Guardian Druid Tank Spell List and Glossary — The War Within (Season 1)

Last updated on Sep 09, 2024 at 18:00 by Pumps 41 comments
General Information

On this page, we present you with all spells and procs that you need to understand as a Guardian Druid in World of Warcraft — The War Within (Season 1).

If you were looking for WotLK Classic content, please refer to our WotLK Classic Feral Tank Druid spells.

1.

Introduction

If you are new to Guardian, this is a great place to start to get an understanding of how the spec works. On this page we will discuss what abilities you have, what they are used for within the specialization, how they interact with each other and also with important cooldowns. If you already have experience with Guardian and are comfortable with it in the current expansion, it is recommended you skip this section and move on to the rest of the guide.

If you are leveling a Guardian Druid, you will not have access to all the passives and abilities listed here. However, our leveling guide will help specify when you will unlock each ability and passive bonus.

2.

Main Resource of Guardian Druids

Your primary resource is Rage. Rage is generated from several sources — passively from auto-attacking (4 Rage per melee) and from being auto-attacked (3 Rage per unavoided hit, can only occur once per second), from several talents (both active and passive), and from using your rotational abilities Mangle Icon Mangle and Thrash Icon Thrash. Rage does not decay in combat, but after leaving combat, it will begin to decay quickly back to 0. Entering Bear Form Icon Bear Form will grant 25 Rage and give you a few seconds' grace period before your Rage starts decaying. Exiting Bear Form empties your Rage bar.

You can spend Rage in one of three ways; on your active mitigation spell, Ironfur Icon Ironfur, on your self-heal, Frenzied Regeneration Icon Frenzied Regeneration, or on a hard-hitting attack, Maul Icon Maul. Rage management is a critical part of playing Guardian effectively.

3.

Baseline Guardian Abilities

Ability Abbreviation Description/Effect
Thrash Icon Thrash Thrash Damages all enemies in an 8-yard radius, generates 5 Rage and applies a 15-second bleed effect on them can stack up to 3 times (5 when talented into Flashing Claws Icon Flashing Claws).
Bear Form Icon Bear Form Bear Shapeshifts you into a Bear, greatly increasing your Armor and Stamina, allows you to use all your integral core abilities.
Frenzied Regeneration Icon Frenzied Regeneration FR Heals you for 20% of your maximum health over 3 seconds. The heal occurs in 4 ticks, with the first tick occurring instantly, and the remaining occurring once per second.
Growl Icon Growl Taunt This is your taunt ability. This forces the target to attack you for 3 seconds and greatly increases the threat you generate against that target for that duration.
Mangle Icon Mangle Mangle Deals damage to one target (increased against targets that have a bleed active), and generates 10 Rage on use. It is your primary damage-dealing spell and Rage generator.
Swipe Icon Swipe Swipe Deals damage to enemies in an 8-yard radius and does not cost or generate any Rage, and has no cooldown. This is your filler spell, which you should only use if more powerful spells are not available.
Mark of the Wild Icon Mark of the Wild MotW Buff yourself and your group for 60 minutes, increasing your Versatility by 3%.
Moonfire Icon Moonfire MF Deals Arcane damage over time. Keeping Moonfire ticking at all times is an important factor in dealing good damage and, therefore, generating good threat.
Regrowth Icon Regrowth Regrowth This is a heal you can use on yourself and others. However, this takes you out of Bear Form Icon Bear Form, so be careful when using it.
Dash Icon Dash Dash/Sprint Shapeshifts you into Cat Form Icon Cat Form and increases your movement speed by 60% for 10 seconds.
Cat Form Icon Cat Form Cat Shapeshifts into a Cat, increasing your movement speed and allowing access to Cat Form Icon Cat Form only abilities.
Shred Icon Shred Shred A Cat Form-only ability that deals damage over time and generates Combo Points.
Entangling Roots Icon Entangling Roots Roots Roots a mob in place for 30 seconds. Careful, this ability will take you out of Bear Form Icon Bear Form when cast.
Barkskin Icon Barkskin Bark Reduces all damage you take by 20% for 8 seconds on a 60-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 often.
Travel Form Icon Travel Form Travel/Mount Form This is a shapeshift that increases your movement speed massively, equivalent to mounted movement speed when out of combat.
Rebirth Icon Rebirth Bres / BR Allows you to resurrect allies in combat. Note that it may be dangerous to res your friends in melee range, so be careful of your positioning with this spell.
Ursine Adept Icon Ursine Adept -- Allows you to cast crucial spells in Bear Form Icon Bear Form like Moonfire Icon Moonfire and reduces the damage you take by 10%.
4.

Talented Abilities

As part of the Dragonflight overhaul to the talent system, every specialization received numerous new passive effects and active abilities. To attempt to break the list of every possible effect down into manageable chunks, we have grouped these abilities into passive and active effects, divided between the class and specialization talent trees, and organized by the order you will come across them from top to bottom.

If you would like to know more about which of these talents to select for your own Guardian Druid, please see the builds and talents section of our guide.

4.1.

Passive Druid Class Tree Talents

Ability Abbreviation Description/Effect
Improved Barkskin Icon Improved Barkskin - Increases Barkskin Icon Barkskin duration by 4 seconds.
Verdant Heart Icon Verdant Heart - Makes Frenzied Regeneration Icon Frenzied Regeneration and Barkskin Icon Barkskin increase all healing received by 20% while active.
Killer Instinct Icon Killer Instinct - Increase Physical damage and Armor by up to 6%.
Nurturing Instinct Icon Nurturing Instinct -- Increases Magical damage and healing by up to 6%.
Feline Swiftness Icon Feline Swiftness - Increases movement speed by 15%.
Thick Hide Icon Thick Hide -- Reduces damage taken by 6%.
Natural Recovery Icon Natural Recovery -- Increases the healing done and healing taken by 4%.
Astral Influence Icon Astral Influence -- Increases the range of all your caster spells by 5 yards.
Rising Light, Falling Night Icon Rising Light, Falling Night - Increases your damage and healing by 3% during the day. Increases your Versatility by 2% during the night.
Primal Fury Icon Primal Fury -- Makes it so that when you critical strike with a Combo Point-building ability, you gain an additional Combo Point. Adds 20% crit damage to Mangle Icon Mangle.
Matted Fur Icon Matted Fur -- When you cast Barkskin Icon Barkskin or Survival Instincts Icon Survival Instincts, you gain a small absorb shield for 8 seconds.
Ursine Vigor Icon Ursine Vigor - For 4 seconds after shifting into Bear Form Icon Bear Form, your health and armor is increased by up to 15%.
Fluid Form Icon Fluid Form FF Shred Icon Shred and Rake Icon Rake can be used in any form and shift you into Cat Form Icon Cat Form. Mangle Icon Mangle can be used in any form and shift you into Bear Form Icon Bear Form.
Oakskin Icon Oakskin - Survival Instincts Icon Survival Instincts and Barkskin Icon Barkskin reduce damage taken by an additional 10%.
Instincts of the Claw Icon Instincts of the Claw - Mangle Icon Mangle and Thrash Icon Thrash damage increased by up to 10%.
Ursoc's Spirit Icon Ursoc's Spirit - Stamina in Bear Form Icon Bear Form increased by 10%.
Lore of the Grove Icon Lore of the Grove - Moonfire Icon Moonfire damage increased by up to 10%.
Lycara's Teachings Icon Lycara's Teachings -- Gain up to 6% of a stat in each form. Bear Form Icon Bear Form gains Versatility.
Improved Rejuvenation Icon Improved Rejuvenation - Increases the duration of Rejuvenation Icon Rejuvenations by 3 seconds.
Improved Sunfire Icon Improved Sunfire -- Makes Sunfire Icon Sunfire apply its initial effect to all enemies within 8 yards.
Well-Honed Instincts Icon Well-Honed Instincts WHI When you fall below 40% health, you cast Frenzied Regeneration Icon Frenzied Regeneration.
Improved Stampeding Roar Icon Improved Stampeding Roar - Reduces the cooldown of Stampeding Roar Icon Stampeding Roar by 1 minute.
4.2.

Active Druid Class Tree Talents

Ability Abbreviation Description/Effect
Rake Icon Rake Rake A Cat Form Icon Cat Form-only ability that deals damage over time.
Rejuvenation Icon Rejuvenation Rejuv A heal-over-time effect.
Starfire Icon Starfire Starfire A ranged damaging ability can only be used out of Bear Form Icon Bear Form.
Starsurge Icon Starsurge SS A hard-hitting instant ranged damaging ability.
Rip Icon Rip Rip Another Cat Form Icon Cat Form-only ability that deals damage over time, but costs combo points.
Remove Corruption Icon Remove Corruption - A single target dispel. It can remove Curse and Poison effects.
Maim Icon Maim Maim A Cat Form Icon Cat Form ability that stuns the target and deals damage.
Ironfur Icon Ironfur IF Costs 40 Rage and increases your Armor by 112% of your Agility for 7 seconds. Multiple applications of Ironfur can overlap, meaning that the armor increase will stack, but the duration will not. For example, if you use Ironfur, and then use it again 3 seconds later; you will have 2 applications of Ironfur for 4 seconds, granting you 224% of your Agility as Armor. After 3 seconds, the first application will have expired, leaving you with 112% of your Agility as Armor for 4 more seconds. Ironfur is the primary way to spend Rage, and keeping it up as often as possible will help reduce your damage intake.
Hibernate Icon Hibernate Hibernate Puts an enemy Beast or Dragonkin to sleep for 40 seconds.
Skull Bash Icon Skull Bash Interrupt / SB Interrupts enemy spell casts. Note that if you are out of melee range of your target when you cast Skull Bash, you will charge into range regardless of if the target is casting or not. This means you can effectively use Skull Bash as a pseudo-charge at the expense of putting your interrupt on cooldown.
Wild Charge Icon Wild Charge WC Grants a movement ability that varies based on shapeshift form. In Bear form, this is a 15-second cooldown charge that roots the target for 4 seconds.
Cyclone Icon Cyclone Clone Makes the enemy target immune to damage for up to 6 seconds. They cannot perform actions during this time.
Soothe Icon Soothe Soothe Dispels all enrage effects on a target. In particular, this works on the Raging affix in Mythic+.
Sunfire Icon Sunfire Sunfire A caster form damage over time spell.
Typhoon Icon Typhoon Typhoon A small frontal knockback effect.
Stampeding Roar Icon Stampeding Roar Roar increases the movement speed of you and your allies within 15 yards by 60% for 8 seconds. This is a tremendously powerful raid cooldown, especially on encounters that require coordinated raid movement.
Wild Growth Icon Wild Growth WG Heals up to 5 injured allies over 7 seconds.
Ursol's Vortex Icon Ursol's Vortex Ursols Creates a vortex that will suck mobs back into the first time they attempt to leave.
Incapacitating Roar Icon Incapacitating Roar Incap Disorients enemies within 10 yards of you for 3 seconds. This can double as an area of effect interrupt in dungeons against enemies who are not immune to disorients.
Mighty Bash Icon Mighty Bash Bash A single-target 4-second stun, and can be quite useful in Mythic+ and solo content.
Mass Entanglement Icon Mass Entanglement Mass Roots An AoE mass root can be potent in the right scenario.
Innervate Icon Innervate Innervate Can be cast on a healer to reduce the Mana cost of their spells by 100% for 8 seconds.
Renewal Icon Renewal Renewal Instantly heals you for 20% of your maximum health.
Heart of the Wild Icon Heart of the Wild HotW Causes abilities not associated with your spec to be substantially empowered for 45 seconds. Primarily, this is for the increased Moonfire Icon Moonfire damage, as it is considered a balance spell. This also increases the damage done by your auto attacks by 30%. Also increases feral abilities, primarily Rip Icon Rip and Rake Icon Rake.
Nature's Vigil Icon Nature's Vigil NV Causes all single target damage you deal also to heal yourself and nearby allies for 20% of the damage done.
4.3.

Passive Guardian Specialization Tree Talents

Ability Abbreviation Description/Effect
Gore Icon Gore Gore Casting Thrash Icon Thrash, Swipe Icon Swipe, Moonfire Icon Moonfire, or Maul Icon Maul (your main rotational spells) has a chance to reset the cooldown on Mangle Icon Mangle and make your next Mangle generate 4 additional Rage.
Brambles Icon Brambles Brambles Deals a small amount of damage to attackers and pulses aoe damage when Barkskin Icon Barkskin is active.
Improved Survival Instincts Icon Improved Survival Instincts -- Adds a second charge of Survival Instincts Icon Survival Instincts.
Mangle Icon Mangle Rank 2 -- Increases Mangle Icon Mangle damage when the target is affected by a bleed.
Innate Resolve Icon Innate Resolve IR Adds a second charge of Frenzied Regeneration Icon Frenzied Regeneration and increases its healing by up to 120% based on your missing health.
Infected Wounds Icon Infected Wounds -- Causes Mangle Icon Mangle and Maul Icon Maul to apply a movement slow.
Ursoc's Endurance Icon Ursoc's Endurance UE Increases the duration of Barkskin Icon Barkskin and Ironfur Icon Ironfur.
Gory Fur Icon Gory Fur GF Gives Mangle Icon Mangle a 15% chance to reduce the Rage cost of your next Ironfur Icon Ironfur by 25%.
Flashing Claws Icon Flashing Claws FC Causes your Thrash Icon Thrash to have an extra chance to proc multiple times also increases the amount it can stack up to by 1/2. It is very fun to see multiple go off and see mobs instantly explode.
Vulnerable Flesh Icon Vulnerable Flesh VF Increases Maul Icon Maul's critical strike chance by 30%.
Layered Mane Icon Layered Mane LM Gives Ironfur Icon Ironfur a chance to apply 2 stacks and Frenzied Regeneration Icon Frenzied Regeneration a chance to not consume a charge.
Survival of the Fittest Icon Survival of the Fittest SotF Reduces the cooldown of Survival Instincts Icon Survival Instincts and Barkskin Icon Barkskin.
After the Wildfire Icon After the Wildfire ATW Every 200 Rage spent causes a burst of AoE healing around you.
Guardian of Elune Icon Guardian of Elune GoE Makes Mangle Icon Mangle increase the duration of your next Ironfur Icon Ironfur or increase the healing of your next Frenzied Regeneration Icon Frenzied Regeneration by 20%.
Soul of the Forest Icon Soul of the Forest Soul Gives Mangle Icon Mangle 25% more damage and makes it generate 5 more Rage.
Reinforced Fur Icon Reinforced Fur -- Makes Ironfur Icon Ironfur increase Armor by an additional 15% and Barkskin Icon Barkskin reduce damage taken by an additional 10%.
Tooth and Claw Icon Tooth and Claw TNC / TAC Autoattacks have a chance to empower your next Maul Icon Maul, stacking up to 2 times. Empowered Maul deals 40% more damage, costs no rage and reduces the damage the target does to you by 12% for 6 seconds.
Vicious Cycle Icon Vicious Cycle VC Makes Mangle Icon Mangle increase the damage of your next Maul Icon Maul and vice versa.
Earthwarden Icon Earthwarden EW When you deal damage with Thrash Icon Thrash you reduce the damage of the next auto attack on you by 25%.
Fury of Nature Icon Fury of Nature FoN Boosts your Arcane damage by 20%. Primarily for more Moonfire Icon Moonfire damage.
Reinvigoration Icon Reinvigoration -- Reduces the cooldown of Frenzied Regeneration Icon Frenzied Regeneration.
Circle of Life and Death Icon Circle of Life and Death Circle Your damage over time effects deal their damage faster. Another large damage increase increasing Moonfire Icon Moonfire and Thrash Icon Thrash tick speed by 25%.
Elune's Favored Icon Elune's Favored EF Increases Arcane damage done by a further 10%, and you now heal for 40% of arcane damage done. This is a massive increase for self-sustain.
Scintillating Moonlight Icon Scintillating Moonlight SM Targets affected by your Moonfire Icon Moonfire to deal less damage to you.
Twin Moonfire Icon Twin Moonfire TM Increases Moonfire Icon Moonfire damage and causes it to hit a second target nearby.
Galactic Guardian Icon Galactic Guardian GG Makes most damage sources (except for Moonfire Icon Moonfire and the reflect from Brambles Icon Brambles) have a chance to trigger a free Moonfire on the target of the damage event. Additionally, when this proc occurs, your next Moonfire will generate 8 Rage and deal 300% additional damage.
Blood Frenzy Icon Blood Frenzy BF Makes Thrash Icon Thrash also generate 3 Rage each time it deals damage, including DoT ticks. Capped at 5 targets.
Dream of Cenarius Icon Dream of Cenarius DoC Gives you a chance after taking damage to get a buff that causes your next Regrowth Icon Regrowth to be instant and castable in all forms.
Ursoc's Fury Icon Ursoc's Fury UF or UFR Causes your Thrash Icon Thrash and Maul Icon Maul to grant you an absorb shield for 25% of the damage they deal. Very good for self sustain.
Rend and Tear Icon Rend and Tear RnT Makes your Thrash Icon Thrash increase mobs' damage taken by 2% per stack and reduces the damage they deal to you by 2% per stack.
Moonless Night Icon Moonless Night MN Causes your single target abilities on targets afflicted with Moonfire Icon Moonfire to burn for 20% additional arcane damage.
Thorns of Iron Icon Thorns of Iron Thorns When you cast Ironfur Icon Ironfur, you also deal physical damage equal to 20% of your Armor to nearby enemies.
Untamed Savagery Icon Untamed Savagery US Increases the damage and radius of your Thrash Icon Thrash by 25%.
Ursoc's Guidance Icon Ursoc's Guidance UG Reduces the cooldown on your Incarnation: Guardian of Ursoc Icon Incarnation: Guardian of Ursoc based on Rage spent. It's good for getting those strong cooldowns up more frequently. It also reduces the cooldown of Convoke the Spirits Icon Convoke the Spirits by 1 minute if that is talented.
4.4.

Active Guardian Specialization Tree Talents

Ability Abbreviation Description/Effect
Maul Icon Maul Maul Costs 40 Rage and deals damage to one target. It is used as a Rage dump when you are not taking damage to prevent capping on Rage. If you are struggling to manage Rage, it is better to neglect this ability in favor of Ironfur Icon Ironfur.
Survival Instincts Icon Survival Instincts SI Reduces all damage you take by 50% for 6 seconds. This is your major defensive reduction, to be used against lethal spike damage or "tankbuster." mechanics. Its short duration and long cooldown mean it should be used sparingly.
Bristling Fur Icon Bristling Fur Bfur Generates Rage based on damage taken for 8 seconds. This can be very useful for extremely hard-hitting scenarios that come in short windows and can be an enormous amount of Rage gained.
Berserk: Ravage Icon Berserk: Ravage -- Reduces the cooldown of Mangle Icon Mangle, Thrash Icon Thrash and Growl Icon Growl by 50%. This is an extremely powerful offensive cooldown, reducing all of our main abilities to nearly 0 cooldown.
Berserk: Unchecked Aggression Icon Berserk: Unchecked Aggression UA Causes Berserk Icon Berserk to increase haste and reduce the rage cost of Maul Icon Maul by 50%.
Berserk: Persistence Icon Berserk: Persistence -- Causes Berserk Icon Berserk to reduce the cooldown of Frenzied Regeneration Icon Frenzied Regeneration by 100% and rage cost of Ironfur Icon Ironfur by 50%.
Incarnation: Guardian of Ursoc Icon Incarnation: Guardian of Ursoc Incarn Transforms your Berserk Icon Berserk into a superior spell, lasting 15 seconds longer and granting an extra 30% health while active.
Pulverize Icon Pulverize Pulv consumes 2 of your Thrash Icon Thrash stacks on the target and reduces the damage they deal to you by 35%. It can be a very useful defensive cooldown, generally better in raid scenarios.
Convoke the Spirits Icon Convoke the Spirits Convoke Rapidly casts 16 spells over 4 seconds. Spells cast are based on the form you are in.
Rage of the Sleeper Icon Rage of the Sleeper RotS Reduces your damage taken by 25% for 10 seconds, increases the damage you deal by 10%, increases leech by 25%, and reflects damage at attackers.
Lunar Beam Icon Lunar Beam LB Summons a small beam of light at your location that increases your mastery by 15%, deals damage to enemies, and heals you.
Raze Icon Raze Raze Is an AoE version of Maul Icon Maul.
4.5.

Guardian Specialization Hero Tree Talents

Ability Abbreviation Description/Effect
Druid of the Claw DotC One of two Hero Talent Trees available to Guardian and Feral Druids.
Ravage Icon Ravage Ravage Has a chance to proc off auto-attacks and replaces your next Maul Icon Maul with a massively empowered ability that causes a bleed.
Dreadful Wound Icon Dreadful Wound DW This is the bleed caused by Ravage Icon Ravage and it reduces damage dealt to you from targets affected.
Killing Strikes Icon Killing Strikes KS Ravage Icon Ravage increases your Agility and Armor granted by Ironfur Icon Ironfur temporarily. Also causes your first Mangle Icon Mangle after entering combat to empower your next Maul Icon Maul to become a Ravage Icon Ravage
Wildpower Surge Icon Wildpower Surge WPS Mangle grants a stack of Feline Potential Icon Feline Potential. When you have 6 stacks the next time you transform into Cat Form Icon Cat Form, gain 5 combo points and empower your next Rip Icon Rip or Ferocious Bite Icon Ferocious Bite significantly.
Elune's Chosen EC One of two Hero Talent Trees available to Guardian and Balance Druids.
Lunar Calling Icon Lunar Calling LC Thrash Icon Thrash now deals Arcane damage and has increased damage.
Lunation Icon Lunation Lunation Your Arcane abilities reduce the cooldown of Lunar Beam Icon Lunar Beam by 3 seconds.
The Light of Elune Icon The Light of Elune LoE/FoE Moonfire Icon Moonfire damage has a chance to call down a Fury of Elune Icon Fury of Elune beam that deals damage to targets and grants rage.
Moondust Icon Moondust Moondust Slows targets affected by Moonfire Icon Moonfire.
5.

Further Reading

Since nearly every single primary ability for Guardian Druid interacts with each other, it can be challenging to figure out how they are meant to be prioritized. But, now that you know what they do, our rotation page can help you get all that Rage spent healthily.

Many of these abilities can be made easier to use via the macro system and our dedicated page for Addons and Macros has information on the best way to integrate them into your gameplay.

6.

Changelog

  • 09 Sep. 2024: Updated TNC from 15% to 12%.
  • 21 Aug. 2024: Updated for The War Within.
  • 23 Jul. 2024: Updated for TWW pre-patch.
  • 07 May 2024: Reviewed for 10.2.7.
  • 22 Apr. 2024: Reviewed for Season 4.
  • 20 Mar. 2024: Reviewed for Patch 10.2.6.
  • 15 Jan. 2024: Reviewed and Updated for Patch 10.2.5.
  • 06 Nov. 2023: Updated Blood Frenzy note for target cap and rage increase from 2 to 3.
  • 04 Sep. 2023: Updated Ursocs Fury note to 45%, IR to 120% and PotP to 5%.
  • 25 Jul. 2023: Updated Ursocs Fury note to 50%.
  • 10 Jul. 2023: Updated for Patch 10.1.5.
  • 01 May 2023: Updated spells for patch 10.1.
  • 20 Mar. 2023: Reviewed for Patch 10.0.7.
  • 24 Jan. 2023: Updated for Patch 10.0.5.
  • 11 Dec. 2022: Reviewed for Dragonflight Season 1.
  • 28 Nov. 2022: Updated for Dragonflight launch.
  • 25 Oct. 2022: Updated for Dragonflight pre-patch.
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