Also, if you plan on doing PvP extensively you might want to consider class hitboxes as well. More details on all of this below!

• Aman
• Baraka
• Castanic
• Elin
• High Elf
• Human
• Popori
• Hitboxes
• Conclusion

Aman

• Kaiator’s Drums – Any aman of sufficient level can teleport at will to Kaiator, their home city. 1 hour cooldown.
• Last Aman Standing (active) – Your resistance to being knocked down or paralyzed increases by 70% for 30 seconds. Cooldown: 60 minutes.
• No Stranger to Pain (Passive) – Decreases damage taken by 10% when your HP is below 30%.
• Blood of Dragons (Passive) – Increases resistance to the effects that do Damage Over Time by 10.
• Prospector (Passive) – Increases the speed of gathering minerals.

Baraka

• Core’s Resonance – Any baraka of sufficient level can teleport at will to Allemantheia, the high elves’ city of knowledge and learning. 1 hour cooldown.
• Ancient Wellspring (Active) – Instantly restores all your HP using the magic of a bygone era. Cooldown 2 hours.
• Indefatigable (Passive) – Baraka are built sturdily, like their ancestors. Their stamina never falls below 20%, even if they die. Passive.
• Gather No Moss (Passive) – Increases resistance to restraint and movement debuffs by 10.
• Time-Lost Techniques (Passive) – Increases the speed of crafting magical weapons by 10%.

Castanic

• Kaiator’s Drums – Any castanic of sufficient level can teleport at will to Kaiator, with its great forges. 1 hour cooldown.
• Skirmish Running (Active) – Your speed increases by 35 for 3 minutes, but your resistance to stun is reduced by 20%. The effect ends if you stunned. Skill may be used during combat. Cooldown 30 minutes.
• Dirty Fighting (Passive) – Increases the critical value by 1% when attacking from behind.
• Weaponforging (Passive) – Increases the speed of crafting with metal weapons in 10%.
• Light Landing (Passive) – Decreases falling damage by 50%.

Elin

• Velik’s Horn – Any elin of sufficient level can teleport at will to Velika, the federation’s capital. 1 hour cooldown.
• Soothing Presence (Active) – Monsters do not make pre-emptive strikes, but your movement speed is reduced by 40% for 1 minute. The effect disappears immediately when you use a skill or item , or if you enter combat. Cooldown 60 minutes.
• Horizon Run (Active) – Your speed increases by 20 for 3 minutes. Cannot be used in combat. Cooldown 30 minutes.
• Botanist (Passive) – Increases the speed of plant collection.
• Friendly Current (Passive) – Your swim speed is increased by 50%.

High Elf

• Core’s Resonance – Any high elf of sufficient level can teleport at will to Allemantheia, their home city. 1 hour cooldown.
• Core Infusion (Active) – Elves can draw on their connection to the Core to completely refill their mana. 2 hour cooldown.
• Resilience of Mind (Passive) – When resurrected provides a MP regeneration buff.
• Coalescence (Passive) – Increases the speed of collecting essences by 15%.

Human

• Velik’s Horn – Any human of sufficient level can teleport at will to their home city, Velika. 1 hour cooldown.
• Deft Footwork (Active) – For 3 minutes, dramatically decrease the likelihood of being knocked down or paralyzed by another player by 50%. Cooldown 60 minutes.
• Indomitable Spirit (Passive) – When your HP is less than 30% receive 10% less damage from other players.
• Resilience of Body (Passive) – You heal continuously after resurrection.
• Nomadic Crafter (Passive) – Increases the speed of crafting light armor by 10%.

Popori

• Velik’s Horn – Any elin of sufficient level can teleport at will to Velika, the federation’s capital. 1 hour cooldown.
• Soothing Presence (Active) – Monsters do not make pre-emptive strikes, but your movement speed is reduced by 40% for 1 minute. The effect disappears immediately when you use a skill or item , or if you enter combat. Cooldown 60 minutes.
• Horizon Run (Active) – Your speed increases by 20 for 3 minutes. Cannot be used in combat. Cooldown 30 minutes.
• Botanist (Passive) – Increases the speed of plant collection.
• Friendly Current (Passive) – Your swim speed is increased by 50%.

Hitboxes

Other than racial traits you’ll probably be interested in hitboxes for each race as well. Hitboxes basically determine how easy you are to hit: physically smaller races have smaller hitboxes, and the other way around. You should also keep in mind that allies are affected by hitboxes as well: healing a race with a smaller hitbox is definitely harder.

Duo to hitboxes you might want to consider picking a particular race depending on your class. For example, as a healer you might want to pick a race with smaller hitbox such as Popori, so you are harder to target for enemies. If you’re playing a Lancer, you might want to go with the largest race so you can tank more easily.

There are some general rules concerning hitboxes: taller races obviously have larger hitboxes. Popori and Elin are the tiniest classes, with barely any difference in hitbox size. As it is evident from the above image, Baraka is the tallest race, closely followed by Amani. Castanics, Humans and High Elves are pretty much of the same size.

Males usually have larger hitboxes on every race, so below we’ll take a look at the differences of genders.

Female

The tallest female race is Amani, making them a great pick for Lancers class. Second tallest female race is High Elf, closely followed by Humans. Most players of these races opt out for Slayer, Berserker, Sorcerer and Mystic classes, both because of the hitbox size and racial traits. Also, not being the smallest race helps your healers target you, which is another benefit.

astanic females are even smaller and a common choice for Warrior, Sorcerer and Archer classes. They may be harder to hit but also much harder to heal, especially because constant movement is required, so be sure to pay attention when your healer tries to heal you.

Smallest race is the Elin, which at one point was so small it was nearly impossible to heal. For some reason though Elins are very popular amongst players so you’ll be seeing quite a few of them. Their racial abilities aren’t the best either, which makes it all that more surprising. Same as with Castanics, good awareness of your surroundings is advised so you can move into healing circles when necessary.

Male

Baraka don’t have a gender, but are obviously the tallest class. Baraka Priests are extremely popular, even though it doesn’t make much sense gameplay-wise. Even though their size would make them ideal for Lancer class, their racial skills don’t.

Aman are also quite large, often played by Lancers, Berserkers and Slayers. Considering their large size, they are easy to attack and heal. High Elf and Human males have negligible hitbox difference. Most Humans play Lancer, Berserker and Slayer classes, and most High Elves, play Priests, Archers, Warriors and Mystics. Basically, these races are good for any class, and their racial skills are quite decent as well.

Castanic males are slightly shorter than Humans; the horns aren’t a part of the hitbox. Lancers for example in most cases can’t Shield Block a corridor so you might not want to pick that class/race combo, but their racial skills are still quite effective despite your class preference.

The shortest males are of course the Popori, which are much like Elin also quite popular for any class, but suffer from the same downsides and upsides.

Conclusion

Personally I always prefer to play a race for their looks, completely disregarding any racial skills, passive bonuses, hitboxes and all that, and I would advise the same to every player. It is a fact that you can gain certain advantages if you choose a particular class & race combo, but it doesn’t mean you can’t successfully play what you like.

As you probably noticed, Humans have good PvP racials, making them great if you want to focus on fighting other players on a regular basis. High Elves might make good casters due to the mana regeneration racial ability, but do remember it’s on a 2 hour cooldown. Elin and Popori share the same racial abilities, and in my opinion they aren’t particularly useful for any play style. Castanics have Dirty Fighting, making them good picks for Warriors and Slayers. Amani are in my opinion really good for tanking, and Baraka second best.

But again, don’t let racial skills or your class preference get in the way of playing what you like.

Be sure to also read our post about Choosing Your Class

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After reading this article, you should have no problem picking a race. With that said, Rift racial abilities are quite minor compared to other games.

Contents:

1. Guardians
   1. Dwarf Racial Abilities
   2. High Elf Racial Abilities
   3. Mathosian Racial Abilities
2. Defiant
   1. Eth
   2. Kelari
   3. Bahmi
3. Conclusion

Guardians

The Guardians consist of Dwarves, High Elves, and Mathosians. If you want to be a Guardian, you have to pick between the following racials:

Dwarf Racial Abilities

Dwarves have what I like to think are the worst Rift racial abilities:

• Density – Dwarves can fall twice the distance of other races
• Bahlralt’s Mettle – +10 strength
• Miracle of Hammerknell – +20 water resistance

Density is what makes the Dwarven racials so weak. It just really is not that good compared to Angelic Flight and Motivational Roar.

While the Strength bonus is not bad for a PvE player, if you plan to PvP you should seriously consider the High Elf for Angelic Flight.

High Elf Racial Abilities

High Elves will be very popular as they have what is likely to be the “best” racials amongst the Guardians:

• Angelic Flight – Allows the High Elf to fly 30 in-game meters. It can be used every 15 seconds but cannot be used in combat.
• Tavril’s Grace – +10 wisdom
• Grace of the Forest – +20 life resistance

Angelic Flight might sound great, but it does have limitations. It usually does not let you fly anywhere you could not run anyway. If you use this ability at the peak of a “jump” it lets you jump over objects and sometimes up hills that you would otherwise not be able to climb.

While it cannot be used in combat, people fall in and out of combat rapidly in PvP. This ability will definitely help you get around the battlefield, especially with that very short cooldown.

Finally, the Wisdom makes the High Elf the best choice for Clerics and Mages.

Mathosian Racial Abilities

The Mathosians also have some of the best Rift racial abilities.

• Motivational Roar – +30% movement speed to the group for 10 seconds. 2 minute cooldown and can only be used outside of combat.
• Thedeor’s Will – +10 dexterity
• Legacy of the Shade – +20 death resitance

Motivational Roar does have a long cooldown but it is much more convenient than Angelic Flight. This is perfect for the lazy players out there who do not feel like using Angelic Flight every 15 seconds.

The dexterity makes the Mathosian the best race for a Guardian Rogue.

Defiant

Defiants can chose from the Eth, Kelari, and Bahmi. Here are your options as a Defiant for Rift racial abilities:

Eth

The Eth, in many players’ opinions, have the best racial ability set in the game:

• Agility – Increases movement speed by 70% for 15 seconds. 2 minute cooldown and cannot be used in combat.
• Sun’s Fortune – +10 intellect
• Desert Dweller’s Birthright – +20 earth resistance

Agility is really good. It does have limitations given that it can only be used out of combat, but it will really come in handy in PvP as it is quite easy to go out of combat.

The +intellect also makes the Eth the best choice for Mages and Clerics on the Defiant side.

Kelari

The Kelari have some of the most unusual Rift Racial abilities:

• Camouflage – turns the Kelari into a fox for 30 seconds. The fox has a reduced aggro range for enemies, allowing you to sneak through enemy encampments without getting attacked (as easily). This actually can save you a little bit of time as many zones are densely populated!
• Flame’s Ferocity – +10 dexterity
• Legacy of the Fire Islands – +20 fire resistance

The Kelari are the best choice for Rogues since they have the dexterity, however, many players would prefer having the Eth’s Agility ability over having a static 10 dexterity. This is understandable and reasonable, as 10 dex is small in the grand scheme of things.

Bahmi

The Bahmi have a nice set of racials that is quite ideal for the Warrior calling:

• Mighty Leap – leap up to 30 yards. 15 second cooldown; cannot be used in combat.
• Sefir of Strength – +10 strength
• Shalastir Heritage – +20 air resistance

Mightly Leap is good for getting to the action in PvP, and the +10 strength makes the Bahmi a good choice for Warrior.

Conclusion

All in all, the Racial abilities in Rift are fairly minor and just add a little flavor to each race. I would not say any racial ability is so good that I would recommend choosing one race over another based on class.

Don’t forget to read the rest of our Rift guides, especially this free leveling guide if you’re a newbie.