Summary
UntilWrath of the Lich Kingexpansion was launched in November 2008, every class inWorld of Warcraftstarted their travels in a level-one starting area based on their race. That changed with the introduction of the Death Knight, which started at level 55 instead of level 1 and had a unique class-based starting area.
According to the lore,the Death Knight was once a great warrior who had fallen in battle and was brought back to life by the Lich King. It’s a terrifying idea that took the lore of the Lich King to another level.
When players decide to take on a role such as that of a Death Knight, one of the initial steps is deciding on a race. Not every race in WoW has access to the Death Knight class, and others aren’t as good at providing the skills and abilities a Death Knight should have for better leveling, dungeon running, and raiding.
Updated on March 19th, 2025, by Kristy Ambrose:Death Knights can’t be found in every version of Warcraft, and there are several to choose from these days. Classic, Hardcore, and Season of Discovery all predate The Wrath of The Lich King and the class is not available. The Cataclysm and retail servers are currently the choices available for those players who want to experience the class. All Death Knights begin their journey from Acherus: The Ebon Hold, a dark and eerie floating Necropolis except Allied Races that have a brief series of quests at the top of Icecrown Citadel before being sent to their capital city.
14Mechagnome
Finish the Quest Chain To Mechagon
TheMechagnomerace is a strange blending of different ideas to form a race of highly evolved if diminutive creatures that can be hugely useful in battle. While a Death Knight will normally be a much larger, imposing creature, there are specific reasons that this half-mechanical gnome subset makes a great Death Knight, especially for a Tank build.
Combat Analysis allows them to learn about their enemy so quickly they can learn to defeat them far more easily as the battle continues. Other party members will love Mastercraft because it gives everyone access to a repair bot and Cooking recipes. Skeleton Pinky is a lockpick, so no Rogue is needed, and the other skills include abilities that self-heal and distract enemies away from allies.
13Forsaken
One Of The Original Classic Races
For those who are more strict about the lore ofWoW, the Forsaken makes the most sense as a Death Knight. In the days of Classic, the race also known as the Undead only had the two buffs of Cannabalize and Will of the Forsaken. Just on their own, these were considered some of the most OP racial traits in the game.
Cannabilize negates the need for carrying food and Will of the Forsaken breaks any kind of fear mechanic. Both of these are great for melee fighters of any class, and the Death Knight is a close-range class regardless of the build. Increased resistance to Shadow damage is always a bonus, and Touch of the Grave is an ability that returns hit points to the Death Knight when they make both physical attacks and cast spells.
12Tauren
For those players who want a more intimidating Death Knight, the oversized Tauren is a good choice. The class has been available since the beginning of the game in 2004, and their dedication to harmony and nature makes them an especially tragic choice for an undead character if the player is looking for an interesting backstory.
The Tauren is ideal for any melee fighting class and is often a Warrior or Druid in a tanking role, and a Death Knight also makes a good defender. War Stomp is the AoE ability from Classic that stuns enemies, Endurance buffs Stamina based on level, and Brawn increases healing done and critical strike chance.
11Nightborne
Complete The Suramar Questline
They’re Night Elves, hidden in the land of Suramar and previously aligned with the Burning Legion, but now they’re aligned with the Horde. Like their Alliance counterparts, theNightbornehave some natural resistances and affinities to arcane magic, a handy skill for starting a Death Knight character.
Ancient History is a bufffor those choosing Inscription as one of their primary professions, and Arcane Pulse is an AoE ability that damages and snares nearby enemies. Cantrips is an ability that can summon a handy mailbox anytime, anywhere, and Magical Affinity gives the Nightborne’s spells a higher damage output. Death Knights take the role of either tanks or DPS characters, so all of these abilities make the class even more effective.
10Goblin
Introduced In The Cataclysm Expansion
Goblinsare another Horde race that could easily contend for being one of the best Death Knight options inWorld of Warcraft. The reasoning behind their capability is simply that the role of a Death Knight comes with the huge weakness of being unable to escape combat situations when the worst danger presents itself.
What any Death Knight needs is a quick way to survive in this situation. This is provided by the Goblin ability Rocket Jump, which can jump players forward far enough to escape negative effects and brutal numbers of enemies. Goblins also come with Time is Money, which helps with haste boost; and Rocket Barrage, which helps with extra damage.
9Dwarves
The entire idea of a Death Knight is that they stay in any fight until they win or die. As such,Dwarven Death Knightsare common in Azeroth. They can stay in a fight for a long time because they have the right traits to be heavily armored and good in melee combat.
The best Dwarf trait for becoming legendary Death Knights is their racial trait Stoneflesh, which allows them to clear debuffs every two minutes. Secondly comes their Might of the Mountain racial, which can help players with self-healing.
8Worgen
One of the biggest considerations about choosing a race inWorld of Warcraftis its appearance. Players might want tomake sure the racialand passive traits of their race match well with the class they’re using, but the lore of their character and appearance can also be huge factors. TheWorgenlooks the part in heavy armor, especially the plate armor of a Death Knight.
One of their passive traits gives players an extra critical hit chance, which is useful in combat. One of their racial abilities, Darkflight, helps players escape. This is a particularly useful trait for Death Knights, who tend to move quite slowly and struggle to escape when overwhelmed.
7Troll
One of the potential roles for a Death Knight is to be a tank that has to absorb a lot of damage and stay in battle for a long time.Trollsare perfect for this because of a higher health regeneration rate than normal. With these traits, they are ideal for the role of a Death Knight.
Trolls also have a passive that reduces the lasting time of movement impairs, allowing them to escape when needed, another significant aspect for a Death Knight. Trolls are also naturally big creatures that look the part wearing the heavy armor of a Death Knight, which helps to create lore for a character.
6Gnome
Gnomes are often seen as spellcasters, appearing as Mages, or melee damage dealers in the form of Rogues or Warriors. Death Knights are a melee class that has a variety of magical abilities, which make it a nice fit for the racial abilities of Gnomes.
There’s nothing to keep a Gnome Death Knight from being the tank, but players can have as much fun with a melee DPS build. The number one buff that every class always wants is Haste, which Gnomes get with Nimble Fingers, along with a way to break any movement-impairing effects, provided by Escape Artist. Engineering is a Profession that gives characters an advantage with special trinkets, gear, and other accessories like explosives, and Gnomes have an increase in this skill.
5Night Elf
In the days whenWarcraftwas an RTS game, theNight Elveswere a reclusive society with a distrust of most other races, but especially the Orcs, who invaded their lands and started chopping down their beloved trees. The Night Elves have evolved since then as one of the Alliance’s core races and was also where the Demon Hunter class originated. They also make ideal Death Knights.
Quickness gives the Night Elf a better chance to dodge attacks and improves their movement speed, Wisp Spirit gets the player to their corpse and back to leveling faster, and any kind of damage resistance is also handy. The best addition for a Death Night might be Touch of Elune, which increases critical strike during the say and haste rating at night.
