Balance Druid PvP Stat Priority, Gear, and Trinkets — The War Within (Season 1)
Choosing your gear carefully is important for your Balance Druid in PvP. We give you a stat priority to help you choose items with the right stats, followed by advice on how to choose the rest of your gear and your trinkets.
This page is part of our Balance Druid PvP Guide.
Stat Priority for Balance Druids in PvP
The stat priority for Balance Druid in PvP is as follows:
- Intellect;
- Versatility;
- Haste;
- Mastery;
- Critical Strike.
Intellect is the best stat in all situations. Versatility is the strongest secondary stat at all times because it increases the damage you deal and reduces the damage you take. Haste is the next strongest secondary stat because it reduces the Global Cooldown on abilities and the cast time for your spells.
Gear Recommendations
General Guidelines
In general, Balance Druids want to get trinkets that line up well with Incarnation: Chosen of Elune. Because this ability has a 3-minute cooldown, your trinkets can have a passive or on-use effect. The stat you want to be increasing is Intellect. You want to increase Intellect because it drastically increases your overall damage output.
Here is the best gear we recommend you using as a Balance Druid.
- Head: Algari Competitor's Leather Mask - Crafted with Versatility & Haste
- Neck: Algari Competitor's Amulet - Crafted with Versatility & Haste
- Shoulders: Maw of the Greatlynx
- Cloak: Forged Warmonger's Cloak
- Chest: Hide of the Greatlynx
- Wrists: Algari Competitor's Leather Wristwraps - Crafted with Versatility & Haste
- Hands: Eviscerators of the Greatlynx
- Waist: Forged Gladiator's Leather Strap
- Legs: Forged Warmonger's Breeches
- Feet: Forged Warmonger's Boots
- Ring 1: Algari Competitor's Signet - Crafted with Versatility & Haste
- Ring 2: Forged Gladiator's Ring
- Trinket 1: Forged Gladiator's Medallion
- Trinket 2: Forged Gladiator's Insignia of Alacrity
- 2H Staff: Forged Gladiator's Staff
Note: It is important to be wearing 2 PvP trinkets. This will give you a Stamina and Intellect boost that will increase your survivability and healing/damage output.
Balance Druid Tier Set
As noted above, acquiring your 2-set is very important. This set bonus will increase your overall damage output. Because you lose too many stats with 4-set equipped, it is recommended to only get 2-set and not 4-set. It is also important to note that ALL tier sets are nerfed by 50% in PvP. Although this nerf is significant, tier sets are still important to acquire to maximize your chances of winning. For Balance Druids, this is your tier set:
- 2-set: Starsurge damage increased by 8%. Starfall damage increased by 10%.
- 4-set: Eclipse (Lunar) and Eclipse (Solar) each increase the Astral Power Wrath generates by 1 and Starfire generates by 2.
4-set is not required for Balance Druids, but getting 2-set is recommended.
Balance Druid Embellishments
Embellishments are bonuses that can be put on crafted gear. These affects can have a drastic impact on the game. You are only allowed to have 2 Embellishments equipped at the same time. Here are the recommended Embellishments for Balance Druids:
- Elemental Focusing Lens. This Embellishment causes your damaging spells and abilities to have a chance to deal damage to your target. This is a flat increase to your overall damage output.
- Duskthread Lining. This Embellishment significantly increases your Versatility when you are above 80% health.
Gems and Enchants
Here are the best enchants and gems for a Balance Druid:
- Cloak: Enchant Cloak - Whisper of Silken Speed
- Chest: Enchant Chest - Crystalline Radiance
- Bracers: Enchant Bracer - Chant of Armored Speed
- Legs: Sunset Spellthread
- Boots: Enchant Boots - Scout's March
- Rings: Enchant Ring - Glimmering Haste
- Weapon: Enchant Weapon - Authority of Radiant Power
Versatile Emerald is the best gem you can use. You also get access to 1 Meta Gem. You should use Cognitive Bloodstone for the meta slot.
Changelog
- 21 Oct. 2024: Updated for Patch 11.0.5.
- Updated Recommended Gear.
- 16 Sep. 2024: Updated Recommended Gear.
- Updated Recommended Embellishments.
- Updated Recommended Enchants.
- 09 Sep. 2024: Reviewed for The War Within Season 1.
- 21 Aug. 2024: Updated for The War Within.
- 23 Jul. 2024: Reviewed for The War Within Pre-Patch.
- 19 May 2024: Updated Recommended Gear.
- 07 May 2024: Reviewed for 10.2.7.
- 22 Apr. 2024: Updated Recommended Gear for Patch 10.2.6.
- 15 Jan. 2024: Updated for Patch 10.2.5.
- Updated Recommended Gear.
- 06 Nov. 2023: Updated for Patch 10.2.
- Updated Recommended gear.
- Updated Tier Set bonuses.
- 04 Sep. 2023: Reviewed for Patch 10.1.7.
- 10 Jul. 2023: Reviewed for Patch 10.1.5
- 16 Jun. 2023: Several changes made.
- Updated Stat Priority description.
- Updated Recommended Gear section.
- Added Embelishments section.
- Updated Best Gems and Enchants section.
- 03 May 2023: Updated for Patch 10.1.
- Updated Recommended Gear.
- Updated Tier Sets.
- 21 Mar. 2023: Updated for Patch 10.0.7.
- Updated Recommended Gear.
- Added Trinkets to Recommended Gear.
- Added Tier-Set section.
- 30 Jan. 2023: Reviewed for Patch 10.0.5.
- 12 Dec. 2022: Updated Recommended Gear.
- Updated Gems and Enchants.
- 22 Nov. 2022: Updated for Dragonflight pre-patch.
- 01 Aug. 2022: Updated for Shadowlands Season 4.
- 31 May 2022: Reviewed for Patch 9.2.5.
- 01 Mar. 2022: Updated for Patch 9.2.
- Updated Recommended Gear section.
- Added Tier-Set section.
- Removed Shards of Domination section.
- 22 Nov. 2021: Updated Glove and Ring Recommendation.
- 02 Jul. 2021: Updated recommended gear and added Shards of Domination section.
- 08 Mar. 2021: Reviewed for Patch 9.0.5.
- 06 Dec. 2020: Added BiS gear list for Shadowlands.
- 30 Nov. 2020: Removed outdated Traits and Essences.
- Removed outdated gear.
- Added gems section.
- 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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