Horde
Blood Elf
- Arcane Torrent – Silences all enemies within 8 yards for 2 sec and restores 15 Runic Power
- Magic Resistance (passive) Reduces the chance you will be hit by spells by 2%.
Orc
- Blood Fury (instant – 2 min cooldown) – Increases attack power by (Level*4)+2 per character level (322 at 80). Lasts 15 sec.
- Hardiness (passive) – Duration of Stun effects reduced by an additional 15%.
- Command (passive) – Damage dealt by Death Knight, Hunter and Warlock pets increased by 5%.
- Axe Specialization (passive) Expertise with Axes and Two-Handed Axes increased by 5.
Tauren
- War Stomp (instant) – 0.5 sec cast – 2 min cooldown. Stuns up to 5 enemies within 8 yds for 2 sec.
- Endurance (passive) – Base Health increased by 5%
- Nature Resistance (passive) Reduces the chance you will be hit by Nature spells by 2%.
Undead
- Will of the Forsaken (instant) 2 min cooldown. Removes any Charm, Fear and Sleep effect.
- Shadow Resistance (passive) Reduces the chance you will be hit by Shadow spells by 2%.
Troll
- Berserking (instant) 3 min cooldown. Increases your 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.
- Regeneration (passive) Health regeneration increased by 10%. 10% of total Health regeneration may continue during combat.
- Da Voodoo Shuffle (passive) Reduces the duration of all movement impairing effects by 15%.

Alliance
Draenei
- Gift of the Naaru (active) Heals the target 50 + 15/Level over 15 sec – 40 yd range – instant cast – 3 min cooldown. The amount healed is increased based on the caster’s Spell Power or Attack Power.
ence (passive) Increases chance to hit with all spells and attacks by 1% for you and all party members within 30 yards.
- Shadow Resistance (passive) Reduces the chance you will be hit by Shadow spells by 2%.
Dwarf
- Stoneform (instant) 3 min cooldown. While active, grants immunity to Bleed, Poison, and Disease effects. In addition, Armor increases by 10%. Lasts 8 sec.
- Frost Resistance (passive) Reduces the chance you will be hit by Frost spells by 2%.
Gnomes
- Escape Artist (instant) – 1.75 min cooldown. Escape the effects of any immobilization or movement speed reduction effect.
- Arcane Resistance – passiveReduces the chance you will be hit by Arcane spells by 2%.
Human
- Perception (passive) Increases your Stealth detection.
- Sword and Mace Specialiation. +3 expertise.
- Every Man for Himself – instant – 2 min cooldown. Removes all movement impairing effects and all effects which cause loss of control of your character. This effect shares a cooldown with other similar effects.
Night Elf
- Shadowmeld (instant) 2 min cooldown. Activate to slip into the shadows, reducing the chance for enemies to detect your presence. Lasts until cancelled or upon moving. Any threat is restored versus enemies still in combat upon cancellation of this effect.
- Quickness (passive) Reduces the chance that melee and ranged attackers will hit you by 2%.
- Nature Resistance (passive) Reduces the chance you will be hit by Nature spells by 2%.
Summary
Horde:
Orcs would be my best choice because of having the highest damage output of any of the other races (especially since blizzard fixed Command to work on all DK minions), and you get to look cool as an Orc .
Blood Elf would be my second choice because for one thing, they look good. One of the best looking class in Horde Faction. Though in seriousness, they’d make a good second choice because of Arcane Torrent allowing you to effectively shut down a caster until death. The 2% magic avoidance is nice for tanking too.
Undead, Trolls and Tauren would be my last choice because Will of the Forsaken while good, has lost a lot of its strength whereas Trolls get the voodoo shuffle which helps in PVP when stacked with toughness and Berserking will help. As a frost dual wielding DK, Troll race would be on par with Orcs due to haste will increase the proc rate of Killing Machine. As for Tauren, their HP racial got nerfed to scale based on base hp, not on total stam with gear, Warstomp is fairly good though though it pales in comparison compared to Arcane Torrent due to diminishing returns. Poor Taurens!
Alliance:
For the Alliance side, Humans would be my number 1 choice. They get a racial that acts as a PVP trinket and expertise from wielding swords/maces. Expertise is always a very good thing while tanking, not only does it save you time from having to reuse the same ability it also helps prevent the boss from parrying and possibly hitting the tank twice in a row (yes, it’s a small amount, but it’ll help you out a little bit by not having to gear as much for it). During tanking, Every Man for Himself alone will help significantly for boss fights where the boss fears more often than Lichborne is up or other various ailments that trinket can be used.
Second choice would be Nightelves. Shadowmeld is just amazing now, outside of tanking, if you’re creative you can find numerous ways to make good use of it. 2% dodge vs melee and ranged can help quite a bit for tanking, giving you leeway to gear a little more differently than normal.
Dwarves are my 3rd choice. Expertise for maces (see human racials) and their activated is useful in almost all situations! Though it lacks the power of the Nightelf and Human activated racials, it’s great for pvp due to how many poisons, diseases and bleeds that’ll be flying around and for some pve situations where you may get a bleed/disease. 2% frost avoidance will help quite a bit too, making them on the level with the other two races for viable tank options (since its obvious there will be quite a few bosses that will deal heavy amounts of frost damage)
Draenei would come in fourth, due to their self heal being useful before the start of a fight and 2% shadow damage avoidance, even tough i really like the 1% hit from Heroic Presence for PVE.
Finally, Gnomes are my least favorite even though they’re short and cute, unless you’re playing a Tank, you will benefit from the passive dodge rating. If you’re into PVP, that extra movement impairing escape ability will be really useful against classes loves to slow you down.


































































































