Balance Druid Patch 9.2 Changes Analysis and Tier Set Thoughts

This page will go over how the changes in Patch 9.2, Eternity's End, will affect Balance Druids, specifically how the changes might impact its playstyle, best Legendary choices, Covenants, and the like. If you are simply interested in what the current changes are for Druids in Patch 9.2 in general, you can instead read our full list of changes to the entire Druid class on our dedicated page below. For an additional list of content coming with Patch 9.2, you can also check out our Patch 9.2 Overview page.

Balance Druids are receiving a 15% damage buff on Starfall in Season 4.

Tier Set bonuses return with the Sepulcher of the First Ones raid release. Tier pieces are five slots of gear that have a 2- & 4- piece set bonus which is specifically designed with the Balance Druid playstyle in mind. For Balance Druids, these set bonuses are:

• Balance Druid 2-Piece (Celestial Pillar) — Entering Eclipse (Lunar) creates a Fury of Elune at 20% effectiveness that follows your current target for 8seconds.
• Balance Druid 4-Piece (Umbral Infusion) — While in an Eclipse, the cost of Starsurge and Starfall is reduced by 15%.

These are interesting set bonuses which interact with our kit very well. The 2-piece set bonus creates a Fury of Elune every time you enter Eclipse (Lunar). This also applies to the Lunar Eclipse you gain from entering Celestial Alignment / Incarnation: Chosen of Elune.

This Fury of Elune copy deals less damage but generates the full 40 Astral Power of the main spell and can stack. This makes Primordial Arcanic Pulsar an extremely strong Legendary as you enter our cooldowns more often. Scenarios such as entering Eclipse (Lunar), proccing Pulsar immediately after, and then casting a normal Fury of Elune for 120 total Astral Power over 8 seconds are just some of the possibilities of this set bonus.

The 4-piece bonus is rather straightforward with the exception of its Primordial Arcanic Pulsar synergy. When casting a discounted Starfall or Starsurge, you receive the full amount of Astral Power from the spell toward your Pulsar counter.

Overall this is a nice set bonus which works well with our kit and makes Primordial Arcanic Pulsar an absurdly powerful Legendary. The extra Astral Power gained (2-set) and saved (4-set) leads to an even more spender dominated rotation. With all the free Astral Power from this bonus, Pulsar heavily increases our cooldown uptime and you will find yourself in cooldown more often than not.

Patch 9.2 brings the new Legendary Power Unity which grants a Legendary Power specific to your current Covenant choice. This becomes a static slot when unlocked and can be worn with any other Legendary power for a total of two active Legendary powers. Below is a refresher of the soon-to-be permanent Legendary effects:

• Venthyr: Sinful Hysteria increases the duration of Ravenous Frenzy by .1 seconds each time it gains a stack. When Ravenous Frenzy expires, you gain stacks of Sinful Hysteria equal to the lost Ravenous Frenzy stacks for 3 seconds. Each stack of Sinful Hysteria increases damage and healing by 2% and Haste by 1%.
• Night Fae: Celestial Spirits reduces the cooldown of Convoke the Spirits by 50% and reduces the channeling time by 25%. This makes Convoke a 1-minute cooldown that casts 12-total spells now. This new Convoke also has a significantly higher chance to cast a Full Moon.
• Kyrian: Kindred Affinity gives you and your partner a stat bonus based on their Covenant. This bonus doubles when you activate your Covenant ability. It grants 100 Mastery for Kyrian, 5% Haste for Night Fae, 5% Critical Strike Chance for Venthyr, and 5% Versatility for Necrolord.
• Necrolord: Unbridled Swarm gives Adaptive Swarm a 60% chance to split into two Swarms each time it jumps to another target.

With the nerf to Sinful Hysteria, Venthyr is brought more in line with the other Covenant options. As of right now, all Covenants except Necrolord are viable. Night Fae and Venthyr being safe choices for most content and Kyrian remaining viable for those who enjoy the playstyle. Below, we will go over how each Covenant may be affected by the Patch 9.2 changes.

Venthyr took a big hit from the Sinful Hysteria nerfs mentioned above. When combining Sinful Hysteria with Primordial Arcanic Pulsar there is not much synergy between the two Legendaries.

While Sinful Hysteria remains a powerful DPS tool, it is nowhere near as overpowered as before. The extra Astral Power from the free Fury of Elune as well as the cost reduction on spenders from the 4-piece are nice additions to the Ravenous Frenzy window, but you can only cast so many spells before running out of time.

Night Fae was the second-best Covenant in Patch 9.1.5 and has been surpassed by Kyrian with no direct changes to either Covenant. Celestial Spirits is the Night Fae Legendary Power and does not perform well when compared to the likes of the other two Powers. The lower cast quantity is slightly more volatile than the 16-cast version and Convoke the Spirits is not as strong as an ability as it was when paired with Balance of All Things back at the start of Shadowlands.

Primordial Arcanic Pulsar already allowed Druids to land a Convoke the Spirits inside every cooldown window so the the Legendary synergy is not particularly strong between these two Powers. Overall, Night Fae is held back by its Legendary more than the other two Covenants.

The Kyrian Power Kindred Affinity is a solid Legendary effect, giving further buffs to the linked target and yourself. Combined with the cooldown reduction Conduit and the Effusive Anima Accelerator node from Forgelite Prime Mikanikos' Soulbind, you can use the Kyrian ability more often giving free stats and damage to both of you.

When combining Kindred Affinity with Primordial Arcanic Pulsar and the tier bonuses, you find yourself being able to use the Kyrian ability to your advantage as you will have more opportunities to contribute to the damage pool from the active ability.