Mists of Pandaria Classic Balance Druid Rotation and Cooldowns
On this page, you will learn how to optimize the rotation of your Balance Druid in both single-target and multi-target PvE situations in Mists of Pandaria Classic. We also have advanced sections about cooldowns, procs, etc. in order to minmax your DPS.
Balance Druid Rotations
If you have not already, we recommend going through the Spell Summary guide first. Knowing how each spell and ability works in detail will greatly increase your understanding of the rotation suggestions below.
Balance Druid Rotations
Single-Target Rotation
Make sure to keep your party buffed with 
Mark of the Wild and debuff bosses
and other long lasting enemies with 
Faerie Fire. Also, use the pull timer
to set up triple 
Wild Mushrooms where enemies will be once you reach your
first Solar 
Eclipse, at which point they should be detonated, taking
advantage of the Eclipse damage bonus.
The most important thing in the pre-pull is to use 
Astral Communion to
get close to entering Eclipse without actually entering it, as pulling
cancels most temporary buffs. Typically this means hitting 50 Lunar Energy to allow
for a pre-casted 
Wrath, but you might want to go higher if pre-casting
is not possible in the encounter.
Cooldown sequencing is also very important as Balance, and something we discuss at detailed length in its own section below.
In single-target you will look towards the following priority, which can continue being used in fights with priority targets or 3 or less enemies in range provided you use your damage over time effects on all available enemies:
- Apply and refresh
Sunfire and 
Moonfire; - Use
Starfall whenever you enter Lunar 
Eclipse; - Cast
Starsurge on cooldown whenever inside an Eclipse; - When not in an Eclipse, work towards your next one by casting either
Starfire in Lunar Eclipse or 
Wrath in Solar Eclipse, and continuing
to cast each spell until you enter the next Eclipse.
AoE Rotation
The rotation is similar when facing 4+ enemies, but in such cases you should
prioritize multi-dotting and spending 
Shooting Stars procs on priority
targets:
- Apply and refresh Sunfire and Moonfire;
- Use Starfall whenever you enter Lunar Eclipse;
- Cast Starsurge whenever possible on priority targets;
- Channel
Hurricane while inside any Eclipse against 5+ enemies; - When not in an Eclipse, work towards your next one by casting either
Starfire in Lunar Eclipse or Wrath in Solar Eclipse, and continuing
to cast each spell until you enter the next Eclipse.
Cooldowns
Celestial Alignment and 
Incarnation are your main DPS cooldowns and
should be used along with temporary power ups such as trinket procs, 
Bloodlust,
and 
Potion of the Jade Serpent as much as possible.
Because of Incarnation having double the duration of Celestial Alignment,
you should try to activate it as you enter a Lunar Eclipse and use Celestial
Alignment as soon as you come out of the Eclipse for maximum DPS bonus.
Regardless of ideal buff timings, the main consideration for DPS is to get maximum uses of these cooldowns in a fight, so if you can deal damage with them and will be losing a use in the fight by holding them back, it is better to use them in sub-optimal situations.
Remember to use your utility abilities as well:
Typhoon to reposition enemies or mass interrupt casts;
Solar Beam to mass silence groups of enemies;
Rebirth to combat ress anyone who dies;
Innervate to recover Mana once you are at 70% or less;
Stampeding Roar to increase movement speed during heavy movement mechanics.
