience the game however they choose. However, the latest class changes and, more importantly, racial bonuses, undermine this idea. Even if all classes were equally powerful, some races offer significant advantages over others. Currently, Lightforged Draenei and Undead are noticeably weaker choices compared to the rest.

World of Warcraft’s Racial Traits and Bonuses Explained

Since its launch, players have chosen from a variety of races in World of Warcraft. Over time, some races have received major updates, and newer races often have more interesting and powerful abilities. However, certain races haven’t kept up and are now weaker or less appealing than others. Here’s a look at what each race offers:

  • Alliance
    • Human
      • An active stun removal (Will to Survive), improved reputation gain, 2% more to all secondary stats
    • Dwarf
      • Bonuses to archaeology, reduced Frost damage taken, 2% more critical damage and healing, an active self-purge that also reduces Physical damage taken (Stoneform)
    • Night Elf
      • Extra speed when in Rogue Stealth or Druid Prowl, reduced Nature damage taken, 2% more movement speed and increased chance to dodge attacks, an active way to become stealthed and cleanse threat (Shadowmeld), increased Haste or Critical Strike by 1% depending on day or night, becomes a wisp on death to move faster
    • Gnome
      • Reduced Arcane damage taken, improved Engineering, an active impairment removal (Escape Artist), 5% increased resource pool, 1% increased Haste
    • Draenei
      • Active targeted heal (Gift of the Naaru), increased main stats based on level, improved Jewelcrafting, reduced Shadow damage taken
    • Worgen
      • Active speed boost (Running Wild and Darkflight), 1% increased critical strike chance, improved Skinning, reduced Shadow and Nature damage taken, active transform ability (Two Forms), a way to go back to human form after combat (Calm the Wolf)
    • Void Elf
      • Reduced Shadow damage taken, additional damage and healing as Shadowfrost, reduced cost of WoW‘s transmog system, no delay to casting when taking damage, active teleportation (Spatial Rift)
    • Lightforged Draenei
      • Active damage ability (Light’s Judgment), improved Blacksmithing, more experience from demons, damage and healing on death, reduced Holy damage taken
    • Dark Iron Dwarf
      • 4% more movement speed indoors, active self-purge with main stat improvement (Fireblood), reduced Physical damage taken, improved Blacksmithing, active travel option (Mole Machine)
    • Mechagnome
      • Primary stat increase in combat, crafting bonuses, passive self-healing, active lock opener (Skeleton Pinkie), active misdirection ability (Hyper Organic Light Originator)
    • Kul Tiras
      • Increased Versatility and passive self-healing, improved swimming, active stun ability (Haymaker), improved professions, reduced Frost and Nature damage taken
  • Horde
    • Orc
      • Active ability to improve melee and spell power (Blood Fury), increased damage dealt by pets, reduced duration of stuns on self
    • Undead
      • Active ability to remove charm/fear/sleep (Will of the Forsaken), active ability to regenerate health and mana over time by consuming a corpse (Cannibalize), chance to deal extra Shadow damage and heal self, breathe indefinitely underwater, reduced Shadow damage taken
    • Tauren
      • 2% increased critical damage and healing, passive Herbalism bonuses, increased Stamina based on level, reduced Nature damage taken, AoE stun ability (War Stomp)
    • Troll
      • More experience from beast enemies, active Haste improvement (Berserkering), reduced duration of movement impairing effects, improved health regeneration
    • Blood Elf
      • Improved Enchanting, increased critical strike chance by 1%, reduced Arcane damage taken, active AoE purge of beneficial effects from enemies (Arcane Torrent)
    • Goblin
      • Active jump forward (Rocket Jump), active damaging ability (Rocket Barrage), increased Haste by 1%, gold discount on prices, improved Alchemy, active remote banking access (Pack Hobgoblin)
    • Nightborne
      • Improved Inscription, 1% more magical damage dealt, active remote mail access (Cantrips), active AoE damaging ability (Arcane Pulse), reduced Arcane damage taken
    • Highmountain Tauren
      • Active AoE stun (Bull Rush), improved Mining, 1% more Versatility, reduced damage taken based on Stamina, chance to get more meat and fish when looting
    • Mag’har Orc
      • Active primary stat improvement (Ancestral Call), 10% more mounted speed, reduced duration of poison/disease/curse effects, increased pet health by 10%
    • Zandalari Troll
      • Increased gold earned from enemies, empowerment based on Loa selection (Embrace of the Loa), reduced falling speed, active health regeneration (Regeneratin’)
    • Vulpera
      • Active way to create a camp outdoors (Make Camp), active way to teleport to the camp (Return to Camp), reduced Fire damage taken, 8 extra inventory slots, active ability to deal AoE damage or healing (Bag of Tricks), active way to customize Bag of Tricks (Rummage Your Bag), reduced damage on the first hit from an enemy
  • Neutral (Alliance/Horde)
    • Pandaren
      • Increased effects from food, improved Cooking, increased rested experience, reduced falling damage, active stun ability (Quaking Palm)
    • Dracthyr
      • Active flight ability (Soar), bonuses to flying in WoW via Soar, reduced Soar cooldown based on exploration, active form change ability (Visage), a way to automatically change forms after combat, increased Mastery by 1%, improved gathering, active AoE knockback (Tail Swipe and Wing Buffet), ability to glide while flying
    • Earthen
      • Active damaging or healing ability (Azerite Surge), active health and mana regeneration (Quiet Contemplation), improved gathering, food bonuses based on minerals consumed, increased armor, increased exploration experience

Haranir characters in World of Warcraft benefit from several useful racial traits. These include a damage-dealing ability, boosted critical strike damage and healing, better Herbalism skill, faster experience gain, bonus damage against specific foes, and a complimentary Hearthstone.

Why Your World of Warcraft Race Matters

These racial bonuses aren’t all created equal. While both Dwarves and Tauren receive helpful boosts to critical damage and healing, making them good choices for many classes, the Dwarf’s Stoneform ability generally makes them a stronger pick. Night Elves are consistently a strong choice when you can play them, and it’s no surprise that Night Elf Druids are a popular and effective combination.

When it comes to dealing damage in games like World of Warcraft, Mag’har Orcs frequently rank highest, followed by strong choices like Orcs, Trolls, Void Elves, and Dark Iron Dwarves. Blood Elves are particularly good for both damage and support, especially when playing as Paladins. However, some races consistently perform lower in damage and healing, including Vulpera, Lightforged Draenei, and Undead. Ultimately, the race you choose matters because of the unique abilities each one offers.

World of Warcraft’s Worst Races You Can Pick Are Lightforged Draenei and Undead

Vulpera are often joked about for their appearance and low damage output, but they offer useful perks like extra bag space and the versatile Bag of Tricks, which can even distract enemies. Lightforged Draenei deal a little more damage on average, but they also get teased for being a complete race rather than just a cosmetic option, and their death effect isn’t always helpful. Meanwhile, the Undead, being one of the game’s oldest races, haven’t received many updates, resulting in weak abilities like Cannibalize, while their racial ability, Will of the Forsaken, isn’t as effective as similar abilities like Stoneform or Fireblood.

While Vulpera might not deal as much damage as other races, they still offer a lot of helpful abilities. This makes Lightforged Draenei and Undead the weakest choices in World of Warcraft, and there are clear reasons why that’s the case:

  • World of Warcraft‘s Eredar Draenei customization options involve an entire questline of content and are cosmetic, whereas the Lightforged Draenei take up a race slot that is mostly unjustified.
  • The Lightforged Draenei’s Light’s Reckoning passive deals AoE damage and healing when the character dies, which is, in and of itself, a useless ability, as content like World of Warcraft‘s M+ Dungeons and Raids will never benefit from a death. Furthermore, this ability’s scaling is awful, being even more worthless on top of that.
  • The Undead’s Cannibalize ability requires a specific type of corpse in the area to be used; it’s a channeled ability, and it heals for less than World of Warcraft‘s new healing ability for all classes, Recuperate, which instead requires a one-time button press with a short channeling animation.
  • Will of the Forsaken is mostly used in WoW‘s PvP, but it’s not as good as other options in PvE, and the same goes for the Touch of the Grave passive, which is subpar compared to similar effects other races have access to.

When considering purely how useful or damaging a race is in gameplay, Lightforged Draenei and Undead consistently rank the lowest. They even perform worse than Nightborne for classes that don’t focus on magic, which is saying something.

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2026-01-08 04:08