Picking The Best Race For Mage As Alliance

By Jeff Kamar

Anyone who cares about min/maxing their new mage is going to want to know what the best race for mage is. Picking based on looks is great, but if you either like all the races or just don't care, picking based on racials is the best option. We'll talk about the pros and cons of each of the three Alliance mage races.

The first up is of course human. Humans have a few racials worth noting for anyone rolling mage. They get a passive 3% spirit bonus; not great, but still. Every Man for Himself is amazing for PvP, allowing you to equip something other than a PvP trinket. Perception is also great for PvP; busting rogues out of stealth can win fights instantly.

But what about PvE? Every Man for Himself will let you get out of CC and back to DPSing on occasion, but that's very situational and won't mean much in the long run. And the 3% Spirit bonus is just laughable. If PvE is all you're interested in, I'd skip over human.

Next up is gnome. Gnome is another good choice for PvP thanks to Escape Artist and their passive 2% resistance to Arcane. And Expansive Mind, a 5% bonus to Intellect, is great for anyone rolling mage, be it for PvP or PvE. Gnome is a solid choice for an all-around player.

Last choice for mage are the infamous blueberries, Draenei. Their HoT racial, Gift of the Naaru, can be handy in PvP and in some situations in PvE; not dying is a great way to improve your DPS. And even if you aren't in too much risk of dying, taking pressure off overtaxed raid healers can be helpful.

Gift of the Naaru isn't the big thing on the Draenei racial list though. Heroic Presence, a 1% hit bonus to yourself and your party, is what makes them worth rolling. Missing spells can prove fatal in PvP and gimp DPS in PvE, so being capped is vital...and this talent means you can stat more offensive stats instead of stacking hit. Rounding out their racial list is a 2% shadow resistance, all together making Draenei another good choice for mage.

So all we've really concluded is that unless you are rolling a human for PvE, you probably will do alright. But what is the BEST race for mage? For PvP, human is easily the best. The only thing better than one powerful trinket is two, and human can equip two thanks to Every Man for Himself handling all your CC busting needs.

How about for PvE? Well, Heroic Presence doesn't stack, so if you are goign to be running with other Draenei then it is kinda useless. And Expansive Mind really is a great racial. So gnome is usually going to be the best PvE race for mage.

I hope this guide has helped you figure out which race to roll for your Alliance mage! I'll be doing a write-up on Horde races soon, so keep an eye out for that. - 29943

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