Subtlety Rogue PvP Best Races and Racials (Shadowlands / 9.0.2)
Racial bonuses can provide interesting PvP benefits. Here are the best races to choose for each faction. The races are sorted from highest impact in arena to lowest. However, all races below have their own unique ways of making an impact in a PvP match.
This page is part of our Subtlety Rogue PvP Guide.
Best Alliance Races for Subtlety Rogues
- Human
- Night Elf
- Dwarf
- Gnome
Human Racials
The Human racial bonus ( Will to Survive) is a great way to get
out of stuns. If you think you will be the focus target versus teams with
multiple stuns, this race allows you to play
Relentless. This will
help increase your overall survivability. It is also important to note that
Humans also have
The Human Spirit. This increases your secondary stats
(Haste, Critical Strike, Mastery, Versatility). This is another beneficial
reason to play Human.
Night Elf Racials
The Night Elf racial bonus ( Shadowmeld) is always a strong choice.
This racial has a high skill cap, but using it to avoid crowd control can be
very powerful. For example, if a Mage is casting
Polymorph on you, use
Shadowmeld to avoid it. If you use Shadowmeld at the same time that a Priest
uses their
Psychic Scream, you will not be feared.
Dwarf Racials
The Dwarf racial bonus ( Stoneform) removes Poison, Disease, Magic,
and bleed effects. In addition to this, it reduces all Physical damage taken by
10%. This racial can make a large impact versus teams that have multiple Bleed
or Magical damage over time abilities. It is also important to note that this
racial lines up with the cooldown from Maledict trinkets and can be used
to remove the absorption that is placed on you from Maledict. Another example
is removing bleeds versus Assassination Rogues or Feral Druids that are focusing you. This
will significantly slow down the damage being dealt to you.
Gnome Racials
The Gnome racial bonus ( Escape Artist) removes any movement speed
reduction effects on you. With only a 1-minute cooldown, this can be used both
defensively or offensively. You can use this to help kite incoming damage or use
it to remove slows on you while chasing down an enemy. Another racial that
Gnome provides is
Expansive Mind. This will increase your
maximum Energy, which helps with not running out of resources.
Best Horde Races for Subtlety Rogues
- Orc
- Blood Elf
- Undead
Orc Racials
The Orc racial bonus ( Hardiness) is great for reducing the
duration of stuns on you. This is absolutely the best Horde racial to have if
you are primarily focusing on PvP. In addition to Hardiness, Orcs also have the
Blood Fury racial. This is off the global cooldown and should be used
when you are using your burst rotation.
Blood Elf Racials
The Blood Elf racial bonus ( Arcane Torrent) has multiple effects.
The primary use for this ability is that it removes 1 beneficial effect from
all enemies in range. This is great for removing abilities such as
Blessing of Protection from Paladins or
Soul of the Forest from Restoration Druids. It can also be
used versus players using the
The Crucible of Flame Major Essence to
remove the stacks it creates. The other effect is that it restores resources
based on what specialization you are.
Undead Racials
The Undead racial bonus ( Will of the Forsaken) removes any Charm, Fear
or Sleep effect from you. This is a great racial versus specializations, like
Destruction Warlocks,
that are able to fear you constantly throughout an arena match. It is important
to note that this does share a 30-second cooldown with
Gladiator's Medallion, so it is advised to only use it when you do not
want to waste Gladiators Medallion.
Changelog
- 14 Oct. 2020: Updated for Shadowlands pre-patch.
This guide has been written by Mysticall, a seasoned PvP player who has repeatedly achieved Arena Master and 2500 rating. You can watch his stream on Twitch, and you can also check out his YouTube channel.
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