Guardian Druid Tank Easy Mode — Battle for Azeroth (BfA) 8.1

1. Foreword

This page is intended for players who are new to the game or class, have no intentions of raiding Mythic difficulty, or simply want a more straightforward way to play their specialization without being overwhelmed by the numerous subtleties and active abilities that need to be taken into consideration for optimal play.

2. The Basics of Guardian Druids

Guardian Druids reduce incoming damage through their active mitigation Ironfur. Ironfur has a negligible cooldown and can stack, making it very strong against incoming Physical damage and melee attacks. Their self heal, Frenzied Regeneration, while not as strong as some other tank classes, provides a decent boost to self-sustain. Their combination of both short and long cooldown defensive abilities helps them deal with Magic damage effectively.

In terms of utility, Guardians bring Stampeding Roar, a raid-wide movement speed boost which is very powerful for many encounters where group-wide movement is a necessity. Guardians can also resurrect allies in Combat with Rebirth.

The primary goal as a Guardian is to stay alive, using the tools at your disposal. This means generating and spending Rage on active mitigation and self-healing, and making effective use of your defensive cooldowns to survive dangerous incoming damage. A secondary goal is to deal good damage; this is important in order to maintain threat on your target and contribute to killing bosses faster. Luckily, this does not require much extra effort on your behalf — if you are performing your rotation well defensively, your damage will reflect that.

3. Talent Choice for Guardian Druids

The following build is designed to be easy to pick up and play while being reasonably effective. It is by no means optimal, but it is viable.

• Level 15: Blood Frenzy
• Level 30: Wild Charge
• Level 45: Balance Affinity
• Level 60: Typhoon
• Level 75: Soul of the Forest
• Level 90: Guardian of Elune
• Level 100: Rend and Tear

4. Stat Choice

You will want to prioritize item level over all else, as Armor, Stamina, and Agility are far more valuable than any secondary stats.

On jewelry and other slots with no primary stats, you will prefer secondary stats in the following order:

1. Mastery;
2. Versatility;
3. Haste;
4. Critical Strike.

5. Basic Rotation for Guardian Druids

1. Keep Moonfire up.
2. Use Mangle.
3. Use Thrash.
4. Use Maul (to dump excess Rage).
5. Use Swipe.

This rotation maximizes Rage generation while also maintaining a reasonable amount of damage. For extra damage, at 3 or more targets you can drop Moonfire and at 5 or more targets you can drop Mangle, since they will deal less damage than your AoE abilities Thrash and Swipe. You should continue to use Mangle if you need the Rage, however.

6. Active Mitigation Abilities for Guardian Druids

By executing your rotation you will generate Rage. You can spend Rage in one of three ways; on your active mitigation spell Ironfur, on your self-heal Frenzied Regeneration, or on a hard-hitting attack Maul.

Deciding how to spend Rage can be boiled down to a few simple situations. If you are taking Physical damage or melee attacks, use Ironfur. If you are at low health or expect to be brought to low health, use Frenzied Regeneration. If you are not in danger of either, use Maul.

Ironfur is unique in that multiple applications of the spell can overlap, meaning you can have two or more "stacks" of Ironfur at once. You can also pool Rage to spend on multiple stacks for dangerous moments in a fight. Keep in mind that every application has an independent duration, so adding a stack will not refresh the duration on other stacks.

Frenzied Regeneration heals you for a percentage of your maximum health over a short period of time. An important aspect of good Frenzied Regeneration use is not causing overhealing. This means you should be casting it when you are at low health, or when the risk of being healed to full by a healer before your Frenzied Regeneration can finish ticking is low. You may also use this spell proactively if you expect to take a large amount of damage soon, but keep in mind that a portion of the heal occurs instantly so don't let that go to waste.

Maul should only be used when you are either not actively tanking, or when you are taking so little damage that using Ironfur will not reduce your need for healing or increase your chances of living.

7. Cooldown Usage for Guardian Druids

Guardians have two baseline defensive cooldowns.

• Barkskin reduces all damage you take by 20% for 12 seconds, on a 90 second cooldown. Barkskin is usable while stunned, incapacitated, or asleep. This will be your first line of defense against dangerous spike damage, as well as your primary way of reducing magic damage, or simply as risk mitigation to smooth your damage intake for your healers. It has a short cooldown, so use it liberally!
• Survival Instincts reduces all damage you take by 50% for 6 seconds. Survival Instincts has 2 charges and a 4 minute recharge time. This is your major defensive reduction, to be used against lethal spike damage or "tankbuster" mechanics. Its short duration and long cooldown means it should be used sparingly.

8. Changelog