PvE Balance Druid Best Races

Author: bobodingo
Date: July 20, 2022
Updated: March 4, 2023
Expansion: WotLK Classic

Balance Druid Overview

Talents, Builds & Glyphs

Stat Priority

Best Races

Gems, Enchants & Consumables

Rotation & Cooldowns

Best Professions

Best in Slot (BiS) & Pre-Raid Gear

Addons & Macros

As a Druid, you only have two options to choose from — Night Elf for the Alliance, and Tauren for the Horde. Neither really has in impact in PvE, so just pick the faction you prefer, or the one your friends play on. However, if you truly have no idea which of those 2 options you like more, we recommend female Tauren — they look adorable!

Horde

Wow Tauren Crest Tauren are the only available race for Horde Druids. They have no PvE-relevant racials, unfortunately — though War Stomp is very strong in PvP. you are not able to use War Stomp while Shapeshifted, but you can use it in Moonkin Form which is a nice little PvP bonus there.

Tauren Druids are iconic, with their spiritual ways and affinity for nature. Unfortunately, their racials are focused on PvP and tanking, so they aren’t really a great race — but they’re your only option anyway.

Endurance increases base health by 5% — meaning your natural health at level 80, without your extra health or stamina from equipment, buffs, etc. This translates into a ~400 HP boost, which is pretty small but could occasionally save your life, as casters typically have fairly low HP.
War Stomp gives you an on-use AoE stun with a 2 minute cooldown. You unfortunately cannot use this ability while shapeshifted, meaning you’ll very rarely use it in PvE, though in PvP it can be very useful.
Nature Resistance reduces the chance you will be hit by Nature spells by 2%. This is mostly a neglectable racial when it comes to PvE.
Cultivation increases your initial Herbalism skill by 15. Druids are one of the best gathering classes out there, so if your druid is a gathering alt, this is a nifty little quality of life improvement.

Alliance

Wow Night Elf Crest Night Elves are the only available race for Alliance Druids. Their only PvE-relevant racial is Shadowmeld, which isn’t all that great if we’re being honest.

Night Elf Druids are among the most iconic race & class combination in all of Warcraft, with Malfurion and his druids being among the main characters in Warcraft 3. Their racials are not too useful for a Balance Druid, which is a huge shame, but they’re your only option for Alliance anyway.

Shadowmeld can be used in order to escape combat and become stealthed once every 2 minutes. It will also cause you to drop all threat on every target you’re currently engaged in combat with, but all threat will be restored the moment you leave stealth — which will happen the moment you move or take any action. This can work as a pseudo aggro drop ability, but as it’s only temporary it’s not great at that. There’s also a little trick you can do as a Druid: as Shadowmeld drops combat, you can quickly enter Cat Form and Prowl to enter stealth at any time, though this is mostly only useful in PvP.
Quickness reduces the chance you’ll be hit by melee and ranged attacks by 2%. You don’t want to get hit by attacks as a caster.
Nature Resistance reduces the chance you will be hit by Nature spells by 2%. This is mostly a neglectable racial when it comes to PvE.
Elusiveness reduces the chance to be detected if you are stealthed. This applies both to your Prowl and Shadowmeld, which is a nice little boost in PvP.
Wisp Spirit increases your movement speed by 75% while dead. You generally don’t want to be dead.

About the Author

bobodingo

Sup yall! My name is Bobodingo and I've been playing wow since its release. I'm an avid player trying to make some good, quality content and share my ideas with the rest of the WoW community. I'm always down to have a conversation and bounce ideas off each other!