Guardian Druid Tank Stat Priority (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

General Information

On this page, we explain what the best statistics are for Guardian Druids in World of Warcraft Legion 7.3.5, how the class benefits from each of them.

The statistics priority is important as it influences itemisation choices (gear, enchants, and gems).

The other pages of our Guardian Druid guide can be accessed from the table of contents on the right.

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. Basics

The stat priority for a Guardian Druid differs depending on whether you are going aiming for survivability or damage output.

1.1. Survivability

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

1.2. Damage Output

It is important to note that all secondary stats (except Mastery) are very close together and this is a general rough estimation, as your stat order might slightly differ depending on your current gear. Agility is also very important for damage output, and will often make the highest item level piece the best one to choose.

1. Haste >= Versatility >= Critical Strike;
2. Mastery.

For AoE burst damage, it is nice to have enough Haste to lower the cooldown of Thrash below 5 seconds, so that every time you use Rage of the Sleeper you can cast 3x Thrash that are all boosted by the 25% extra damage. This technically requires about 20% Haste, but realistically 22-23% to be able to pull it off.

2. Getting a Better Understanding of Guardian Druid Stats

Versatility is the most effective stat for pure damage reduction, as well as having benefits to your damage output as well as self healing abilities like Frenzied Regeneration.

Mastery ( Mastery: Nature's Guardian) increases health rather than reduce damage taken, which gives Guardian Druids the possibility for really high health pools, which definitely increases your survivability. It also increases healing done to you by the same amount, so you do not end up draining healers' Mana more because you have more Mastery. It also increases your Attack Power, but offensively it is still the worst stat.

Haste speeds up the global cooldown as well as the cooldown of your rotational abilities, as well as increasing the rate at which you auto-attack. All of this leads to slightly higher Rage generation. This is particularly powerful with abilities with multiple charges, such as Frenzied Regeneration, but it does not really affect Ironfur outside of generating more Rage.

Critical Strike, while being good for dealing damage, does not do much defensively. Critical Strike does increase your chance to dodge, so it will decrease your overall damage taken, but is simply not reliable, thus making it lose a lot of value defensively, as all other stats reliably increase survivability.

Most encounters have abilities that cannot be mitigated or avoided. Also, you need to have a decent amount of health, in order to give yourself the chance to be healed before a subsequent attack kills you. As such, you need a minimum amount of Stamina. This amount will, in most cases, simply come from the Stamina found innately on your gear. Therefore, item level is the determining factor in keeping your health pool growing.

3. ChangeLog

• 18 Mar. 2018: Revamped the entire page.
• 28 Aug. 2017: Made a small tweak to the priority to add Stamina and Agility.
• 07 Jul. 2017: Made a small tweak to the priority.
• 12 Jun. 2017: Page reviewed and deemed updated for 7.2.5.
• 27 Mar. 2017: No changes needed for Patch 7.2.
• 09 Jan. 2017: Checked and confirmed for Patch 7.1.5.
• 16 Dec. 2016: Added Armor to the list of stats.
• 19 Sep. 2016: 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: Updated the stat priority.
• 29 Aug. 2016: Updated for Legion's launch.
• 20 Jul. 2016: Added a mention that Critical Strike also increases your chance to dodge.
• 18 Jul. 2016: Updated for the Legion pre-patch.

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