Guardian Druid Tank Spec, Builds, and Talents — The War Within (11.0.5)

Note that these builds are generic recommendations for various content. For more specific recommendations for the Raid and Mythic+, check out the dedicated pages below.

Mythic+ can require a mix of AoE and Single-Target talents, depending on affixes and other variables. You should check out our page below if you want advice specific to Mythic+.

Some talents will require you to play in a particular way to get the most out of them. You can find more information on how your rotation will look after selecting your talents on our rotation page below.

4.

Talent Explanations for Guardian Druids

Note that we do not explain EVERY Talent in the tree on this page. We only explain Talents that are part of our optimal builds for single-target and AoE. For full details and explanations of every Talent, please visit our Spells page via the button below.

Guardian Druid Spell Glossary for The War Within

4.1.

Class Talents for Guardian Druids

4.1.1.

Rows 1-4

Thrash	is your main AoE damaging ability and essential to the Guardian Druid rotation. Deals damage AoE and applies a bleed to all targets hit.
Ironfur	is your main active mitigation ability. Increases your armor temporarily at the cost of Rage.
Killer Instinct	increases your physical damage and armor by 6%.
Improved Barkskin	increases the duration of Barkskin by 4 seconds.
Verdant Heart	increases healing taken while either Frenzied Regeneration or Barkskin are active.
Nurturing Instinct	increases magic damage and healing by 6%. Very valuable, with Moonfire being a relevant amount of our breakdown.
Remove Corruption	dispels poisons and curse effects. Great for Mythic+ is less useful for raids.
Feline Swiftness	increases movement speed.

4.1.2.

Rows 5-7

Soothe and Sunfire	are picked to progress further in the tree.
Skull Bash	is your interrupt and also works as a small charge if you ever get knocked back.
Thick Hide	is a passive 6% damage taken reduction.
Ursol's Vortex	keeps mobs in the same place for a short period. A useful mob control tool on certain encounters/dungeons.
Renewal	instantly heals you for 20% of your max health. A useful personal on a short cooldown.
Stampeding Roar	is your raid utility, which increases your and your group's movement speed by 60% for 8 seconds.
Astral Influence	increases the range of all your caster spells by 5 yards. No longer works on melee abilities.
Rising Light, Falling Night	increases your damage and healing by 3% during the day. Increases your Versatility by 2% during the night.
Matted Fur	is a small absorb when you cast Barkskin and Survival Instincts.
Typhoon	is a useful knockback ability that can be used to reposition mobs or interrupt them momentarily.
Ursoc's Spirit	grants 10% bonus stam in Bear Form.

4.1.3.

Rows 8-10

Lycara's Teachings	increases your Versatility by 6% in Bear Form.
Instincts of the Claw	increases damage of Swipe, Mangle and Thrash.
Lore of the Grove	increase damage of Moonfire.
Oakskin	reduces damage taken by an additional 10% when affected by Barkskin or Survival Instincts.
Heart of the Wild	increases your non-Bear spells significantly. Primarily, it increases Moonfire and auto-attack damage done by 30% for 45 seconds.
Improved Stampeding Roar	reduces the cooldown of your Stampeding Roar by 1 minute.
Fluid Form	Shred and Rake can be used in any form and shift you into Cat Form. Mangle can be used in any form and shifts you into Bear Form.
Innervate	can be cast on a healer to reduce their Mana cost by 100% for 8 seconds. Handy utility and can save the day if used at the right time. Bonus, your healers will greatly appreciate it and heal you more.
Nature's Vigil	converts a portion of your single target damage done to healing for yourself and your group/raid.

4.2.

Spec Talents for Guardian Druids

4.2.1.

Rows 1-4

Maul	is a high damage-dealing Rage spender.
Gore	gives your abilities a chance to reset the cooldown on Mangle.
Survival Instincts	is your biggest defensive on a long cooldown.
Dream of Cenarius	chance on nonperiodic damage taken to proc a buff that allows you to cast Regrowth in bear form and be instant and free.
Improved Survival Instincts	grants a second charge of Survival Instincts which can be helpful on certain encounters.
Brambles	deals damage to attacking enemies and pulses AoE damage when Barkskin is active.
Innate Resolve	gives you a second charge of Frenzied Regeneration and increases the healing it does by up to 150% based on your missing health.
Gory Fur	gives Mangle a 15% chance to reduce the Rage of your next Ironfur by 25%. Some minor Rage economy.

4.2.2.

Rows 5-7

After the Wildfire	Causes a massive burst of AoE healing around you each time you use 300 rages.
Earthwarden	makes it so that each time Thrash deals its initial hit, you gain a buff that reduces your damage taken by the next melee swing by 25%. This stacks up to 3 times, which means if you hit 3 mobs, you will gain 3 stacks immediately.
Berserk: Unchecked Aggression	causes our Berserk to grant us 15% Haste and reduce the Rage cost of Maul by 50%. The Haste is great as it increases the tick rate of all our DoTs, including Moonfire.
Reinvigoration	reduces the cooldown of Frenzied Regeneration by 10/20%.
Tooth and Claw	gives auto attacks a chance to empower your next Maul stacking up to 2 times. Empowered Maul deals 40% more damage, costs no rage, and reduces the target's damage done to you by 12% for 6 seconds.
Vulnerable Flesh	increases Maul crit chance by 30%.
Layered Mane	Ironfur has a chance to apply two stacks and Frenzied Regeneration has a chance to not consume a charge.
Reinforced Fur	Ironfur increases armor by an additional 15% and Barkskin reduces damage taken by an extra 10%.
Fury of Nature	increases your Arcane damage done by 20% in Bear Form.
Vicious Cycle	causes your Mangle to increase your Maul damage done and vice versa. Stacks up to 3 times.
Soul of the Forest	causes Mangle to deal 25% increased damage and generate 5 extra rage. With our current tier set bonus, this is a ton of extra Rage.

4.2.3.

Rows 8-10

Flashing Claws	gives Thrash a 20% chance to trigger an additional Thrash. This can proc multiple times off itself, sometimes leading to 4+ casts.
Galactic Guardian	gives your damaging abilities a chance to trigger a free Moonfire and cause the next Moonfire cast to be empowered, increasing its damage done by 300%.
Scintillating Moonlight	makes targets affected by Moonfire deal 10% less damage to you.
Twin Moonfire	makes Moonfire deal 8% increased damage and also hits another target nearby. This helps the spread of Moonfire on multiple mobs like in Mythic+. Combined with Galactic Guardian, you rarely have to cast Moonfire, as it will just automatically spread to every target via the procs of Galactic Guardian.
Ursoc's Fury	makes Thrash and Maul grant an absorb shield for 25% of the damage they deal. Another self-sustain booster.
Rend and Tear	makes targets affected by Thrash take an additional 2% damage and deal 2% less damage to you per stack of Thrash.
Circle of Life and Death	makes your DoT effects deal their damage in 25% less time. This means those Moonfires tick much faster but fall off quicker; luckily, that is not an issue for us with our constant spreading.
Elune's Favored	increases Arcane damage you deal in Bear Form by 10%, and 40% of the Arcane damage you deal in Bear Form also heals you. Another crucial talent for self-sustain and essential for the Moonfire build.
Incarnation: Guardian of Ursoc	turns your Berserk and all its perks into a new ability that lasts 30 seconds instead of 15, increases health by 30%, and causes your Mangle to hit 3 targets. This is a great ability as all the Berserk talents you chose earlier in the tree get added to it, extending their duration by 15 seconds while also boosting your health pool by so much, making this our strongest offensive cooldown by far.
Ursoc's Guidance	makes every 25 Rage you spend reduce the cooldown of Incarnation: Guardian of Ursoc by 1 second. Reducing the cooldown of an integral cooldown for us speeds up our rotation and fun even further.
Rage of the Sleeper	Increases your damage done, reduces your damage taken, increases your leech, and reflects damage at attackers.
Thorns of Iron	causes Ironfur to deal damage equal to 30% of your armor to nearby enemies.
Lunar Beam	Drops a beam that increases our Mastery by 15%, heals us and deals damage to enemies.
Raze	Is an Aoe version of Maul.
Moonless Night	causes all single target abilities on targets afflicted with Moonfire to deal 20% extra arcane damage.
Pulverize	Consumes 2 stacks of Thrash on the mob and makes them deal 35% less damage to us for 10 seconds.
Blood Frenzy	causes Thrash to generate 2 rage each time it deals damage. That means on both DoT ticks and initial application. This is a massive amount of Rage on multiple targets.

The Battle for Azeroth expansion introduced a new system called "War Mode." Opting into War Mode makes you eligible for open-world PvP but also grants you the following benefits:

• World Quests at a maximum level have 10-30% increased rewards.
• You gain 10-30% increased experience while leveling.
• Allows you to earn Conquest Points towards weekly gear rewards.
• Grants you the use of PvP talents in the open-world.

With the benefits of enabling War Mode for leveling and PvE content, it is recommended that you enable the feature to maximize your leveling and rewards at maximum level. However, you will make yourself eligible for open-world PvP, and the possibility of being "ganked" while leveling or doing World Quests exists.

Below are the recommended PvP talents for leveling and doing PvE content. You will get a choice of 1 general PvP talent and 3 spec-specific talents.

1. Overrun is a powerful charge with a stun, and the knockback it triggers provides a large mobility boost.
2. Emerald Slumber Enter a deep sleep for 8 seconds that makes all other cooldowns recover 400% faster.
3. Demoralizing Roar reduces damage enemies deal to you by 20% for 10 seconds.
4. Alpha Challenge replaces Growl, an ability that historically has no function in solo content. In exchange, you (and your allies) deal increased damage to the target you taunt.
5. Malorne's Swiftness increases your Travel Form movement speed by 20% and prevents you from being slowed below 100% movement speed. This improves your mobility and will reduce travel time, which is important while leveling.

The remaining PvP talents may have limited or niche applications in leveling or open-world PvE content, but they do not provide the overall benefit of the recommended list above. The rest of the PvP talents do not contribute meaningfully to leveling or open world PvE.

While Guardian may have some fun open-world PvP viability, if you want to do more serious PvP, you may have better success with a non-tank spec.