The Ultimate Guide: Best Race for Warlock in TBC

The question of the best race for a Warlock in Burning Crusade (TBC) is nuanced and depends on your priorities. However, if we are considering the absolute top contenders for overall effectiveness, the answer leans heavily towards Orc for the Horde and Gnome for the Alliance. While other races offer unique benefits, these two stand out for their racial abilities that synergize exceptionally well with the Warlock class in a TBC environment. This article will dive deep into why this is the case and explore other options while considering various player preferences.

Horde: The Power of the Orc Warlock

Why Orc is King

For Horde Warlocks, the Orc race provides unmatched advantages. The primary reason for this lies in their powerful racial abilities: Blood Fury and Hardiness.

• Blood Fury: This active ability increases your base attack power and spell damage by a considerable amount for 15 seconds. In TBC, where burst damage is crucial, especially during PvP encounters and burst phases in raids, Blood Fury provides a significant edge. The increased spell damage is incredibly valuable for maximizing your DPS as a Warlock, pushing out crucial damage during critical moments.
• Hardiness: This passive ability grants a 25% resistance to stun effects. In PvP, this is invaluable, allowing you to maintain control and continue casting in situations where you would otherwise be locked down. Stuns are a prevalent form of crowd control in TBC, and mitigating their effects significantly enhances your survivability.

Together, these abilities make Orc Warlocks a powerhouse, particularly when combined with their inherent pet damage bonuses. While other races can contribute, the synergy between Blood Fury and Hardiness provides the most compelling reason to choose an Orc for competitive Warlock play in TBC.

Other Horde Options: Undead and Blood Elves

While Orcs lead the pack, two other Horde races offer some appeal to Warlocks:

• Undead: With Will of the Forsaken, which provides immunity to Charm, Fear, and Sleep effects, Undead can be very strong in PvP. The ability to break free from these crowd control abilities can be a lifesaver. Cannibalize is also useful for some limited self-healing. However, the lack of a damage-enhancing ability like Blood Fury places Undead slightly behind Orcs for overall effectiveness.
• Blood Elves: This new race for TBC offers Arcane Torrent, a racial that silences nearby enemies and restores some mana. While this can be useful in some circumstances, particularly in PvP for its silencing ability, it doesn’t quite match the sheer damage power of Blood Fury or the survivability of Hardiness in most situations. Their bonus to enchantment skills is mostly trivial. Blood Elves are decent but rarely seen as optimal for competitive TBC Warlock play.

Alliance: The Brilliance of Gnome Warlock

Gnome Supremacy for Alliance

For Alliance players, the Gnome race is considered the best pick for Warlocks in TBC. While not as universally powerful as Orc for Horde, the Gnome racials provide unique benefits.

• Escape Artist: This active ability allows a Gnome to escape from immobilization and movement-impairing effects. This is incredibly powerful in PvP and PvE. The ability to quickly break free from roots and slows can significantly boost your survivability and mobility.
• Expansive Mind: Gnomes receive a 5% bonus to intellect, which results in a bigger mana pool and a slight increase to the damage potential of your spells.
• Arcane Resistance: Provides a slight resistance to arcane spells, which has some niche usage in PvP and specific boss encounters.

These racial abilities, taken together, make Gnomes extremely resilient and mobile, which is very important for Warlock players. The ability to escape immobilizations coupled with increased intellect makes them a top-tier choice for maximizing damage potential.

Other Alliance Options: Humans

While Gnomes are the best choice for Warlocks on Alliance, Humans are an alternative for some players, especially those who like their versatility.

• The Human Spirit: Increases spirit. This is somewhat useful for warlocks with their improved lifetap abilities.
• Will To Survive: This racial is useful for getting out of stuns which have been prevalent in the PvP environment.

However, Will to Survive has a cooldown that will often interfere with using the trinket, Medallion of the Alliance, which breaks stuns. This, along with their other racials being less impactful than Gnomes overall for Warlock play, makes them less desirable than Gnomes.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

1. Does race choice really matter for Warlocks in TBC?

Yes, while skill is paramount, race choice does matter. Racials provide small but significant advantages that can be the difference between success and failure in high-end content like raids and PvP.

2. Is Orc always the best Horde race for Warlocks?

For overall effectiveness, especially in competitive environments, Orc is the top choice for Horde Warlocks. However, some players may prefer Undead for the PvP aspect of their fear immunity.

3. Why is Gnome’s Escape Artist so important for Warlocks?

Escape Artist allows Gnomes to break free from immobilizing effects like roots and slows, which is critical for maintaining mobility and avoiding damage, especially in PvP. This is of paramount importance to a class that needs to hard cast.

4. How does Blood Fury work with Warlock abilities?

Blood Fury increases your spell damage for a short duration, making it ideal for maximizing burst damage, particularly during crucial raid phases and PvP encounters.

5. Can Undead Warlocks be viable in TBC?

Yes, Undead Warlocks are viable, especially in PvP where Will of the Forsaken can be a powerful tool against fear-based CC. However, they lack the raw damage potential of Orcs.

6. Is Blood Elf Warlock a good choice?

Blood Elves have their own advantages, but their racials do not align as perfectly with Warlock strengths as Orc’s do for Horde. They aren’t a bad choice but often considered a weaker one compared to the other options.

7. Is the Human spirit a good choice for Warlocks?

Spirit offers some MP5 when not casting, but it’s rarely a good stat for Warlocks compared to spell power, haste, or critical strike. This makes the Human Spirit racial inferior to the racials offered by Gnomes.

8. Can Warlocks choose any class in TBC?

Warlocks cannot choose any class in TBC. Warlocks can only be Gnomes and Humans for Alliance and Undead, Orcs, and the new Blood Elves for the Horde.

9. How do races impact PvP performance for Warlocks?

Races significantly impact PvP. Orcs have stun resistance, Undead fear immunity, and Gnomes movement-impairment removal. These are all very useful in a PvP setting.

10. Which racial abilities are least useful for Warlocks?

Racial abilities that improve melee attack power or other martial characteristics are generally less useful for a class like Warlock.

11. What if I prefer the aesthetics of another race?

Ultimately, the best race is the one you enjoy playing. While racials provide a statistical advantage, the performance difference is rarely game-breaking. If you enjoy the aesthetic of another race, you can play with them with only minor drawbacks.

12. Are there any racial bonuses for pet damage?

Yes, Orcs have a passive bonus to pet damage, making their Warlock demons stronger, which synergizes well with the class.

13. Is Gnome’s intellect bonus really that good for Warlocks?

Yes, the 5% intellect bonus provided by Expansive Mind provides an important increase to both mana and the damage of your spells.

14. Is Stoneform a good choice for Warlocks?

Dwarves are only available for the Horde in TBC with the help of faction change. Stoneform is an ability that removes poison and disease effects, and grants a 10% armor buff for 8 seconds. While it has limited usage on Warlocks, it can be useful in certain circumstances.

15. Should I race change if I picked the “wrong” race?

It depends on your personal goals. If you aim for absolute optimization, a race change might be considered. However, many players find that the performance gap between the “best” races and other races isn’t significant enough to justify a race change. Enjoy the game and your unique character!

In conclusion, while personal preference plays a role, for maximum performance in Burning Crusade, Orc Warlocks are highly recommended for Horde, and Gnome Warlocks for Alliance. Their specific racial abilities offer the most compelling synergy with the class’s strengths. However, all races are viable, and the “best” choice is often the one you most enjoy playing.