PvE Holy Priest Healer Best Races

Author: Amery
Date: August 23, 2022
Updated: August 23, 2022
Expansion: WotLK Classic

Holy Priest PvE

Talents, Builds & Glyphs

Stat Priority

Best Races

Gems, Enchants & Consumables

Rotation & Cooldowns

Best Professions

Best in Slot (BiS) & Pre-Raid Gear

Addons & Macros

A variety of races can be Priests in WotLK: Human, Dwarf, Night Elf, and Draenei for the Alliance, as well as Undead, Troll, and Blood Elf for the Horde.

Thankfully, the difference in performance between the races is pretty small for healers. While some races are clearly slightly better and some are clearly slightly worse, as a healer you could pick any race that looks good to you, and do just fine.

Horde

Blood Elf is by far the strongest race for Horde Holy Priests. This is largely due to the Arcane Torrent racial, which restores 6% of our total mana. The other races we can pick simply don’t have any healing-boosting racials, meaning Blood Elf is our only recommended option.

Blood Elves provide the Best choice when it comes to playing a Holy Priest, having 1 strong racial effect for PvE content, and being much more of an aesthetic choice.

Arcane Torrent is a racial effect that provides an instant AoE silence, while also providing you with 6% of your total mana pool. This racial effect can be considered pretty strong for healers, having a 2-minute cooldown.
Magical Resistance reduces the chance to be hit by spells by 2%. This racial effect, while useful by definition, does not provide a considerable gameplay bonus while in raids.
Arcane Affinity increases your initial Enchanting skill by 10. This does not have colossal gameplay implications, only providing an initial minor bonus.

Trolls are the second available choice when it comes to playing a Holy Priest, possessing 1 strong racial effect that can improve your overall PvE performance.

Berserking is an on-use spell that offers +20% increased casting speed for 10 seconds on a 3-minute cooldown.
Beast Slaying increases your damage dealt to Beast-type enemies by 5%, which isn’t very good for healers.
Da Voodoo Shuffle passively reduces the duration of movement slowing & immobilizing effects on you by 15%. Generally mostly a PvP racial, but it can occasionally come in handy in PvE as well.
Regeneration increases health regeneration by 10% and allows you to regenerate health during combat at 10% of the your normal regeneration rate. While this racial is mostly only relevant while leveling or questing, it can have situational uses in end-game content as well when it comes to increasing overall survivability.
Bow Specialization and Throwing Specialization increase your critical strike chance with bows & throwing weapons by 1%. Sadly, Priests do not benefit from this racial effect.

Undead is an average choice when it comes to playing a Holy Priest in PvE scenarios. They can be considered much more of an aesthetic choice rather than a choice for overall performance.

Will of the Forsaken removes charm, fear, and sleep effects. This will be the biggest beneficial racial for PvE as it will help mitigate certain raid mechanics.
Cannibalize allows you to feast on the corpses of your slain enemies to restore your health. This does not have big implications for PvE content but does come in handy whilst doing solo content.
Shadow Resistance reduces the chance you will be hit by Shadow spells by 2%. This is mostly a negligible racial when it comes to PvE.
Underwater Breathing helps you survive for a very long time underwater.

Alliance

Wow Human Crest Human is seen as the strongest option for Alliance Holy Priests, mainly due to The Human Spirit which increases your Spirit by 3%. Every Man for Himself is also an excellent racial effect, particularly in PvP.

Human is seen by far as the strongest choice when it comes to playing a Holy Priest, having strong overall racial effects that improve both quality of life and overall PvE performance.

The Human Spirit increases your spirit by 3%. This is the strongest racial effect for a Holy Priest as it affects mana regen.
Every Man for Himself is a crowd-control removal ability just like the Undead race, but this one has universal applicability. It is useful in PvE scenarios but has much more use in a PvP encounter, where Humans are typically considered the strongest race in the game.
Perception passively increases your stealth detection level by a small amount. Since there aren’t a lot of stealthed mobs in PvE, this benefit is largely not too useful.
Diplomacy increases the rate at which you gain reputation by 10%, a major boost for your reputation grind. Whilst a beneficial quality of life racial, it doesn’t impact actual gameplay.
Sword Specialization & Mace Specialization increase your expertise by 3 when using swords or maces. As a Holy Priest, you do not benefit from expertise at all.

Draenei are considered the second strongest option for Holy Priests, as they have two strong racial effects that directly impact PvE performance and some other decent bonuses that aid in their overall quality of life experience.

Heroic Presence increases the chance to hit with spells and physical attacks by 1% for you and all party members within 30 yards. Every single DPS group will want to have at least 1 Draenei for this powerful buff.
Gift of the Naaru places a heal-over-time effect on a single target that lasts 15 seconds, with a 3-minute cooldown. This racial effect adds an additional survivability tool to your kit, however, as a Priest, it will not be a huge improvement for your arsenal which is already filled with powerful healing spells.
Shadow Resistance reduces the chance you will be hit by Shadow spells by 2%. This is mostly a negligible racial when it comes to PvE.
Gemcutting increases your initial Jewelcrafting skill by 5. This doesn’t have a gameplay impact besides minor convenience.

Dwarves are an average race, having two decent racial effects and a fun gimmick-type of racial that allows them to have a unique type of experience in the open world.

Mace Specialization increases your expertise by 5 when using maces. This racial is useless for a Priest as you do not need expertise
Stoneform is an on-use spell that gives you +10% increased armor for 8 seconds on a 2-minute cooldown. For most classes and specs, this would be a purely tanking-focused boost but it can prove to be useful when it comes to overall survivability during tough encounters, even as a DPS.
Gun Specialization increases your critical strike chance with guns by 1%. This racial effect is entirely useless for a Priest.
Frost Resistance reduces the chance you will be hit by Frost spells by 2%. This is mostly a negligible racial when it comes to PvE.
Find Treasure is a very cool racial from a roleplay point of view, allowing you to see treasure on the minimap. This is very fun to use while questing and leveling up, but it unfortunately has 0 relevance in raids.

Night Elves are viewed as a mediocre choice when it comes to playing a Holy Priest in PvE, having racial effects that are intended more for PvP. However, their Shadowmeld racial can prove to be extremely useful in dangerous situations during certain encounters.

Quickness reduces the chance you’ll be hit by melee and ranged attacks by 2%. For a Holy Priest, this talent is generally weak, you will not often find yourself in a situation in which you will hold aggro.
Nature Resistance reduces the chance you will be hit by Nature spells by 2%. This is mostly a negligible racial when it comes to PvE.
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. Simply put, this racial has high applicability in PvP, but it also has high applicability in the early stages of PvE, especially dungeons, in case you pull a group of mobs or steal aggro from a tank by mistake.
Elusiveness reduces the chance to be detected if you are stealthed. The only way to go stealth as a Priest is through Shadowmeld, making this racial irrelevant in PvE content.
Wisp Spirit increases your movement speed by 75% while dead. You generally don’t want to be dead.

About the Author

Amery

Hey guys! My name is Amery and here is a little something about me: I've been playing WoW for about 15 years now. With that experience, I wanted to share all the things I have learned over the years.