[Question] Mechanically optimal race(s) for Diviner and Abjurers?

[hwem]

What are mechanically optimal race(s) for divination and abjuration wizard subclasses?
I was thinking halfling (due to bountiful luck) and mountain dwarf/githyanky/hobgoblin (due to being tanky with armor) would be best.
I'd appreciate your help.
Thanks again.

[Trustypeaches]

Deep gnomes make great Abjuration wizards because of their racial feat, which gives them at-will usage of Nondetection to easily replenish their Arcane Ward.

They also get nice racial abilities and stat increases.

[Rukelnikov]

Something that gives a bonus to int.

No really, a bonus to int is more important that wearing medium armor if you are a wizard. From the ones you mentioned Githyanki's grant medium armor prof which is good, a +2 Str which you are probably not gonna notice, and a bunch of goodies which you are likely gonna notice, free mage hand, free skill and 1/lr misty step are nice. Hobgoblins get you +2 Con which is very good, light armor is no good for you, a 1st lvl spell gives 1 more point of armor for 8 hours, after lvl 3 that's not that costly an investment, but they give you a bonus on saves 1/sr which is pretty good specially to keep concentration.

Other "tanky" wizard races you could consider are:

Warforged(Envoy)*, +1 Con, +1 to 2 others (Dex, Int), if you later get Light Armor Proficiency, you get to add proficency to your AC
Simic Hybrid, +2 Con, +1 Int, and at lvl 5 you can get +1 AC whenever you are not wearing heavy armor (it stacks with Mage Armor)
Vhuman, start with Resilient(Con), get a +1 Int, the other +1 could go to Con or Dex whichever is more useful, point buy you could do the antinatural 8, 16, 16, 16, 8, 8.
Gnomes, +2 Int, +1 Con or Dex, advantage in mental saves vs magic

[Lyracian]

Are you using point buy or rolling for stats? For Point Buy you want a race with +Int; if you are rolling you can pick something like Dwarf and still have a 16+ in Int.

If you want to be Tanky I would just take first level as Cleric for armour then 18 levels of Wizard. Plate and Shield with Shocking Grasp (or other spells) for attack.

[hwem]

I do point buy. Thanks for all the comments so far.

[LudicSavant]

Here's all the races with an Int bonus:

Core:
Gnome (Forest) [+2 Int / +1 Dex]
Gnome (Rock) [+2 Int / +1 Con]
Elf (High) [+1 Int / +2 Dex]
Tiefling [+1 Int / +2 Cha]
Eladrin (DMG) [+1 Int / +2 Dex]
Human [+1 all]
Human (Variant) [+1 Any / +1 Any] (potential additional +1 from half feat)
Half-Elf [+2 Cha / +1 any / +1 Any]

Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide:
Gnome (Svirfneblin) [+2 Int / +1 Dex]
Tiefling (Feral) [+1 Int / +2 Dex]

Elemental Evil Player's Companion:
Gnome (Svirfneblin) [+2 Int / +1 Dex]
Genasi (Fire) [+1 Int / +2 Con]

Volo's Guide to Monsters:
Hobgoblin [+1 Int / +2 Con]
Yuan-Ti Pureblood [+1 Int / +2 Cha]

Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes:
Githyanki [+2 Strength / +1 Int]
Githzerai [+2 Wisdom / +1 Int]
Tiefling (Baalzebul) [+2 Cha / +1 Int]
Tiefling (Mammon) [+2 Cha / +1 Int]
Tiefling (Mephistopheles) [+2 Cha / +1 Int]

Guildmaster's Guide to Ravnica:
Vedalken [+2 Int / +1 Wis]
Simic Hybrid [+2 Con / +1 Any]

Wayfinder's Guide to Eberron:
Gnome (Scribing) [+2 Int / +1 Cha]
Human (Making) [+2 Int / +1 Dex OR +2 Dex / +1 Int]
Changeling [+1 Int OR Dex / +1 Cha]
Half-Elf (Detection) [+1 Int / +1 Cha / +1 Any]
Dwarf (Warding) [+1 Int / +1 Dex / +2 Con]
Half-Orc (Finding) [+1 Str / +1 Wis / +1 Any]
Half-Elf (Storm) [+1 Dex / +1 Cha / +1 Any]
Human (Sentinel) [+1 Strength / +1 Wis / +1 Any]
Human (Passage) [+2 Dex / +1 Any]
Human (Handling) [+1 Wis / +1 Dex / +1 Any]
Kalashtar [+1 Cha / +1 Wis / +1 Any]
Warforged (Envoy) [+1 Con / +1 Any / +1 Any]

___

Of these, I'd say the most notable are probably Yuan-Ti, Flying Feral Tieflings, VHumans, Envoys, Vedalken, Svirfneblin, Hobgoblins, Githyanki, Mark of Warding dwarves, Half-Elves (specifically for Hexblade-dip builds), DMG Eladrin, Mark of Passage Humans, and Simic Hybrids.

I'd also note the Goblin, since although they lack an Int bonus, their ability to use a pseudo-Cunning Action makes them good for Wizards anyways.

[hwem]

Putting aside Eladrin, I would’ve expected to have high elf as one of re best.

[Lyracian]

Putting aside Eladrin, I would’ve expected to have high elf as one of re best.

I like High Elfs; but then I lack the other books for races outside the PHB.

[Chalkarts]

I've given a lot of thought to Diviners.

When I finally made the decision and put a diviner on paper I decided on a the unlikely choice of Halfling.

I know halflings don't get an int bonus, but for a diviner, I feel like the combination of the Diviners ability to alter dice rolls and the halflings racial "lucky" trait is too good to pass up. Add in the Lucky Feat and annoy your DM throughout the session. The dex bonus, Lightfoot stealth, and nimbleness of a halfling also helps keep a squishy wizard breathing.

It may not be the most obvious choice, but for a Diviner, I think Halfling is really the way to go.

[JNAProductions]

I've given a lot of thought to Diviners.

When I finally made the decision and put a diviner on paper I decided on a the unlikely choice of Halfling.

I know halflings don't get an int bonus, but for a diviner, I feel like the combination of the Diviners ability to alter dice rolls and the halflings racial "lucky" trait is too good to pass up. Add in the Lucky Feat and annoy your DM throughout the session. The dex bonus, Lightfoot stealth, and nimbleness of a halfling also helps keep a squishy wizard breathing.

It may not be the most obvious choice, but for a Diviner, I think Halfling is really the way to go.

That's not unknown or unlikely. Lucky Halfling Diviners are a staple of "SCREW YOUR DICE!"

But it is, however, a very GOOD choice. Rerolls for days!

[LudicSavant]

Halfling may fit a theme, but from a pure optimization/tactical perspective I personally don't think it's a top choice for Diviner.

First, Lucky and Portent don't really synergize; you must declare Portent before seeing the roll. They're both great abilities, but not really more than the sum of their parts.
Second, Wizards are less reliant on attack rolls or ability checks than others to do their thing, in combat or out. The biggest benefit of Lucky is arguably for saving throws, and the benefit to them is smaller than the abilities that some other races have.

For an alternative, consider Hobgoblins (with their amazing "Save Face" ability to add +5 to a d20 roll after seeing it, 1/short rest) or Vedalken (Always-on Advantage on all mental saves, and a 1d4 bonus to every roll of your favorite skills). These races are arguably even better at messing with your important d20 rolls, while lacking the Halfling's biggest disadvantages (25 foot move speed / no Int bonus).