Balance Druid PvP Guide (Legion 7.2.5)

Table of Contents

• 1. Spec Overview / Place in the Current Meta
• 2. Gear
• +3. Artifact Traits
  • 3.1. First Golden Trait
  • 3.2. Second Golden Trait
  • 3.3. Remaining Traits
• 4. Relics
• +5. Talent Choices
  • 5.1. Regular Talents
    • 5.1.1. Tier 1 (Level 15) Talents
    • 5.1.2. Tier 2 (Level 30) Talents
    • 5.1.3. Tier 3 (Level 45) Talents
    • 5.1.4. Tier 4 (Level 60) Talents
    • 5.1.5. Tier 5 (Level 75) Talents
    • 5.1.6. Tier 6 (Level 90) Talents
    • 5.1.7. Tier 7 (Level 100) Talents
  • 5.2. Honor Talents
    • 5.2.1. Tier 1 Talents
    • 5.2.2. Tier 2 Talents
    • 5.2.3. Tier 3 Talents
    • 5.2.4. Tier 4 Talents
    • 5.2.5. Tier 5 Talents
    • 5.2.6. Tier 6 Talents
• +6. Racial Bonuses
  • 6.1. Horde
  • 6.2. Alliance
• +7. Playstyle
  • 7.1. Before Gates Open
  • 7.2. Offensive Rotation
    • 7.2.1. The Opener
    • 7.2.2. Burst Damage
    • 7.2.3. Sustained damage
  • 7.3. Defensive Techniques
• 8. ChangeLog

Introduction

This guide will walk you through everything you need to know to play a Balance Druid in a PvP environment. The guide will cover everything from talent choices, artifacts, gameplay and rotation, and useful racial bonuses. It is most applicable to Arena content, but most talents and racial bonuses will work in Rated Battlegrounds and skirmishes.

About The Author

This guide has been written by Mysticall, a seasoned PvP player who has repeatedly achieved Arena Master and 2300 rating. You can watch his stream on Twitch, and you can also check out his YouTube channel.

1. Spec Overview / Place in the Current Meta

Balance Druids are known for strong spread pressure and securing a kill with a strong burst of single-target pressure. However, this has changed significantly. Balance Druids do use DoTs, but they are now known for their strong single-target damage and can easily kill an enemy in a stun.

2. Gear

With regards to gear, the biggest change in Legion is that there is no more PvP gear. Your strength in PvP will be determined based on the average item level of your gear (as displayed on your character sheet). For example, the base item level at level 110 is 800, so your stats in PvP will be adjusted accordingly. For every 10 item levels you gain, your stats are increased by 1%.

The implication is that it does not matter where your gear comes from, and all that matters is its item level. Gear from quests or PvE content is just as good as gear you get as a reward from PvP (which, in fact, will be very similar to PvE gear; there are no more PvP stats on gear).

Practically, you will simply look to collect gear with the highest item levels possible, and the stat distribution on the gear will not matter.

3. Artifact Traits

Below, we will explain what the recommended order for artifact traits is, if you wish to maximise your PvP potential. It is quite possible that your artifact path (at the time of reading this guide) differs from our suggestions. If this is the case, do not worry, and use the information below to help you understand your traits and guide your future choices.

If you have suddenly decided that you want to turn to PvP, the best thing to do in your artifact progression is continue to your closest Golden trait, and then follow the recommendations below. Picking up the most useful traits ( Bladed Feathers, Touch of the Moon, and Light of the Sun) along the way is a great way to boost your potential.

3.1. First Golden Trait

The first Golden trait you should go for is Power of Goldrinn.

1. Take Skywrath.
2. Take Falling Star. This makes your DoTs do significantly more damage when enemies are in the radius of your Starfall. Reapplying DoTs when they have this debuff is highly recommended.
3. Take Light of the Sun. This rewards you for successfully interrupting an enemy. Gaining access to your interrupt in PvP is crucial for getting crowd control and securing a kill faster.
4. Take Touch of the Moon. Although it does have a small chance of happening, this has the potential to save your life if you are being focused.
5. Take Power of Goldrinn. This is an increase to your already strong single target damage.

3.2. Second Golden Trait

The second Golden trait to take is Moon and Stars.

1. Take Dark Side of the Moon.
2. Take Twilight Glow. Moonfire is a crucial ability in the Balance Druid damage rotation, so increasing its damage is an overall damage increase.
3. Take Sunfire Burns. Sunfire is a crucial ability in the Balance Druid damage rotation, so increasing its damage is an overall damage increase.
4. Take Empowerment. This trait makes your single target damage much stronger.
5. Take Moon and Stars. The Haste granted from this trait while using Incarnation: Chosen of Elune is an overall damage increase.

3.3. Remaining Traits

After this, you should head for your last Golden Trait, Echoing Stars, picking up any remaining traits after that. Although there is no particular order needed, we would recommend you backtrack and take Scythe of the Stars, Sunblind, and Bladed Feathers.

4. Relics

Relics are disabled in PvP, so they are not a concern to you.

5. Talent Choices

Regular talents work in both PvP and PvE content (although they may sometimes work differently in the two environments, which is indicated by their tooltips). In other words, they are always active.

On the other hand, Honor talents are inactive outside of a PvP environment.

5.1. Regular Talents

5.1.1. Tier 1 (Level 15) Talents

If you are playing against a team with two melee on it, Warrior of Elune is the best choice in this tier. This will allow you to apply pressure even if you are the focus. If you are playing against a caster, Starlord is the best choice in this tier.

5.1.2. Tier 2 (Level 30) Talents

Renewal is the best choice in this tier. With how much damage classes can do it is crucial to have a strong self-heal. However, if you want to have extra mobility against melee or blink away from spells, Displacer Beast is the best choice in this tier. This gives you extra mobility to get away from enemies or avoid incoming damage.

5.1.3. Tier 3 (Level 45) Talents

Guardian Affinity is the best choice in this tier. This is a great talent when you are the focus for the enemy team. This greatly improves your survivability.

5.1.4. Tier 4 (Level 60) Talents

Mighty Bash is the best choice in this tier. This is best because you will usually be on only one target. This will help when you are using your burst cooldowns to get a kill, or as extra crowd control on the enemy team.

5.1.5. Tier 5 (Level 75) Talents

If the goal for your team is to apply spread pressure during the match, Soul of the Forest is the best choice in this tier. This will allow you to Starfall more frequently and is an increase to your overall spread pressure.

If the goal for your team is to have strong single-target pressure, Incarnation: Chosen of Elune is the best choice in this tier. This talent will give you the strongest single-target damage for killing an enemy.

5.1.6. Tier 6 (Level 90) Talents

Astral Communion is the best choice in this tier. This gives you on-demand damage. If you do not think the enemy team will focus you, Blessing of the Ancients is great for single target damage.

5.1.7. Tier 7 (Level 100) Talents

Stellar Drift is the best choice in this tier. The important part of this talent, is that you can cast while in the radius of Starfall. This will allow you to get more crowd control on the enemy team or do more damage.

5.2. Honor Talents

5.2.1. Tier 1 Talents

The best talent in this tier is Gladiator's Medallion, which provides a standard PvP trinket effect.

5.2.2. Tier 2 Talents

Mind Quickness is the best choice in this tier. Haste is an important stat for Balance Druids and this will directly increase your damage output.

5.2.3. Tier 3 Talents

If you are playing against at least one caster, Celestial Guardian is the best choice in this tier. This is improve your survivability against a caster that is focusing you.

If you are playing against two melee classes, Ironfeather Armor is the best choice in this tier. Against most melee teams, you will be their focus. This talent will allow you to take less damage and still maximize yours.

5.2.4. Tier 4 Talents

Eclipse is the best choice in this tier. This lets you use your major offensive cooldown more frequently.

5.2.5. Tier 5 Talents

Moonkin Aura is the best choice in this tier. This talent will give your team more consistent pressure.

5.2.6. Tier 6 Talents

Cyclone is the best choice in this tier. This is your primary crowd control ability.

6. Racial Bonuses

Racial bonuses can provide interesting PvP benefits. Here are the best races to choose for each faction.

6.1. Horde

Troll is the best race for Balance Druids, thanks to the ability ( Berserking) that gives you an on-demand Haste increase.

Tauren is the alternative race for Balance Druids, thanks to the passive increased critical strike ( Brawn) and the AoE stun ( War Stomp), which are very strong.

6.2. Alliance

The Night Elf bonus ( Shadowmeld) is a great way to avoid incoming crowd control.

7. Playstyle

Balance Druids have two roles when in an Arena match: use your strong single target damage to pressure the enemies and use your mobility/crowd control to set-up kills. Balance Druids have access to Cyclone, which is arguably the strongest crowd control in the game. An addition to Cyclone there is Entangling Roots and Mighty Bash. Ideally, you will want to Cyclone the enemy healer and Mighty Bash your kill target.

7.1. Before Gates Open

Have a plan for who you will be mainly using your crowd control on. Balance Druids have two powerful crowd control abilities in the form of Mighty Bash and Cyclone that can be used on kill targets or the enemy healer. They also have Entangling Roots, which is great when used against melee classes.

Use Prowl so you will not be focused immediately or so you can get an early Cyclone on the enemy healer.

7.2. Offensive Rotation

One unique thing about Balance Druids is that they have two schools of spells. Keep this in mind and try to use it to your advantage; for example, if you are interrupted while casting Full Moon, you can still cast Cyclone on an enemy. This is very important to maximizing your win potential.

7.2.1. The Opener

The opener refers to your team's opening crowd control chain and damage done as soon as you get out of the gates. The main goal in the opener is to force your enemies to use their cooldowns.

If the enemy healer uses their trinket in the opener, they are in trouble. In the opener, Feral Druids should focus on quickly and applying their bleeds to multiple enemies.

This is the rotation you should use on your target at the beginning of the game.

1. Use Moonfire on all targets.
2. Use Sunfire on all targets.
3. Use Starsurge to consume Astral Power.
   • Starsurge gives you two buffs, Lunar Empowerment and Solar Empowerment.
   • These buffs have a maximum of 3 stacks each and one stack is consumed when you use Solar Wrath or Lunar Strike respectively.
4. Cast New Moon on your main target to generate Astral Power.
5. Cast Half Moon on your main target to generate Astral Power.
6. Use Solar Wrath to generate Astral Power.
7. Cast Starfall to spend Astral Power and allow you to cast while moving.

7.2.2. Burst Damage

When you have the enemy healer in crowd control and you are trying to kill an enemy, you use your burst damage.

1. Use Incarnation: Chosen of Elune.
2. If you are a Troll, use Berserking.
3. Cast Full Moon.
4. Cast Starsurge.
5. Use Astral Communion.
6. Use Starsurge.
7. Use Starsurge.
8. Use Warrior of Elune.
9. Use Lunar Strike.
10. Use Lunar Strike.
11. Use Lunar Strike.
12. Use Starsurge.
13. For the remainder of Incarnation: Chosen of Elune:
    1. Maintain Moonfire and Sunfire.
    2. Generate Astral Power with New Moon (and its other versions).
    3. Generate Astral Power with Solar Wrath or Lunar Strike.
    4. Spend Astral Power on Starsurges.
    5. Land a kill with a Full Moon.

7.2.3. Sustained damage

Sustained damage is damage you do when your burst cooldowns are not available.

1. Maintain Moonfire on all targets.
2. Maintain Sunfire on all targets.
3. Use Starsurge to consume Astral Power.
4. Alternate between Solar Wrath and Lunar Strike to generate Astral Power.
5. Cast New Moon and Half Moon.
6. Use Starfall.

7.3. Defensive Techniques

Bear Form is your primary defensive ability Druids have. When you see incoming damage on you, it is a good idea to use Bear Form. When using the Guardian Affinity talent, you get great defensive abilities such as Frenzied Regeneration. This is best used when the enemy has used their cooldowns and your team is trying to stabilize your health.

Entangling Roots is a great ability when playing against melee. You can use this to help you or your teammates get distance between them and an enemy.

Balance Druid mobility also helps with survivability. Dash can be used when running after enemies or when you are in trouble. If you are not slowed or rooted, this is effective for kiting enemies.

Displacer Beast will help you avoid any incoming damage that the enemy team could be casting or to create a gap between you and a melee player.

8. ChangeLog

+ show all entries - show only 10 entries

• 12 Jul. 2017: Changed recommended talent for Tier 2 regular talents.
• 04 May 2017: Guide was created.