Guardian Druid Tank Gear and Best in Slot — The War Within (11.0.7)

Last updated on Dec 15, 2024 at 16:00 by Pumps 41 comments
General Information

On this page, you will find the best gear and best in slot items for your Guardian Druid in World of Warcraft The War Within (11.0.7).

If you were looking for WotLK Classic content, please refer to our WotLK Classic Feral Tank Druid gear and best in slot.

1.

Best in Slot Gear Guide for Guardian Druid

Welcome to our Gear and BiS Page for Guardian Druid for The War Within Season 1. Check this page to learn everything you need to know about gearing a Guardian Druid, including the BiS Gear from all sources, Raiding, and Mythic+, information on the best Trinkets, Tier Sets, and much more.

For discussion and information on Stats specifically, check out our Stats page below.

2.

BiS Gear for Guardian Druid

Overall BiS List for Season 1 Nerub-ar Palace Gear BiS List Mythic+ Gear BiS List
3.

The War Within Season 1 Overall BiS List for Guardian Druid

This list contains the Best in Slot Gear for Guardian Druid in The War Within Season 1 from all sources, including Raiding, Mythic+, Delves, The Great Vault, and Crafted.

Note that there is no such thing as a singular, all-encompassing "BiS". The best items vary per character and situation, and there are many items that are essentially equivalent in terms of DPS, namely when we are just shuffling secondary stats around. I will list one "BiS" item per slot, sometimes two if I feel there is a significant difference between Raiding and Mythic+, but ultimately, BiS lists are not very practically useful, and you should be simming your character to find out what gear to equip next. Nonetheless, there is a huge demand for this list, and thus, despite my not thinking you should really care much about it, it is here for your perusal.

Slot Item Source/Note
Weapon Harvester's Interdiction Icon Harvester's Interdiction (639) Ara-Kara, City of Echoes (626), or Great Vault
Helm Beyond's Dark Visage Icon Beyond's Dark Visage (639) The Bloodbound Horror in Nerub-ar Palace
Neck Sureki Zealot's Insignia Icon Sureki Zealot's Insignia (639) Sikran in Nerub-ar Palace
Shoulder Maw of the Greatlynx Icon Maw of the Greatlynx (639) Rasha'nan/Matrix Catalyst/Great Vault
Cloak Wings of Shattered Sorrow Icon Wings of Shattered Sorrow (639) Rasha'nan in Nerub-ar Palace
Chest Hide of the Greatlynx Icon Hide of the Greatlynx (639) Broodtwister Ovi'nax/Matrix Catalyst/Great Vault
Bracers Sanguine Experiment's Bandages Icon Sanguine Experiment's Bandages (639) Broodtwister Ovi'nax in Nerub-ar Palace
Gloves Eviscerators of the Greatlynx Icon Eviscerators of the Greatlynx (639) Sikran/Matrix Catalyst/Great Vault
Belt Devourer's Taut Innards Icon Devourer's Taut Innards (639) Ulgrax the Devourer in Nerub-ar Palace
Legs Leggings of the Greatlynx Icon Leggings of the Greatlynx (639) Nexus Princess Ky'veza/Matrix Catalyst/Great Vault
Boots Fleeting Massacre Footpads Icon Fleeting Massacre Footpads (639) Nexus Princess Ky'veza in Nerub-ar Palace
Ring #1 Seal of the Poisoned Pact Icon Seal of the Poisoned Pact (639) Queen Ansurek in Nerub-ar Palace
Ring #2 Key to the Unseeming Icon Key to the Unseeming (639) The Bloodbound Horror in Nerub-ar Palace
Trinket #1 Ara-Kara Sacbrood Icon Ara-Kara Sacbrood (639) Ara-Kara, City of Echoes (626), or Great Vault
Trinket #2 Mad Queen's Mandate Icon Mad Queen's Mandate (639) Queen Ansurek in Nerub-ar Palace
3.

Nerub-ar Palace Raid Gear BiS List for Guardian Druid

This list contains the Best in Slot Gear for Guardian Druid in The War Within Season 1 from the Nerub-ar Palace Raid.

Note that this BiS List is for items from the Raid. I am separating the BiS lists by gear sources. This is what you send to your Raid Leader/Loot Council when they ask you what your BiS gear is from the Raid.

Note that there is no such thing as a singular, all-encompassing "BiS". The best items vary per character and situation, and there are many items that are essentially equivalent in terms of DPS, namely when we are just shuffling secondary stats around. I will list one "BiS" item per slot, sometimes two if I feel there is a significant difference between Raiding and Mythic+, but ultimately, BiS lists are not very practically useful, and you should be simming your character to find out what gear to equip next. Nonetheless, there is a huge demand for this list, and thus, despite my not thinking you should really care much about it, it is here for your perusal.

Slot Item Source/Note
Weapon Honored Executioner's Perforator Icon Honored Executioner's Perforator (639) Broodtwister Ovi'nax in Nerub-ar Palace
Helm Beyond's Dark Visage Icon Beyond's Dark Visage (639) The Bloodbound Horror in Nerub-ar Palace
Neck Sureki Zealot's Insignia Icon Sureki Zealot's Insignia Sikran in Nerub-ar Palace
Shoulder Maw of the Greatlynx Icon Maw of the Greatlynx (639) Rasha'nan/Matrix Catalyst/Great Vault
Cloak Wings of Shattered Sorrow Icon Wings of Shattered Sorrow (639) Rasha'nan in Nerub-ar Palace
Chest Hide of the Greatlynx Icon Hide of the Greatlynx (639) Broodtwister Ovi'nax/Matrix Catalyst/Great Vault
Bracers Sanguine Experiment's Bandages Icon Sanguine Experiment's Bandages (639) Broodtwister Ovi'nax in Nerub-ar Palace
Gloves Eviscerators of the Greatlynx Icon Eviscerators of the Greatlynx (639) Sikran/Matrix Catalyst/Great Vault
Belt Devourer's Taut Innards Icon Devourer's Taut Innards (639) Ulgrax the Devourer in Nerub-ar Palace
Legs Leggings of the Greatlynx Icon Leggings of the Greatlynx (639) Nexus Princess Ky'veza/Matrix Catalyst/Great Vault
Boots Fleeting Massacre Footpads Icon Fleeting Massacre Footpads (639) Nexus Princess Ky'veza in Nerub-ar Palace
Ring #1 Seal of the Poisoned Pact Icon Seal of the Poisoned Pact (639) Queen Ansurek in Nerub-ar Palace
Ring #2 Key to the Unseeming Icon Key to the Unseeming (639) The Bloodbound Horror in Nerub-ar Palace
Trinket #1 Void Reaper's Contract Icon Void Reaper's Contract (639) Nexus Princess Ky'veza in Nerub-ar Palace
Trinket #2 Mad Queen's Mandate Icon Mad Queen's Mandate (639) Queen Ansurek in Nerub-ar Palace
3.

The War Within Season 1 Mythic+ Gear BiS List for Guardian Druid

This list contains the Best in Slot Gear for Guardian Druid from The War Within Season 1 Mythic+.

Note that this BiS List is for items from Mythic+. I am separating the BiS lists by gear sources. This is the list you can chase when you want to improve your gear by farming Mythic+ dungeons.

Note that there is no such thing as a singular, all-encompassing "BiS". The best items vary per character and situation, and there are many items that are essentially equivalent in terms of DPS, namely when we are just shuffling secondary stats around. I will list one "BiS" item per slot, sometimes two if I feel there is a significant difference between Raiding and Mythic+, but ultimately, BiS lists are not very practically useful, and you should be simming your character to find out what gear to equip next. Nonetheless, there is a huge demand for this list, and thus, despite my not thinking you should really care much about it, it is here for your perusal.

Slot Item Source/Note
Weapon Harvester's Interdiction Icon Harvester's Interdiction (639) Ara-Kara, City of Echoes (626), or Great Vault
Helm Hood of the Hidden Path Icon Hood of the Hidden Path (639) Mists of Tirna Scithe (626), or Great Vault
Neck Elder's Hemolymphal Periapt Icon Elder's Hemolymphal Periapt (639) City of Threads (626), or Great Vault
Shoulder Maw of the Greatlynx Icon Maw of the Greatlynx (639) Any Shoulders turn into Tier/Matrix Catalyst/Great Vault
Cloak Swarmcaller's Shroud Icon Swarmcaller's Shroud (639) Ara-Kara, City of Echoes (626), or Great Vault
Chest Hide of the Greatlynx Icon Hide of the Greatlynx (639) Any Chest turn into Tier/Matrix Catalyst/Great Vault
Bracers Risen Monstrosity Cuffs Icon Risen Monstrosity Cuffs (639) The Necrotic Wake (626), or Great Vault
Gloves Eviscerators of the Greatlynx Icon Eviscerators of the Greatlynx (639) Any Gloves turn into Tier/Matrix Catalyst/Great Vault
Belt Sapgorger Belt Icon Sapgorger Belt (639) Mists of Tirna Scithe (626), or Great Vault
Legs Leggings of the Greatlynx Icon Leggings of the Greatlynx (639) Any Legs turn into Tier/Matrix Catalyst/Great Vault
Boots Viscera-Stitched Footpads Icon Viscera-Stitched Footpads (639) The Necrotic Wake (626), or Great Vault
Ring #1 Stitchflesh's Misplaced Signet Icon Stitchflesh's Misplaced Signet (639) The Necrotic Wake (626), or Great Vault
Ring #2 Experiment 08752's Band Icon Experiment 08752's Band (639) City of Threads (626), or Great Vault
Trinket #1 Bottled Flayedwing Toxin Icon Bottled Flayedwing Toxin (639) The Necrotic Wake (626), or Great Vault
Trinket #2 Ara-Kara Sacbrood Icon Ara-Kara Sacbrood (639) Ara-Kara, City of Echoes (626), or Great Vault
3.

Best Cyrce's Circlet Gems for Guardian Druid

Cyrce's Circlet is a new ring introduced in Patch 11.0.7 is acquired by completing several activities on the Siren Isle. The ring has 3 sockets, which can fit a different kind of gem each. There are four different gems available for each color of the three sockets, for a total of 12 gems, so there is quite a bit of flexibility on what you can choose to socket.

As for the state of the system on the release of Patch 11.0.7, you will likely continue running your current ring setup until you can build and upgrade all three of the Singing Gems that you want, and upgrade the ring to ilvl 639. Until then it is best advised to stick with whatever setup you currently have, since the gems scale in power as you acquire and upgrade them, and they are only an improvement over higher level gear once you have collected and upgraded all of them a couple of times.

These are generally considered to be the best DPS gems, but it is highly recommended to sim yourself to figure out the best choices and combinations for your specific gear and the specific gems and other rings you already own:

  • For raid, you will want to play Thunderlord's Crackling Citrine Icon Thunderlord's Crackling Citrine, Fathomdweller's Runed Citrine Icon Fathomdweller's Runed Citrine and Windsinger's Runed Citrine Icon Windsinger's Runed Citrine
  • For Mythic+/AoE, you will want to play Thunderlord's Crackling Citrine Icon Thunderlord's Crackling Citrine, Undersea Overseer's Citrine Icon Undersea Overseer's Citrine and Windsinger's Runed Citrine Icon Windsinger's Runed Citrine

For more information on how to get the ring, as well as acquiring all of the different gems that you can possibly socket into it, check out our Cyrce's Circlet guide below!

4.

Best Trinkets for Guardian Druid in The War Within Season 1

Raiding Trinket Tier List Mythic+ Trinket Tier List
5.

Raiding Trinket Tier List for Guardian Druid

This Trinket Tier List is single-target biased, as this tends to be the most important aspect of Raiding. When Trinkets are equal on single-target, I will "break the tie" by looking into which Trinket performs better in AoE/mixed scenarios.

A "Tier" as defined by this list is around 0.5% DPS, meaning that S-Tier Trinkets are around 0.5% better than A-Tier Trinkets, and so on. Any trinket not on this list should be considered below the C tier.

4.1.

S-Tier

  • Mad Queen's Mandate Icon Mad Queen's Mandate
  • Ara-Kara Sacbrood Icon Ara-Kara Sacbrood
  • Void Reaper's Contract Icon Void Reaper's Contract
  • Foul Behemoth's Chelicera Icon Foul Behemoth's Chelicera
  • Swarmlord's Authority Icon Swarmlord's Authority
4.1.

A-Tier

  • Dead-Eye Spyglass Icon Dead-Eye Spyglass
  • Empowering Crystal of Anub'ikkaj Icon Empowering Crystal of Anub'ikkaj.
  • Bottled Flayedwing Toxin Icon Bottled Flayedwing Toxin
  • Shadow-Binding Ritual Knife Icon Shadow-Binding Ritual Knife
4.1.

B-Tier

  • Mistcaller Ocarina Icon Mistcaller Ocarina — Not great for yourself, but when its effect is multiplied onto all of your hopefully powerful allies, it is a solid Trinket.
  • Ovi'nax's Mercurial Egg Icon Ovi'nax's Mercurial Egg
  • Sikran's Endless Arsenal Icon Sikran's Endless Arsenal
4.1.

C-Tier

  • Harvester's Edict Icon Harvester's Edict
  • Imperfect Ascendancy Serum Icon Imperfect Ascendancy Serum
  • Twin Fang Instruments Icon Twin Fang Instruments
  • Abyssal Trap Icon Abyssal Trap
  • Everburning Lantern Icon Everburning Lantern
  • Concoction: Kiss of Death Icon Concoction: Kiss of Death
  • Scroll of Momentum Icon Scroll of Momentum
5.

Mythic+ Trinket Tier List for Guardian Druid

This Trinket Tier List is AoE-biased for Mythic+, as this tends to be the most important aspect of Mythic+.

A "Tier" as defined by this list is around 0.5% DPS, meaning that S-Tier Trinkets are around 0.5% better than A-Tier Trinkets, and so on. Any trinket not on this list should be considered below the C tier.

4.1.

S-Tier

  • Mad Queen's Mandate Icon Mad Queen's Mandate
  • Ara-Kara Sacbrood Icon Ara-Kara Sacbrood
  • Void Reaper's Contract Icon Void Reaper's Contract
  • Foul Behemoth's Chelicera Icon Foul Behemoth's Chelicera
  • Swarmlord's Authority Icon Swarmlord's Authority
4.1.

A-Tier

  • Skardyn's Grace Icon Skardyn's Grace
  • Empowering Crystal of Anub'ikkaj Icon Empowering Crystal of Anub'ikkaj.
  • Ovi'nax's Mercurial Egg Icon Ovi'nax's Mercurial Egg
  • Bottled Flayedwing Toxin Icon Bottled Flayedwing Toxin
  • Shadow-Binding Ritual Knife Icon Shadow-Binding Ritual Knife
4.1.

B-Tier

  • Mistcaller Ocarina Icon Mistcaller Ocarina — Not great for yourself, but when its effect is multiplied onto all of your hopefully powerful allies, it is a solid Trinket.
  • Dead-Eye Spyglass Icon Dead-Eye Spyglass
  • Treacherous Transmitter Icon Treacherous Transmitter
  • Sikran's Endless Arsenal Icon Sikran's Endless Arsenal
4.1.

C-Tier

  • Harvester's Edict Icon Harvester's Edict
  • Imperfect Ascendancy Serum Icon Imperfect Ascendancy Serum
  • Twin Fang Instruments Icon Twin Fang Instruments
  • Abyssal Trap Icon Abyssal Trap
  • Everburning Lantern Icon Everburning Lantern
  • Concoction: Kiss of Death Icon Concoction: Kiss of Death
  • Scroll of Momentum Icon Scroll of Momentum
5.

"Simming" Yourself as a Guardian Druid

Throughout this page, we regularly refer to the importance of simming yourself on Raidbots, as it is an indispensable aspect of optimizing your character.

While we do offer generic sim charts for Trinkets, this should not be a replacement for simming yourself, at least not if you want to minmax sub-1%!

If you are new to simming and Raidbots, check out our detailed guide below.

6.

Season 1 Tier Set for Guardian Druid

The Tier Set is comprised of 5 items, all carrying the of the Greatlynx name. Unique DPS bonuses are unlocked when wearing 2 or 4 pieces from the set:

  • Druid Guardian Season 1 2pc Icon Druid Guardian Season 1 2pcThrash Icon Thrash and Moonfire Icon Moonfire increase your damage done and reduce your damage taken by 1%, stacking 3 times. A passive 3% damage taken and reduction for doing your standard rotation.
  • Druid Guardian Season 1 4pc Icon Druid Guardian Season 1 4pc — Arcane damage you deal is increased by 5% and bleed damage you deal is increased by 8%. Another passive effect that you don't need to track or play around.

The Tier Set Bonus is absolutely mandatory for competitive play, and you should prioritize obtaining it. You can use the Matrix Catalyst to convert regular items (from Mythic+, for example) into Tier Items.

You only need 4 pieces out of 5 to get both set bonuses. We recommend you get all items except for the Head, due to their high Crit. But any combination of the 5 pieces is perfectly acceptable, as Guardian stats are all quite similar in value. Check out the BiS List for more information.

7.

Best Gear Crest Upgrades for Guardian Druid

You will be able to upgrade your items via Crests, such as Gilded Harbinger Crest Icon Gilded Harbinger Crest. Once you have upgraded a slot to a certain item level, upgrading other items of that slot to that item level is free.

When you upgrade with Crests, you should think of it as upgrading slots and not items.

Additionally, since Crests are a limited resource, you will want to obtain the highest item-level possible before upgrading a given slot, as this means you will spend fewer Crests on that slot in total. If you are at all capable of doing a +9 Dungeon, for example, it would be a VERY bad idea to upgrade an item from a +8 Dungeon, as those are wasted Crests you may not get back for a very long time.

We see a ton of players, even at a high level, mess up their upgrade priorities, and upgrading prematurely. Getting this right will put you far ahead of most players.

Below is the slot priority you should upgrade your items in. If you ever want to deviate from this, you should have a very good reason.

  1. Weapons
  2. Helm/Chest/Legs
  3. Shoulders/Gloves/Belt/Boots
  4. Trinkets
  5. Rings and Necks
  6. Cloaks and Bracers
8.

Recommended Crafted Gear and Embellishments

You may only have 2 embellishments, present on equipped crafted gear at a time.

8.1.

Ideal Gear to Craft

Guardian generally prefers to craft low stat budget, flexible items that can easily be swapped to another embellishment at will.

  • The Charged Halberd Icon Charged Halberd with the Darkmoon Sigil: Ascension Icon Darkmoon Sigil: Ascension embellishment is a great initial craft unless you have easy access to the first 5 bosses on mythic and can naturally loot one without hindering your groups progression.
  • Flexible armor slots — such as Rune-Branded Armbands Icon Rune-Branded Armbands and Rune-Branded Kickers Icon Rune-Branded Kickers — These can be incredibly useful as they are great items on their own that can have a multitude of embellishments applied to them, allowing you to swap and try things out frequently. Applying a simple proc embellishment like Elemental Focusing Lens Icon Elemental Focusing Lens to these makes them quite competitive.
  • Adrenal Surge Clasp Icon Adrenal Surge Clasp — crafted by Leatherworkers, the Adrenal Surge Clasp Icon Adrenal Surge Clasp is a tank belt with primary stat proc from damage taken. This effect can be doubled with the Writhing Armor Banding Icon Writhing Armor Banding, consuming both of your embellishment slots.
8.2.

Inspiration Catalyst

The Matrix Catalyst is a feature that allows you to convert any piece into "Tier" while retaining item level, socket, and tertiary perks. This can help you to optimize your gear further, similar to the old reforging system.

9.

Enchants and Gems

Whenever you get a new piece of gear, enchant it or gem it, if possible. In The War Within, sockets can come with or be put on: Head, Belt, Wrists, Rings, and Necks. The optimal enchants and gems for Guardian Druids are on the page linked below.

10.

Trinkets for Guardian Druids

The following is a list of the most noteworthy trinkets available overall, ranked in order of power assuming equivalent item level. If you do not have any of these, your best bet will be to use a stat proc trinket with a reasonably high item level. This list only has our most powerful trinkets, any trinket not listed here is considerably weaker.

  1. Mad Queen's Mandate Icon Mad Queen's Mandate
  2. Void Reaper's Contract Icon Void Reaper's Contract
  3. Ara-Kara Sacbrood Icon Ara-Kara Sacbrood
  4. Foul Behemoth's Chelicera Icon Foul Behemoth's Chelicera
  5. Swarmlord's Authority Icon Swarmlord's Authority
  6. Empowering Crystal of Anub'ikkaj Icon Empowering Crystal of Anub'ikkaj.
  7. Dead-Eye Spyglass Icon Dead-Eye Spyglass
  8. Skardyn's Grace Icon Skardyn's Grace

Offensively, you can refer to the chart below (courtesy of Bloodmallet.com). Note that these are only recommendations based on general sims; you should sim yourself for the most accurate results.

Loading...
For the complete simulation results, check out Bloodmallet.com
11.

Changelog

  • 15 Dec. 2024: Added Cyrces Circlet section for Patch 11.0.5.
  • 21 Oct. 2024: Reviewed for Patch 11.0.5.
  • 17 Sep. 2024: Updated trinket and gear list post buffs and nerfs.
  • 09 Sep. 2024: Updated for Season 1 TWW Launch.
  • 21 Aug. 2024: Updated for The War Within.
  • 23 Jul. 2024: Updated for TWW pre-patch.
  • 09 May 2024: Updated Gear list.
  • 07 May 2024: Reviewed for 10.2.7.
  • 23 Apr. 2024: Updated Raze link.
  • 22 Apr. 2024: Updated for Season 4.
  • 20 Mar. 2024: Reviewed for Patch 10.2.6.
  • 15 Jan. 2024: Reviewed and Updated for Patch 10.2.5.
  • 23 Nov. 2023: Updated Trinket List.
  • 21 Nov. 2023: Updated BiS Lists.
  • 06 Nov. 2023: Updated BiS lists for Patch 10.2.
  • 04 Sep. 2023: Added new BiS Lists Gear block.
  • 25 Jul. 2023: Updated Borrowed Time link.
  • 10 Jul. 2023: Updated for Patch 10.1.5.
  • 26 May 2023: Added timewalking gear.
  • 18 May 2023: Updated trinket list.
  • 06 May 2023: Updated BiS list after trinket tuning.
  • 01 May 2023: Updated new trinkets and gear for patch 10.1.
  • 20 Mar. 2023: Updated for Patch 10.0.7.
  • 24 Jan. 2023: Updated for Patch 10.0.5.
  • 13 Jan. 2023: Added Embellishment section.
  • 11 Dec. 2022: Updated for Dragonflight Season 1.
  • 28 Nov. 2022: Updated for Dragonflight launch.
  • 25 Oct. 2022: Updated for Dragonflight pre-patch.
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