Guardian Druid Tank Spec, Builds, and Talents — Dragonflight 10.0.7

This page will cover all of the talents and passives available to Guardian Druids; each of them has a unique impact on how the spec is played. To see how these choices fit optimally into your playstyle, take a look at our Rotation section linked below.

Some talents have significantly more use in either Mythic+ or Raids; as such, if you want to optimize, we strongly recommend that you check either the Mythic+ or Raid pages are linked below for the most accurate information.

It is highly recommended to adjust your talents based on individual scenarios for optimal results, but the talent suggestions listed below will work fantastic for overall performance. You no longer require a tome/codex/rest area to change talents as long as you are out of combat, which is great!

You can swap the point in Elune's Favored to Raze on encounters with multiple targets.

Be sure to use the 'Copy Export String' button in our calculator below, to easily import our build ingame.

The Mythic+ build is quite similar but opts to pick up some more CC utility and AoE oriented talents.

Be sure to use the 'Copy Export String' button in our calculator below, to easily import our build ingame.

This Mythic+ build shifts power away from Incarnation: Guardian of Ursoc into other parts of the tree and is an excellent defensive build.

Be sure to use the 'Copy Export String' button in our calculator below, to easily import our build ingame.

Class talents at the top of the tree primarily enable some mandatory spells and abilities. In the case of Guardian Druid, you have immediate access to Frenzied Regeneration (your main self-heal), you can also pick Rake (a strong cat form bleed), Rejuvenation (A heal over time you can place on anyone) and Starfire (A ranged damaging spell).

We have outlined spec-defining, useful or impactful talents present above the first point gate below. To get past this gate, you do not necessarily need to pick any optional choices.

• Thrash is your main AoE damaging ability and essential to the Guardian Druid rotation. Deals damage AoE and applies a bleed to all targets hit.
• Improved Swipe buffs your filler GCD ability Swipe which deals AoE damage.
• Ironfur is your main active mitigation ability. Increases your armor temporarily at the cost of rage.
• Killer Instinct increases your physical damage and armor by 6%.
• Improved Barkskin increases the duration of Barkskin by 4 seconds.
• Verdant Heart increases healing taken while either Frenzied Regeneration or Barkskin are active.
• Nurturing Instinct increases magic damage and healing by 6%. Very valuable with Moonfire being the majority of our breakdown.
• Remove Corruption dispels poisons and curse effects. Great for Mythic+, less useful for raid.

The second part of the class tree has a couple good options, with most being utility oriented. We strongly recommend picking the following core talents at all times:

• Soothe and Sunfire are picked to progress further in the tree
• Skull Bash is your interrupt and also works as a small charge if you ever get knocked back.
• Thick Hide is a passive 6% damage taken reduction.
• Stampeding Roar is your raid utility, increases your and your groups movement speed by 60% for 8 seconds.
• Astral Influence increases the range of all your abilities by 3 yards.
• Matted Fur is a small absorb when you cast Barkskin and Survival Instincts.
• Typhoon is a useful knockback ability that can be used to reposition mobs or interrupt them momentarily.

The final part of the class tree has some useful talents, that both increase our utility and damage significantly. We recommend picking the following core talents at all times:

• Lycara's Teachings increases your Versatility by 6% in Bear Form.
• Renewal instantly heals you for 30% of your max health. A useful personal on a short cooldown.
• Heart of the Wild increases your non-Bear spells significantly. Primarily, increases Moonfire and auto attack damage done by 30% for 45 seconds.
• Improved Stampeding Roar reduces the cooldown of your Stampeding Roar by 1 minute, bringing it back to the original Shadowlands 1 minute cooldown for us.
• Ursol's Vortex keeps mobs in the same place for a short period. A useful mob control tool on certain encounters/dungeons.
• Innervate can be cast on a healer to reduce their Mana cost by 100% for 10 seconds. Very useful utility and can save the day if used at the right time. Bonus, your healers will greatly appreciate it and heal you more.
• Nature's Vigil converts a portion of your single target damage done to healing for yourself and your group/raid. Can be a substantial amount of healing as Moonfire is considered a single target but can be spread to many targets.

The top of the spec tree does not have too much room for variability and you will likely be taking the same talents consistently unless you require a second charge for Survival Instincts for an encounter.

We have outlined spec-defining, useful, or impactful talents present throughout the tree and will delve deeper into them below. As a note, this is not all the talents, and if you would like to see a full list of talents and their uses, visit the spells page below.

• Maul is your only damage-dealing Rage spender.
• Gore gives your abilities a chance to reset the cooldown on Mangle.
• Survival Instincts is your biggest defensive on a long cooldown.
• Improved Survival Instincts grants a second charge of Survival Instincts which can be really helpful on certain encounters like Mythic Raszageth.
• Brambles deals damage to attacking enemies and pulses AoE damage when Barkskin is active. Helpful damage boost if you do not require the Rage from Bristling Fur.
• Innate Resolve gives you a second charge of Frenzied Regeneration and increases the healing it does by 20%.
• Gory Fur gives Mangle a 15% chance to reduce the Rage of your next Ironfur by 25%. Some minor Rage economy.

• After the Wildfire Causes a massive burst of AoE healing around you each time you use 200 rage.
• Earthwarden makes it so that each time Thrash deals its initial hit you gain a buff that reduces your damage taken by the next melee swing by 30%. This stacks up to 3 times which means if you hit 3 mobs you will gain 3 stacks immedately.
• Berserk: Unchecked Aggression causes our Berserk to also grant us 15% Haste and reduces the Rage cost of Maul by 50%. The Haste is great as it increases the tick rate of all our DoTs including Moonfire.
• Reinvigoration reduces the cooldown of Frenzied Regeneration by 30%. Helpful to boost our self-healing capabilities.
• Tooth and Claw gives auto attacks a chance to empower your next Maul stacking up to 2 times. Empowered Maul deals 40% more damage, costs no rage and reduces the target's damage done to you by 15% for 6 seconds. This is a very good defensive talent and equates to roughly 1 Ironfur worth of damage reduction.
• Vulnerable Flesh increases Maul crit chance by 30%.
• Fury of Nature increases your Arcane damage done by 20% in Bear Form.
• Vicious Cycle causes your Mangle to increase your Maul damage done and vice versa. Stacks up to 3 times.
• Soul of the Forest causes Mangle to deal 25% increased damage and generate 5 extra rage. With our current tier set bonus this is a ton of extra rage.

• Flashing Claws gives Thrash a 20% chance to trigger an additional Thrash. This can proc multiple times off itself, sometimes leading to 4+ casts.
• Galactic Guardian gives your damaging abilities a chance to trigger a free Moonfire and cause the next Moonfire cast to be empowered increasing its damage done by 300%. This is a huge talent both for Rage economy, damage, and self-sustain, and far too strong to pass up in most builds.
• Scintillating Moonlight makes targets affected by Moonfire deal 10% less damage to you.
• Twin Moonfire makes Moonfire deal 20% increased damage and also hits another target nearby. This helps the spread of Moonfire on multiple mobs like in Mythic+. Combined with Galactic Guardian, you rarely have to cast Moonfire, as it will just automatically spread to every target via the procs of Galactic Guardian.
• Ursoc's Fury makes Thrash and Maul grant an absorb shield for 30% of the damage they deal. Another self-sustain booster.
• Rend and Tear makes targets affected by Thrash take an additional 2% damage and deal 2% less damage to you per stack of Thrash.
• Circle of Life and Death makes your DoT effects deal their damage in 25% less time. This means those Moonfires tick much faster but also fall off quicker; luckily that is not an issue for us with our constant spreading.
• Elune's Favored increases Arcane damage you deal in Bear Form by 10% and 30% of the Arcane damage you deal in Bear Form also heals you. Another crucial talent for self-sustain and essential for the Moonfire build.
• Incarnation: Guardian of Ursoc turns your Berserk and all its perks into a new ability that lasts 30 seconds instead of 15, increases health by 30% and causes your Mangle to hit 3 targets. This is a great ability as all the Berserk talents you chose earlier in the tree get added to it, extending their duration by 15 seconds while also boosting your health pool by so much making this our strongest offensive cooldown by far.
• Ursoc's Guidance makes every 20 Rage you spend reduce the cooldown of Incarnation: Guardian of Ursoc by 1 second. Reducing the cooldown of an integral cooldown for us speeds up our rotation and fun even further.
• Rage of the Sleeper Increases your damage done, reduces your damage taken, increases your leech, and reflects damage at attackers.
• Dream of Cenarius chance on non periodic damage taken to proc a buff that allows you to cast Regrowth in bear form and be instant and free.
• Thorns of Iron causes Ironfur to deal damage equal to 30% of your armor to nearby enemies.
• Lunar Beam Drops a small beam that heals us and deals damage to enemies.
• Moonless Night causes all single target abilities on targets afflicted with Moonfire to deal 10% extra arcane damage.
• Pulverize Consumes 2 stacks of Thrash on the mob and makes them deal 35% less damage to us for 10 seconds.
• Blood Frenzy causes Thrash to generate 2 rage each time it deals damage. That means on both DoT ticks and initial application. This is a massive amount of rage on multiple targets.

Battle for Azeroth introduced a new system called "War Mode". Opting into War Mode makes you eligible for open-world PvP but also grants you the following benefits:

• World Quests at a maximum level have 10-30% increased rewards.
• You gain 10-30% increased experience while leveling.
• Allows you to earn Conquest Points towards weekly gear rewards.
• Grants you the use of PvP talents in the open-world.

With the benefits of enabling War Mode for leveling and PvE content, it is recommended that you enable the feature to maximize your leveling and rewards at maximum level. However, you will make yourself eligible for open-world PvP, and the possibility to be "ganked" while leveling or doing World Quests exists.

Below, you will find the recommended PvP talents for leveling and doing PvE content. You will get a choice of 1 general PvP talent, and 3 spec-specific talents.

1. Overrun is a powerful charge with a stun and the knockback it triggers provides a large mobility boost.
2. Sharpened Claws causes Maul to grant a buff that increases Thrash and Swipe damage for 6 seconds.
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. 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.

Of the remaining PvP talents, Demoralizing Roar, and Freedom of the Herd 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.

While Guardian may have some fun open-world PvP viability if you are looking to do more serious PvP you may have better success with a non-tank spec.