Balance Druid DPS Guide — Dragonflight 10.0.7

Last updated on Mar 20, 2023 at 14:16 by Bora 86 comments
General Information

Welcome to our Balance Druid guide for World of Warcraft — Dragonflight 10.0.7. Here, you will learn how to play as a Balance Druid in both raids and Mythic+ dungeons: from the very beginning to maximizing your DPS.

If you were looking for WotLK Classic content, please refer to our WotLK Classic Balance Druid guide.

1.

Balance Druid Overview

The Balance specialization provides an entertaining and challenging rotation, and it performs well in terms of both single and multiple target DPS.

Balance Druids shine in multiple target fights due to their ability to multi-DoT and hit every target. However, while Balance Druid multi-target is strong, it still requires some set-up/ramp-up time and is not considered burst damage. This can lead to Balance Druids being less optimal when your group needs to burst many targets.

For single-target, Balance Druids do well. The rotation for single-target is more linear than that of multi-target requiring less prep time and less knowledge of the fight. You work to spend Astral Power as you get it unless you otherwise need it for some sort of burst scenario.

The other main goal of the rotation is to cycle through Eclipse, your main buff. There are several talents influenced by entering or leaving Eclipse which incentivizes you to always be in an Eclipse state.

2.

Strengths and Weaknesses

V Strengths
  • +Excels on hybrid and multi-target encounters without sacrificing priority damage
  • +Great utility using Heals and numerous single and multi-target crowd control
  • +Great spread damage
X Weaknesses
  • -Some ramp time on multiple target encounters
  • -Can struggle to do damage on the move
  • -Can be difficult to play some encounter types for newer players
  • -Lower single target damage
3.

Dragonflight Changes for Druids

We are maintaining a list of changes for Druids, so you can see what changes with every patch of Dragonflight.

4.

Patch 10.0.7 changes for Balance Druid

Balance Druid received no changes other than a PvP change to Stellar Flare Icon Stellar Flare. If dispelled, a Star Burst Icon Star Burst will hit the dispeller, damaging and knocking them back.

5.

Patch 10.0.5 changes for Balance Druids

Balance Druid recieved some changes in the most recent Patch, Patch 10.0.5.

  • A class and specialization tree overhaul. Including positional changes and point allocation changes.
  • Circle of Life and Death Icon Circle of Life and Death removed and replaced with Cosmic Rapidity Icon Cosmic Rapidity which has the same effect with no downside.
  • Lunar Eclipse and Umbral Intensity Icon Umbral Intensity now increase Starfire Icon Starfires cleave damage instead of its Critical Strike chance.
5.1.

Is Balance Druid Viable in Dragonflight?

While tuning is ever ongoing in the Blizzard office, the tools that Balance Druid has at its disposal are as good as they have ever been. Lots of utility options as well as strong talent builds for single-target, multi-target, and hybrid encounters should make them a high-priority class in most dungeon, raid, and PvP groups.

6.

Leveling a Balance Druid

Leveling as a Balance Druid is easy when geared, but a bit rougher when undergeared. Balance Druid has a 45-yard range, DoTs and Starfall Icon Starfall to rot packs, and plenty of crowd control. You can often pull larger groups of mobs as a Balance Druid with a bit of running and some clever uses of our crowd control and mobility.

If you want to play a Balance Druid, but currently do not have one at max level, you can check out our leveling guide for tips on your journey.

At max level you can start to focus on sharpening your skills and one good way to do that is by using the right tools. Our addons and macro page goes over several useful macros to enhance your gameplay as well as suggestions on how to search for the right Balance Bar.

7.

The Basics of Balance Druid

Balance Druid has a single target and multi-target rotation which both require good DoT uptime, and proper building and spending of Astral Power. Cooldowns should be used as they come up unless they can be used at a better opportunity without losing a use over the period.

Balance Druid has an Eclipse cycle-based gameplay loop. Your main Eclipse will be Lunar Eclipse in all situations and you will cast Wrath Icon Wrath as your main filler in Lunar Eclipse. During Celestial Alignment Icon Celestial Alignment you will be affected by both Solar and Lunar Eclipse and you will cast Wrath Icon Wrath. On multi-target, you will cast Starfire Icon Starfire.

On a single target, you will use your cooldowns as they come up or when you can stack multiple cooldowns together. You will use Starsurge Icon Starsurge as your way to spend Astral Power. On multiple targets, you will instead cast Starfall Icon Starfall as your main way to spend Astral Power.

If you are a beginner, you should head over to the Easy Mode page as well as the Spell Summary page to brush up on the basics. There you will learn what each spell does and how you can start learning your rotation.

If you are pretty familiar with the basics and want to learn to min-max more with your talent selection and rotation head over to the appropriate pages at the link below.

8.

How to Gear up as a Balance Druid

Item level is generally king for the most part. Use Raidbots to sim your character and find what gear is best out of all the viable options. Using our knowledge of the class we should be able to rule out downgrades quickly. Lower item level pieces, socketed vs non-socketed, does it have our premium stat? These are all questions to consider when sifting through our gear. Learn more about simming on our simulations page.

Once you are brushed up on the basics and gearing up well, you want to further boost your numbers. Using the proper foods, enchants, and gems will beget a sizeable damage boost.

9.

End-Game as a Balance Druid

Balance Druid does take a fair amount of skill and prep work to excel in raids and Mythic+. Planning out long cooldowns as well as movement in relation to boss mechanics and dungeon routes takes both practice and information. The raid, mythic+, and pvp guides will go over those nuances and more.

10.

Improving as a Balance Druid

If you are struggling to pull the numbers you want or dealing with mechanics, you can check out some of our resources on how to improve as well as other frequently asked questions that can come even after reading the guide.

11.

Changelog

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