Best Races for Wizard 5e
by Prince Phantom
The top of the 5e class food chain, Wizards kinda have it all already. The best utility in the game, the best spells in the game, they can very easily get the best defense and damage, and will succeed at basically anything you ask them to do. Well, outside of healing that is, but man, if you could pick one thing to be bad at in 5e, healing is a pretty good pick with how terrible it is. Wizards are also not terribly dependent upon feats, though definitely still appreciate a few. This makes feat-granting races a good option, but thankfully not the only option as is the case for most martial classes. This means our race can fulfill a lot of different needs, basically whatever your specific Wizard build is lacking, and make you a more well rounded character. I’ll be excluding flying and feat-granting races as usual, and dividing this list into best races for defense and utility, as there really isn’t a meaningful way to increase our damage consistently through any racial feature.
Best Races for Defense
Tortle: If you want to play a straight classed Wizard who doesn’t pick up any means of wearing armor, this race provides the best AC you can hope to have. It also helps that as a Wizard, we can throw down our important concentration spell and then get to a point where only ranged attacks could hit us, at that point withdrawing into our shell and getting a very respectable 21 AC (and all ranged attacks are at disadvantage since we are prone).
Genasi (Earth): Blade Ward as a bonus action is a big deal for Wizards, allowing us to reduce a ton of damage on a turn where we know we won’t be able to get out of danger. Pass Without Trace is also one of the few spells provided by a race that is absent from the Wizard list, making it an extremely significant addition to our toolbox. This race is so good that it features as an option for our own Abjuration Wizard build on this site!
Vedalkin: Wizards get Intelligence and Wisdom saving throw proficiency, but many Wizards tend to neglect their Wisdom score in favor of Dexterity and Constitution for better AC and HP. This will leave your Wisdom saves somewhat vulnerable, and Vedalkin Dispassion patches that right up. I’d definitely recommend taking a dip in another class like Artificer or Fighter for armor proficiencies to patch up your AC if you take this race though. Honestly I recommend that for basically all Wizards. Starting as a level 1 Artificer and then going 19 levels in Wizard is almost always a superior build than a straight 20 in Wizard.
Shadar-Kai: We get a ton of stuff with this race, not the least of which being resistance to all damage after we use our bonus action teleport. There’s also plenty to do with the extra downtime afforded by Trance, such as scribing scrolls or adding to your spellbook. This is an incredibly strong pick, as we get a few major features paired with a bunch of minor ones.
Best Races for Utility
Aasimar (Radiant Soul): If you refuse to start as an Artificer for one level, and no one else in your party has any form of healing, then you may want this just for Healing Hands to get your allies off of 0hp. Radiant Soul is the best of the three options, also granting flight for a minute, plenty to keep you out of melee range for a fight.
Eladrin: Same as the Shadar-Kai, just trading out the defensive features of our teleport with various utility functions. Both of these options are amazing, though I think I like the Shadar-Kai just that little bit more.
Harengon: A bonus to initiative is exactly what a Wizard wants, meaning everything else here is just gravy. The bonus action hop gives us a great tool to disengage, and we get a d4 bonus to Dexterity saves. This race reads like a list of exactly what a Wizard would want, making it a fantastic choice.
Autognome: We get always-on Mage Armor, a boost to skill checks and saves, a way to heal ourself with the Mending cantrip, and a couple of tool proficiencies. This race definitely goes for a quantity over quality approach, but still ends up being a great option in the end.
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