Druid Leveling Guide 1-120 Battle for Azeroth (BfA) 8.1

Table of Contents

• 1. General Battle for Azeroth Leveling Tips
• +2. Leveling 1-120 as a Balance Druid
  • 2.1. Gear Options
  • 2.2. Level by Level Rotation and Talents
    • 2.2.1. Talents to Level Up as a Balance Druid
    • 2.2.2. Rotation to Level Up as a Balance Druid
    • 2.2.3. Summary of Unlocked Abilities for Balance Druids
  • 2.3. Balance Druid War Mode Talents for Leveling
    • 2.3.1. General PvP Talents
    • 2.3.2. Balance Druid PvP Talents for Leveling
  • 2.4. Legendary Options
  • 2.5. Quest Rewards
  • 2.6. Consumables
    • 2.6.1. Gunshoes Macro
  • 2.7. Congratulations!
• +3. Leveling 1-120 as a Feral Druid
  • 3.1. Gear Options
  • 3.2. Level by Level Rotation and Talents
    • 3.2.1. Talents to Level Up as a Feral Druid
    • 3.2.2. Rotation to Level Up as a Feral Druid
    • 3.2.3. Summary of Unlocked Abilities for Feral Druid
  • 3.3. Feral Druid War Mode Talents for Leveling
    • 3.3.1. General PvP Talents
    • 3.3.2. Feral Druid PvP Talents for Leveling
  • 3.4. Legendary Options
  • 3.5. Quest Rewards
  • 3.6. Consumables
    • 3.6.1. Gunshoes Macro
  • 3.7. Congratulations!
• +4. Leveling 1-120 as a Guardian Druid
  • 4.1. Gear Options
  • 4.2. Level by Level Rotation and Talents
    • 4.2.1. Talents to Level Up as a Guardian Druid
    • 4.2.2. Rotation to Level Up as a Guardian Druid
    • 4.2.3. Summary of Unlocked Abilities for Guardian Druids
  • 4.3. Guardian Druid War Mode Talents for Leveling
    • 4.3.1. General PvP Talents
    • 4.3.2. Guardian Druid PvP Talents for Leveling
  • 4.4. Legendary Options
  • 4.5. Quest Rewards
  • 4.6. Consumables
    • 4.6.1. Gunshoes Macro
• +5. Leveling 1-120 as a Restoration Druid
  • 5.1. Gear Options
  • 5.2. Level by Level Rotation and Talents
    • 5.2.1. Talents to Level Up as a Restoration Druid
    • 5.2.2. Rotation to Level Up as a Restoration Druid
    • 5.2.3. Summary of Unlocked Abilities for Restoration Druids
  • 5.3. Restoration Druid War Mode Talents for Leveling
    • 5.3.1. General PvP Talents
    • 5.3.2. Restoration Druid PvP Talents for Leveling
  • 5.4. Legendary Options
  • 5.5. Quest Rewards
  • 5.6. Consumables
    • 5.6.1. Gunshoes Macro
  • 5.7. Congratulations!
• 6. Changelog

1. General Battle for Azeroth Leveling Tips

Welcome! While this leveling guide is specifically made for the class and specialization(s) listed, we also have a general Battle for Azeroth leveling guide that focuses on the specific features of the Battle for Azeroth expansion including preparation of your mission table that will be used to unlock new areas, progressing on your faction's War Effort to save time at Level 120, and a reminder to keep ALL of the gear you find for the Scrap-o-Matic 1000 or Shred-Master Mk1, which will greatly increase your resource generating capabilities. Please visit our 110 to 120 leveling guide for this information and more (including Heirloom and War Mode advice that also applies to players who are not yet Level 110.

2. Leveling 1-120 as a Balance Druid

2.1. Gear Options

When leveling up, you should always choose the piece of loot with the highest item level. The only exception to this rule is if you have a Ring or Necklace with a slightly lower item level, but 2 secondary stats on it instead of 1.

2.2. Level by Level Rotation and Talents

Move the slider below to make the guide update to your level!

2.2.1. Talents to Level Up as a Balance Druid

Your first talent row unlocks at Level 15.

Your talent set up should be as follows.

• Level 15: Force of Nature
• Level 30: Tiger Dash
• Level 45: Guardian Affinity
• Level 60: Typhoon
• Level 75: Soul of the Forest
• Level 90: Twin Moons
• Level 100: Fury of Elune

2.2.2. Rotation to Level Up as a Balance Druid

Starting at Level 1, you only have one main attack ability: Solar Wrath.

1. At Level 20, you can enter Moonkin Form. Any time you are dealing damage, be in Moonkin Form.
2. Cast Moonfire and maintain it on the targets.
3. Cast Sunfire and maintain it on all targets.
4. Cast Sunfire and maintain it on all targets. Sunfire has an 8-yard splash radius, so hit as many targets as possible.
5. Cast Celestial Alignment when available. You can also save this for bosses or rare mobs.
6. Cast Force of Nature on cooldown. You can also save these to taunt a group of mobs off the tank or yourself.
7. Cast Fury of Elune on cooldown but try to save to cleave on 3+ targets.
8. Cast Solar Wrath.
9. Cast Solar Wrath to build up Astral Power.
10. Cast Solar Wrath and build up Astral Power or when you have a stack of Solar Empowerment.
11. Cast Starsurge when you have 40 Astral Power.
12. If there are more than two targets, spend your Astral Power on Starfall.
13. Cast Lunar Strike when you have a charge of Lunar Empowerment or when you can hit more than one target.

2.2.3. Summary of Unlocked Abilities for Balance Druids

You learn your first ability of interest at Level 3.

• At Level 3, you learn Moonfire, the first of your two DoTs.
• At Level 5, you can use Regrowth, which will be your main form of personal healing.
• At Level 8, Druids will learn Cat Form. This is the first of 4 main Druid shapeshifts. Additionally, you learn Dash, a major mobility cooldown that puts you into Cat Form.
• At Level 10, you learn your second shapeshift, Bear Form. This is your defensive form.
• At Level 10, you also learn Starsurge. This is your main single target spender.
• At Level 12, you learn Lunar Strike as well as Lunar Empowerment and Solar Empowerment. Empowerments are generated through using Starsurge.
• At Level 12, you learn Lunar Strike as well as Lunar Empowerment and Solar Empowerment. Empowerments are generated through casting Starsurge as well as through the passive Eclipse.
• At Level 13, you can shift into Bear Form and cast Growl to taunt mobs off of other party members.
• At Level 14, you learn Revive. This can resurrect fallen party members and friends.
• At Level 16, you learn your second main DoT, Sunfire. This DoT splashes 8 yards and afflicts all targets hit with a Nature damage over time effect.
• At Level 18, you learn the third shapeshift Travel Form. Travel form adapts based on your riding skill and location. In the water, Travel Form becomes Aquatic Form.
• At Level 18, you learn the third shapeshift Travel Form. Travel form adapts based on your riding skill and location. In the water, Travel Form becomes Aquatic Form. In a zone that allows flying mounts, casting Travel Form instead becomes Flight Form.
• At Level 20, you learn Moonkin Form. This is your final main shapeshift and your main form during combat.
• At Level 24, you learn Entangling Roots. Cast this on strong melee enemies to give yourself some room to DPS before they can attack you.
• At Level 26, you learn Barkskin which is your only defensive ability that keeps you in Moonkin Form.
• At Level 40, you learn your multi-target spender Starfall. Spend your Astral Power on Starfall when there are more than three enemies.
• At Level 42, you can resurrect party members in combat using Rebirth.
• At Level 48, you gain access to your only base offensive cooldown Celestial Alignment. Use this when you need to burst an enemy or do additional multi-target damage.
• At Level 50, cast Innervate on your parties healer to make all of their casts free for 12 seconds.
• At Level 60, you learn the Eclipse passive which grants you more Empowerments outside of just casting Starsurge.
• At Level 78, you unlock Mastery: Starlight. This increases the damage dealt by your Empowerments, Starfall, Starsurge, Moonfire, and also Sunfire.
• At Level 80, you learn Solar Beam. This is your interrupt which kicks the targets spell cast and leaves a blanket silence zone in the area for eight seconds.

2.3. Balance Druid War Mode Talents for Leveling

In this section we will rank the PvP talents best for leveling and doing solo / small group PvE content. Below is a ranking of both General PvP Talents and Balance Druid-specific PvE talents.

2.3.1. General PvP Talents

• Relentless is a passive ability, but it does not automatically remove crowd control abilities. Instead, it reduces the duration.
• Gladiator's Medallion is an on-use ability that removes all movement impairing effects and all loss of control effects.
• Adaptation is recommended; it is likely your most passive choice, since it will automatically remove loss of control effects over 5 seconds.

2.3.2. Balance Druid PvP Talents for Leveling

• Ironfeather Armor is the strongest defensive choice for Balance Druids. Moonkin Form already provides a large amount of armor and Ironfeather Armor increases that value making you extremely tanky to Physical attacks.
• Prickling Thorns is one of the better offensive options for PvE. When you cast Entangling Roots on a target and the root breaks, the target takes a burst of damage equal to about two Solar Wraths.

• Ironfeather Armor is the strongest defensive choice for Balance Druids. Moonkin Form already provides a large amount of armor and Ironfeather Armor increases that value making you extremely tanky to physical attacks.
• Prickling Thorns is one of the better offensive options for PvE. When you cast Entangling Roots on a target and the root breaks, the target takes a burst of damage equal to about two Solar Wraths.
• Crescent Burn is useful for tagging mobs and kiting them. Pair this PvP talent with Twin Moons for increased effects.

Most other options are not particularly noteworthy. Moonkin Aura is viable for group content and Deep Roots is another Entangling Roots modifier that you can use to delay enemies from reaching you.

2.4. Legendary Options

If you are just coming out of Level 110, you will probably have a number of different Legendary items to choose from. Your Legendaries' special effects will stop working at Level 116, but until then, they can be a very powerful addition to help you level up quickly. These are our Legendary recommendations for leveling as a Balance Druid in Battle for Azeroth:

• Sephuz's Secret is great as it gives you a passive movement speed boost, as well as giving you a speed boost when you proc the legendary. This makes pulling mobs a breeze and the Haste helps you kill them quicker.
• Lady and the Child casts one additional Moonfire on a secondary target. When paired with Twin Moons, Lady and the Child casts a third Moonfire on another target instead of only two.

2.5. Quest Rewards

You should equip new quest rewards when their item level starts beating out your previous set of gear. In Balance Druids' case, Tier 21 gear is very strong as it increases the damage dealt by your DoTs by 20%. Moonfire and Sunfire are your main pulling abilities and do the majority of your damage while leveling to 120. Try to replace these closer to 120.

If possible, we recommend holding on to all Quest Rewards you do not use. They can be scrapped at Level 120 for material resources for profession crafting.

2.6. Consumables

There are several consumable items that can be purchased that will help you with your leveling speed.

• Skystep Potion increases your movement speed by 150% (more than a mount!) for 8 seconds. It has a 1-minute cooldown. This is extremely useful and should be used often and aggressively for any travel that is more than ~100 yards long.
• Gunshoes are an Engineering item that increase your movement speed by 200% for 25 seconds. These will make you almost as fast as a Flying mount. We recommend having a lot of these, and using them whenever you are traveling more than ~250 yards.
• Goblin Glider Kit is very useful for covering long distances from high places.

2.6.1. Gunshoes Macro

The Gunshoes will not let you stop moving for as long as they are active. Using this macro twice will click the buff off and allow you to stop.

• #showtooltip
• /use Gunshoes
• /cancelaura Gunshoes

2.7. Congratulations!

Congratulations on reaching Level 120! Now that you have hit Level 120 we recommend looking at our Easy mode page and Talents section to learn how to play at max level. To get yourself prepared for the end-game content ahead, we strongly recommend this Battle for Azeroth Raiding Lexicon/Spreadsheet by Medivh. It is a gold trove of information that will help you when gearing up in Battle for Azeroth and more.

3. Leveling 1-120 as a Feral Druid

3.1. Gear Options

When leveling up, you should always choose the piece of loot with the highest item level. The only exception to this rule is if you have a Ring or Necklace with a slightly lower item level, but 2 secondary stats on it instead of 1.

3.2. Level by Level Rotation and Talents

Move the slider below to make the guide update to your level!

3.2.1. Talents to Level Up as a Feral Druid

Your first talent row unlocks at Level 15.

Your talent set up should be as follows.

• Level 15: Predator
• Level 30: Wild Charge
• Level 45: Balance Affinity
• Level 60: Mighty Bash
• Level 75: Soul of the Forest
• Level 90: Brutal Slash
• Level 100: Bloodtalons

3.2.2. Rotation to Level Up as a Feral Druid

Due to Feral only being unlocked as a talent specialization at level 10, it is advised to follow the Balance options until you reach this point and then can select this option.

1. Rip should be applied to your target when you have 5 Combo Points.
2. Tiger's Fury should be used as often as possible when low on Energy.
3. Tiger's Fury should be used as often as possible when low on Energy. Look out for resets of its cooldown when nearby enemies die with bleeds applied to them.
4. Apply Rake to any nearby targets.
5. Cast Ferocious Bite when at 5 Combo Points.
6. Cast Brutal Slash whenever more than one target is nearby.
7. Cast Shred to generate Combo Points whenever available if only one target is nearby.
8. Thrash should be maintained on all targets when there are multiple enemies nearby.
9. Berserk should be used as often as possible for a burst of free Energy regeneration.
10. Cast Swipe when multiple targets are nearby.
11. You should be consuming Predatory Swiftness whenever possible to gain the Bloodtalons buff between pulling enemies.
12. Make sure to always remain in Cat Form whenever in combat.

3.2.3. Summary of Unlocked Abilities for Feral Druid

You unlock your first ability of interest at Level 5.

• At Level 5, you unlock Regrowth, which can be used to heal yourself or other allies nearby for a small amount.
• At Level 8, you unlock Cat Form, which will be your form of choice for the remainder of your leveling experience. This is required to enable the majority of your Feral abilities.
• At Level 8, you unlock Dash, which is a long cooldown sprint effect that lasts for 10 seconds, and is very useful for moving between enemies.
• At Level 8, you unlock Shred, which is your primary source of Combo Point generation for Feral, dealing Physical damage to your current target.
• At Level 10, you unlock Bear Form, which can be used as a defensive form.
• At Level 10, you unlock Mangle, which is your single target damage dealing ability whenever you are in Bear Form.
• At Level 10, you unlock Ferocious Bite, which is your first Combo Point spender. This is used to spend the Combo Points you generate via Shred for high damage.
• At Level 12, you unlock Rake, which is your first Bleed, and should be applied to any enemies you are in combat with for DoT Bleed damage.
• At Level 12, you unlock Thrash, which is your first AoE skill that applies a Bleed DoT to all nearby enemies. This is used whenever multiple enemies are nearby to maintain the effect.
• At Level 13, you unlock Growl, which is a taunt effect that forces the target to attack you when cast in Bear Form.
• At Level 13, you unlock Tiger's Fury, which is a short cooldown effect that increases your Physical damage dealt for 10 seconds and restores a small amount of Energy. This should be used as often as possible.
• At Level 14, you unlock Revive, which allows you to resurrect dead allies when out of combat.
• At Level 16, you unlock Prowl, which is your stealth tool. This can be cast when in Cat Form and out of combat to enter stealth and become invisible to enemies.
• At Level 18, you unlock Travel Form and the passive Aquatic Form. This form increases your movement speed when used outdoors, and when in water you will gain increased swim speed.
• At Level 20, you unlock Rip, which is your second Combo Point spender and Bleed. This should be applied whenever possible at 5 Combo Points to your target.
• At Level 22, you unlock Remove Corruption, allowing you to dispel Curses from yourself and allies.
• At Level 24, you unlock Entangling Roots, which can be used to root enemies at a distance if they are causing you issues to give some breathing room.
• At Level 10, you unlock the Rake passive, which causes it to stun targets and deal 100% additional damage when used from Stealth.
• At Level 32, you unlock Swipe, which is your AoE ability that should be used in place of Shred whenever multiple enemies are nearby.
• At Level 36, you unlock Survival Instincts which is your defensive tool, and should be used whenever you expect to take high damage.
• At Level 40, you unlock Berserk which is Feral's main offensive cooldown. This should be used as often as possible as it grants a burst of Energy to be used to quickly burst down enemies.
• At Level 42, you unlock Rebirth, which allows you to resurrect a dead ally even if you are currently in Combat.
• At Level 44, you unlock the Shred and Swipe passives, which causes these abilities to deal additional damage to Bleeding targets.
• At Level 48, you unlock Omen of Clarity, which is a proc that reduces the Energy cost of your next Shred, Swipe, or Thrash cast when it triggers.
• At Level 50, you unlock Stampeding Roar, which is an AoE sprint tool that increases the movement speed of you and nearby allies.
• At Level 52, you unlock the Tiger's Fury passive, which causes it to generate an additional 30 Energy when you cast it.
• At Level 54, you unlock Infected Wounds which causes your Rake casts to slow the target by 20% when cast.
• At Level 56, you unlock the second Shred passive, causing it to deal 20% additional damage when cast from stealth, and have an increased chance to critically strike.
• At Level 56, you unlock Soothe, which removes Enrage effects from your target when cast.
• At Level 58, you unlock your final shapeshift, Flight Form, which applies to Travel Form. When cast in areas with flying allowed, you will instead shapeshift into a flying form.
• At Level 63, you unlock Maim, which is your final Combo Point spender. This will stun the target and deal a small amount of damage per Combo Point spent, and should only be used if you are in need of additional crowd control.
• At Level 66, you unlock the Ferocious Bite passive, which causes it to refresh the duration of your active Rip casts when cast on enemies below 25% health.
• At Level 66, you unlock Hibernate which allows you to put enemy Beasts or Dragonkin asleep for 40 seconds. Any damage you deal to the target will break this effect, however.
• At Level 70, you unlock Skull Bash which is your interrupt tool. This will interrupt spell casts and also charge you forward a short distance toward the target if you are out of range.
• At Level 78, you unlock the Feral Druid Mastery, Mastery: Razor Claws. This increases the damage of all Bleed effects you use.
• At Level 80, you unlock Predatory Swiftness, which is a passive that has a 20% per Combo Point spent to activate. This reduces the cast time of your next Regrowth or Entangling Roots, and allows them to be used when in Cat Form.

3.3. Feral Druid War Mode Talents for Leveling

In this section we will rank the PvP talents best for leveling and doing solo / small group PvE content. Below is a ranking of both General PvP Talents and Feral Druid-specific PvE talents.

3.3.1. General PvP Talents

• Adaptation is likely your most passive choice since it will automatically remove loss of control effects over 5 seconds. It is recommended for leveling to take this PvP talent.
• Relentless is also a passive ability but it does not automatically remove crowd control abilities, but instead reduces the duration.
• Gladiator's Medallion is an on-use ability that removes all movement impairing effects and all loss of control effects.

3.3.2. Feral Druid PvP Talents for Leveling

1. Rip and Tear provides an instant way of applying both Rip and Rake to your target without a Combo Point cost, and is great for starting a fight with more powerful enemies without requiring any ramp up, so is highly recommended as an extra tool.
2. Savage Momentum causes successful interrupts with Skull Bash to reset the cooldown of Tiger's Fury. This can be useful for additional Energy and damage windows, but you will generally be using Predator in the open world so they may overlap and hurt its strength.
3. Fresh Wound can provide additional burst to targets when applying your Rake effect, and is a solid increase across the board when cycling between targets.
4. Ferocious Wound provides additional damage to your Ferocious Bite that can be useful on high health targets due to it being tied to the maximum health of your target, but is not as strong on weaker enemies.
5. Thorns can provide some use if in situations with extra enemies present, to allow you to deal additional damage back when being hit.

King of the Jungle can provide very limited uses for extra movement speed, but you will rarely have a large number of Rips active. Tooth and Claw can also provide a modest amount of additional survival and tankiness when in Bear Form, and slightly boost damage via giving access to Enraged Maul if you are finding yourself struggling with enemies.

Earthen Grasp, Freedom of the Herd, Malorne's Swiftness, Enraged Maim, and Protector of the Grove, on the other hand, have very limited PvE uses, being more focused on in-combat control and group assistance, so are more suited to a PvP engagement, and as such are not really recommended.

3.4. Legendary Options

If you are just coming out of Level 110, you will probably have a number of different Legendary items to choose from. Your Legendaries' special effects will stop working at Level 116, but until then they can be a very powerful addition to help you level up quickly. These are our Legendary recommendations for leveling as an Feral Druid in Battle for Azeroth:

• Sephuz's Secret is extremely strong, granting passive movement speed as well as a bit of free Haste. The effect can also be triggered regularly with Mighty Bash or Skull Bash amongst other crowd control tools, and is highly recommended.
• Chatoyant Signet allows you to build up a surplus of Energy when moving between different encounters, and allows you to front load your damage due to this and is such very useful.
• The Sentinel's Eternal Refuge is essentially an automatic mount when out of combat. Despite its tooltip, it only allows you to fly in flying zones, so you will not be able to fly in Battle for Azeroth zones. This is a great Legendary to pair up with Sephuz's Secret to really push your ability to move between combat areas.

3.5. Quest Rewards

You should equip new quest rewards when their item level starts beating out your previous set of gear. If you are currently wearing Tier 21 gear, it is best to let the quest rewards significantly beat your existing item level before using them. With that said, you will unlock Azerite pieces early on, which are worth using over Tier gear in most circumstances.

If possible, we recommend holding on to all Quest Rewards you do not use. They can be scrapped at Level 120 for material resources for profession crafting.

3.6. Consumables

There are several consumable items that can be purchased that will help you with your leveling speed.

• Skystep Potion increases your movement speed by 150% (more than a mount!) for 8 seconds. It has a 1-minute cooldown. This is extremely useful and should be used often and aggressively for any travel that is more than ~100 yards long.
• Gunshoes are an Engineering item that increase your movement speed by 200% for 25 seconds. These will make you almost as fast as a Flying mount. We recommend having a lot of these, and using them whenever you are traveling more than ~250 yards.
• Goblin Glider Kit is very useful for covering long distances from high places.

3.6.1. Gunshoes Macro

The Gunshoes will not let you stop moving as long as they are active. Using this macro twice will click the buff off and allow you to stop.

• #showtooltip
• /use Gunshoes
• /cancelaura Gunshoes

3.7. Congratulations!

Congratulations on reaching Level 120! Now that you have hit Level 120 we recommend looking at our Easy mode page and Talents section to learn how to play at max level. To get yourself prepared for the end-game content ahead, we strongly recommend this Battle for Azeroth Raiding Lexicon/Spreadsheet by Medivh. It is a gold trove of information that will help you when gearing up in Battle for Azeroth and more.

4. Leveling 1-120 as a Guardian Druid

4.1. Gear Options

When leveling up, you should always choose the piece of loot with the highest item level. The only exception to this rule is if you have a Ring or Necklace with a slightly lower item level, but 2 secondary stats on it instead of 1.

4.2. Level by Level Rotation and Talents

Move the slider below to make the guide update to your level!

4.2.1. Talents to Level Up as a Guardian Druid

Your first talent row unlocks at Level 15.

Your talent set up should be as follows.

• Level 15: Brambles
• Level 30: Tiger Dash
• Level 45: Feral Affinity
• Level 60: Typhoon
• Level 75: Galactic Guardian
• Level 90: Earthwarden
• Level 100: Rend and Tear

4.2.2. Rotation to Level Up as a Guardian Druid

Due to Guardian only being unlocked as a talent specialization at level 10, it is advised to follow the Balance options until you reach this point and then can select this option.

1. Keep Moonfire ticking on your target.
2. Keep Moonfire ticking on your target, and cast it again if you have a Galactic Guardian proc.
3. Use Thrash whenever it is available to deal damage to all nearby enemies and generate Rage.
4. Use Mangle whenever it is available to deal damage to one enemy and generate Rage.
5. Use Swipe when Thrash and Mangle are not available.
6. Spend Rage on Maul if you want to deal damage.
7. Spend Rage on Ironfur if you want to reduce the damage you take.
8. Use Barkskin when you are about to take a moderate of damage, or to deal damage with Brambles.
9. Use Survival Instincts when you are about to take a lot of damage.
10. Use Frenzied Regeneration to heal yourself when you are in combat.
11. Make sure to always remain in Bear Form whenever you are in combat.

4.2.3. Summary of Unlocked Abilities for Guardian Druids

You learn your first ability of interest at Level 3.

• At Level 3, you learn Moonfire, which you can use to pull enemies at range and apply a damage over time effect.
• At Level 5, you can use Regrowth, which will be your main form of personal healing.
• At Level 8, Druids will learn Cat Form. This is the first of 4 main Druid shapeshifts. Additionally, you learn Dash, a major mobility cooldown that puts you into Cat Form.
• At Level 10, you learn your second shapeshift, Bear Form. This is your primary form which you will need to be in during combat to cast your abilities, and which increases your Armor and Stamina.
• At Level 10, you also learn Mangle. This is your main single target ability. You will also learn Maul, your main damage dealing Rage spender.
• At Level 12, you learn Thrash, your primary multi target ability.
• At Level 13, you learn Growl, which can be used to taunt mobs off of other party members or to pull enemies from a distance.
• At Level 14, you learn Revive. This can resurrect fallen party members and friends.
• At Level 16 you unlock Prowl, which is your stealth tool. This can be cast when in Cat Form and out of combat to enter stealth and become invisible to enemies.
• At Level 18, you learn the third shapeshift Travel Form. Travel form adapts based on your riding skill and location. In the water, Travel Form becomes Aquatic Form.
• At Level 20, you learn Ironfur. This is your main active mitigation tool, in which you spend Rage to gain Armor.
• At Level 22 you unlock Remove Corruption, allowing you to dispel Curses from yourself and allies.
• At Level 24 you unlock Entangling Roots, which can be used to root enemies at a distance if they are causing you issues to give some breathing room.
• At Level 26, you learn Barkskin which is your first defensive cooldown. Use this when you are fighting a lot of enemies and taking moderate to high levels of damage.
• At Level 28, you learn Incapacitating Roar, which disorients nearby enemies, causing them to stop casting any spells or attacking you briefly.
• At Level 32, you learn Swipe, which is your main filler spell.
• At Level 34, you gain the Thick Hide passive, which reduces all damage you take by 6%.
• At Level 36, you learn Survival Instincts, your second and final defensive cooldown. Use this when you expect to take very high damage.
• At Level 40, you learn Frenzied Regeneration, your Bear Form self-heal. Use this when you are low on health to heal yourself back up.
• At Level 42, you can resurrect party members in combat using Rebirth.
• At Level 44, you gain the Mangle which causes it to deal 20% more damage to enemies suffering from a bleed effect (notably, Thrash applies a bleed).
• At Level 48, you gain the Gore passive, which allows Thrash, Maul, Moonfire, and Swipe to have a chance to reset the cooldown on Mangle.
• At Level 50 you unlock Stampeding Roar, which is an AoE sprint tool that increases the movement speed of you and nearby allies.
• At Level 55 you gain the Ironfur passive, which allows multiple uses of Ironfur to overlap and stack.
• At Level 56 you unlock Soothe, which removes Enrage effects from your target when cast.
• At Level 58 you unlock your final shapeshift, Flight Form, which applies to Travel Form. When cast in areas with flying allowed, you will instead shapeshift into a flying form.
• At Level 63, you gain the Frenzied Regeneration passive, which grants a second charge of Frenzied Regeneration.
• At Level 66 you unlock Hibernate which allows you to put enemy Beasts or Dragonkin asleep for 40 seconds. Any damage you deal to the target will break this effect, however.
• At Level 70 you unlock Skull Bash which is your interrupt tool. This will interrupt spell casts and also charge you forward a short distance toward the target if you are out of range.
• At Level 78, you unlock Mastery: Nature's Guardian. This increases your maximum health and healing you receive, as well as increases your attack power.

4.3. Guardian Druid War Mode Talents for Leveling

In this section we will rank the PvP talents best for leveling and doing solo / small group PvE content. Below is a ranking of both General PvP Talents and Guardian Druid-specific PvE talents.

4.3.1. General PvP Talents

• Relentless is a passive ability, but it does not automatically remove crowd control abilities. Instead, it reduces the duration.
• Gladiator's Medallion is an on-use ability that removes all movement impairing effects and all loss of control effects.
• Adaptation is recommended; it is likely your most passive choice, since it will automatically remove loss of control effects over 5 seconds.

4.3.2. Guardian Druid PvP Talents for Leveling

1. Sharpened Claws causes Maul to grant a buff that increases Thrash and Swipe damage for 6 seconds. This is a strong DPS increase and is definitely recommended.
2. Malorne's Swiftness increases your Travel Form movement speed by 20% and prevents you from being slowed below 100% movement speed. This improves your mobility and will reduce travel time, which is important while leveling.
3. Alpha Challenge replaces Growl, an ability that historically has no function in solo content. In exchange, you (and your allies) deal increased damage to the target you taunt.
4. Raging Frenzy causes your Frenzied Regeneration to generate 60 Rage over its duration. This is occasionally useful for pulling large groups of enemies and putting up several stacks of Ironfur.
5. Master Shapeshifter empowers your chosen Affinity talent. This is particularly strong when paired with Feral Affinity as it can significantly improve the damage you deal.

Of the remaining PvP talents, Demoralizing Roar, Entangling Claws, Overrun, and Roaring Speed may have limited or niche applications in leveling or open world PvE content, but they do not provide the overall benefit of the recommended list above. The rest of the PvP talents do not contribute meaningfully to leveling or open world PvE.

4.4. Legendary Options

If you are just coming out of Level 110, you will probably have a number of different Legendary items to choose from. Your Legendaries' special effects will stop working at Level 116, but until then, they can be a very powerful addition to help you level up quickly. These are our Legendary recommendations for leveling as a Guardian Druid in Battle for Azeroth:

• Sephuz's Secret is great as it gives you a passive movement speed boost, as well as giving you a speed boost when you proc the legendary. This makes pulling mobs a breeze and the Haste helps you kill them quicker.
• Ekowraith, Creator of Worlds increases the potency of the passives granted by your Affinity talents. When combined with Feral Affinity it will further increase your movement speed, which is very important for leveling efficiently.
• Lady and the Child casts one additional Moonfire on a secondary target, in addition to increasing the damage Moonfire deals. This can significanly improve your damage output, especially when paired with Galactic Guardian.

4.5. Quest Rewards

You should equip new quest rewards when their item level starts beating out your previous set of gear. The tier set bonuses are not worth keeping over an item level upgrade of any amount.

If possible, we recommend holding on to all Quest Rewards you do not use. They can be scrapped at Level 120 for material resources for profession crafting.

4.6. Consumables

There are several consumable items that can be purchased that will help you with your leveling speed.

• Skystep Potion increases your movement speed by 150% (more than a mount!) for 8 seconds. It has a 1-minute cooldown. This is extremely useful and should be used often and aggressively for any travel that is more than ~100 yards long.
• Gunshoes are an Engineering item that increase your movement speed by 200% for 25 seconds. These will make you almost as fast as a Flying mount. We recommend having a lot of these, and using them whenever you are traveling more than ~250 yards.
• Goblin Glider Kit is very useful for covering long distances from high places.

4.6.1. Gunshoes Macro

The Gunshoes will not let you stop moving for as long as they are active. Using this macro twice will click the buff off and allow you to stop.

• #showtooltip
• /use Gunshoes
• /cancelaura Gunshoes

Congratulations on reaching Level 120! Now that you have hit Level 120 we recommend looking at our Easy mode page and Talents section to learn how to play at max level. To get yourself prepared for the end-game content ahead, we strongly recommend this Battle for Azeroth Raiding Lexicon/Spreadsheet by Medivh. It is a gold trove of information that will help you when gearing up in Battle for Azeroth and more.

5. Leveling 1-120 as a Restoration Druid

5.1. Gear Options

When leveling up, you should always choose the piece of loot with the highest item level. The only exception to this rule is if you have a Ring or Necklace with a slightly lower item level, but 2 secondary stats on it instead of 1.

5.2. Level by Level Rotation and Talents

Move the slider below to make the guide update to your level!

5.2.1. Talents to Level Up as a Restoration Druid

Your first talent row unlocks at Level 15.

Your talent set up should be as follows.

• Level 15: Cenarion Ward
• Level 30: Tiger Dash
• Level 45: Feral Affinity
• Level 60: Mighty Bash
• Level 75: Incarnation: Tree of Life
• Level 90: Stonebark
• Level 100: Germination

5.2.2. Rotation to Level Up as a Restoration Druid

Starting at Level 1, you only have one main attack ability: Solar Wrath.

1. Attack an enemy with Rake from Prowl.
2. Cast Moonfire on enemies that do not have the DoT.
3. Cast Sunfire on enemies that do not have the DoT
4. Use 5 Combo Points on Ferocious Bite.
5. Use Swipe on 2 or more enemies until you have 5 Combo Points.
6. Use Shred until you have 5 Combo Points.
7. Cast Solar Wrath.

5.2.3. Summary of Unlocked Abilities for Restoration Druids

You learn your first ability of interest at Level 3.

• At Level 3, you will learn Moonfire. This is one of two damage over time abilities you will learn as a Restoration Druid.
• At Level 5, Regrowth is learned and can be used to heal yourself or allies.
• At Level 8, you learn Cat Form, which will shapeshift you into a Cat Form with increased movement speed and new abilities.
• You also learn Dash, which increases your movement speed by 60% for 10 seconds, on a 2-minute cooldown.
• Your first DPS ability in Cat Form is Shred.
• At Level 10, you will learn Bear Form. Bear Form increases your Health, Armor, and gives you access to a new set of abilities.
• At Level 10, you will learn your first Bear Form ability, Mangle.
• At Level 10, you will also learn Rejuvenation, your first HoT.
• At Level 12, you will learn Swiftmend, a direct healing spell on 25-second cooldown.
• At Level 13, you will learn Growl, which can only be used in Bear Form, to force the target to attack you for 3 seconds.
• At Level 14, you will learn Revive, which can be used to resurrect fallen allies.
• At Level 16, you will learn Prowl. This ability will activate Cat Form and put you in Stealth.
• At Level 16, you will learn your second DoT, Sunfire.
• At Level 18, you will learn Travel Form. This shapeshift substantially increases your movement speed on land and in water.
• At Level 20, you will learn Lifebloom. This is another HoT, but it can only be placed on one person at a time.
• At Level 22, you will learn Nature's Cure. It removes harmful Curse, Magic, and Poison debuffs from a friendly target.
• At Level 24, you will learn Entangling Roots. They will root a target in place for 30 seconds.
• At Level 26, you will learn Barkskin. This spell reduces your damage taken by 20% for 12 seconds.
• At Level 40, you will learn Wild Growth, a spell that will heal up to 6 injured allies over 7 seconds.
• At Level 42, you will learn Rebirth. This spell resurrects a dead friendly player and is usable in combat.
• At Level 45, you will learn Ferocious Bite. It is a finishing move that costs up to 5 Combo Points and deals substantial damage.
• At Level 45, you will learn another finishing move, Rip. It will deal substantial damage over 24 seconds.
• At Level 45, you will learn Rake. It is an ability available only in Cat Form, which generates Combo Points and deals damage over 15 seconds.
• At Level 45, you will learn Swipe. This ability is only available in Cat Form, it deals damage to nearby enemies.
• At Level 50, you will learn Innervate. You can place a buff on a friendly healer (including yourself), that will allow them to cast any abilities for free for 12 seconds.
• At Level 54, you will Ironbark, which reduces your target's damage taken by 20% for 12 seconds.
• At Level 60, you will learn Soothe, which will remove all enrage effects from the target.
• At Level 63, you will learn Ursol's Vortex. This spell will create a zone on the ground, which will reduce the movement speed of all enemies within it by 50%. The first time an enemy attempts to leave it, they will get pulled back into the center.
• At Level 66, you will learn Hibernate allowing you to put enemy Beast or Dragonkin to sleep for 40 seconds.
• At Level 66, you will learn Revitalize. This spell will resurrect all dead group members.
• At Level 70, you will learn Efflorescence, which places a zone on the ground for 30 seconds that will heal up to 3 injured allies.
• At Level 80, you will learn Tranquility, a very strong cooldown which will heal all allies within 40 yards over 8 seconds and leave a HoT effect.

5.3. Restoration Druid War Mode Talents for Leveling

In this section we will rank the PvP talents best for leveling and doing solo / small group PvE content. Below is a ranking of both General PvP Talents and Restoration Druid-specific PvE talents.

5.3.1. General PvP Talents

• Relentless is a passive ability, but it does not automatically remove crowd control abilities. Instead, it reduces the duration.
• Gladiator's Medallion is an on-use ability that removes all movement impairing effects and all loss of control effects.
• Adaptation is recommended; it is likely your most passive choice, since it will automatically remove loss of control effects over 5 seconds.

5.3.2. Restoration Druid PvP Talents for Leveling

1. Overgrowth will put all HoTs on your target. It is an extremely powerful spell that will help you recover during big pulls or save you from PvP deaths.
2. Nourish makes your Regrowth automatically apply one of your HoTs to the target.
3. Thorns is a buff that you can place on the target that will deal up to 5% of the attacker's total Health in damage.

The rest of Restoration's PvP talents are all fairly mediocre and do not do much for us in a PvE setting.

5.4. Legendary Options

If you are just coming out of Level 110, you will probably have a number of different Legendary items to choose from. Your Legendaries' special effects will stop working at Level 116, but until then, they can be a very powerful addition to help you level up quickly. These are our Legendary recommendations for leveling as a Restoration Druid in Battle for Azeroth:

• Sephuz's Secret is great as it gives you a passive movement speed boost, as well as giving you a bigger boost and Haste when you proc the legendary effect. You can activate the effect with Entangling Roots, Ursol's Vortex pull back effect and Mighty Bash.
• Lady and the Child increases Moonfire damage by 20% and makes Moonfire apply to another target in combat nearby. This legendary is incredibly powerful and will allow you to pull multiple mobs without any problems.

5.5. Quest Rewards

You should equip new quest rewards when their item level starts beating out your previous set of gear. In Restoration's case, Tier 21 gear is not useful while leveling and it is recommended that you replace any gear with Mastery with it. You will obtain Azerite pieces relatively early on and these are worth using over Tier gear in most circumstances, but do not replace Lady and the Child with Azerite gear until level 116.

If possible, we recommend holding on to all Quest Rewards you do not use. They can be scrapped at Level 120 for material resources for profession crafting.

5.6. Consumables

There are several consumable items that can be purchased that will help you with your leveling speed.

• Skystep Potion increases your movement speed by 150% (more than a mount!) for 8 seconds. It has a 1-minute cooldown. This is extremely useful and should be used often and aggressively for any travel that is more than ~100 yards long.
• Gunshoes are an Engineering item that increase your movement speed by 200% for 25 seconds. These will make you almost as fast as a Flying mount. We recommend having a lot of these, and using them whenever you are traveling more than ~250 yards. You can pair them with Cat Form and even Prowl to move even faster and in Stealth.
• Goblin Glider Kit is very useful for covering long distances from high places.

5.6.1. Gunshoes Macro

The Gunshoes will not let you stop moving for as long as they are active. Using this macro twice will click the buff off and allow you to stop.

• #showtooltip
• /use Gunshoes
• /cancelaura Gunshoes

5.7. Congratulations!

Congratulations on reaching Level 120! Now that you have hit Level 120 we recommend looking at our Easy mode page and Talents section to learn how to play at max level. To get yourself prepared for the end-game content ahead, we strongly recommend this Battle for Azeroth Raiding Lexicon/Spreadsheet by Medivh. It is a gold trove of information that will help you when gearing up in Battle for Azeroth and more.

6. Changelog

• 07 Apr. 2019: Fixed Restoration Druid rotation on low levels.
• 10 Dec. 2018: Updated Feral talent choices for patch 8.1.
• 12 Aug. 2018: Consistency updates to give all leveling guides a similar feel.
• 11 Aug. 2018: Updated for Battle for Azeroth release with Balance, Feral, Guardian, and Restoration 1-120 sections.

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