Guardian Druid Tank Stat Priority (BfA 8.0.1)

Table of Contents

• +Introduction
  • 1. Class Overview
  • 2. Patch 8.0.1 Changes for Guardian Druid
    • 2.1. Added/Removed Spells
    • 2.2. Changed Spells
  • 3. Contents
  • 4. ChangeLog
• +Easy Mode
  • 1. Foreword
  • 2. The Basics of Guardian Druids
  • 3. Talent Choice for Guardian Druids
  • 4. Stat Choice
  • 5. Basic Rotation for Guardian Druids
  • 6. Active Mitigation Abilities for Guardian Druids
  • 7. Cooldown Usage for Guardian Druids
• +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. Additional Utility for Guardian Druids
• +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. PvP Talents (War Mode)
    • 9.1. PvP Talents for Guardian Druids
      • 9.1.1. General PvP Talents
      • 9.1.2. Guardian Druid PvP Talents
• +Artifact Traits and Relics
  • 1. Artifact Changes in 8.0
• +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. Barkskin
      • 6.4.2. Survival Instincts
    • 6.5. Abilities and Cooldowns from Talents
      • 6.5.1. Tier 1 Talents
      • 6.5.2. Tier 5 Talents
      • 6.5.3. Tier 6 Talents
      • 6.5.4. Tier 7 Talents
    • 6.6. Catweaving
• +Common and Worst Mistakes
  • 1. Casting Too Many Swipes
  • 2. Using Defensive Cooldowns Reactively
  • 3. Not Using Cooldowns Enough
  • 4. Using Frenzied Regeneration Inefficiently
  • 5. Thinking Damage Does Not Matter
• ×Stat Priority
  • 1. Basics
    • 1.1. Survivability
    • 1.2. Damage Output
  • 2. Getting a Better Understanding of Guardian Druid Stats
• +Gems, Enchants, and Consumables
  • 1. Gems for Guardian Druids
  • 2. Enchants for Guardian Druids
  • 3. Consumables for Guardian Druids
• +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. Blessing 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. Details!
      • 2.1.7. Grid and GridClickSets (Optional)
    • 2.2. Specific Addons for Guardian Druids
      • 2.2.1. Omen Threat Meter
      • 2.2.2. Tidy Plates: Threat Plates
• +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

General Information

On this page, we explain what the best statistics are for Guardian Druids in World of Warcraft BfA 8.0.1, 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 Author

This guide has been written by Faide, a Guardian Druid theorycrafter, moderator for the Dreamgrove Druid discord, and owner of Dreamgrove.gg, a Druid community website. He raids in Synergy on Bleeding Hollow US. You can follow him on Twitter.

1. Basics

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

Regardless of what you are prioritizing, an item 10 or more item levels above another will almost always be an upgrade due to the sheer increase in stats.

1.1. Survivability

1. Armor/Agility/Stamina
2. Versatility;
3. Mastery;
4. Haste;
5. Critical Strike.

Armor, Agility, and Stamina are grouped together because they typically appear together on gear, but any one of the "main" stats will be stronger point-for-point than secondary stats.

1.2. Damage Output

It is important to note that all secondary stats (except Mastery) are very close together in value. This is a rough estimation, as your stat order might slightly differ depending on how much of each stat you currently have. Agility is also very important for damage output, and will often make the highest item level piece the best one to choose. If you want a truly accurate evaluation of which stats are best for you, you should sim your character for stat weights.

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

2. Getting a Better Understanding of Guardian Druid Stats

Agility is your primary stat. It increases your Attack Power, grants you a small amount of Dodge, and converts into Armor due to Ironfur.

Armor reduces the Physical damage you take. Guardians gain increased Armor (and Stamina) from Bear Form. It is important to note that "Bonus Armor" (typically armor granted by trinket effects or enchants/potions) is not increased by Bear Form.

Versatility reduces your damage taken, increases your damage and healing done, and increases the size of your absorbs. Versatility is the most effective stat for pure damage reduction, as well as having benefits to your damage output and boosting your self healing abilities like Frenzied Regeneration.

Mastery ( Mastery: Nature's Guardian) increases your maximum health and your healing received, which effectively functions like a damage reduction in practice (damage reductions increase the amount of damage you can take before you die, just like health increases). It also increases your Attack Power, but it remains your worst stat offensively because it does not scale as well as the other stats.

Haste does many things for Guardian. It increases your melee attack speed, increases the rate at which Thrash and Moonfire tick, reduces the global cooldown, and reduces the cooldown on Mangle, Thrash, and Frenzied Regeneration. All of this results in increased Rage generation and damage output, making Haste a strong stat for both offensive and defensive purposes.

Critical Strike, while being good for dealing damage, does not do much defensively. It does increase dodge chance, but that dodge chance is subject to heavy diminishing returns, and is generally an unreliable stat for survivability. Other stats increase your survivability far more reliably.

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.