World of Warcraft: Forever Balance Druid Guide

Balance Druids in Forever have a great rotation where Nature and Arcane direct damage and damage-over-time spells are twisted and alternated in order to deal maximize DPS. You'll also bring a massive crit chance buff to your group, and you get to play as a Moonkin - a unique-looking "bird" with some of the best emotes in the game.

As a Druid player you are a natural shapeshifter. In addition to your Moonkin Form, you can use Bear Form to tank a hit or two, Travel Form and Aquatic Form to travel quickly via land or sea and Cat Form if you need to stealth through a difficult part of a dungeon or outdoor area. Druid can also fill any of the four roles in the game which makes it very easy to fit into any team you like.

Your major choice early on is between the cast time and cost reduction of Improved Wrath against the pushback resistance of Nature's Focus. I've picked the former because you generally end up with a better effective cast time anyway and the mana savings are very significant. It also means we will get deeper Balance talents earlier.

On the next row, Nature's Reach will reduce the chances your spells miss by a significant amount. The extra range will also be very helpful for grabbing enemies with Moonfire. Moonglow further reduces the amount of time you'll spend not casting spells. Pick Nature's Splendor as soon as you are able to, since it is both a big damage and survivability increase due to the way we are killing enemies.

At Level 25, you can take Insect Swarm which you will cast on enemies after Moonfire in order to deal additional instant-cast damage. We recommend Nature's Focus for your final points, but these are very flexible. We do not have much crit chance while leveling, so the talents that rely on critting like Vengeance are lower value than they will be at max level.

Here you will find some information on how to use all your spells to get the most out of your Balance Druid toolkit and spellbook.

Your rotation during Beta will be very straightforward. You'll keep Moonfire active on any targets in combat with you, then you will cast Wrath. At Level 25, add Insect Swarm to your rotation after you apply Moonfire. Unfortunately we won't be learning the powerful, AoE spell Hurricane until the games full release since it is learned at Level 40.

At Level 10, your class trainer will offer you a quest to unlock your first form: Bear Form. At Level 20, you will be able to unlock Cat Form in the same way. These quests are fairly fast and are very immersive so we highly recommend you do them. Cat Form will let you Prowl, and Bear Form will let you Bash; and you can tank for groups with it too!

Prowl is a stealth-mechanic that greatly reduces how far enemies will aggro to you. Avoid standing on top of enemies since it isn't full invisibility, but you can use it to avoid dangerous situations by avoiding mobs entirely. Remember that it can only be used out of combat! If you Prowl and a mob has an eye above them, then beware because they have "true sight" and can see you anyway!

At Level 14, you will unlock a class quest to learn Cure Poison. It too is worth doing since you will often be the only person in a group that can remove poison effects.

Even during the lower levels, you should be aware of which kinds of crowd control (or CC) you have.

Entangling Roots is a single target ability that immobilizes the target. This means that they won't be able to move, and if no allies are in range they won't attack either. Rooted targets will eventually break out when they take enough damage. If you accidentally pull an extra mob, consider rooting it while you kill the first.

Bash is a single target stun ability that requires you be in Bear Form. It is a little impractical to use often since having to swap forms is slow, and it costs a little Rage which we won't have when we swap forms.

Gear has changed a lot from Classic, and itemization is significantly different. With the level cap increase to 30, give us a few days to properly discover all the new gear added to the game before we flesh out the gear section.

Here's a quick brief about what each stat does. It'll be useful if you're coming to Forever from Midnight, or if you're new to the game.

1. Intellect
   • Increases your mana pool. Increases your crit chance by a small amount. Present on a lot of gear.
2. Spell Power
   • Increases the damage your spells do.
3. Spirit
   • Increases your mana regeneration when you haven't been casting for five seconds. The Restoration Reflection talent will let some of this mana regeneration continue at all times, though we won't have that yet at Level 30.
4. MP5 ("Mana per 5")
   • Restores mana every 5 seconds regardless of whether you are actively casting or not.
5. Critical Strike
   • Gives your spells (including damage-over-time effects) a chance to deal more damage.
6. Haste
   • Reduces your spell cast times. Does not affect the damage or tick rate of your damage-over-time effects.

For Beta, focus on equipping your highest level pieces in general. Favor spell power and intellect where possible. Haste can greatly improve how responsive the spec feels while leveling but you're unlikely to find much of it on low level gear. This is not max level advice. It will change as we learn more about the game and what will be available at later levels.

Consumables usually fall into two categories:

• In-combat Potions and Flasks / Elixirs that give you in-combat benefits like extra damage or that restore health or mana.
• Out-of-combat food and drinks that allow you to restore health and mana. These are essential since you will need to drink to full mana after every few enemies. As a class with self-healing, food is somewhat less important but can still be convenient. Some food will also give you an in-combat buff.

Water is the most important thing to have in your inventory when leveling and doing dungeons. Examples include Refreshing Spring Water, Crisp Spring Water, Ice Cold Milk, and Melon Juice, but there can be some variations across difference starting zones. You will get a new type of water roughly every 5 levels. The Mage class can also conjure food and water for you. Feel free to ask them if you are grouped with one!

Some food gives you an experience bonus which can make them an appealing choice while leveling. These foods usually require Cooking to make, which is a secondary profession that you can level up alongside your primary professions. You can make these even with quite a low cooking level. Here are some examples:

• Brilliant Smallfish - You can get the materials via the Fishing secondary profession.
• Herb Baked Egg - Requires Small Egg which drops off many enemies.
• Dry Pork Ribs - Requires Boar Ribs which drops off pig-like enemies.

Healing Potions are available from the earliest levels, either from enemy drops, treasure chests you sfind out in the world, or via the First Aid profession. Examples include Minor Healing Potion and Lesser Healing Potion. Crafting them yourself via the First Aid secondary profession requires herbs which you can pick yourself if you opted into the Herbalism profession, or from the auction house if you did not. You won't need a massive supply, but it is very valuable to have 5-10 on you at all times.

Similarly, mana potions can save you during tough pulls where you accidentally pull multiple enemies or if you get attacked while you were attempting to stop and drink. These are crafted via the Alchemy profession, but also drop from enemies out in the world sometimes.

Flasks and Elixirs are not essential while leveling and if you are not an Alchemist, then they can be expensive for a minimal gain. If you are an Alchemist, or want to prepare for a dungeon you expect to be difficult, then look out for some of the following:

• Minor Arcane Elixir - Available early. Increases your damage by a small amount.
• Lesser Arcane Elixir - A more powerful version that unlocks at Level 25.

More WoW Forever Druid Guides

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