What is the best race for Priests in WoW Forever? Priests can be six races, and Blizzard's October 26 racial changes hit two of them: Humans lose half their crit (2% to 1%) but double their Spirit bonus, and Dwarfs swap 2% critical damage and healing for 1% hit. We re-ran Shadow, Discipline and Holy Priest in every race with the new racials. Night Elf is the best race for Shadow and Discipline Priests, and Human is the best race for Holy - by a fraction of a point over Night Elf.
Best race for Priests in WoW Forever: the short answer
- Shadow Priest: Night Elf (610.1 DPS in raid gear), well ahead of Human (596.7) and Troll (595.9).
- Discipline Priest: Night Elf (732.7 HPS), then Troll (726.0) and Human (725.8).
- Holy Priest: Human (1035.3 HPS) and Night Elf (1035.1) are tied; in dungeon gear Night Elf leads clearly.
- Priest races in WoW Forever: Human, Dwarf, Night Elf, Gnome, Undead and Troll.
The October 26 racial changes for Priests
Blizzard's October 26 development notes put "racial identity" first in a final pass before launch. For Priests:
- Human: Ruthless now gives 1% crit (was 2%), and The Human Spirit 10% Spirit (was 5%).
- Dwarf: Earth Fury (2% critical strike damage and healing) is removed; the new Artisan's Precision gives 1% hit with spells and attacks.
Night Elf (Elune's Light), Gnome, Undead and Troll don't change.
How we tested every Priest race
Every number comes from our own sim engine - the same one behind our rotation simulator and spec rankings - with the October 26 racial changes put in. Each spec wears its own BiS List gear (Raid List or Dungeon List) at level 60, or our standard level 30 gear, uses our default talents and fights a boss three levels higher for 60 seconds, 1,000 times per race. We also ran every spec with no racials at all, so each race's bonus can be measured on its own. Numbers are DPS for Shadow and HPS (healing per second, healing a tank and a five-player party, no overhealing) for Discipline and Holy.
Best race for Shadow Priest
Night Elf is the clear pick: +3.1% over no racials. Elune's Light - 10% more crit for 15 seconds on the pull - lines up with Mind Blast, Shadow Word: Death and the opening Mind Flays. Human drops from 602.1 to 596.7 DPS with half its crit, and now sits just ahead of Troll. Dwarf's 1% hit adds nothing in raid gear, where our Shadow Priest is already at the hit cap, but it's worth +1.0% in dungeon gear.
- Level 60, Raid List gear: Night Elf 610.1, Human 596.7, Troll 595.9, Dwarf 591.6, Gnome 591.6, Undead 591.6
- Level 60, Dungeon List gear: Night Elf 433.0, Troll 424.9, Dwarf 424.7, Human 424.1, Gnome 420.4, Undead 420.4
- Level 30: Night Elf 73.3, Dwarf 73.0, Human 72.5, Troll 72.2, Undead 72.1, Gnome 71.5
Best race for Discipline Priest
Night Elf again (+1.4%), then Troll (+0.5%) and Human (+0.4%). Dwarf now adds nothing for healers - heals can't miss, so 1% hit does nothing, and the critical healing bonus is gone.
- Level 60, Raid List gear: Night Elf 732.7, Troll 726.0, Human 725.8, Dwarf 722.7, Gnome 722.7, Undead 722.7
- Level 60, Dungeon List gear: Night Elf 479.7, Troll 471.4, Human 470.6, Dwarf 468.8, Undead 468.8, Gnome 448.4
- Level 30: Night Elf 172.0, Human 170.1, Gnome 169.4, Dwarf 168.4, Undead 168.4, Troll 168.4
One oddity: in dungeon gear, Gnome sims -4.4% below a Discipline Priest with no racials. With 5% more mana, our sim picks a plan with one more Power Word: Shield and one fewer Penance in the 60-second fight, which heals less. That's a quirk of how the sim spends mana in a short fight, not a real penalty for Gnomes.
Best race for Holy Priest
Human and Night Elf are tied in raid gear (1035.3 and 1035.1 HPS). Human's Holy number didn't move with the change: the crit it lost is made up by the doubled Spirit. In dungeon gear Night Elf pulls ahead (617.1 to 605.8).
- Level 60, Raid List gear: Human 1035.3, Night Elf 1035.1, Troll 1029.3, Gnome 1027.3, Dwarf 1021.9, Undead 1021.9
- Level 60, Dungeon List gear: Night Elf 617.1, Human 605.8, Dwarf 602.2, Gnome 602.2, Undead 602.2, Troll 602.2
- Level 30: Gnome 137.6, Human 130.7, Night Elf 129.8, Dwarf 127.7, Undead 127.7, Troll 127.7
At level 30, Gnome comes first (137.6, +7.8%): our level 30 Holy Priest casts only a handful of Heals in a minute, and 5% more mana buys one more of them.
What our sims don't show
- Not simulated: Gnome's Eureka! (8 seconds of +10% damage and -10% cost every 2 minutes) and Undead's Touch of the Dead, whose damage Blizzard hasn't published. Gnome and Undead may be a little better than these numbers show. Touch of the Dead procs from spells, so it could matter for Undead Shadow Priests.
- Cooldowns are used on the pull. In a 60-second fight, a 3-minute racial like Berserking, Blood Fury or Elune's Light is used once and covers a large share of the fight. In longer boss fights, cooldowns count for less and passives for more.
- Utility: defensive and utility racials, and racials that only work against Beasts or Elementals, aren't in a single-target boss sim.
Sources
- WoW: Forever Beta Development Notes - Racial Abilities and Traits Tuning (Blizzard, via MMO-Champion, October 26, 2026)
- Forever Upgrades sim engine: every Priest spec in every allowed race, with and without racials, WoW: Forever build 1.60.1.70532 data, 1,000 fights of 60 seconds (October 27, 2026)
- Our October 17 racials article