Which race you played used to be very important for Paladins in TBC as Horde and Alliance got different seals. The Horde version Seal of Blood were so much better then the alliance version Seal of Vengeance for damage output that Alliance retribution Paladins became very inferior and kept the stigmatic “meme spec” tag in TBC. Because of this, Blizzard announced at Blizzconline 2021 that both factions will receive both seals in TBC Classic, balancing out this unfortunate decision that was made back in 2006.

If you are Horde you don’t have much choice in choosing a race since you are forced to play a Blood Elf. On the Alliance side you are able to choose between Human, Dwarf and Draenei.

Human Human is a great choice for Retribution Paladins since they have three very good racials. Human is the best race if you want to min-max PvE.

The Human racials in TBC are:

• Sword Specialization
• Mace Specialization
• Diplomacy
• Perception
• The Human Spirit

Dwarf

Dwarf is a good choice if your main priority is PvP, as two of their racials are good in PVP situations.

The Dwarf racials in TBC are:

• Stoneform
• Frost Resistance
• Find Treasure
• Gun Specialization

Draenei

Draenei is a good alternative to both Human and Dwarf, but their racials are slightly weaker in comparison.

The Draenei racials in TBC are:

• Heroic Presence
• Gift of the Naaru
• Gemcutting
• Shadow Resistance

Blood Elf

Blood elf has the best PvP Racial but slightly weaker PvE racials.

The Blood Elf racials in TBC are:

• Mana Tap
• Arcane Torrent
• Arcane Affinity
• Magic Resistance