Races in Elder Scrolls Online

The game has 3 factions with 3 playable races in each faction. Here you can find descriptions of all races, their characteristics and talents. This guide will hopefully help you to choose the best race for your class.

Racial Bonuses Comparison Table

The table below displays all racial bonuses of each race. You can compare different races and find the race you need. These bonuses are Racial Skills Rank 3. That means you can see the maximum size of racial bonuses for each race.

Altmer Bosmer Khajiit Orc Breton Redguard Dunmer Nord Argonian Imperial
Max Magicka +10% +10% +9%
Max Stamina +3% +6% +10% +6% +10%
Max Health +6% +3% +3% +12%
Magica Recovery +9%
Stamina Recovery +9% +9% (*)
Health Recovery +15% +15% +15% (**)
Cold Damage +6%
Fire Damage +6%
Shock Damage +6%
Poison Resist +23 +21
Disease Resist +23 +21
Fire Resist +30
Frost Resist +30
Spell Resist +6
Stealth Radius +3 m +3 m
Stealthy Damage +10% +10%
Melee Crit Rating +3%
Crit Damage +15%
Spell Cost -3%
Sprint Cost -12%
Sprint Speed +9%
Swim Speed +50%
Fire Spell Power +3
Armor Rating +6
Potion Effectiveness +15%
Received Healing +6%

(*) Redguard also recovers 3 stamina once every 3 seconds when damaging enemy with melee attack.

(**) Imperial - Melee attacks have a 10% chance to restore 2/4/6 Health.





Races Poll. Here you can see a list of all playable races. As you can see you can vote for your favourite race by clicking the “Recommend” button. You can chose one race or several races.

Races Home Rating
Imperial Cyrodiil
Altmer Summerset Isles
Bosmer Valenwood
Khajiit Elsweyr
Breton High Rock
Redguard Hammerfell
Orc Orsinium
Nord Skyrim
Dunmer Morrowind
Argonian Black Marsh

The Aldmeri Dominion:

Altmer is a race of High Elves. They have good magical skills.

Bosmer are Wood Elves. They are agile and quick. Bosmer are great archers and thieves.

Khajiit is a race of cat-like creatures. They do not have magical talents but they have great agility and stealth skills.

The Daggerfall Covenant:

Orcs are a traditional fantasy race. They are strong and brave warriors with heavy armour and weapon.

Bretons are a race of humans who settled in High Rock. They have fair hair and they are not tall. Bretons are not great warriors but they are good at weaving spells.

Redguards are great warriors, with blade and shield. They are quick and hardy.

The Ebonheart Pact:

Dunmer are also known as Dark Elves. They have above-average intellect, strength, and agility. Such a combination makes them both good warriors and sorcerers.

Nords are a race of humans. They are good melee warriors with resistance to cold.

Argonians is a reptilian race. They have good magical skills and agility, as well as resistance to poisons and disease.

What race is the best? There are no true leaders or outsiders in ESO. All the races are great.

How do you decide on a race?

First of all, you should look at the appearance. You will have to look at your character for many hours during the game, so pick one which you like the look of. The character will be your representative in the game and it is great when you like how it looks. The second important parameter, is your desired class. Some races are better for warriors, others, are better for mages. Every race has its advantages and disadvantages. Racial bonuses can aid you greatly in the game. Here is a small tip: choose a class first and then find a race for your class.

Comments ()

  1. Chris Edwards 28 december 2013, 00:43 # 0
    Mr. (Mrs.?) Duelist, I assume you are a beta player, can different races from different factions «group» with each other? ie If my buddy is breton and I am argonian are we able to do quests with each other?
    1. Duelist 28 december 2013, 02:17 # 0
      Hello. Mr :) Unfortunately I was not invited into beta. But summarizing up what I know: Alliance War is a very important part of Elder Scrolls Online. Alliances fight against each other and members of different alliances are enemies.

      It is possible to meet a member of other faction in Cyrodiil only. So you can meet your friends from other alliances but you can’t group together because your factions are in war.

      Developers answered similar question in one of ‘Ask Us Anything’ articles.
      1. Leo Clayton 07 february 2014, 22:32 # 0
        this is correct you must be in same faction to team together
      2. Austin Taylor 29 january 2014, 16:31 # 0
        Each race us locked to a faction kinda sucks but makes sense beta gave me a lot to look forward to
      3. John Smith 01 april 2014, 16:30 # 0
        buncha racists
        1. Logan Ingram 29 may 2015, 22:32 # 0
          Dunmer!

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