Rogue races and racial abilities
Horde
| Race |
Ability |
Description |
Type |
| Orc |
Blood Fury |
Increases base melee attack power by 25% for 15 sec and reduces healing effects on you by 50% for 25 sec. - 2 minute cooldown |
Activate |
| Hardiness |
25% resistance to stun and knockout effects |
Passive |
| Command |
Pet melee damage increased by 5% |
Passive |
| Axe Specialization |
Orcs get +5 to Axe skill |
Passive |
| Troll |
Berserk |
Increases your casting and attack speed by 10% to 30%. At full health the speed increase is 10% with a greater effect up to 30% if you are badly hurt when you activate Berserking. Lasts 10 sec. - 3 minute cooldown |
Activate |
| Beast Slaying |
Trolls receive a 5% damage bonus when fighting beasts. |
Passive |
| Regeneration |
Health regeneration increased by 10% even when in combat |
Passive |
| Throwing Specialization |
Trolls receive +5 to throwing weapons |
Passive |
| Undead |
Will of the Forsaken |
Provides immunity to Charm, Fear and Sleep while active. May also be used while already afflicted by Charm, Fear or Sleep. Lasts 5 sec - 2 min cooldown |
Activate |
| Cannibalize |
When activated, regenerates 7% of total health every 2 sec for 10 sec. Only works on Humanoid or Undead corpses within 5 yds. Any movement, action, or damage taken while Cannibalizing will cancel the effect. - 2 minute cooldown |
Activate |
| Underwater Breathing |
Underwater breath increased by 300% |
Passive |
| Shadow Resistance |
All Undead get +10 Shadow Resistance |
Passive |
Alliance
| Race |
Ability |
Description |
Type |
| Dwarf |
Find Treasure |
Lets you sense treasure. Treasure appears on your mini-map as a yellow dot. |
Activate |
| Stoneform |
While active, grants immunity to Bleed, Poison, and Disease effects. In addition, Armor increased by 10%. Lasts 8 sec. 3 minute cooldown |
Activate |
| Frost Resistance |
All Dwarves get a +10 to Frost Resistance. |
Passive |
| Gun Specialization |
Dwarves get +5 to Gun skill. |
Passive |
| Gnome |
Escape Artist |
Escape the effects of any immobilization or movement speed reduction effect. - 0.5 sec cast - 1 min cooldown. |
Activate |
| Expansive Mind |
Increase Intelligence by 5%. |
Passive |
| Arcane Resistance |
All Gnomes get +10 to Arcane Resistance. |
Passive |
| Technologist |
15 skill bonus to Engineering. |
Passive |
| Human |
Perception |
Activate to increase stealth detection radius by 10 yards - lasts 20 sec - 3 min cooldown. |
Activate |
| The Human Spirit |
Increase Spirit by 5%. |
Passive |
| Diplomacy |
10% bonus to faction point gain. |
Passive |
| Sword Specialization |
Humans get +5 to Sword skill. |
Passive |
| Mace Specialization |
Humans get +5 to Mace skill. |
Passive |
| Night Elf |
Shadowmeld |
Night Elves are able to enter Stealth while standing in place, breaks when you move. 10 second cooldown. |
Activate |
| Wisp Spirit |
Transform into a wisp when you die, allowing you to move 50% faster than normal. |
Passive |
| Quickness |
Night Elves receive 1% increase to dodge. |
Passive |
| Nature Resistance |
All Night Elves get +10 to Nature Resistance. |
Passive |
Deciding what race you want to be:
There are several factors you will want to look at when you are deciding what will be the best race for you.
The following is a list of what you should base your opinions on.
1. Appearance
2. Faction (Horde/Alliance)
3. Racial Abilities
4. Starting Stats
5. Being Unique
Appearance - it's all about what race you find most appealing when it comes to looking at them. For
me this is the most important decision as no matter what race you choose there isn't such a big difference
that you will be gimping yourself. Personally I enjoy the goofiness of being a Gnome and this was all I
based my decision on. (Because they didn't have Halflings)
Faction - Do you want to be Horde or Alliance? This decision will instantly cut the selection of what
race you will choose by half.
Racial Abilities - This is one of the most important aspects of each race you will want to base your
decision on. Despite what you might hear, no class's abilities are worthless. Some could use an improvement
to bring them in line with other racial abilities. However, for the races with the strong Rogue abilities
for each faction I would recommend you look into Night Elf and Undead. Also, another consideration for PVP
is the Gnome's size. Being small in stature makes you harder to see in mass PVP and more able to hide
amongst the game's terrain.
Example: When comparing the Escape Artist with Will of the Forsaken, one is instant cast that breaks any
of its listed effects and makes the user immune for 20 seconds. With Escape Artist having a 1.5 second
cast time and able to be rooted again right away. Normally by the time Escape Artist goes off the effect
has worn off. (Being hit extends the cast time and it can be interrupted when using it.) Still, it's not a
terrible ability, just could use a slight improvement. Don't forget that just because one race might have
much better abilities than another race does not mean Blizzard isn't going to correct the issue in the
future as they do have a goal of having all abilities balanced and actively work towards accomplishing
it.
When deciding on racial abilities be sure to remember that some abilities are worthless to you as a Rogue.
The following is a list of those abilities that shouldn't influence your decision.
Command - Pet melee damage increased by 5%
Axe Specialization - Orcs get +5 to Axe skill
Expansive Mind - Increase Intelligence by 5%
Starting Stats - Once you hit level 60, starting stats really won't make you any less of a Rogue than
any other race; the difference will be very minor at best. With that in mind, if you would still like to see
what class has what stats I recommend checking out the starting stats for Rogues at wow.allakhazam.com. For
Rogues the most important stats are Agility, Stamina, and to a lesser extent, Strength.
Unique - Does being unique matter to you at all? The majority of players are either Night Elves or
Undead. If not being like the majority of other players matters to you, then I would suggest one of the other
options.
In all seriousness, all races are roughly equal. While some might come out slightly ahead in some ways when
compared to another when comparing stats and abilities, it's not enough to where I would sacrifice what I
want to be when compared to what I should be to be able to keep up with other races. You'll do fine either
way.
