Balance Druid DPS Rotation, Cooldowns, and Abilities — The War Within (11.1.5)
On this page, you will learn how to optimize the rotation of your Balance Druid in both single-target and multiple-target situations. We also have advanced sections about cooldowns, procs, etc. in order to minmax your DPS. All our content is updated for World of Warcraft — The War Within (11.1.5).
If you were looking for WotLK Classic content, please refer to our WotLK Classic Balance Druid rotation.
Balance Druid Rotation Introduction
Balance Druid Rotation
Balance Druid Rotation Overview
At the start of combat or with each use of
Celestial Alignment /
Incarnation: Chosen of Elune, you choose
between either Solar or Lunar
Eclipse. To enter Solar Eclipse, you must
cast two
Starfires, and to enter Lunar Eclipse, you need to cast two
Wrath.
From there on, you build Astral Power using the appropriate filler. In Solar
Eclipse, you cast
Wrath to gain Astral Power and, in
Lunar Eclipse, you cast
Starfire. Each Eclipse lasts 15 seconds.
Eclipse
uptime is incredibly important, and you should aim to be inside Eclipse as often
as you can.
On single-target, you will use Starsurge, which costs 40 Astral
Power.
On multi-target, you want to be casting
Starfall, which costs 50 Astral
Power. Some spells reduce the cost of these abilities, such as
Rattle the Stars and
Elune's Guidance.
Keep your DoTs up on all targets to activate your Mastery bonus. Use cooldowns optimally, either on cooldown or when there is a better moment.
If ever following the below priority lists would make you cap on Astral Power, remember that you should deviate from the priority list and spend your Astral Power instead.
Keeper of the Grove Single Target Ability Priority List for Balance Druid
Keeper of the Grove is the primary single target Hero Talent setup. The
following is a standard priority list which should be followed generally but can be
deviated from if circumstances require.
- Apply and maintain
Sunfire,
Moonfire, and
Stellar Flare (if talented).
- Use
Force of Nature outside of Eclipse if your next ability is
Celestial Alignment. Only save Force of Nature if
Convoke the Spirits will be off cooldown in 25-seconds.
- Cast
Celestial Alignment if you have just cast
Force of Nature unless saving to line up with
Convoke the Spirits. Then cast
Wrath to spend
Dream Surge unless you will cap on Astral Power.
- Cast
Convoke the Spirits if you have cast
Force of Nature and
Celestial Alignment and have less than 40-Astral Power.
- If you are not entering cooldowns, cast two
Starfires to enter Solar Eclipse.
- Cast
Force of Nature.
- Spend
Dream Surge using
Wrath unless you will cap on Astral Power.
- Cast
Starsurge to spend Astral Power, maintain
Starlord, or to spend
Touch the Cosmos.
- Cast
Wrath to generate Astral Power.
Elune's Chosen Single Target Ability Priority List for Balance Druid.
Elune's Chosen is not the appropriate talent choice for single target
encounters but you may end up using this rotation in Mythic+. The following is a
standard priority list which should be followed generally but can be deviated from if
circumstances require.
You will not be able to enter Solar Eclipse due to Lunar Calling.
- Use
Warrior of Elune on cooldown. The buff will persist and the cooldown will start.
- Apply and maintain
Sunfire,
Moonfire, and
Stellar Flare (if talented).
- Cast
Celestial Alignment if you have just cast
Fury of Elune unless saving to line up with
Convoke the Spirits.
- Cast
Convoke the Spirits if you have cast
Celestial Alignment and have less than 40-Astral Power.
- If you are not entering cooldowns, cast two
Wraths to enter Lunar Eclipse.
- Cast
Fury of Elune if not entering
Celestial Alignment.
- Cast
Starsurge to spend Astral Power, maintain
Starlord, or to spend
Touch the Cosmos.
- Cast
Starfire to generate Astral Power.
You will be casting Starfire inside
Celestial Alignment on single
target due to
Lunar Calling.
Keeper of the Grove Multi-Target Ability Priority List for Balance Druid
Keeper of the Grove focuses on short bursts of multi-target damage as
opposed to
Elune's Chosens more sustained DPS approach. The following is a
standard priority list which should be followed generally but can be deviated from if
circumstances require.
- Apply and maintain
Sunfire and
Moonfire.
- Cast
Force of Nature outside of Eclipse if you next button is
Celestial Alignment.
- Cast
Celestial Alignment if you have just cast
Force of Nature and then cast
Starfire to spend
Dream Surge if you will not cap on Astral Power.
- If you are not entering cooldowns, cast two
Wraths to enter Lunar Eclipse.
- Cast
Force of Nature.
- Spend
Dream Surge using
Starfire unless you will cap on Astral Power.
- Cast
Starfall to spend Astral Power, maintain
Starlord, or to spend
Touch the Cosmos.
- Cast
Starfire to generate Astral Power.
Sunfire should be applied if the target will live approximately 5-seconds
and
Moonfire should be applied if the target will live 6-seconds.
Force of Nature will apply upto 6-
Moonfires while prioritizing
enemies without Moonfire.
Elune's Chosen Multi-Target Ability Priority List for Balance Druid
Elune's Chosen is great for sustained multi-target making it a niche
choice for some raid encounters as well as a good pick for heavy multi-target Mythic+
dungeons. The following is a standard priority list which should be followed
generally but can be deviated from if circumstances require.
You will not be able to enter Solar Eclipse due to Lunar Calling.
- Use
Warrior of Elune on cooldown. The buff will persist and the cooldown will start.
- Apply and maintain
Sunfire and
Moonfire.
- Cast
Fury of Elune.
- Cast
Celestial Alignment
- If you are not entering cooldowns, cast two
Wraths to enter Lunar Eclipse.
- Cast
Starfall to spend Astral Power, maintain
Starlord, or to spend
Touch the Cosmos.
- Cast
Starfire to generate Astral Power.
Sunfire should be applied if the target will live approximately 5-seconds
and
Moonfire should be applied if the target will live 6-seconds.
Keeper of the Grove Opening Cast Sequence
- With 2-seconds on the pull-timer, cast two
Wraths.
- Apply and maintain
Sunfire,
Moonfire, and
Stellar Flare (if talented).
- Cast
Force of Nature.
- Use any on-use trinkets and potions.
- If using
Convoke the Spirits, spend Astral Power to below 40 and cast Convoke the Spirits.
- Spend
Dream Surge by casting
Wrath.
- Proceed with your standard rotation.
Elune's Chosen Opening Cast Sequence
You will not be able to enter Solar Eclipse due to Lunar Calling.
- With 2-seconds on the pull-timer, cast two
Wraths.
- Apply and maintain
Sunfire,
Moonfire, and
Stellar Flare (if talented).
- Use any on-use trinkets and potions.
- Cast
Celestial Alignment.
- Cast
Fury of Elune (on multi-target, cast this before
Celestial Alignment.
- Spend your Astral Power.
- Use
Starfire to generate Astral Power.
- Proceed with your standard rotation.
Optimizing Talent Choices
Balance Druid is more of a priority system rather than a hard set rotation. Making active decisions as to when you want to use each talent and what you want to focus on in each encounter can affect how you play. This section will dive into some things of note for several important talents.
Starlord
Starlord is the main buff that you work your Astral Power
expenditure around. You want to maintain this in two ways. First, you need to
have a high overall uptime on this buff, and second, you want the bulk of your
buff to be at 3-stacks. This means you should be pooling Astral Power for
when your buff ends.
Solstice, Balance of All Things, and Nature's Grace
Solstice and
Balance of All Things trigger their effects at
the start of the Eclipse and
Nature's Grace triggers at the end of
each
Eclipse. Here are some tips on how to play around with these talents:
Solstice generates a good amount of Astral Power at the start of an Eclipse. Try to go into each Eclipse with between 80 to 90 Astral Power to not overcap to excess
Shooting Stars procs.
Balance of All Things does not need to be prioritized over other buffs such as
Starlord.
- As you leave an Eclipse, start a cast inside Eclipse and have it end outside
of Eclipse. This will progress you towards your next Eclipse without consuming
Nature's Grace.
Convoke the Spirits
Always try to overlap Convoke the Spirits with
Celestial Alignment /
Incarnation: Chosen of Elune as well as the
buff from
Balance of All Things.
Convoke the Spirits has a 45-yard range from the center of any target's
hitbox. This means for larger bosses, max range Convoke the Spirits may end up
whiffing all Balance spells if you are too far away.
With Elune's Guidance talented, melee
Convoke the Spirits is
less
consistent than ranged Convoke. Avoid being in melee if possible, or you are
more likely to lose a Balance-specific catch. This is a minor point but something
to avoid if possible.
If you are using Convoke the Spirits on multiple targets, cast Convoke
before casting other
Starfalls to raise the chance that you will cast
a free Starfall.
Cooldown Usage for Balance Druids
Balance Druid has quite a few cooldown options in The War Within. The main
cooldown that we refer to in this guide is Celestial Alignment, which can
be upgraded by another talent called
Incarnation: Chosen of Elune. You
often want to use these immediately every time they come off cooldown as you
want
to get as many usages as possible.
Cooldowns should be stacked together. If you can use
Celestial Alignment and other cooldowns, such as
Convoke the Spirits or
Fury of Elune at the same time, it will
make those other cooldowns stronger as well. These buttons are supposed to do
the most damage per press compared to the spells you can always cast.
Some cooldowns come in the form of charge-based spells, such as
Wild Mushroom and
New Moon. You should not let these cap
their charges, as that is the same as another spell being off cooldown and not
being used. Keep their charges rolling even if it is not the most efficient
use of your time.
Changelog
- 21 Apr. 2025: Updated and Reviewed for Patch 11.1.5.
- 24 Feb. 2025: Reviewed and Updated for Patch 11.0.1.
- 15 Dec. 2024: Reviewed for Patch 11.0.7.
- 21 Oct. 2024: Reviewed for Patch 11.0.5.
- 09 Sep. 2024: Reviewed for Season 1.
- 21 Aug. 2024: Updated for The War Within.
- 23 Jul. 2024: Updated for The War Within PrePatch.
- 07 May 2024: Reviewed for 10.2.7.
- 22 Apr. 2024: Updated for new tier set in Dragonflight Season 4.
- 19 Mar. 2024: Reviewed for Patch 10.2.6.
- 15 Jan. 2024: Reviewed for Patch 10.2.5.
- 08 Dec. 2023: Updated mention of Rattle the Stars buff.
- 06 Nov. 2023: Reviewed for Patch 10.2
- 04 Sep. 2023: Reviewed for Patch 10.1.7.
- 10 Jul. 2023: Updated for Patch 10.1.5.
- 08 May 2023: Updated with May 9th Hotfixes.
- 01 May 2023: Updated for Patch 10.1.0.
- 20 Mar. 2023: Updated some sections to maintain consistency. Reviewed for Patch 10.0.7.
- 24 Jan. 2023: Reviewed and updated for Patch 10.0.5.
- 11 Dec. 2022: Updated for T29 Tier Set.
- 28 Nov. 2022: Updated for Dragonflight launch.
- 15 Nov. 2022: Updated talent recommendations.
- 25 Oct. 2022: Updated for Dragonflight pre-patch.
More Druid Guides
Guides from Other Classes
This was written by Borabank, a Balance Druid theorycrafter and raider in Muscle Memory. You can watch him on his Twitch channel or in the Dreamgrove Discord server.
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