Balance Druid DPS Spec, Builds, and Talents — The War Within Pre-Patch
On this page, you will find out the best talents for each tier for your Balance Druid in World of Warcraft — The War Within Pre-Patch. We also have default talent lists for various types of content, such as raiding or Mythic+. If you play with Warmode on, we have your PvP talents covered as well.
If you were looking for WotLK Classic content, please refer to our WotLK Classic Balance Druid talents.
Best Dragonflight Talents for Balance Druid
Note that these builds are generic recommendations for various content. For more specific recommendations for the Raid and Mythic+, check out the dedicated pages below.
Best Talents for Balance Druid
Best Single-Target Talents for Balance Druid
This build is optimal for pure single-target situations.
Be sure to make use of the 'Copy Export String' button to import the best build directly into your game!
This is our recommended build for AoE scenarios. This works well for AoE Fights in Raids, as well as most Mythic+.
Be sure to make use of the 'Copy Export String' button to import the best build directly into your game!
Note that we do not explain EVERY Talent in the tree on this page. We only explain Talents that are part of our optimal builds for single-target and AoE. For full details and explanations of every Talent, please visit our Spells page via the button below.
Class Talents
Row 1-4
![]() | A necessary node for AoE and pathing. Generates Astral Power |
![]() | Essential DoT for our Mastery. |
![]() | An essential shapeshift for Balance Druid. |
![]() | Needed to spread our DoT on AoE. |
![]() | Buffs damage and healing. |
![]() | Strong self-healing spell that requires Bear Form. |
![]() | Our main form of damage reduction. |
![]() | You can often choose between utility based on the encounter or on mobility. |
Row 5-7
![]() | One of the straightforward Damage increases on the class tree. |
![]() | Must choose mobility option. Generally used as a disengage. |
![]() | Increases range and is a must pick for pathing. |
![]() | Increases Damage and Healing or Versatility. Instances always grant Versatility. |
![]() | A utility option that knocks mobs. First point to drop if not needed. |
![]() | Increases group speed and is a must choose talent. |
![]() | Flat damage reduction is always good. |
![]() | Provides additional survivability with ![]() |
![]() | A solid self heal option. Generally taken in all situations. |
Row 8-10
![]() | A necessary pathing node for our primary utility spells as well as a nice boost in damage to our DoTs |
![]() | A substantial DPS increase and is a mandatory pick. |
![]() ![]() | Crowd Control depending on your needs. |
![]() | Low health protection. 1-point is acceptable. |
![]() | A potent healer external. |
![]() | A strong group heal that you should pair with your cooldowns. |
Spec Talents
Row 1-4
![]() | Our core passive and mandatory to progress. |
![]() | Strong passive Astral Power generation that feeds into other talents later. |
![]() | Our AoE interrupt |
![]() | This is used for single target to enter Solar Eclipse quickly. |
![]() | Our AoE spender. Taken when you are cleaving 2 targets. |
![]() | Used to spread ![]() |
![]() | Increase Critical Strike chance of some spells and increases their Astral Power generation. |
![]() | A strong passive that synergizes with ![]() ![]() |
![]() | Taken when you need to extend your DoTs on sustained multi-target. |
![]() | Sometimes used on council fights where the targets are too spread to consistently apply ![]() |
Row 5-7
![]() | This buffs our AoE spender. Often taken when you will primarily be casting ![]() |
![]() | Our main cooldown. The entire rotation revolves around this buff's uptime. |
![]() | Reduces the cooldown of ![]() ![]() |
![]() | A passive DoT that helps proc ![]() |
![]() | Buffs the generator associated with the current ![]() ![]() ![]() |
![]() | A passive debuff that increases our damage to a target if they have 3 debuffs applied to them. |
![]() | Increases Astral Power generation of our builders depending on our Eclipse. |
![]() | A passive buff that procs at the end of an Eclipse. This allows us to enter ![]() |
![]() | Provides a stacking Haste buff. High uptime of 3-stacks is vital to maximizing DPS. Pool Astral Power at the end of each Starlord window. |
![]() | A passive that increases our DoT tick rate. This affects ![]() |
![]() | A strong buff that boosts the damage of our generators and converts their damage to Astral. |
Row 8-10
![]() ![]() | Two strong rotation defining passives. Rattle the Stars is generally the go-to passive, which is a flat passive buff that increases damage and reduces resource costs. Starweaver can be taken on some hybrid fights but is generally outshone by the former option. |
![]() | A strong passive proc that increases our single target damage. |
![]() | Improves ![]() |
![]() | Pairs well with the cooldown reduction of ![]() |
![]() ![]() | A vital spell cooldown for Balance Druid. New Moon is taken on single target, and Fury of Elune is taken on cleave and AoE. |
![]() | A stacking buff that increases your damage in the current ![]() |
![]() | Improves the damage and cooldown of ![]() ![]() |
![]() | DoTs can spawn dragons to fight with you for 30-seconds. |
Mythic+
Mythic+ can require a mix of AoE and Single-Target talents, depending on affixes and other variables. You should check out our page below if you want advice specific to Mythic+.
Rotation for Balance Druid Talents
Some talents will require you to play in a particular way to get the most out of them. You can find more information on how your rotation will look after selecting your talents on our rotation page below.
PvP Talents (War Mode)
There will be the option to go into "War Mode." Enabling War Mode provides the following benefits:
- PvP Talents enabled in the outdoor world.
- 10% increase in World Quest rewards at maximum level.
- 10% more experience gained while leveling.
With the benefits of enabling War Mode for leveling and PvE content, it is recommended enabling the feature to maximize your leveling and rewards at maximum level. However, you will make yourself available for open-world PvP, and the possibility of being killed while leveling or doing World Quests exists.
In this section, we will list the PvP Talents best for leveling and doing solo / small group PvE content. Note that these may not be optimal in actual PvP situations.
Star Burst is a passive effect that calls down falling stars on enemies during
Starfall. Enemies who run into this take damage and get knocked up. Allies can pick these up and run into enemies to detonate them.
Moonkin Aura is amazing for group combat and strong for solo content. This can buff all members in your party and help finish quests and rares faster. We would recommend this for all group content.
Thorns can provide minimal peel or damage in open-world content.
Malorne's Swiftness will let you move at 100% Movement Speed even while in combat. Great for open-world content.
Changelog
- 23 Jul. 2024: Updated for The War Within PrePatch.
- 07 May 2024: Reviewed for 10.2.7.
- 22 Apr. 2024: Updated for Season 4.
- 19 Mar. 2024: Reviewed for Patch 10.2.6.
- 15 Jan. 2024: Reviewed for Patch 10.2.5.
- 06 Nov. 2023: Updated for Patch 10.2.0.
- 04 Sep. 2023: Updated for Patch 10.1.7
- 10 Jul. 2023: Updated for Patch 10.1.5.
- 01 May 2023: Updated for Patch 10.1.0.
- 20 Mar. 2023: Reviewed for Patch 10.0.7.
- 24 Jan. 2023: Reviewed and updated for Patch 10.0.5.
- 21 Dec. 2022: Updated Starweaver versus Rattle the Stars.
- 11 Dec. 2022: Updated broken talent links.
- 28 Nov. 2022: Updated for Dragonflight launch.
- 15 Nov. 2022: Updated talent recommendations.
- 25 Oct. 2022: Updated for Dragonflight pre-patch.
More Druid Guides
Guides from Other Classes
This was written by Borabank, a Balance Druid theorycrafter and raider in Muscle Memory. You can watch him on his Twitch channel or in the Dreamgrove Discord server.
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