Guardian Druid Tank Guide (Legion 7.3.5)

Table of Contents

• ×Introduction
  • 1. Class Overview
  • 2. Patch 7.3 Changes
  • 3. Patch 7.2.5 Changes
  • 4. Patch 7.2 Changes
  • 5. Contents
  • 6. ChangeLog
• +Easy Mode
  • 1. The Basics of Guardian Druids
  • 2. Talent Choice for Guardian Druids
  • 3. Stat Choice
  • 4. Basic Rotation for Guardian Druids
  • 5. Active Mitigation Abilities for Guardian Druids
  • 6. Cooldown Usage for Guardian Druids
  • 7. ChangeLog
• +Spell Summary
  • 1. Introduction
  • 2. Main Resource of Guardian Druids
  • 3. Basic Abilities for Guardian Druids
  • 4. Important Procs for Guardian Druids
  • 5. Active Mitigation for Guardian Druids
  • 6. Cooldowns for Guardian Druids
  • 7. ChangeLog
• +Builds and Talents
  • 1. Talent Choices
  • 2. Tier 1 (Level 15) Talents for Guardian Druids
  • 3. Tier 2 (Level 30) Talents for Guardian Druids
  • 4. Tier 3 (Level 45) Talents for Guardian Druids
  • 5. Tier 4 (Level 60) Talents for Guardian Druids
  • 6. Tier 5 (Level 75) Talents for Guardian Druids
  • 7. Tier 6 (Level 90) Talents for Guardian Druids
  • 8. Tier 7 (Level 100) Talents for Guardian Druids
  • 9. ChangeLog
• +Artifact Traits and Relics
  • 1. Artifact Progression for Guardian Druids
    • 1.1. Shared Path
    • 1.2. Adaptive Fur Versus Gory Fur
    • 1.3. Patch 7.2 Traits for Guardian Druids
  • 2. Relic Choice for Guardian Druids
    • 2.1. Survivability
    • 2.2. Damage Output
  • 3. ChangeLog
• +Netherlight Crucible Relic Paths
  • 1. General Optimization Advice for Guardian Druids
  • 2. Tier 2 Upgrade Priority for Guardian Druids
    • 2.1. Survivability
    • 2.2. Damage Output
  • 3. Tier 3 Upgrade Priority for Guardian Druids
    • 3.1. Survivability
    • 3.2. Damage Output
  • 4. ChangeLog
• +Rotation, Cooldowns, and Abilities
  • 1. Single Target Rotation for Guardian Druids
  • 2. Multiple Target Rotation for Guardian Druids
  • 3. Active Mitigation for Guardian Druids
    • 3.1. Ironfur
    • 3.2. Frenzied Regeneration
  • 4. Taunting
  • 5. Cooldowns for Guardian Druids
  • 6. Optional Read: Mastering Your Guardian Druid
    • 6.1. Rage Generation
    • 6.2. Mastery: Nature's Guardian
    • 6.3. Gore Procs
    • 6.4. Detailed Cooldown Usage for Guardian Druids
      • 6.4.1. Survival Instincts
      • 6.4.2. Barkskin
      • 6.4.3. Rage of the Sleeper
      • 6.4.4. Tier 1 Talents
      • 6.4.5. Tier 3 Talents
      • 6.4.6. Tier 5 Talents
      • 6.4.7. Tier 6 Talents
  • 7. ChangeLog
• +Stat Priority
  • 1. Basics
    • 1.1. Survivability
    • 1.2. Damage Output
  • 2. Getting a Better Understanding of Guardian Druid Stats
  • 3. ChangeLog
• +Gems, Enchants, and Consumables
  • 1. Gems for Guardian Druids
  • 2. Enchants for Guardian Druids
  • 3. Consumables for Guardian Druids
  • 4. ChangeLog
• +Macros and Addons
  • 1. Macros
    • 1.1. Generic Macros for Druids
      • 1.1.1. Rebirth
      • 1.1.2. Remove Corruption
    • 1.2. Specific Macros for Guardian Druids
      • 1.2.1. Hand of Protection Cancelaura Macro
      • 1.2.2. Useful Mouseover Macros
  • 2. Addons
    • 2.1. Generic Addons for Druids
      • 2.1.1. ElvUI
      • 2.1.2. Boss Mods: Deadly Boss Mods or Bigwigs
      • 2.1.3. GTFO
      • 2.1.4. Parrot or Mik's Scrolling Battle Text
      • 2.1.5. Weak Auras
      • 2.1.6. DroodFocus
      • 2.1.7. Recount / Skada / Details!
      • 2.1.8. Grid and GridClickSets (Optional)
    • 2.2. Specific Addons for Guardian Druids
      • 2.2.1. Omen Threat Meter
      • 2.2.2. Tidy Plates: Threat Plates
  • 3. ChangeLog
• +Gear, Legendaries, and Best in Slot
  • 1. Best in Slot List for Guardian Druids
  • 2. Trinkets for Guardian Druids
    • 2.1. Non-Raid Trinkets
    • 2.2. Raid Trinkets
  • 3. Tier 21 Set Bonuses for Guardian Druids
  • 4. Legendary Items for Guardian Druids
  • 5. Loot Competition for Guardian Druids
  • 6. ChangeLog
• +Battle for Azeroth
  • 1. Foreword
  • 2. Basic Mechanics Changes for Guardian Druid in BfA
  • 3. Baseline Abilities & Changes for Guardian Druid in BfA
  • 4. The BfA Guardian Druid Talent Tree
    • 4.1. Level 15
    • 4.2. Level 30
    • 4.3. Level 45
    • 4.4. Level 60
    • 4.5. Level 75
    • 4.6. Level 90
    • 4.7. Level 100
  • 5. Azerite Traits for Guardian Druid
  • 6. The Base Rotation for Guardian Druid in BfA
  • 7. Multi-Target Rotation for Guardian Druid in BfA
    • 7.1. Active Mitigation and Cooldown Usage
  • 8. ChangeLog

General Information

Welcome to our Guardian Druid tank guide for World of Warcraft Legion 7.3.5. Here, you will learn everything you need to know about playing a Guardian Druid in a raid environment and in Mythic+ dungeons.

About Our Reviewer

This guide has been reviewed and approved by Treckie, who has been a long-time leading tank who has competed for world first kills for 5 years. He is one of the casters for both last year's and this year's upcoming Mythic Dungeon invitational. You can watch his stream on Twitch and you can follow him on Twitter.

1. Class Overview

Guardian Druid tanks are currently fairly well balanced, being equipped to deal with any incoming damage types, be they Physical or magic. Guardian Druids offer a high amount of utility to any raid or dungeon group. They rely on their high health pools (boosted in part by their Mastery) and the increases to healing received that they benefit from. As such, they take more damage than other tanks, but also have the means to handle this damage and be healed up accordingly.

As a Guardian Druid, you are well suited for single target tanking and excel at AoE tanking.

Note that this guide focuses on aspects which are specific to Guardian Druids, and general tanking strategies are beyond its scope. If you wish to know more about the tanking role and what you can do to improve, we recommend that you read our tanking guide.

2. Patch 7.3 Changes

• Mass Entanglement was slightly changed to now root the target and any enemies within 15 yards immediately, instead of spreading.

3. Patch 7.2.5 Changes

• Gore now also procs from Maul.
• Mark of Ursol was removed.
• Maul now costs 45 Rage (up from 20), no longer has a cooldown, is on the global cooldown, and deals considerably more damage.
• Ironfur now provides 65% Armor, down from 80%.
• Galactic Guardian proc chance is now 7% (down from 10%).
• Two new legendary items, Soul of the Archdruid and Fury of Nature, have been added.

4. Patch 7.2 Changes

• Artifact traits have been slightly reworked. After spending 35 points, you now open up a new path, made up of 5 new traits ( Fortitude of the Cenarion Circle, Scintillating Moonlight, Fleshknitting, Pawsitive Outlook, and Concordance of the Legionfall) and all traits with 3 ranks get an additional 4th rank that you can invest in.
• Intimidating Roar now roots targets instead of disorienting them.
• Thrash now deals more damage and Swipe deals less, with the overall damage output remaining the same but becoming more bursty.

5. Contents

To make it easy to navigate the guide, we have split it into 11 pages:

• Easy Mode: TL;DR to own without reading much;
• Spell Summary: see a summary of all your useful spells;
• Builds and Talents: learn how to choose your talents;
• Artifact Traits and Relics: discover how to level up your Artifact;
• Netherlight Crucible Relic Paths: choose the right paths on your Netherlight Crucible;
• Rotation, Cooldowns, and Abilities: master your rotation and your cooldowns;
• Stat Priority: read up on the respective values of your statistics;
• Gems, Enchants, and Consumables: choose the best gems, enchantments, etc.;
• Macros and Addons: step up your game with useful macros and addons;
• Gear, Legendaries, and Best in Slot: find the best gear you can wear;
• Battle for Azeroth: learn how to play your class in Battle for Azeroth.

6. ChangeLog

• 27 May 2018 (Battle for Azeroth page): Page added.
• 18 Mar. 2018 (spells page): Updated Thrash and Gore sections, as well as the Cooldowns section.
• 18 Mar. 2018 (talents page): Completely rewrote all sections.
• 18 Mar. 2018 (artifact page): Significantly revamped relic priority.
• 18 Mar. 2018 (gear page): Completely revamped the entire page, with most sections being entirely re-written.
• 18 Mar. 2018 (easy mode page): Made many updates to the page to account for updates made to other parts of the guide.
• 18 Mar. 2018 (addons page): Added a mention of Tidy Plates: Threat Plates.
• 18 Mar. 2018 (Netherlight Crucible page): Revamped the page significantly.
• 18 Mar. 2018 (rotation page): Made wide-ranging updates to the entire page.
• 18 Mar. 2018 (stats page): Revamped the entire page.
• 18 Mar. 2018 (enchants page): Updated Gems and Consumables sections.
• 03 Dec. 2017 (enchants page): Replaced Ancient Healing Potion with Astral Healing Potion.
• 03 Dec. 2017 (gear page): Updated set bonus recommendations.
• 03 Dec. 2017 (talents page): Added a mention that Typhoon does not trigger Sephuz's Secret.
• 12 Sep. 2017 (easy mode page): Updated Tier 5 talent suggestion.
• 12 Sep. 2017 (Netherlight Crucible page): Added Netherlight Crucible page for Guardian Druid.
• 12 Sep. 2017 (talents page): Updated tier 5 talent discussion.
• 12 Sep. 2017 (artifact page): Updated relic priority.
• 28 Aug. 2017 (talents page): Changed Blood Frenzy (tier 1) from recommended to situational and updated Mass Entanglement's description.
• 28 Aug. 2017 (rotation page): Updated the multiple target rotations slightly.
• 28 Aug. 2017 (this page): Added summary of Patch 7.3 changes.
• 28 Aug. 2017 (enchants page): Added Lightforged Augment Rune and new 7.3 epic gems.
• 28 Aug. 2017 (easy mode page): Made a small update to tier 1 talents.
• 28 Aug. 2017 (stats page): Made a small tweak to the priority to add Stamina and Agility.
• 07 Jul. 2017 (gear page): Updated the survivability legendary ranking.
• 07 Jul. 2017 (addons page): Added a WeakAura for tracking Frenzied Regeneration and removed outdated WeakAuras.
• 07 Jul. 2017 (enchants page): Added a mention that you can also use feasts to boost Stamina.
• 07 Jul. 2017 (stats page): Made a small tweak to the priority.
• 07 Jul. 2017 (rotation page): Updated the single target rotation and the Pulverize mentions in all rotations. Removed Catweaving section (since it is now obsolete).
• 07 Jul. 2017 (easy mode page): Updated the page to account for updates made to other parts of the guide (stats, rotation, and talents).
• 07 Jul. 2017 (this page): Added a mention that Maul is now on the global cooldown.
• 07 Jul. 2017 (talents page): Clarified that Soul of the Forest is now viable against a single target.
• 13 Jun. 2017 (spells page): Fixed an issue where we incorrectly listed the amount of Armor provided by Ironfur.
• 12 Jun. 2017 (talents page): Slight rewrites to account for the removal of Mark of Ursol in patch 7.2.5.
• 12 Jun. 2017 (gear page): Updated Set Bonus and legendary item recommendations.
• 12 Jun. 2017 (artifact page): Page reviewed and deemed updated for 7.2.5.
• 12 Jun. 2017 (rotation page): Updated the page to account for the removal of Mark of Ursol and for changes to Maul in Patch 7.2.5.
• 12 Jun. 2017 (this page): Added summary of Patch 7.2.5 changes.
• 12 Jun. 2017 (easy mode page): Updated the page to account for the removal of Mark of Ursol and for changes to Maul in Patch 7.2.5.
• 12 Jun. 2017 (enchants page): Page reviewed and deemed updated for 7.2.5.
• 12 Jun. 2017 (stats page): Page reviewed and deemed updated for 7.2.5.
• 12 Jun. 2017 (spells page): Updated the page to account for the removal of Mark of Ursol and for changes to Maul in Patch 7.2.5.
• 23 May 2017 (enchants page): Added a mention of switching to Feral before eating in order to receive the Agility buff.
• 22 Apr. 2017 (talents page): Clarified that Wild Charge when in Travel Form causes you to jump to the location of an ally, and not to fly to them.
• 28 Mar. 2017 (enchants page): Changed food recommendation to Lavish Suramar Feast.
• 27 Mar. 2017 (stats page): No changes needed for Patch 7.2.
• 27 Mar. 2017 (talents page): Updated Intimidating Roar description to account for changes made to it in Patch 7.2.
• 27 Mar. 2017 (this page): Added summary of Patch 7.2 changes.
• 27 Mar. 2017 (artifact page): Added path for the Artifact traits added in Patch 7.2.
• 27 Mar. 2017 (gear page): Slightly updated the survivability legendary ranking.
• 27 Mar. 2017 (rotation page): No changes needed for Patch 7.2.
• 14 Feb. 2017 (talents page): Updated description of Restoration Affinity to correctly reflect that it heals for 1.5% of maximum health per 5 seconds.
• 22 Jan. 2017 (gear page): Added Archimonde's Hatred Reborn legendary trinket to legendary item rankings.
• 12 Jan. 2017 (this page): Removed a mention of Displacer Beast being baseline for Guardian, since this is not the case.
• 10 Jan. 2017 (talents page): Updated the description of Soul of the Forest following the official patch note release.
• 09 Jan. 2017 (enchants page): Checked and confirmed for Patch 7.1.5.
• 09 Jan. 2017 (spells page): Updated Mangle and Ironfur descriptions to account for Patch 7.1.5 changes.
• 09 Jan. 2017 (gear page): Added Tier 19 Set Bonus recommendation, and updated the legendary rankings.
• 09 Jan. 2017 (stats page): Checked and confirmed for Patch 7.1.5.
• 09 Jan. 2017 (easy mode page): Updated the rotation to include Pulverize usage, and made a mention of choosing Pulverize as the tier 7 talent.
• 09 Jan. 2017 (this page): Added summary of Patch 7.1.5 changes.
• 09 Jan. 2017 (rotation page): Added mentions of using Pulverize in the rotations, as well as making various updates to account for changes to abilities in Patch 7.1.5.
• 09 Jan. 2017 (talents page): Updated talent descriptions to account for Patch 7.1.5 and improved the tier 2, 5, 6, and 7 discussions.
• 17 Dec. 2016 (spells page): Page added.
• 17 Dec. 2016 (easy mode page): Added easy mode page.
• 16 Dec. 2016 (stats page): Added Armor to the list of stats.
• 16 Dec. 2016 (rotation page): Fixed an error whereby we were referring to Galactic Guardian generating 15 Rage (when it is actually 10).
• 16 Dec. 2016 (enchants page): Added Mark of the Hidden Satyr to the neck enchants and added Potion of Prolonged Power to the potion list (while also removing Potion of Deadly Grace).
• 16 Dec. 2016 (talents page): Revised Incarnation: Guardian of Ursoc as a situational (?) talent, and updated the description of Restoration Affinity.
• 16 Dec. 2016 (gear page): Added a mention that Darkmoon Deck: Immortality is currently the best trinket, and re-ordered the legendary item ranking slightly.
• 16 Dec. 2016 (artifact page): Removed a mention of Relics that enhance Roar of the Crowd, since none actually exist.
• 25 Oct. 2016 (talents page): Patch 7.1 changes.
  • Updated the description of Galactic Guardian (causes 10 Rage to be generated, down from 15, and increases the damage of the next Moonfire by 300%).
  • Added a mention that Incarnation is now off the global cooldown.
• 08 Oct. 2016 (rotation page): Added a mention that the goal of the single target rotation is to generate as much Rage as possible.
• 08 Oct. 2016 (talents page): Slightly updated the discussion of the Guardian of Elune and Lunar Beam talents.
• 19 Sep. 2016 (gear page): Updated pre-raid trinket mentions slightly.
• 19 Sep. 2016 (stats page): Removed a mention that stated you can prioritise Haste over Mastery if you have enough maximum health, as this is no longer the case.
• 09 Sep. 2016 (gear page): Added BiS list.
• 09 Sep. 2016 (enchants page): Updated the recommendations to match the new stat priority (with Versatility as the preferred stat).
• 09 Sep. 2016 (stats page): Updated the stat priority.
• 29 Aug. 2016 (stats page): Updated for Legion's launch.
• 29 Aug. 2016 (artifact page): Added.
• 29 Aug. 2016 (enchants page): Updated for Legion's launch.
• 29 Aug. 2016 (rotation page): Updated for Legion's launch.
• 29 Aug. 2016 (gear page): Updated for Legion's launch.
• 29 Aug. 2016 (this page): Updated for Legion's launch.
• 29 Aug. 2016 (talents page): Updated for Legion's launch.
• 24 Jul. 2016 (rotation page): Added a section on using Guardian of Elune.
• 20 Jul. 2016 (talents page): Revised tier 1 and 5 talent discussions.
• 20 Jul. 2016 (stats page): Added a mention that Critical Strike also increases your chance to dodge.
• 20 Jul. 2016 (rotation page): Updated tier 1 talent discussion and added Moonfire (with Galactic Guardian procs) to the rotations.
• 19 Jul. 2016 (gear page): Updated trinket and set bonus recommendations.
• 18 Jul. 2016 (talents page): Updated for the Legion pre-patch.
• 18 Jul. 2016 (rotation page): Updated for the Legion pre-patch.
• 18 Jul. 2016 (addons page): Updated for the Legion pre-patch.
• 18 Jul. 2016 (enchants page): Updated for the Legion pre-patch.
• 18 Jul. 2016 (stats page): Updated for the Legion pre-patch.
• 18 Jul. 2016 (gear page): Updated for the Legion pre-patch.
• 18 Jul. 2016 (this page): Updated for the Legion pre-patch.

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