Druid builds
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| Classes: | | | | | | | | | | |
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| Class races: | Dk | Dr | Hu | Ma | Pa | Pr | Ro | Sh | Wl | Wr |
| Quests: | Dk | Dr | Hu | Ma | Pa | Pr | Ro | Sh | Wl | Wr |
| Abilities: | Dk | Dr | Hu | Ma | Pa | Pr | Ro | Sh | Wl | Wr |
| Trainers: | Dk | Dr | Hu | Ma | Pa | Pr | Ro | Sh | Wl | Wr |
| Talents: | Dk | Dr | Hu | Ma | Pa | Pr | Ro | Sh | Wl | Wr |
| Talent builds: | Dk | Dr | Hu | Ma | Pa | Pr | Ro | Sh | Wl | Wr |
| Tactics: | Dk | Dr | Hu | Ma | Pa | Pr | Ro | Sh | Wl | Wr |
| Armor sets: | Dk | Dr | Hu | Ma | Pa | Pr | Ro | Sh | Wl | Wr |
| Starting a: | Dk | Dr | Hu | Ma | Pa | Pr | Ro | Sh | Wl | Wr |
| PvE guide: | Dk | Dr | Hu | Ma | Pa | Pr | Ro | Sh | Wl | Wr |
| PvP guide: | Dk | Dr | Hu | Ma | Pa | Pr | Ro | Sh | Wl | Wr |
| Useful macros: | Dk | Dr | Hu | Ma | Pa | Pr | Ro | Sh | Wl | Wr |
Though Druids are a hybrid class, the differences between builds of the same specialization tend to be fairly minor because of the great amount of must-have talents embedded inside each tree. The 3 trees are Balance, which improves the druid ranged DPS, Feral, which improve the druids animal forms, and Restoration, which improves the druids healing spells.
For the purpose of classification within this article, builds which have less than 41 points in any one talent tree have been classified as hybrid. Otherwise, the ordering within each section is in descending number of points in the primary talent tree. Each build has its advantages and disadvantages, and there is no "best" build within each tree except in cases where you have a firm idea of what you want your Druid to do. For example, a tanking build that puts points into Thick Hide is clearly superior to a build that dismisses the talent. Despite this, it is ultimately up to the individual decide which talent build is most suitable to their chosen play style.
When raiding, opting for a more traditional, non-hybrid raid build is likely to be a necessity as it will allow you to maximize your contribution to the raid, whether your role is DPS, tank, or healer.
Balance
Its is a common misconception that as druids are a hybrid class they will only be able to approach, but not match, the pure DPS classes. Although in theory a warlock/mage specced/geared correctly will out-DPS a balance druid correctly specced/geared, if any of these factors is lacking in the warlock/mage the balance druid should be able to match if not surpass the pure DPS classes. Blizzard has stated they want Hybrid classes to approach the DPS of pure classes much closer in Wrath of the Lich King.
In PvP, balance druids are able to use their moonkin form to absorb large amounts of damage, and with recent talent additions suffer little knockback with many of their abilities. This has made a balance druid (specced correctly) a very exceptional class in PvP. However, due to the inability to use restoration spells in moonkin form the sometimes necessary tactic of dropping form and healing means a large mana cost and can be cumbersome.
Although druids in balance spec MAY have less DPS than a mage/warlock, druids in moonkin form have an amour value similar to that of a warrior, giving then a lot more flexibility. Mages/warlocks are highly susceptible to melee damage, and the moonkin forms high armor seriously mitigates this and gives them that little edge in raiding.
Level 80
There has not yet been much detailed discussion around the "best" balance builds for level 80. These are really just some good examples to consider. In due course, the experts on the usual forums will undoubtedly do some serious theorycrafting to determine the "best" raid build to maximize DPS.
Patch 3.0.3 PvE Raiding Spec w/ Starfall (80) 55/0/16
Overall good spec with raiding that incorporates Master Shapeshifter, Ecclipse, Omen of Clarity and many of the needed boomkin talents for raiding such as Balance of Power, Imp IS, Dreamstate, ect. Created by Zophir of Runetotem.
http://www.wowhead.com/?talent=0xGbuicsIdhVhouZbxcub
Patch 3.0.3 PvE Maximum Balance (80) (71/0/0)
There's a total of 4 points remaining to spend beyond 71 (not possible at level 80), so there's some scope to pull some points between talents to suite personal style and taste.
http://www.wowhead.com/?talent=0EGruicsIdIAuRu
Patch 3.0.3 PvE (RAID) Single Target DPS (80) (56/0/15)
This is build focused on boss killing, with maxed single target DPS. Your DPS on trash will probably be a little lower than expected, but that is really not an issue on T7 content (and will make Patchwerk much easier). Created by Morcego@Azuremyst.
http://www.wowhead.com/?talent=0xRbuiIsIdhVhouZbxchb
Patch 3.0.2 PvE DPS (80) (55/0/16)
http://www.wowhead.com/?talent=0xGbuicsIdhVhMhZbxcub
Patch 3.0.2 PvP Balance (80) (56/0/15)
http://wotlk.wowhead.com/?talent=0xGbuiI0IzhAzRhZfxcu
Patch 3.0.2 PvP/PvE Build (80) (55/0/16)
An hyrbid build, useful if you need more flexibility in terms of partaking in PvE/PvP.
http://wotlk.wowhead.com/?talent=0xGrhicoIdhAzRhZbxcub
Level 70
At present, there is still much experimentation and discussion surrounding the "best" balance builds for level 70. This is largely due to there being more talents available which benefit any given situation than points to spend on them. At PvE tier 4 or 5 level, it really should not matter significantly, as most of the heavy balance builds (56 points and above) will provide highly competitive DPS output. At tier 6 level, people are in all likelihood sufficiently experienced and knowledgeable about the class to make intelligent choices between the options.
Patch 3.0.3 Maximum Balance (70) (61/0/0)
This build is 100% balance talents, particularly taking all of the deepest level talents. It's excellent for evaluating the new abilities, and generally learning about the latest changes to the balance tree. It should be generally usable and competitive in tier 4 and 5 raiding, and similar content, but not perhaps the most efficient at pure DPS.
http://www.wowhead.com/?talent=0xGbuicoIdIAuRu
Patch 3.0.3 PvE Core Raiding Talents (51/0/0)
"[This] is the basic foundation of a raiding balance spec. Add Treants, A single point in Eclipse, Owlkin Frenzy, etc. as you want. Mana concerns are effectively nonexistent in level 70 content, as HP levels have gone down and raid DPS has gone up so drastically. iFF's +spell hit is typically covered by shadow priests." - Elitist Jerks Theorycrafting Think Tank post on balance (updated 20 Oct 2008).
N.B. This spec is incomplete, but contains an excellent starting point for free choice of the last 10 points at 70.
http://www.wowhead.com/?talent=0xRbuiIscdhV0Mu
Patch 3.0.2 PvE DPS Balance (70) (56/0/5)
The below build is a supposed build for a balance druid hoping to achieve maximum DPS at level 70:
http://www.wowhead.com/?talent=0EGbuicRIdhV0MhZ0x
No typhoon/starfall due to hurricane superiority. No eclipse, only useful in pure DPS race. No added moonkin utility.
Patch 3.0.2 PvE Utility Balance (70) (56/0/5)
The below build is a supposed build for a balance druid aiming to achieve maximum utility via raid buffs, use of insect swarm and faerie fire:
http://www.wowhead.com/?talent=0xGbuicsIdIV0RhZ0x
Patch 3.0.2 PvP Balance (48/0/13) (70)
Under even further debate, a basic PvP build for a moonkin is provided below. Due to changes in feral charge etc, some of the staples of previous PvP builds are missing:
http://www.wowhead.com/?talent=0xGfuiI0Iz0hdRZZfMch
Feral
Feral druids specialize in animal forms, namely cat form and bear form. Since patch 3.0, it is not considered possible to spec effectively into both feral DPS (Cat form) and feral tank (Dire bear form). This has led to two separate specs.
Feral druids originally tanked by high HP and high armor mitigation, with little in the way of avoidance. Blizzard changed this with Patch 3.0, reducing bonus armor and HP drastically from leather items but also increasing our avoidance (dodge) and giving us additional talents to replace the lost armor. The HP of a feral tank can still considerably outpace that of a paladin or warrior.
Feral DPS is built upon cat form. The usual cat DPS rotation is to Mangle to increase bleeed and shred effects and then Shred from behind and finish with Rip. With talent changes Cat form DPS is considered exceptional and is considered a very viable PvP spec alongside the raid buffs it provides.
In PvP feral druids currently suffer from mana issues but have good burst damage and a limited pool of CC to use.
Level 80
3.0.3 PvE Main Tank Feral Build (0/59/12)
This tanking spec utilizes everything important you need to mitigate damage, generate sufficient rage, keep threat high and help your party, while still allowing for acceptable cat-DPS when needed and effective solo grinding. You target the talents that best enhance tanking skills and use the remaining points to best enhance your damage output (in both forms) without spending points on situational or cat-only DPS talents. The only tanking talent you skip is Feral Aggression, which most people agree doesn't offer enough reduction in damage to be worth 5 talent points.
- Protector of the Pack is absolutely required for flat damage reduction.
- Survival of the Fittest is absolutely required to become immune to critical hits from NPCs.
- Infected Wounds to slow your enemies' attack speed
- Feral Swiftness for Dodge (but also to run fast!)
- Natural Reaction for more dodge and to prevent rage starvation if you dodge too much.
- Shredding Attacks to preserve some rage on Lacerate-spamming so you can Maul more (but also to save energy on the all-important Shred when DPSing)
- Primal Precision for tanking expertise (plus retention of energy when DPS finishing moves fail to land)
- Brutal Impact for more spell interrupts (even on stun-immune bosses!)
- Primal Tenacity to mitigate fearing and to shield you when stunned
- Berserk because it's like having Mangle-Swipe for emergency situations where you get adds and need to pick up aggro NOW.
Notable passes:
- Feral Aggression because the damage reduction of this talent is very low for the cost.
- King of the Jungle because popping Enrage while main tanking isn't the best idea and this build produces enough threat without the extra damage.
- Master Shapeshifter because the points in Natural Shapeshifter are not very useful because a main tank rarely shifts in combat and 5 points for a 4% damage increase is expensive.
Variations:
The two points in Intensity provides instant rage so you can start a pull with enough rage to lay down sufficient initial threat. This talent can be skipped if your party members know to let you have a few seconds to lay down threat. Likewise, Brutal Impact may not be useful to you if you run with people who are on top of spell interupts.
These points can be moved in to Rend and Tear for extra threat as bosses will almost always have a bleed effect on them in practice. Depending on your play style, those points can also be moved to something else like Omen of Clarity (an excellent 1-point investment for cat DPS) or one of the other talents skipped, especially if you anticipate having to go DPS more than occasionally.
3.0.8 PvP Feral Tiger (80) (0/60/11)
With the upcoming changes, picking more talents in the feral tree is more useful than picking up Natural shapeshifter and Master shapeshifter. The feral tree picks up all major pvp talents and and Omen of clarity in restoration. This build also includes glyphs to the right but are mere suggestions.
3.0.3 Feral Druid PvP Build (0/57/14)
Rmember to use FB on bleeding targets, increasing the crit chance by 50%, with good gear you can have 70% crit chance after Resilience taken into account
http://www.wowhead.com/?talent=0ZEM0sfrd0xRhGuAo0Ecz
3.0.3 Anicarz's Pure PvP Build for Feral Druids (0/57/14)
Let me start off by saying that as a Feral Druid in PvP you NEED a few talents that the previous build did not include, let me explain and take some time to nit pick.
- - Nurturing Instinct is the only effective way to heal yourself, we have limited mana now due to the new itemization Blizzard has bestowed upon us. It converts agility into the spell power that was taken away from us basically.
- - Survival of the Fittest counts as roughly 492 resilience. Which would explain why feral druid gear has much less resilience to begin with and makes this arguably one of the best talents for Feral Druids in PvP, yet again this talent was not included above.
- - Feral Swiftness, STOP! Why was this not included above? This talent makes you move 30% faster than most enemies you will face.
- - Feral Instinct is sort of debatable, but could make a difference in an arena against other Feral Druids or Rogues.
- - Master Shapeshifter is put down by a lot of people, but look at it as about 328 resilience reduction for your enemy. Crits = Win!
- - King of the Jungle - 2/3 was on purpose due to most of the time you will not need the full effect 3/3 gives you.
Alright, I'm finished nit picking. Here's my recommended build for Feral PvP, Enjoy!
http://www.wowhead.com/?talent=0ZxGMsfbdbeR0IdAo0eczb
Patch 3.0.2 PvE Feral Tank (80) (0/55/16)
This spec takes under consideration the major changes in Talents, game mechanics and all the extra armor removed from Leather Armor. According to Blizzard, threat will be generated mostly through damage now. This is reflected in changes to talents.
http://wotlk.wowhead.com/?talent=0ZxGGscrzceocczAo0Eczb
Patch 3.0.2 PvE Feral Tank/DPS Build (80) (0/55/16)
As expertise items have been repeatedly spotted in WotLK gear, this stat may not be as important as it is now. Also, Infected Wounds, though it does slow damage taken also can prevent you from getting enough rage. It also may have little to no effect on future end-game bosses, so a spec resembling the following would perhaps be plausible for both tanking and DPS. The point in Imp. LotP can be moved to Survival Instincts if preferred.
http://wotlk.wowhead.com/?talent=0ZxGGcfbzcekc0uAo0Eczb
Patch 3.0.2 PvE Feral DPS (80) (0/55/16)
http://wotlk.wowhead.com/?talent=0ZEM0sfrzbeR0huAo0Eczb
Level 70
Patch 3.0.2 PvE Feral Tank (70) (0/52/9)
http://wotlk.wowhead.com/?talent=0ZxGGscrzceRcczho0v
Considered the best 70 talent spec, forsaking Omen of Clarity for Berserk which has more situational use at 70.
Patch 3.0.2 PvE Feral DPS (70) (0/50/11)
http://wotlk.wowhead.com/?talent=0ZxGMcfrd0eR0huVZ0E0z
Omen of clarity provides more DPS than Berserk as it stands right now.
Restoration
The restoration tree empowers the druid's heal over time spells (HOTS) and their other generic healing spells. Generally thought of as a AoE damage healer or support healer, they are fully capable of main healing a tank in most scenarios. With 3.0 blizzard gave tree form the ability to use healing touch and other large cast time/amount healed spells, further allowing them to heal large quantities quickly.
In PvP resto hyrbrids were considered one of the most dominant classes in arena due to a combination of HOTS, good CC, mobility and good mana regen.
In PvE resto druids have a variety of tools for efficiently and sustainably healing a large number of targets over time and buffering tanks against spike damage. Druids as healers are most able to remain mobile while healing. They also have unmatched panic buttons with the powerful nature's swiftness + healing touch combo, swiftmend and tranquility. PvE druids can choose to specialise in HoTs for steady, sustained healing over multiple targets, in nukes for powerful single target healing, or in a combination of both for a jack-of all trades ability.
Level 80
Patch 3.0.3 PvE Resto (80) (23/0/48)
Submitted by Foxxshapes - Eonar 23/0/48 The spec has a little more of pre 3.0 healing HoTs because you don't have Wild Growth and with the upcoming nerf you might just want to try out this spec. It's viable in pvp if you switch the Gift of the Earthmother with Natural Perfection also. Spec Highlights:
•12% Haste on Lifebloom, Rejuvenation, andWild Growth. •3% Overall Haste on All casting. •75% Damage Increase to Thorns. (Believe it or not...it's worth putting on tanks now.) •Increases your spellpower by 12% of your Int. (Scales with Brilliance and Kings) •Starfire now has a 15% chance to stun and Barkskin has a 15% chance to daze. (Soloing mobs and PvP Survivability)
Spec Downsides:
•No Wild Growth Talent. (Upcoming 6 second CD next patch.) •No Improved Regrowth. •No Living Seed.
Patch 3.0.3 PvE Resto (80) (15/0/56)
Focuses on HoTs and Living Seed. Takes all the improving HoTs talents, maximizes HPS by going into Balance and taking Nature's Splendor and Genesis. Also maximizes the healing of Regrowth by speccing into Living Seed. With Regrowth having a high crit chance, Living Seed is likely to proc often. For 3% more crit, points went into Natural Perfection though this can be optional. The key to this build is to stack mana regen (via int/spirit, not mp5) and spell power. You'll probably be in FSR most of the fight maintaining HoTs and Lifebloom.
http://www.wowhead.com/?talent=0VGouZZf0IubuxVuAhst
Patch 3.0.3 PvE Resto (80) (11/0/60)
Very flexible build that uses balance talents to emulate certain restoration talents to open up the Nature's Splendor talent to allow more flexibility in healing rotations, while saving talent points. Nature's Majesty replaces Natural Perfection to save one talent point with a very close effect, and Moonglow replaces Tranquil Spirit to save 2 talent points and only the Nourish skill is excluded from the reduced mana cost. Naturalist is replaced by Genesis to give more power to HoTs, but Empowered Touch still remains to make for a very powerful Nature's Swiftness->Healing Touch combination. You gain from this the additional Nature's Splendor talent, adding a tick or two to some of the best restoration HoTs, leaving you able to cast an additional spell or heal an additional target per rotation.
http://www.wowhead.com/?talent=0VG0zZZf0IubugiuVIst
Patch 3.0.3 PvP Resto (80) (14/12/45)
http://www.wowhead.com/?talent=0VG0uZVhhoZfVhu0uxizAh
Pure resto PVP build. Points spent in feral give better survivability; improved stealth and thick hide with of course Survival Instincts. Balance points are put mainly because Nature's Grace and very strong choice for one point, Nature's Splendor. This build however sacrifices tree of life form, which can also be considered good because of the ability to cast roots and cyclone.
Patch 3.0.2 PvE Resto (80) (11/0/60)
Fexible 5 man and raiding spec. Mana conservation with powerful HoTs and Nukes in rotation. Good for keeping your party/raid alive while still looking out for "Numero Uno"
http://www.wowhead.com/?talent=0VG0zZZf0IufugiuVhst
Patch 3.0.2 PvE Resto (80) (9/0/62)
Versatile jack of all trades spec for use of HoTs and nukes in rotation.
http://wotlk.wowhead.com/?talent=0VuZZfVhuVugiuVhst
Patch 3.0.2 PvE Resto (80) (28/0/43)
Druid nuke healer build- trades traditional HoT specialization and AE healing for superior mana efficiency and exceptional burst healing with nuke heals and regrowth.
http://www.wowhead.com/?talent=0VGcuzIohZZfVzuVuxizhh
Patch 3.0.2 PvE Resto (80) (14/0/57)
Power HoT build, sacrifices nuke healing for high power and efficiency of HoTs.
http://www.wowhead.com/?talent=0VG0uZZfccubutVuVIst
Patch 3.0.2 PvP Resto (80) (0/8/63)
http://www.wowhead.com/?talent=0ZV0hZcEcubuxizAIst
Level 70
Patch 3.0.3 PvP Resto (70) (4/0/57)
http://www.wowhead.com/?talent=0mZZfVcubuxizAhst
This build can also be used for dungeons and raids.
Patch 3.0.2 PvE Resto (70) (8/0/53)
http://www.wowhead.com/?talent=0VhZZf0IubuxVuVhst Moonglow
Patch 3.0.2 PvE Resto (70) (0/0/61)
http://www.wowhead.com/?talent=0ZZfVhuVuxiuVust (All in)
Patch 3.0.2 PvP Resto (70) (0/8/53)
http://www.wowhead.com/?talent=0ZV0hZcEcubuxbzAIsz - With Feral Aggression and Thick Hide.
Since 3.0.2 resto druids can both survive and heal in treeform. However it's impossible to kill anybody in treeform, and normal caster form is too vulnerable for pvp. This build improves your bearform so you can actually fight a duel and be less dependent on your teammates. Tip: Combine it with the Glyph of Healing Touch.
Restokin Builds
The concept of the restokin is to split your points between balance and restoration talents but making sure you spec deep enough into balance to acquire Moonkin. This build offers flexibility and is not uncommon to see in PvP and leveling as the combination of effective dps and healing is valuable in those situations. There are many variations to this build and the builds below shouldn't be considered the only restokin builds.
Level 80
Spirit Stacker (80) (35+/0+/35+)
The highlights of this build are mana regeneration and talent synergy between Improved Moonkin and Living Spirit. Dreamstate + Intensity will up your combat mana regeneration while Improved Moonkin and Living Spirit will both up your spell power and up your total spirit (thus upping your mana regeneration).
http://www.wowhead.com/?talent=0xG0uicoIzhZZf0IubuxVu
Spirit Stacker II (37/0/34)
This build trades Moonglow and Swiftmend in for Genesis.
http://www.wowhead.com/?talent=0EM0uicoIzhZZf0IubuxVh
Wrath Restokin (40/0/31)
The idea of this build is to add strong survivability to groups while having dps as primary role. In the balance tree it focuses on maximizing Wrath and Starfire, in the resto tree it picks Empowered Touch for healing bonus for Healing Touch wich can be used almost as paladins Lay on Hands along with Nature's Swiftness (preferably with a macro). - With just 3 min cooldown. It also takes Improved Tranquility because many bosses do AoE damage, and you will be able to avoid a decent amount of wipes with it when your main healer can't heal all or the tank loses aggro. But this build will also work for main healing in 5-mans when you got a well geared tank or perhaps backup healing in raids. You will need a lot of spell power and crit chance gear to be really useful in more demanding dungeons.
http://www.wowhead.com/?talent=0xG0uicoIzhVZZf0Iubugbz
Another option is to exchange Omen of Clarity, Improved Tranquility and Empowered Touch for Furor. It will slightly improve your dps in moonkin form but take away some of the healing tricks that is the point of this restokin.
http://www.wowhead.com/?talent=0xG0uicoIzhVZZfxIhbux0z
Uliana's Restokin Spec Lvl 80 - DPS and Healing capable (32/0/39)
Uliana's Restokin Spec Lvl 73 - Questing and 5-man Healing Capable (32/0/32)
Nature's Swiftness (50/0/21)
This build plays more off of a DPS build, but it utilizes the Nature's Swiftness spell for those times when the tank needs to be healed and the Main Healer can't keep up, or for those times when you aggro one too many mobs and need that instant heal (great for solo leveling). The last talent in the Balance section can be played around with. Choosing Gale Winds or Force of Nature is more for DPS (hurricane AoE increase by 15%, or Treant) and going with Nature's Splendor increases the length of your DoT and HoT spells.
http://www.wowhead.com/?talent=0xG0uiIoIzhAz0hZfxsubz (Nature's Splendor)
http://www.wowhead.com/?talent=0xG0hiIoIzhAzzhZfxsubz (Gale Winds)
http://www.wowhead.com/?talent=0xG0hiIoIzhAzohZfxsubz (Force of Nature)
Level 70
Spirit Stacker (70) (35/0/26)
http://www.wowhead.com/?talent=0xG0uicoIzhZZf0Iubux
Pre-3.0 Builds
External links
- http://forums.wow-europe.com/thread.html?topicId=304172583 - "Informative and useful Druid threads" - sticky thread on the EU Blizz class forum, listing most of the useful threads.
- http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=2215646573 - "Balance One-Stop Shop", Efejel's excellent post on equipment, stats, talents, etc. Currently out of date, but still contains many useful pieces of information.
- http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=10972109683 - "What 3.0 Means for (PvE) Moonkin", Efejel's thread on Moonkin 3.0.
-
ElitestJerks.com Efejel's Moonkin DPS spreadsheet discussion thread. The spreadsheet was an excellent resource for experimenting with gear and talent builds, and seeing how your theoretical dps and mana regeneration will work over fights of varying length. It is now sadly out of date, not updated for 3.0, but there is still a great deal of useful discussion in the thread.
-
ElitestJerks.com Theorycrafting Think Tank, Druid: Balance
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