Balance Druid PvP Rotation and Playstyle — The War Within (11.0.7)
PvP requires you to perform various actions in the course of a duel, match, or battleground: interrupting/silencing enemies, damaging them, bursting them down, defending yourself, keeping yourself alive, etc.. It is a game mode that fully utilizes your kit, especially spells that are rarely used in PvE. On this page, we go through all the spells you need to use in PvP as a Balance Druid, how you should use them, and we explain what your playstyle should be.
This page is part of our Balance Druid PvP Guide.
Playstyle for Balance Druids
Balance Druids have two roles when in an Arena match: use your strong single
target damage to pressure the enemies and use your mobility/crowd control to
set up kills. Balance Druids have access to Cyclone, which is
arguably the strongest crowd control in the game. In addition to Cyclone, you
also have the
Mass Entanglement +
Solar Beam combination to
silence casters for 8 seconds. Ideally, you will want to Cyclone the enemy
healer and have a teammate stun the kill target.
Offensive Rotation
One unique thing about Balance Druids is that they have two schools of
spells. Keep this in mind and try to use it to your advantage; for example, if
you are interrupted while casting Full Moon, you can still cast
Cyclone on an enemy. This is very important to maximizing your win potential.
Astral Power and Eclipse
Before talking about the damage rotation, it is a good idea to understand
how to generate Astral Power and what Eclipses are to help maximize your
damage. Eclipse is a passive Balance Druids have. There are two
different Eclipses that you can enter: Solar and Lunar. Here is how you can
enter these Eclipses:
Eclipse (Solar): to enter a Solar Eclipse, you must cast 2
Starfires. Once you are in a Solar Eclipse,
Wrath cast time is reduced, and the damage is increased.
Eclipse (Lunar): to enter a Lunar Eclipse, you must cast 2
Wraths. Once you are in a Lunar Eclipse,
Starfire cast time is reduced, and the critical strike chance is increased.
Astral Power is what is generated/consumed on Balance Druid damaging
abilities. To generate Astral Power, maintain your DoTs, Moonfire and
Sunfire. You can also generate it with
Wrath and
Starfire. If you want to deal additional damage and generate Astral
Power,
Force of Nature and
Fury of Elune will both do that for you.
To spend Astral Power, you will want to use
Starsurge for single-target
damage and
Starfall if the enemy team is stacked.
Before Gates Open
Have a plan for who you will be mainly using your crowd control on. Balance
Druids have two powerful crowd-control abilities in the form of
Mighty Bash and
Cyclone that can be used to kill
targets or the enemy healer. You can also use
Mass Entanglement with
Solar Beam to keep the healer silenced. Entangling Roots can also be
used on melee DPS to slow them down.
Balance Druids do have access to some utility spells for their teammates:
Hibernate,
Remove Corruption and
Soothe. Hibernate
can be used on Druids that are in animal form or Hunter pets to stop their
damage. Remove Corruption can be used to dispel curse spells like
Hex
or
Agony. You can use Soothe to dispel Fury Warrior's enrage
effects.
Use Prowl so you will not be focused immediately or so you can
get an early
Cyclone on the enemy healer.
The Opener
The opener refers to your team's opening crowd control chain and damage done as soon as you get out of the gates. The main goal in the opener is to force your enemies to use their cooldowns.
As a Balance Druid, you can use Entangling Roots/
Mass Entanglement with
Solar Beam on
the enemy healer. This will either make them trinket, or they will stay in crowd
control.
This is the rotation you should use on your target at the beginning of the game.
- Make sure you are in
Moonkin Form.
Moonkin Form increases your damage and your armor.
- You are also immune to
Polymorph.
- Single-target attacks against you have a chance to make your next
Starfire instant.
- Use
Moonfire on all targets.
- Use
Sunfire on the kill target.
- Note:
Sunfire will be applied to all enemies within 8 yards of your target.
- Note:
- Start casting 2 of either
Wrath or
Starfire to enter an
Eclipse.
- This will start generating Astral Power, and you will enter an Eclipse.
- During the first 6 seconds of an
Eclipse,
Shooting Stars fall 200% more often from the talent
Solstice.
- If you can cast, cast
Wrath or
Starfire, depending on the
Eclipse. They have an increased chance to make
Starsurge free from the talent
Touch the Cosmos.
- Use
Starsurge to consume Astral Power.
- Using Starsurge while in an Eclipse increases the damage you do while the Eclipse is active.
- Cast
Wrath to generate Astral Power.
- If you get interrupted while casting
Wrath, start casting
Starfire.
- If you get interrupted while casting
- Cast
Starfire to generate Astral Power.
- If you get interrupted while casting
Starfire, start casting
Wrath.
- If you get interrupted while casting
- Use
Starsurge when you have enough Astral Power so you do not waste any of it.
Burst Damage
When you have the enemy healer in crowd control, and you are trying to kill an enemy, you use your burst damage.
- Use
Mass Entanglement +
Solar Beam on the enemy healer.
- If you are a Troll, use
Berserking.
- Use
Incarnation: Chosen of Elune.
- Use
Force of Nature. Force of Nature is crucial to have in your rotation for a few reasons:
- Generates Astral Power.
- It grants 3 charges of
Dream Surge, causing your next
Wrath or
Starfire to explode on the target and nearby enemies.
- The treants summoned will cast
Moonfire on nearby targets.
Harmony of the Grove hero talent makes it so each treant from
Force of Nature increases your spells damage while active.
- Use
Fury of Elune.
- Ensure
Moonfire is on as many targets as possible.
- Use
Sunfire on the kill target.
- Note:
Sunfire will be applied to all enemies within 8 yards of your target.
- Note:
- Use
Starsurge when you have enough Astral Power.
- For the remainder of
Incarnation: Chosen of Elune:
- Maintain
Moonfire and
Sunfire.
- Generate Astral Power with
Wrath or
Starfire.
- Spend Astral Power on
Starsurges.
- Maintain
- Use
Starsurge.
- Use
Starsurge.
Sustained damage
Sustained damage is damage you do when your burst cooldowns are not available.
- Make sure you are in
Moonkin Form.
Moonkin Form increases your damage and your armor.
- You are also immune to
Polymorph.
- Single-target attacks against you have a chance to make your next
Starfire instant.
- Maintain
Moonfire on all targets.
- Use
Sunfire on the kill target.
- Note:
Sunfire will be applied to all enemies within 8 yards of your target.
- Note:
- Use
Fury of Elune off cooldown.
- Not only is the cooldown short and the damage is good, this will also generate Astral Power without having to cast any spells.
- Cast 2 of either
Wrath or
Starfire to enter an
Eclipse.
- This will start generating Astral Power, and you will enter an Eclipse.
- If you get interrupted while casting
Wrath, start casting
Starfire.
- If you get interrupted while casting
Starfire, start casting
Wrath.
- During the first 6 seconds of an
Eclipse,
Shooting Stars fall 200% more often from the talent
Solstice.
- If you can cast, cast
Wrath or
Starfire, depending on the
Eclipse. They have an increased chance to make
Starsurge free from the talent
Touch the Cosmos.
- Use
Starsurge to consume Astral Power.
- Using Starsurge while in an Eclipse increases the damage you do while the Eclipse is active.
- Use
Force of Nature. Force of Nature is crucial to have in your rotation for a few reasons:
- Generates Astral Power.
- It grants 3 charges of
Dream Surge, causing your next
Wrath or
Starfire to explode on the target and nearby enemies.
- The treants summoned will cast
Moonfire on nearby targets.
Harmony of the Grove hero talent makes it so each treant from
Force of Nature increases your spells damage while active.
Important note: Although it is not a damaging spell, Cyclone is
a vital spell that you need to incorporate into your rotations. This spell can
easily shut down damage from enemy players or help close out games when used on
enemy healers. To ensure you get as many
Cyclones as possible, you
want to drop your casts early and make enemies waste their interrupts. If you
are using
Cognitive Bloodstone you will get the
Precognition buff.
This buff makes it so you cannot be interrupted for 4 seconds. Use this time to
cast
Cyclone on enemy DPS to stop damage or enemy healers to land a kill.
If you want an explanation and suggestions on gear, read our gearing section here:
Defensive Techniques
Bear Form is your primary defensive ability Druids have. When you
see incoming damage on you, it is a good idea to use
Bear Form. This is
best used when the enemy has used their cooldowns, and your team is trying to stabilize your health.
Barkskin reduces all damage dealt to you by 20%. It is important to
note that this can be used while stunned and in any of your forms. This should
primarily be used if you are stuck in a stun and are not in
Bear Form.
Renewal is a great instant heal that can be used in any form. Use
this if you are being focused and you cannot cast. This is a talent, and you
will not have access to it at every arena match.
Cyclone is one of your team's best defensives if you are
not being focused. Rotating Cyclone on the enemy DPS when a teammate is in
trouble is crucial for extending the game long enough to get a kill.
Regrowth is a strong heal that should be used when your healer is
stuck in crowd control. This is strong if the enemy team is focusing on your
teammate, and you can cast without being interrupted.
Entangling Roots is a great ability when playing against melee. You
can use this to help you or your teammates get distance between them and an
enemy.
Balance Druid mobility also helps with survivability. Tiger Dash/
Dash
and
Stampeding Roar can be used when running after enemies or when you
are in trouble. If you are not slowed or rooted, this is effective for kiting enemies.
Macros
It is advised to use Macros to use abilities on enemies or allies without having to target them. For this reason, we have a page dedicated to them.
Changelog
- 15 Dec. 2024: Reviewed for Patch 11.0.7.
- 22 Nov. 2024: Updated all damage rotations.
- Updated opener damage rotation.
- Updated burst damage rotation.
- Updates sustained damage rotation.
- 09 Sep. 2024: Reviewed for The War Within Season 1.
- 21 Aug. 2024: Reviewed for The War Within.
- 23 Jul. 2024: Updated for The War Within Pre-Patch.
- 07 May 2024: Reviewed for 10.2.7.
- 22 Apr. 2024: Reviewed for Patch 10.2.6
- 15 Jan. 2024: Reviewed for Patch 10.2.5.
- 06 Nov. 2023: Reviewed for Patch 10.2.
- 04 Sep. 2023: Reviewed for Patch 10.1.7.
- 10 Jul. 2023: Reviewed for Patch 10.1.5
- 03 May 2023: Reviewed for Patch 10.1.
- 21 Mar. 2023: Reviewed for Patch 10.0.7.
- 30 Jan. 2023: Reviewed for Patch 10.0.5.
- 04 Jan. 2023: Updated rotation.
- 12 Dec. 2022: Updated Damage rotations.
- 22 Nov. 2022: Updated for Dragonflight pre-patch.
- 01 Aug. 2022: Reviewed for Shadowlands Season 4.
- 31 May 2022: Reviewed for Patch 9.2.5.
- 01 Mar. 2022: Reviewed for Patch 9.2.
- 22 Nov. 2021: Reviewed for Patch 9.1.5.
- 02 Jul. 2021: Reviewed for Patch 9.1.
- 02 May 2021: Updated Burst rotation.
- 08 Mar. 2021: Reviewed for Patch 9.0.5.
- 05 Dec. 2020: Updated Rotations to include Covenant Abilities.
- 30 Nov. 2020: Removed outdated Traits and Essences.
- 23 Oct. 2020: Simplified Burst rotation.
- Updated Sustained Damage rotation.
- 14 Oct. 2020: Updated for Shadowlands pre-patch.
Other PvP Guides
This guide has been written by Mysticall, a seasoned PvP player who has repeatedly achieved 3000 rating. You can watch his stream on Twitch, and you can also check out his YouTube channel.
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