Guardian Druid Tank Spell List and Glossary — The War Within (11.1.0)

If you are new to Guardian, this is a great place to start to get an understanding of how the spec works. On this page we will discuss what abilities you have, what they are used for within the specialization, how they interact with each other and also with important cooldowns. If you already have experience with Guardian and are comfortable with it in the current expansion, it is recommended you skip this section and move on to the rest of the guide.

If you are leveling a Guardian Druid, you will not have access to all the passives and abilities listed here. However, our leveling guide will help specify when you will unlock each ability and passive bonus.

Your primary resource is Rage. Rage is generated from several sources — passively from auto-attacking (4 Rage per melee) and from being auto-attacked (3 Rage per unavoided hit, can only occur once per second), from several talents (both active and passive), and from using your rotational abilities Mangle and Thrash. Rage does not decay in combat, but after leaving combat, it will begin to decay quickly back to 0. Entering Bear Form will grant 25 Rage and give you a few seconds' grace period before your Rage starts decaying. Exiting Bear Form empties your Rage bar.

You can spend Rage in one of three ways; on your active mitigation spell, Ironfur, on your self-heal, Frenzied Regeneration, or on a hard-hitting attack, Maul. Rage management is a critical part of playing Guardian effectively.

Ability	Abbreviation	Description/Effect
Thrash	Thrash	Damages all enemies in an 8-yard radius, generates 5 Rage and applies a 15-second bleed effect on them can stack up to 3 times (5 when talented into Flashing Claws).
Bear Form	Bear	Shapeshifts you into a Bear, greatly increasing your Armor and Stamina, allows you to use all your integral core abilities.
Frenzied Regeneration	FR	Heals you for 20% of your maximum health over 3 seconds. The heal occurs in 4 ticks, with the first tick occurring instantly, and the remaining occurring once per second.
Growl	Taunt	This is your taunt ability. This forces the target to attack you for 3 seconds and greatly increases the threat you generate against that target for that duration.
Mangle	Mangle	Deals damage to one target (increased against targets that have a bleed active), and generates 10 Rage on use. It is your primary damage-dealing spell and Rage generator.
Swipe	Swipe	Deals damage to enemies in an 8-yard radius and does not cost or generate any Rage, and has no cooldown. This is your filler spell, which you should only use if more powerful spells are not available.
Mark of the Wild	MotW	Buff yourself and your group for 60 minutes, increasing your Versatility by 3%.
Moonfire	MF	Deals Arcane damage over time. Keeping Moonfire ticking at all times is an important factor in dealing good damage and, therefore, generating good threat.
Regrowth	Regrowth	This is a heal you can use on yourself and others. However, this takes you out of Bear Form, so be careful when using it.
Dash	Dash/Sprint	Shapeshifts you into Cat Form and increases your movement speed by 60% for 10 seconds.
Cat Form	Cat	Shapeshifts into a Cat, increasing your movement speed and allowing access to Cat Form only abilities.
Shred	Shred	A Cat Form-only ability that deals damage over time and generates Combo Points.
Entangling Roots	Roots	Roots a mob in place for 30 seconds. Careful, this ability will take you out of Bear Form when cast.
Barkskin	Bark	Reduces all damage you take by 20% for 8 seconds on a 60-second cooldown. Barkskin is usable while stunned, incapacitated, or asleep. This will be your first line of defense against dangerous spike damage, as well as your primary way of reducing magic damage or simply as risk mitigation to smooth your damage intake for your healers. It has a short cooldown, so use it often.
Travel Form	Travel/Mount Form	This is a shapeshift that increases your movement speed massively, equivalent to mounted movement speed when out of combat.
Rebirth	Bres / BR	Allows you to resurrect allies in combat. Note that it may be dangerous to res your friends in melee range, so be careful of your positioning with this spell.
Ursine Adept	--	Allows you to cast crucial spells in Bear Form like Moonfire and reduces the damage you take by 10%.

As part of the Dragonflight overhaul to the talent system, every specialization received numerous new passive effects and active abilities. To attempt to break the list of every possible effect down into manageable chunks, we have grouped these abilities into passive and active effects, divided between the class and specialization talent trees, and organized by the order you will come across them from top to bottom.

If you would like to know more about which of these talents to select for your own Guardian Druid, please see the builds and talents section of our guide.

Ability	Abbreviation	Description/Effect
Improved Barkskin	-	Increases Barkskin duration by 4 seconds.
Verdant Heart	-	Makes Frenzied Regeneration and Barkskin increase all healing received by 20% while active.
Killer Instinct	-	Increase Physical damage and Armor by up to 6%.
Nurturing Instinct	--	Increases Magical damage and healing by up to 6%.
Feline Swiftness	-	Increases movement speed by 15%.
Thick Hide	--	Reduces damage taken by 6%.
Natural Recovery	--	Increases the healing done and healing taken by 4%.
Astral Influence	--	Increases the range of all your caster spells by 5 yards.
Rising Light, Falling Night	-	Increases your damage and healing by 3% during the day. Increases your Versatility by 2% during the night.
Primal Fury	--	Makes it so that when you critical strike with a Combo Point-building ability, you gain an additional Combo Point. Adds 20% crit damage to Mangle.
Matted Fur	--	When you cast Barkskin or Survival Instincts, you gain a small absorb shield for 8 seconds.
Ursine Vigor	-	For 4 seconds after shifting into Bear Form, your health and armor is increased by up to 15%.
Fluid Form	FF	Shred and Rake can be used in any form and shift you into Cat Form. Mangle can be used in any form and shift you into Bear Form.
Oakskin	-	Survival Instincts and Barkskin reduce damage taken by an additional 10%.
Instincts of the Claw	-	Mangle and Thrash damage increased by up to 10%.
Ursoc's Spirit	-	Stamina in Bear Form increased by 10%.
Lore of the Grove	-	Moonfire damage increased by up to 10%.
Lycara's Teachings	--	Gain up to 6% of a stat in each form. Bear Form gains Versatility.
Improved Rejuvenation	-	Increases the duration of Rejuvenations by 3 seconds.
Improved Sunfire	--	Makes Sunfire apply its initial effect to all enemies within 8 yards.
Well-Honed Instincts	WHI	When you fall below 40% health, you cast Frenzied Regeneration.
Improved Stampeding Roar	-	Reduces the cooldown of Stampeding Roar by 1 minute.

Ability	Abbreviation	Description/Effect
Rake	Rake	A Cat Form-only ability that deals damage over time.
Rejuvenation	Rejuv	A heal-over-time effect.
Starfire	Starfire	A ranged damaging ability can only be used out of Bear Form.
Starsurge	SS	A hard-hitting instant ranged damaging ability.
Rip	Rip	Another Cat Form-only ability that deals damage over time, but costs combo points.
Remove Corruption	-	A single target dispel. It can remove Curse and Poison effects.
Maim	Maim	A Cat Form ability that stuns the target and deals damage.
Ironfur	IF	Costs 40 Rage and increases your Armor by 112% of your Agility for 7 seconds. Multiple applications of Ironfur can overlap, meaning that the armor increase will stack, but the duration will not. For example, if you use Ironfur, and then use it again 3 seconds later; you will have 2 applications of Ironfur for 4 seconds, granting you 224% of your Agility as Armor. After 3 seconds, the first application will have expired, leaving you with 112% of your Agility as Armor for 4 more seconds. Ironfur is the primary way to spend Rage, and keeping it up as often as possible will help reduce your damage intake.
Hibernate	Hibernate	Puts an enemy Beast or Dragonkin to sleep for 40 seconds.
Skull Bash	Interrupt / SB	Interrupts enemy spell casts. Note that if you are out of melee range of your target when you cast Skull Bash, you will charge into range regardless of if the target is casting or not. This means you can effectively use Skull Bash as a pseudo-charge at the expense of putting your interrupt on cooldown.
Wild Charge	WC	Grants a movement ability that varies based on shapeshift form. In Bear form, this is a 15-second cooldown charge that roots the target for 4 seconds.
Cyclone	Clone	Makes the enemy target immune to damage for up to 6 seconds. They cannot perform actions during this time.
Soothe	Soothe	Dispels all enrage effects on a target. In particular, this works on the Raging affix in Mythic+.
Sunfire	Sunfire	A caster form damage over time spell.
Typhoon	Typhoon	A small frontal knockback effect.
Stampeding Roar	Roar	increases the movement speed of you and your allies within 15 yards by 60% for 8 seconds. This is a tremendously powerful raid cooldown, especially on encounters that require coordinated raid movement.
Wild Growth	WG	Heals up to 5 injured allies over 7 seconds.
Ursol's Vortex	Ursols	Creates a vortex that will suck mobs back into the first time they attempt to leave.
Incapacitating Roar	Incap	Disorients enemies within 10 yards of you for 3 seconds. This can double as an area of effect interrupt in dungeons against enemies who are not immune to disorients.
Mighty Bash	Bash	A single-target 4-second stun, and can be quite useful in Mythic+ and solo content.
Mass Entanglement	Mass Roots	An AoE mass root can be potent in the right scenario.
Innervate	Innervate	Can be cast on a healer to reduce the Mana cost of their spells by 100% for 8 seconds.
Renewal	Renewal	Instantly heals you for 20% of your maximum health.
Heart of the Wild	HotW	Causes abilities not associated with your spec to be substantially empowered for 45 seconds. Primarily, this is for the increased Moonfire damage, as it is considered a balance spell. This also increases the damage done by your auto attacks by 30%. Also increases feral abilities, primarily Rip and Rake.
Nature's Vigil	NV	Causes all single target damage you deal also to heal yourself and nearby allies for 20% of the damage done.

Ability	Abbreviation	Description/Effect
Gore	Gore	Casting Thrash, Swipe, Moonfire, or Maul (your main rotational spells) has a chance to reset the cooldown on Mangle and make your next Mangle generate 4 additional Rage.
Brambles	Brambles	Deals a small amount of damage to attackers and pulses aoe damage when Barkskin is active.
Improved Survival Instincts	--	Adds a second charge of Survival Instincts.
Mangle Rank 2	--	Increases Mangle damage when the target is affected by a bleed.
Innate Resolve	IR	Adds a second charge of Frenzied Regeneration and increases its healing by up to 120% based on your missing health.
Infected Wounds	--	Causes Mangle and Maul to apply a movement slow.
Ursoc's Endurance	UE	Increases the duration of Barkskin and Ironfur.
Gory Fur	GF	Gives Mangle a 15% chance to reduce the Rage cost of your next Ironfur by 25%.
Flashing Claws	FC	Causes your Thrash to have an extra chance to proc multiple times also increases the amount it can stack up to by 1/2. It is very fun to see multiple go off and see mobs instantly explode.
Vulnerable Flesh	VF	Increases Maul's critical strike chance by 30%.
Layered Mane	LM	Gives Ironfur a chance to apply 2 stacks and Frenzied Regeneration a chance to not consume a charge.
Survival of the Fittest	SotF	Reduces the cooldown of Survival Instincts and Barkskin.
After the Wildfire	ATW	Every 200 Rage spent causes a burst of AoE healing around you.
Guardian of Elune	GoE	Makes Mangle increase the duration of your next Ironfur or increase the healing of your next Frenzied Regeneration by 20%.
Soul of the Forest	Soul	Gives Mangle 25% more damage and makes it generate 5 more Rage.
Reinforced Fur	--	Makes Ironfur increase Armor by an additional 15% and Barkskin reduce damage taken by an additional 10%.
Tooth and Claw	TNC / TAC	Autoattacks have a chance to empower your next Maul, stacking up to 2 times. Empowered Maul deals 40% more damage, costs no rage and reduces the damage the target does to you by 12% for 6 seconds.
Vicious Cycle	VC	Makes Mangle increase the damage of your next Maul and vice versa.
Earthwarden	EW	When you deal damage with Thrash you reduce the damage of the next auto attack on you by 25%.
Fury of Nature	FoN	Boosts your Arcane damage by 20%. Primarily for more Moonfire damage.
Reinvigoration	--	Reduces the cooldown of Frenzied Regeneration.
Circle of Life and Death	Circle	Your damage over time effects deal their damage faster. Another large damage increase increasing Moonfire and Thrash tick speed by 25%.
Elune's Favored	EF	Increases Arcane damage done by a further 10%, and you now heal for 40% of arcane damage done. This is a massive increase for self-sustain.
Scintillating Moonlight	SM	Targets affected by your Moonfire to deal less damage to you.
Twin Moonfire	TM	Increases Moonfire damage and causes it to hit a second target nearby.
Galactic Guardian	GG	Makes most damage sources (except for Moonfire and the reflect from Brambles) have a chance to trigger a free Moonfire on the target of the damage event. Additionally, when this proc occurs, your next Moonfire will generate 8 Rage and deal 300% additional damage.
Blood Frenzy	BF	Makes Thrash also generate 3 Rage each time it deals damage, including DoT ticks. Capped at 5 targets.
Dream of Cenarius	DoC	Gives you a chance after taking damage to get a buff that causes your next Regrowth to be instant and castable in all forms.
Ursoc's Fury	UF or UFR	Causes your Thrash and Maul to grant you an absorb shield for 25% of the damage they deal. Very good for self sustain.
Rend and Tear	RnT	Makes your Thrash increase mobs' damage taken by 2% per stack and reduces the damage they deal to you by 2% per stack.
Moonless Night	MN	Causes your single target abilities on targets afflicted with Moonfire to burn for 20% additional arcane damage.
Thorns of Iron	Thorns	When you cast Ironfur, you also deal physical damage equal to 20% of your Armor to nearby enemies.
Untamed Savagery	US	Increases the damage and radius of your Thrash by 25%.
Ursoc's Guidance	UG	Reduces the cooldown on your Incarnation: Guardian of Ursoc based on Rage spent. It's good for getting those strong cooldowns up more frequently. It also reduces the cooldown of Convoke the Spirits by 1 minute if that is talented.

Ability	Abbreviation	Description/Effect
Maul	Maul	Costs 40 Rage and deals damage to one target. It is used as a Rage dump when you are not taking damage to prevent capping on Rage. If you are struggling to manage Rage, it is better to neglect this ability in favor of Ironfur.
Survival Instincts	SI	Reduces all damage you take by 50% for 6 seconds. This is your major defensive reduction, to be used against lethal spike damage or "tankbuster." mechanics. Its short duration and long cooldown mean it should be used sparingly.
Bristling Fur	Bfur	Generates Rage based on damage taken for 8 seconds. This can be very useful for extremely hard-hitting scenarios that come in short windows and can be an enormous amount of Rage gained.
Berserk: Ravage	--	Reduces the cooldown of Mangle, Thrash and Growl by 50%. This is an extremely powerful offensive cooldown, reducing all of our main abilities to nearly 0 cooldown.
Berserk: Unchecked Aggression	UA	Causes Berserk to increase haste and reduce the rage cost of Maul by 50%.
Berserk: Persistence	--	Causes Berserk to reduce the cooldown of Frenzied Regeneration by 100% and rage cost of Ironfur by 50%.
Incarnation: Guardian of Ursoc	Incarn	Transforms your Berserk into a superior spell, lasting 15 seconds longer and granting an extra 30% health while active.
Pulverize	Pulv	consumes 2 of your Thrash stacks on the target and reduces the damage they deal to you by 35%. It can be a very useful defensive cooldown, generally better in raid scenarios.
Convoke the Spirits	Convoke	Rapidly casts 16 spells over 4 seconds. Spells cast are based on the form you are in.
Rage of the Sleeper	RotS	Reduces your damage taken by 25% for 10 seconds, increases the damage you deal by 10%, increases leech by 25%, and reflects damage at attackers.
Lunar Beam	LB	Summons a small beam of light at your location that increases your mastery by 15%, deals damage to enemies, and heals you.
Raze	Raze	Is an AoE version of Maul.

Ability	Abbreviation	Description/Effect
Druid of the Claw	DotC	One of two Hero Talent Trees available to Guardian and Feral Druids.
Ravage	Ravage	Has a chance to proc off auto-attacks and replaces your next Maul with a massively empowered ability that causes a bleed.
Dreadful Wound	DW	This is the bleed caused by Ravage and it reduces damage dealt to you from targets affected.
Killing Strikes	KS	Ravage increases your Agility and Armor granted by Ironfur temporarily. Also causes your first Mangle after entering combat to empower your next Maul to become a Ravage
Wildpower Surge	WPS	Mangle grants a stack of Feline Potential. When you have 6 stacks the next time you transform into Cat Form, gain 5 combo points and empower your next Rip or Ferocious Bite significantly.
Elune's Chosen	EC	One of two Hero Talent Trees available to Guardian and Balance Druids.
Lunar Calling	LC	Thrash now deals Arcane damage and has increased damage.
Lunation	Lunation	Your Arcane abilities reduce the cooldown of Lunar Beam by 3 seconds.
The Light of Elune	LoE/FoE	Moonfire damage has a chance to call down a Fury of Elune beam that deals damage to targets and grants rage.
Moondust	Moondust	Slows targets affected by Moonfire.

Since nearly every single primary ability for Guardian Druid interacts with each other, it can be challenging to figure out how they are meant to be prioritized. But, now that you know what they do, our rotation page can help you get all that Rage spent healthily.

Many of these abilities can be made easier to use via the macro system and our dedicated page for Addons and Macros has information on the best way to integrate them into your gameplay.