Races in Elder Scrolls Online (ESO) determine your character's allegiance and starting area. Depending on your choice, you will select a Faction for your character and set forth within a specific zone. You will be able to explore and complete quests across all factions regardless of your initial choice, but your PvP allegiance will never change. Your race will also determine bonuses your character will have access to through out the game. They are unique to each Race and some cater more to certain playstyles than others, so choose carefully as this can't be undone without paying extra.
- See Racial Skills for a list of racial passives of all races.
- For detailed beginner's guide, please see this article.
- Your starting Locations will be different, if you have the Blackwood, Greymoor, Summerset chapter or Morrowind chapter installed.
Should I worry about Race and Racial Bonuses?
While Race is not the most important component of your Build in ESO, their Passives do have an impact, particularly in more challenging content or PvP. Many players start out not knowing what commitment level they will have to the game, and often times they become much more “hardcore” than they originally intended. For this reason, it does make some sense to spend time researching what Race to play, even if you don’t anticipate playing in any serious capacity. While you can change your Race later if you really want to, it will cost you money, and a bit of investigation could save you nearly 30 USD.
It is also important to know that Races are locked into Factions in ESO. Each Faction has 3 races, and Imperials are also available as a special buy that allows you to join any of the Alliances. The alliance you belong to has only one effect in modern ESO: locks you into that faction’s group in PvP (in Cyrodiil). This is not a big issue for most newcomers, but you should check out the Factions page to familiarize yourself with what they stand for, just so you know the company you’ll keep!. You may also unlock “Any Race, Any Alliance” for 1500 crowns in the crown store – but be mindful you cannot change faction after character creation!
How do I pick a race in ESO?
There are two parts to selecting your character’s race. On one side, there’s Roleplay purposes – maybe you want to roleplay an unusual Khajiit raised by High Elves who has discovered an aptitude for Magic. Maybe you want to roleplay a fierce Dunmer Warrior, or maybe you are trying to make your character match your own looks, and discover High Elves don’t have dark hair so you have to pick a Wood Elf or human instead.
- If you are picking your race for roleplay, you can still try to optimize it by selecting a Class that matches its strengths, so in that case you’ll want to look at our Classes article and our many, many builds.
The second part of race selection is optimization for the best possible build. If this is the route you’re taking, it starts by thinking “What is my playstyle?”. Do you want to use a bow or a greatsword? Then you’ll be focusing your points into Stamina. Are you looking to manipulate the elements and command minions? Then you’re looking at Magicka and spell buffs. Do you want to be an unbreakable wall of indisputable power? Then you’ll be looking for Health and Stamina boosts.
- When selecting a race for optimization, first decide a Weapon focus for your playstyle. Read the Weapon Skills to get an idea of what you’ll do. The second step is to look at the available Classes and select one that will match the role you want to play with that weapon. Once you know your role and if you’re Magicka or stamina based (or health), you can look at the races and optimize for any of the roles available in game
Races of Elder Scrolls Online

Daggerfall Covenant

Breton
Starting Area: Stros M’kaiRacial Bonus: Breton Racial Skills
Suggested Classes: Necromancer, Sorcerer or Templar
Strength: Magicka Builds

Redguard
Starting Area: Stros M’kaiRacial Bonus: Redguard Racial Skills
Suggested Classes: Warden, Dragonknight or Nightblade
Strength: Stamina Builds

Orsimer (Orc)
Starting Area: Stros M’kaiRacial Bonus: Orsimer (Orc) Racial Skills
Suggested Classes: Warden, Templar or Dragonknight
Strength: Tanking

Ebonheart Pact

Nord
Starting Area: Bleakrock IsleRacial Bonus: Nord Racial Skills
Suggested Classes: Warden, Templar or Dragonknight
Strength: Tanking

Argonian
Starting Area: Bleakrock IsleRacial Bonus: Argonian Racial Skills
Suggested Classes: Warden, Necromancer, Templar or Nightblade
Strength: Healing and Potion Consumption

Dunmer (Dark Elf)
Starting Area: Bleakrock IsleRacial Bonus: Dunmer (Dark Elf) Racial Skills
Suggested Classes: Warden, Necromancer, Sorcerer or Dragonknight
Strength: Stats Boost

Aldmeri Dominion

Khajiit
Starting Area: Khenarthi's RoostRacial Bonus: Khajiit Racial Skills
Suggested Classes: Warden, Nightblade or Dragonknight
Strength: Stats, Critical and Stealth

Bosmer (Wood Elf)
Starting Area: Khenarthi's RoostRacial Bonus: Bosmer (Wood Elf) Racial Skills
Suggested Classes: Warden, Nightblade or Dragonknight
Strength: Stamina and Stealth

Altmer (High Elf)
Starting Area: Khenarthi's RoostRacial Bonus: Altmer (High Elf) Racial Skills
Suggested Classes: Necromancer, Sorcerer or Templar
Strength: Magicka Builds
Independent Races

Imperial
Faction: AnyStarting Area: Khenarthi's Roost, Bleakrock Isle or Stros M'kai
Racial Bonus: Imperial Racial Skills
Suggested Classes: Warden, Dragonknight or Templar
Strength: Tanking
ESO Races Table Guide
Race | Skills & Strengths |
Altmer (High Elf) (AD) | Racial Bonus: Altmer (High Elf) Racial Skills Suggested Classes: Necromancer, Sorcerer or Templar Strength: Magicka Builds |
Argonian (EP) | Racial Bonus: Argonian Racial Skills Suggested Classes: Warden, Necromancer, Templar or Nightblade Strength: Healing and Potion Consumption |
Bosmer (Wood Elf) (AD) | Racial Bonus: Bosmer (Wood Elf) Racial Skills Suggested Classes: Nightblade or Dragonknight Strength: Stamina and Stealth |
Breton (DC) | Racial Bonus: Breton Racial Skills Suggested Classes: Necromancer, Sorcerer or Templar Strength: Magicka Builds |
Dunmer (Dark Elf) (EP) | Racial Bonus: Dunmer (Dark Elf) Racial Skills Suggested Classes: Warden, Necromancer, Sorcerer or Dragonknight Strength: Stats Boost |
Imperial | Racial Bonus: Imperial Racial Skills Suggested Classes: Warden, Dragonknight or Templar Strength: Tanking |
Khajiit (AD) | Racial Bonus: Khajiit Racial Skills Suggested Classes: Warden, Necromancer, Nightblade or Dragonknight Strength: Stats, Critical and Stealth |
Nord (EP) | Racial Bonus: Nord Racial Skills Suggested Classes: Warden, Templar or Dragonknight Strength: Tanking |
Orsimer (Orc) (DC) | Racial Bonus: Orsimer (Orc) Racial Skills Suggested Classes: Warden, Templar or Dragonknight Strength: Tanking |
Redguard (DC) | Racial Bonus: Redguard Racial Skills Suggested Classes: Warden, Dragonknight or Nightblade Strength: Stamina Builds |
- Anonymous
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I think I am going to get good at playing warden and dragon knight
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im new to ESO and thinking about trying this build but would like to run it past people that know what their doing first
so here's what i have in mind
Argonian (magic warden) + Resto staff + heavy armor
I don't want tp purely be support and i mainly want to solo game content and be able to do pvp as well.
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gonana call nonsense there, most players intend to be mister hardcore world first raider but barely even hit max level or not then quit the game, play what you want
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I made a khajiit recently andit started me in Vvardenfell, is this right?
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Is my game glitches or something? I made an Altmer today and she started off in Summerset.....
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Hello i want to ask which class is stronger between warden and sorcerer
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I want to do a Nord Templar build for tank. Getting turned to werewolf the. Doing a werewolf berserker. Any thoughts on this?
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im thinking of doing a nord nightblade, is that a long shot or would those racial skills apply to a hit and run style build?
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It should say for when u start the game the info above and what the class is good for.
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is it possible to create a heavy armour mage built for tanking?
I was wandering if I choose to be a bosmer do I have to be part of the aldimari dominion or can I chose the side I'm on
- Anonymous
Race traits/abilities/racial bonuses needs updating, please :)
- Anonymous
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what race and class would you be for a hybrid build and what armor set combo would you use
nice
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