There’s been a lot of people comparing the racials, saying 1 or 2 racials on one side account for all the differences. So I just took a look at all the racials - specifically focusing on their usefulness in PVP. Naturally, these opinions are subjective - I ranked all resistances as at least semi-useful, though in reality most of them are useless, and some abilities are niche at best. Abilities that directly affect other players are rated higher, and abilities that affect multiple players at once are almost guaranteed to be very useful. Here are the results:
Draenai:
VERY USEFUL - Gift of the Naaru (Active) – Heals the target 50 + 15/Level over 15 sec – 40 yd range – 1.5 sec cast – 3 min cooldown.
SEMI USEFUL - Shadow Resistance (Passive) – Shadow Resistance increased by 10.
USELESS - Gemcutting (Passive) – Jewelcrafting skill increased by 5.
USELESS - Inspiring Presence (Passive) – Increases chance to hit with spells by 1% for you and all party members within 30 yards. (Mages/Priests/Shaman only)
USELESS - Heroic Presence (Passive) – Increases chance to hit by 1% for you and all party members within 30 yards. (Hunters/Paladins/Warriors only)
1 very, 1 semi, 3 useless
Dwarf:
VERY USEFUL - Stoneform (Active) – While active, grants immunity to Bleed, Poison, and Disease effects. In addition, Armor increases by 10%. Lasts 8 sec. – 3 min cooldown
SEMI USEFUL (hunter only) - Gun Specialization (Passive) – Dwarves get an additional 1% Critical Strike Rating when a gun is equipped
SEMI USEFUL - Frost Resistance (Passive) – All Dwarves get +10 Frost Resistance
USELESS - Find Treasure (Passive) – Activate to see treasure chests on mini map – lasts until canceled – no cooldown
1 very, 2 semi, 1 useuless
Gnome:
VERY USEFUL - Escape Artist (Active) – Activate to break out of a Root or Snare effect – Instant – 1 min cooldown
SEMI USEFUL (Casters only) - Expansive Mind (Passive) – Increase Intelligence by 5%
SEMI USEFUL - Arcane Resistance (Passive) – All Gnomes get +10 Arcane Resistance
SEMI USEFUL - Engineering Specialization (Passive) – 15 skill bonus to Engineering - useful only because engineering is the PVP profession
1 very, 3 semi, 0 useless
Human:
VERY USEFUL - Perception (Active) – Activate to dramatically increase stealth detection – Lasts 20 sec – 3 min cooldown (EDITED- Since it’s basically just useful against rogues I had it as a semi-useful racial ability before but people’s words have swayed me)
USELESS - The Human Spirit (Passive) – Increase Spirit by 10%
USELESS (PVP) - Diplomacy (Passive) – 10% bonus to faction point gain
USELESS (PVP) - Sword Specialization (Passive) – Humans get +5 to Expertise when a sword is equpped
USELESS (PVP) - Mace Specialization (Passive) – Humans get +5 to Expertise when a mace is equipped
0 very, 1 semi, 4 useless
Night Elf:
VERY USEFUL - Shadowmeld (Active) – Activate while immobile and out of combat to enter stealth mode – lasts until canceled – 10 sec cooldown
SEMI USEFUL - Quickness (Passive) – Dodge chance increased by 1%
SEMI USEFUL - Nature Resistance (Passive) – All Night Elves get +10 Nature Resistance
USELESS - Wisp Spirit (Passive) – Become a wisp when dead with movement speed increase of 50% (25% faster than normal ghost)
1 very, 2 semi, 1 useless
ALLIANCE Total Tally: 22 racial abilities
5 VERY USEFUL
8 SEMI USEFUL
9 USELESS
Blood elf:
VERY USEFUL - Arcane Torrent (Active) – Silences all enemies within 8 yards for 2 sec. In addition, you gain 5 + 1/Level Mana restored per Mana Tap charge currently affecting you – Instant – 2 min cooldown. (Hunters/Paladins/Mages/Priests/Warlocks only)
VERY USEFUL - Arcane Torrent (Active) – Silences all enemies within 8 yards for 2 sec. In addition, you gain 10 Energy for each Mana Tap charge currently affecting you – Instant – 2 min cooldown. (Rogue only)
VERY USEFUL - Mana Tap (Active) – Reduces target’s mana by 51 and charges you with Arcane energy for 10 min. This effect stacks up to 3 times. Amount of mana reduced is 50 + 1/Level – 30 yd range – Instant – 30 sec cooldown.
SEMI USEFUL - Magic Resistance (Passive) – All resistances increased by 5
USELESS: Arcane Affinity (Passive) – Enchanting skill increased by 10
Orc:
VERY USEFUL - Blood Fury (Active) – Increases attack power by about 4 per character level (282 at 70), but reduces healing effects on you 50%. Lasts 15 sec.
VERY USEFUL - Hardiness (Passive) – 15% resistance to stun and knockout effects.
SEMI USEFUL - Command (Passive) – Pet melee damage increased by 5%.
USELESS (PVP) - Axe Specialization (Passive) – Orcs get +5 Expertise when an axe is equipped.
Tauren:
VERY USEFUL - War Stomp (Active) – Activate to stun up to 5 opponents within 8 yards – lasts 2 sec – 2 min cooldown
SEMI USEFUL - Endurance (Passive) – Max Health increased by 5%
SEMI USEFUL - Nature Resistance (Passive) – All Tauren get +10 Nature Resistance
USELESS - Cultivation (Passive) – 15 skill bonus to Herbalism
Troll:
VERY USEFUL - Berserking (Active) – 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.
SEMI USEFUL - Regeneration (Passive) – 10% health regen bonus, 10% active in combat
SEMI USEFUL - Bow Specialization (Passive) – +1% Critical Strike when using a bow
USELESS - Beast Slaying (Passive) – 5% damage bonus to Beasts
USELESS - Throwing Specialization (Passive) – +1% Critical Strike when using a thrown weapon
Undead:
VERY USEFUL - Will of the Forsaken (Active) – Activate to become immune to Fear, Sleep, and Charm effects. Can also be used while already afflicted by Fear or Sleep – lasts 5 sec – 2 min cooldown
SEMI USEFUL - Cannibalize (Active) – Activate to regenerate 7% of total health every 2 sec. by consuming Humanoid or Undead corpses within 5 yds – lasts 10 sec – 2 min cooldown
SEMI USEFUL - Shadow Resistance (Passive) – All Undead get +10 Shadow Resistance
USELESS - Underwater Breathing (Passive) – Underwater breath lasts 300% longer than normal
HORDE Total Tally: 22 Racial Abilities
8 VERY USEFUL
8 SEMI USEFUL
6 USELESS
So in total, both Alliance and Horde have 22 racial abilities between all of their races. Horde appears to have significantly more very useful abilities, but alliance has far more useless abilities. So next time someone tells me that the racial abilities are almost even, I can simply look at this list and laugh in their face.
Edits: Y’all got me, a human ability that just affects rogues is the most useful ability, for sure.