Druid Guide

Balance Druids commune with celestial magic to weave Arcane and Nature magic together, aligning the stars to vanquish their foes. Their primary resource, Astral Power, is generated through Wrath and Starfire, and spent on Starsurge and Starfall. They also have to pay attention to their Eclipse state, whilst maintaining Moonfire and Sunfire Damage over Time (DoT) effects.

Balance Druid is a ranged specialization with a low skill floor, but a deceptively high skill ceiling due to some of the limitations that come with stationary spellcasting gameplay. This can be played around however, by clever use of its Sunfire and Moonfire instant DoT debuffs, which can be refreshed while moving around. They can also pool their Astral Power resource to deal high damage with both Starsurge and Starfall at key moments, or while on the move, as neither ability has a cast-time either. By predicting moments of heavy movement and pooling resources properly, Balance Druids are capable of putting out high damage even when they are not able to stand still as much to cast their spells. One of the specializations major weaknesses is its lacking defensive toolkit, which often requires them to shift into Bear Form to make it through particularly dangerous mechanics.

In Nerub-ar Palace, the current raid, Balance Druids unfortunately struggle to justify their raidspot against other caster options. The spec does provide strong priority damage on encounters such as Queen Ansurek and Silken Court, but between their need to be stationary more often than other casters, and their defensive issues, they are much less popular than in previous expansions and raid tiers. Thankfully the spec provides Mark of the Wild, which every group wants at least one of, while also being a Ranged DPS that brings both Innervate and Rebirth if needed. While you likely will not see multiple Balance Druids in a single raid, there is usually room for at least one thanks to its utility and middle-of-the-pack DPS output.

In Mythic+, the Balance Druid damage profile really begins to shine. The Keeper of the Grove Hero Talent tree greatly boosts the specialization's burst damage output, enabling Force of Nature to apply Moonfire automatically and significantly reducing the spec's ramp-up time. Starfire is a very spammable AoE ability, allowing Balance Druids to dish out high sustained multi-target damage. Ths spec provides highly desirable utility in Mark of the Wild, Rebirth, and Innervate, alongside multiple powerful crowd-control tools. With many dungeons requiring Curse and Poison dispells, having access to Remove Corruption is very helpful as well. Combining all these bits and pieces together, Balance Druid is a sought after and very potent DPS class.

Feral Druids shapeshift into Cat Form to stalk their prey, pouncing at the right moment. With unmatched ferocity they apply savage bleeds and powerful bites to wear foes down. Their primary resource, Energy, is generated both passively and through Tiger's Fury, and it is spent on "builders" such as Shred to generate their secondary resource, Combo Points. These are used on powerful "finishers" such as Rip and Ferocious Bite.

Feral is one of the slower paced melee specializations, instead focusing on careful resource management to get the most out of their kit. Their main goal is to balance Energy generation and expenditure, while making full use of all of their Combo Points at the right time. They also need to make sure to maintain Bleed Damage over Time (DoT) effects like Rake and Rip at the same time, so good decision making in the use of their abilities is key. Powerful cooldowns like Berserk and Convoke the Spirits provide a flood of resources and damage when paired together, and Cat Form grants a large boost to movement speed, greatly increasing mobility. Feral Druids have a solid defensive toolkit due to their shapeshifting abilities, and they are a source of Mark of the Wild and Rebirth which are highly desirable for all groups.

In raids Feral is relatively strong, though it has some issues finding a reason to be taken over other, stronger melee options. It has extremely powerful 2-minute cooldowns, and when played well can provide extremely good single-target damage. It also has easy access to powerful cleave damage that can be picked up for key encounters, though the delivery method being Damage over Time makes it slightly less desirable than on-demand burst options from other classes. The specialization's various movement and control tools see a lot of extra use within a number of difficult encounters, especially those which spawn large amounts of adds throughout the fight. While providing Mark of the Wild and Rebirth to groups, which everyone ideally wants at least one of, other Druid specializations unfortunately also provide these, which may make it more difficult to find a group while playing Feral if the other Druid specializations end up being more popular.

In Mythic+ Feral provides a very flexible damage profile, being able to maintain high amounts of AoE while also dealing with priority targets within a given pull. Its damage is slightly lower than some of the most popular specs, but the talent tree allows you to specialize your damage depending on your group composition or each dungeons needs. Its powerful 2-minute cooldowns, if timed correctly, can also deal massive damage at key moments assuming your group can pull around these correctly. Its defensive toolkit (in particular Bear Form and Barkskin) gives you a good amount of protection against especially dangerous moments, and the wide variety of control and utility tools provide extra reasons to be taken. Lastly, it also brings Mark of the Wild and Rebirth which most groups are always on the look out for, alongside Remove Corruption for Curse and Poison dispels. With that said though, it can sometimes be difficult finding a group willing to take a melee in the current season that is not one of the top performers, despite its strong toolkit.

Guardian Druids shapeshift into Bear Form to become mighty protectors that raze everything in their path while protecting their allies. With fur stronger than steel, they shrug off even the mightiest blows, using the punishment to fuel their rampage. Its primary resource, Rage, is generated by taking damage from enemies, as well as a variety of rotational abilities such as Mangle. This is used to bolster their defenses with Ironfur, or deal additional damage with Maul.

Guardian is one of the faster paced tank specializations. They generate Rage very rapidly in dangerous situations and spend it just as fast with an off GCD ability in Ironfur, which is also their main form of physical mitigation. This leads to a high APM playstyle that is extremely engaging. Guardian's rotation is a mixture of maintaining Moonfire, a magic Damage over Time debuff, and a physical bleed, Thrash, all the while rotating through short cooldown spells like Mangle and reacting to procs such as Tooth and Claw. This lets them balance surviving huge hits from trash and bosses alike, while dishing out high damage themselves. This gameplay style can be intense at times, but it also feels extremely rewarding. Guardian currently has two viable and very different Hero Talent trees that dramatically change the way the specialization plays, which keeps gameplay fresh and flexible. Lastly, it is also a source of Mark of the Wild and Rebirth, which are highly desirable for all groups.

In raids currently, Guardian is in an extremely good position. It sees consistent play at even the cutting edge of difficulty. It comes with excellent flexibility, regardless of the fight type we can adapt and do any mechanic comfortably which works well with all the other tanks. Our single target DPS is almost unmatched with the current Druid of the Claw playstyle, which involves shifting into Cat Form frequently (Don't worry, it's safer than it sounds!). Guardian utility in raid is also excellent, as it is one of the best sources of Mark of the Wild currently while also bringing Innervate which healers love. In addition to those we have Stampeding Roar and Ursol's Vortex which both have a plethora of valuable uses throughout the raid.

In Mythic+ Guardian provides a flexible and sturdy tank that brings useful buffs and utility such as Rebirth, Mark of the Wild and Remove Corruption. Guardian is the only tank that can dispel curses which is incredibly handy due to the sheer amount of dangerous curse debuffs in the current season's set of dungeons. Thanks to its flexible talent tree, it has a variety of strong build options that allows players to customize the tree for their preferred playstyle. The toolkit comes with a number of strong defensives to rotate through such as Barkskin, Rage of the Sleeper and the strongest of all Incarnation: Guardian of Ursoc. While active, Guardian Druid is nearly immortal, and enables it to survive incredibly large pulls that will certainly impress any group. While all tanks are relatively well balanced this season, Guardian is easily a contender for one of the best Mythic+ tanks specializations, and you should have no issues getting into groups when playing it.

Restoration Druids are masters of harmony, using nature magic to blanket their allies in restorative splendor. Using the power of the dream they can help allies recover from even the worst situations. As healers, their primary resource is Mana that must be spent to heal allies. The majority of Restoration's healing is provided through Healing-over-Time effects (HoTs) such as Rejuvenation, but the specialization also offers powerful direct heals in Regrowth and Swiftmend.

Restoration Druid is a very fast paced healer. They will want to spend every global cooldown doing something, be it healing or doing damage, while also weaving in a handful of spells that are not on the Global Cooldown. The gameplay in raids will have them putting HoTs on the raid before damage happens, then using some sort of cooldown like Convoke the Spirits, Flourish or Tranquility as the damage hits, and then keeping players alive who are low health with direct heals. This leads to a playstyle that sees Restoration Druid players predicting the damage patterns to prepare as best as possible, while still giving the specialization tools to deal with on-demand healing.

In Mythic+ the gameplay is vastly different, as Restoration Druids will be required to maintain a more steady stream of healingm, while exchanging their long and potent raid cooldowns, for shorter cooldowns that are more suited for group gameplay instead. They are very mobile, with only a few spells requiring the player to move, while having multiple mobility options available to them. On top of that, they are extremely durable, having access to a lot of self damage reduction cooldowns and passive talents, and a wide range of healing taken increase talents. Lastly, it is also a source of Mark of the Wild and Rebirth which are highly desirable for all groups.

In raids currently Restoration Druid is relatively good, though unfortunately not very popular, while also being quite hard to execute well. It mostly operates on 1-minute burst timers, with some spike every 2 minutes. There is some difficulty in managing all the cooldowns, namely Incarnation: Tree of Life, Flourish, Tranquility with Dreamstate and Reforestation, to line up properly throughout any boss. Due to this, Restoration requiring higher levels of preparation before pulling a boss for the first time. That being said, this also allows them to excel when played at a high level, with a very rewarding and high-performing outcome. On top of it all, Restoration Druids also provide Mark of the Wild and Rebirth to groups which everyone wants at least one of.

In Mythic+ Restoration Druid specializes in spot-healing. It can contribute an incredible amount of single target healing on a very short cooldown, and its Healing over Time effects allow them to counter-act even the most lethal of DoT debuffs. Restoration has access to very powerful 1-minute cooldown in Convoke the Spirits, but unfortunately the spec lacks strong group-wide burst healing when it is unavailable. Despite being a Healing specialization, Restoration also manages to put out a lot of damage, provided the player understand the right time to spend time doing so. With the predictive gameplay of setting up their HoTs, committing too much to dealing damage could quickly be fatal.

The specialization's defensive toolkit, in particular Bear Form and Barkskin, gives it a good amount of protection against particularly dangerous enemies and mechanics, and the wide variety of control and utility tools allow for a lot of flexibility to tailor the talent choices to the dungeon or situation. Lastly, it also brings Mark of the Wild and Rebirth which most groups are always on the look out for. The main downside compared to other healers is that Restoration Druid struggles when things unexpectedly go wrong, as the spec does not have as many tools in its kit to react to damage events as some other healing specs do. To fully excel at the spec, Restoration Druids have to know and understand the damage patterns of each trash pull and boss to be ready with their HoTs and optimize their damage output.