Skyrim is a game that thrives on player choice. From your class to your weapons and armor, to even your home and faction, the game goes out of its way to allow you, the player, supreme choice in personalizing the game.
Nowhere is the player choice best seen than in the various character races available. From the scheming Dunmer to the bloodthirsty Orsimer, the game has many different racial options available to play as each with its strengths and weaknesses and unique racial traits.
However, that doesn’t mean that there isn’t an objective “Best” race to play in Skyrim.
In this overview, we will go over the Best race in Skyrim, and the best character builds for each of the races so that you can maximize their strengths and minimize their shortcomings. If you’re brand new to Tamriel or on your 100th playthrough and are looking to best optimize your character for Legendary difficulty, this is the review for you.
Now, without further ado, let’s get started.
First Up: The Basics
Before we can get into the best races in the game, we must understand who’s who and what’s what.
First thing’s first, while I did touch on it a bit earlier, if this is your first time playing, or you’re playing on an easier difficulty level, the “Best” race is simply the one that looks coolest to you. Playing on Normal or Easy difficulty is fairly manageable to the point that you’ll be able to do well no matter what race you pick. It’s only on the harder and Legendary difficulties that those few point differences are going to matter.
Alright, with that out of the way, let’s get back to the races’ basics.
Each race comes with its unique traits, skills, and daily abilities. For example, the Redguard, a human race originating from Hammerfell, starts with an impressive level of “25” in One-Handed but only a paltry “15” in Speech. Meanwhile, a Bosmer, also known as a Wood Elf, has only “15” in One-Handed but a level “25” in Archery.
This means that each race starts with their advantages and disadvantages in their skills area, each initially aligning with their more stereotypical roles (Orcs are high in combat skills but weak in Magicka while High Elves are the exact opposite).
In reality, however, while this may seem super important, it doesn’t matter as you’ll pretty much level up your intended skills relatively fast anyway.
So, is the best character race determined by their initial stats? Sorry, the answer’s no. While certainly there is a slight benefit in one area over the other, the spread between the worst and best skills is so small that, within only a few hours, you’ll equal out regardless of the race used.
“So, if the initial skills don’t determine the best, what does?”
Well, I’m glad you asked. In reality, while the skills are pretty much a non-issue, the specific racial abilities and traits are much more a factor, and it will be these that we will largely determine how each is ranked from worst to best.
Keep in mind, again, that this is largely dependent on your overall build.
10. Redguard
While my personal favorite, even I must admit that the Redguards are pretty much a useless character race in their abilities and traits. Though their combat skills are certainly nothing to sneer at, we’ve already gone over the fact that even the Bosmer can be comparable in combat with only a couple of hours of dedicated sword use.
In exchange for that tiny advance in One-Handed fighting, they have a pointless 50% Poison Resistance that only is useful against spider enemies. It’s important to note that “Poison” and “Disease” Resistances are two entirely different things. Not only that, but the Bosmer get BOTH as racial traits, making them twice as good as the Redguard.
They also have the unique daily ability known as “Adrenaline Rush,” which regenerates stamina 10xs normal once a day for 60 seconds. And while this is alright at the beginning of the game, later levels of stamina, stamina potions, its limit of once a day, and eventual magic items all make this pretty much only slightly useful during the first couple of hours before becoming entirely irrelevant.
Overall, while they are an adequate Warrior-race Build using a sword and shield, that’s about it.
9. Bosmer
And speaking of the Redguard’s rival, the Bosmer are only slightly more capable of an option. As stated earlier, while not as initially skilled with one-handed weapons, they come with 50% resistance to both poison and disease, making them twice as useful as the Redguards.
So why are they so low on this list? Well, it comes down to the fact that, while they do have resistance to poison and disease, BOTH of these traits are pretty useless in most situations. Except for contracting vampirism, nearly all diseases can be cured at a local shrine or with a Cure Disease potion.
The Bosmer also has a more impressive daily ability known as “Command Animal,” which turns any animal into an ally for 60 seconds. Again, while this is much more useful than Adrenaline Rush, the fact that you can only use it once per day can’t affect Dragons. The fact that the Dragon Shout, “Animal Allegiance,” does the same thing and can be used once every minute make it not all that impressive in the grander scale of things.
Not only that, but because the Bosmer is the smallest character race in Skyrim, that also means it’s the slowest! This means, even when sprinting, it’ll take you longer to reach a location than any of the other races. All in all, going for a Mage or Archery Build is your best bet for these guys.
8. Imperial
The Imperial is a bit of an interesting race based on what type of build you are looking to make them. Firstly, they don’t waste their racial trait on resisting poison or disease, instead of having the considerably more useful trait of finding between 2 and 10 more gold pieces in chests, urns, and enemy corpses. This is a fairly solid trait for most people as you are likely to make more gold than another race when going through the same dungeon or playing the same mission.
Similarly, they also have the unique daily ability known as “Voice of the Emperor,” which calms down any nearby person for up to 60 seconds.
Overall, while this race is undoubtedly a solid one overall, it’s just that. Solid. While getting a few extra pieces is excellent, it’s the economic version of the skill disparity. While you may have a piece or two more than the other races, at the end of the day, an Orc or Argonian can be incredibly wealthy with only a slight bit more time and effort.
Similarly, while useful for calming down enemies, Voice of the Emperor doesn’t work on animals nor “unthinking” creatures like Draugr or Automatrons. Not only that, but the Calm spell is fairly easy to learn and can be used much more often when made available.
The good news is that the Imperial can go just about anywhere. Just don’t expect him to excel in any place he goes.
7. Argonian
Sadly, our next pick is the Argonian. Firstly, it should be said that they come with a pretty cool design and 3 separate racial traits and abilities that effectively put them ahead of the pack so far.
The first of their traits is Underwater Breathing. As the name implies, this allows them to breathe underwater. The only problem is that, with rare exceptions, you aren’t ever going to need to be underwater. Not only that, but it is relatively simple to acquire a Water Breathing potion for those sparse times where you will.
They also have resistance to disease by 50%, which, as stated earlier, isn’t all that useful for anything outside vampirism. Their third racial trait is a bit more impressive, with an inherent +6 to all damage. The only issue with this, though, is that there are other races with more impressive traits. The Khajiit, as an example, has double that, making them, as a result, twice as good as the Argonian’s best trait.
Finally, they have the unique ability known as “Histskin” which regenerates health by 10xs the normal rate for 60 seconds once per day. This is considerably more useful than Adrenaline Rush but even then, only because it correlates to health. It’s essentially a free health potion you can use per day.
To be fair, while they aren’t in the Top 5, the Argonians aren’t the worst in the list and do have some (semi) redeeming traits for them. They are generally best as Assassins or Thieves, however.
6. Dunmer
Coming around at just under the Top 5, we have the Dark Elves. They have the unique racial trait of 50% Resistance to Fire. This easily tops them over all the previous races we’ve gone over on this list. Because most Mages use Fire-based spells and Dragons are, well, Dragons, that means they’re twice as resilient against some of the more powerful enemies in the game just based on their racial trait.
Dunmer also makes incredible vampires as, unlike every other converted race, they only suffer-normal fire damage instead of the +50% fire damage that is standard.
They are also given the impressive “Ancestor’s Wrath” daily unique ability that essentially acts as a fire shield for up to 60 seconds every day. It takes 8 points of fire damage to all enemies near you and works regardless if you are attacking or defending. What makes this such a great option is that if you have a hardier build and use heavy armor, you can nearly kill your enemies while merely defending yourself from their attacks.
Without a doubt, the only drawback for the Dunmer that holds it at #6 is that the Top 5 are just that much better. You can realistically play the Dunmer in any build, with them excelling in any that lean into their fire-based natures.
5. Nord
The difference between the Nord and the Dunmer is mostly circumstantial, and that’s due to their nature resistances. While the Dunmer is 50% resistant to fire, the Nord is 50% resistant to frost. This means that the two are virtually equal with one another as enemies are pretty much just as likely to attack you with frost as they will fire.
So what bumps the Nords over the Dark Elves? Well, that’s because the Nords have the unique ability known as “Battle Cry”. This amazing power causes all enemies to flee from you for 30 seconds once per day. While ineffective against automatons, literally every other enemy will run away from you. This gives you a perfect chance to escape, reheal, or stab them in the back for even more damage.
While some of the earlier races are largely dependant on their stereotypical considerations for the optimal builds, because the Nord is resistant to frost and can cause his enemies to run away from him if he’s ever overwhelmed, they can be used for just about any class or build.
4. Altmer
The High Elves, while certainly serviceable as any build, excel when built as Mages. Their innate racial trait starts them at +50 Magicka, essentially 5 extra levels of dedicated Magicka compared to every other race in the game. Seriously, so long as you’re playing a Mage, you start the game 5 Levels higher than every other race! There’s a reason we put them at #4.
In addition to this, they have the racial ability known as “Highborn,” which regenerates their Magicka by 25% for 60 seconds once per day. What makes this so much better than the health and stamina regenerations is that Magicka is directly connected to their attacking method. On top of being an additional Magicka potion, it works even while performing charging spells, ensuring that even after performing a high powered spell, you’re able to instantly get back to using magic.
The reason it’s at #4 despite its awesome nature is that it’s only meant to be a Mage build. While other races on this list can function within their stereotypes, the High Elf thrives in theirs. Still, the fact that an Altmer Warrior or Theif is so difficult to play speaks for itself.
3. Khajiit
Yeah, the Khajiit. While J’zargo would be most pleased to hear his race is so high on this list, I know that this might be a bit contentious for others. Still, the reality is the reality.
Khajiit has the racial trait known as “Claws,” which give them +12 to their unarmed attacks, making them the best-unarmed combatants in the game. Why is this important? Well, the base Khajiit unarmed attack has a base damage of 22. Again, what makes this so special? The base damage of the strongest sword in the game, the Dragonbone Sword, has a base damage of 15. Yeah. That’s why it’s so important.
On top of this, the Khajiit has the racial ability known as “Night Eye” which allows them to see in the dark for 60 seconds every day. What makes this so much more appealing than the other racial abilities is that you can use it as many times you want per day rather than the standard one time.
Without a doubt, if you had any reservations about playing as the cat people, know that they are legitimately excellent in pretty much any category you put them in. They are excellent as Thieves and Assassins, they can work well as any type of Warrior, and their unarmed combat makes them incredibly dangerous Mages in instances where they run out of Magicka.
2. Orsimer
The Orsimer, or Orc, is an interesting placement on this list. Without any innate racial trait, they are literally above Khajiit, Nord, and Altmer. How?
Well, that’s because their racial ability, “Berserker’s Rage,” is just so insanely awesome. While only available once per day, this INSANE ability halves all damage you take while DOUBLING all damage your opponent takes for 60 seconds. This means that no matter when you are using it (early, middle, or late game), you will ALWAYS be the most dangerous person in the room.
Not only that, but they also have the bonus of being able to enter Orc strongholds without issue. This isn’t anything to necessarily write home about, but it’s a nice bit of icing on an already rich and delicious cake.
So what build works best for Orcs? I’ll reiterate for those in the back. They have Berserker Rage, which doubles all damage you dish out while halving all damage you take. These guys are beasts no matter what class or build you are in, as well as what difficulty you want to play at. Even Legendary can be a cakewalk with this broken ability. It’s not even fair.
So when you read all that, you might be wondering just what can compete with Berserker Rage, an ability that can turn a 15x damage sneak attack into a 30x damage sneak attack?
1. Breton
Now just hold on a second before you click off the page. Let me explain. First, while the Breton may seem kind of goofy when compared to the Orc, it should be known that the Breton has a 25% resistance to ALL magic spells in the game. Wait, now just think about that. While the Dunmer has 50% to Fire and Nords have 50% to frost, the Breton has 25% resistance to Fire, Frost, and Lightning. They are the best of all the magic resistance worlds, and we’re just getting started.
The Bretons also have the gnarly racial ability known as “Dragonskin” which absorbs 50% of all magic damage from enemies for 60 seconds once per day. This essentially means that a Breton can tank, without any assistance, 75% of all magic-based attacks. They can solo any kind of Dragon and eat all their attacks with barely a scratch. Even Orcs can only defend against half of the damage in that same amount of time.
And we’re not even done yet!
When we say “absorb 50%” magic damage, we’re not using that term loosely. When we say “absorb,” we mean ABSORB. Whereas Nords and Dunmer “resist” frost and fire, respectively, they cannot use that damage to refill their reserves. Bretons can. They not only resist the damage, but, for 60 seconds, they are draining 50% of the magic from each attack thrown against them, filling their Magicka reserves.
You can use additional things, like the Atronoch Stone, which gives 50% Magic Resistance once per day for 60 seconds, to make this even more broken, but you get the point. Bretons are an insane race that turns magic users into a joke when fighting. In terms of builds and classes, they excel pretty much anywhere you put them. Particularly as Warriors with Heavy Armor, a Breton can be all but unbeatable against every enemy type.
Conclusion
And so there you have it. These are the races reviewed from worst to best. If you are looking to play the game on Legendary or were legitimately curious, you now know the most impressive races. Still, if your favorite race didn’t make the top spots, that’s ok. I’m still planning on doing another playthrough with my trust Redguards. They need the love right about now.
