Balance Druid Pre-Patch Guide for WotLK Classic

Balance Druids become much stronger in the Wrath of the Lich King pre-patch, gaining a ton of AoE damage from Typhoon, the reworked Hurricane and Starfall, and significant single-target damage from Eclipse.

At least one Druid is still recommended per raid for Mark of the Wild and Faerie Fire, and Balance is especially useful as it brings important caster buffs such as Earth and Moon, Improved Faerie Fire, and Moonkin Form, as well as Improved Moonkin Form.

This page will go over pre-patch talents, rotation, gear, and consumables for Balance Druid, allowing you to quickly get up to date with your character while waiting for Wrath to officially start!

This talent tree is focused on dealing maximum damage in the short encounters of the pre-patch. Thus, Mana talents such as Dreamstate are skipped.

Typhoon is taken over another 2% Intellect from Furor because it can be used on AoE situations for instant high damage and an almost-guaranteed Nature's Grace proc, which in turn will make your next Hurricane take two seconds less to fully channel, thus more than making up for the global cooldown invested into Typhoon.

Be aware that its glyph that prevents knockback, Glyph of Typhoon, requires Northrend materials, making it annoying to use against certain trash packs, but also useful when soloing, for cast interruptions, and for quicker enemy grouping on M'uru and similar encounters.

Glyphs enhance or change class specific abilities, and you can have up to two major glyphs and three minor glyphs at Level 70, with a third major glyph being unlocked at Level 80.

Many glyphs will only be available after Wrath launches, so in the pre-patch Balance will be using Glyph of Moonfire and Glyph of Starfire as major glyphs, which improve single-target damage. For minor glyphs, Glyph of the Wild, Glyph of Dash, and Glyph of Unburdened Rebirth are nice quality of life options.

1. 17% Hit before talents / Draenei to cap;
2. Spell Power;
3. Critical Strike;
4. Haste;
5. Spirit;
6. Intellect.

We will be presenting the skill rotation of an Balance Druid as a priority list, which means you should try to use the one at the top of the list first for maximum DPS.

In single-target you will look towards the following priority:

1. Keep Faerie Fire on the target if raiding, for the Improved Faerie Fire debuff. You can skip it if another Druid is keeping it up and your raid has the 3% Spell Hit debuff already;
2. Use Force of Nature within melee range of the boss;
3. Use Starfall in a position where you will not pull unwanted enemies;
4. Apply and refresh (after it expires) Moonfire on the target unless currently buffed by (Lunar) Eclipse or under the effects of (Solar) Eclipse and Bloodlust / Heroism;
5. During Eclipse buffs, spam the buffed spell (Lunar = Starfire, Solar = Wrath);
6. When not in an Eclipse, work towards your next one by casting either Wrath (for your first Eclipse) or Starfire, with the spell you want to cast always being the same as the buffed spell of the Eclipse you mostly recently left.
7. Insect Swarm if movement is needed and Moonfire is already present.

For area-of-effect damage you will use a different rotation:

1. Use Starfall in a position where you will not pull unwanted enemies;
2. Use Typhoon (if it will not cause trouble by pushing them back;) to hit as many enemies as possible and hopefully proc Nature's Grace;
3. Channel Hurricane.

Most TBC Phase 5 gear in the guide linked below is still the best available, but due to both Spell Damage and Spell Healing becoming a single stat, you will now be able to use any Spell Power gear you find to great effect. The short encounters of the pre-patch also favor the raw throughput of Critical Strike and Haste, rather than Spirit or Mp5 gear.

• Spell Healing gear such as Brooch of Nature's Mercy is converted into Spell Power gear ( Brooch of Nature's Mercy) and gains a lot of value in the pre-patch;
• Hit gear such as Grand Magister's Staff of Torrents, The Skull of Gul'dan, Amulet of Unfettered Magics, Handguards of Defiled Worlds, or the crafted Loop of Forged Power are all great options for fixing your Hit in the pre-patch;
• Most Sunwell gear is good enough to enter early Wrath raids with, especially Dark Conjuror's Collar and Amice of the Convoker, which are contenders for pre-raid best in slot;
• To complement raiding, or if it is not an option, farming Honor in the pre-patch through battlegrounds will allow you to buy the full "Brutal" PvP gear set, which is close in power to gear from Sunwell Plateau and has no randomness in its acquisition.

Enchants mostly stay the same in the pre-patch but Enchant Weapon - Major Spellpower becomes the go-to for your weapon and Enchant Boots - Surefooted deserves a special mention, as it goes from a niche melee enchant to one of the best general DPS enchants, giving 10 Crit and Hit rating. Weight it against the movement speed benefit of Enchant Boots - Boar's Speed.

Flask of Blinding Light is the recommended flask for Balance. Eat Spicy Hot Talbuk (if not hit capped) or one of Blackened Basilisk, Poached Bluefish, Golden Fish Sticks, or Crunchy Serpent otherwise. Use Brilliant Wizard Oil on your weapon.

Destruction Potion is the best DPS potion for Balance, although you can also use Super Mana Potion if you have Mana issues. You can no longer use two potions during combat, but you can use one just before entering combat, which will allow you to use another mid-fight if the encounter is long enough.