Balance Druid DPS Easy Mode — The War Within (11.0.5)
On this page, we explain how to easily play Balance Druid in World of Warcraft — The War Within (11.0.5), using the simplest rotation, talent tree, stat priority, gear setup, etc., without sacrificing performance.
Foreword
This page is intended for players who are new to the game or class, have no intentions of raiding Mythic difficulty or simply want a more straightforward way to play their specialization without being overwhelmed by the numerous subtleties and active abilities that need to be taken into consideration for optimal play.
The Basics of Balance Druids
Balance Druid has a single target and multi-target rotation, which both require good DoT uptime and proper building and spending of Astral Power. Cooldowns should be used as they become available.
For more information about your spells and their interactions, please refer to our spell summary page.
Beginner's Guide to Balance Druid in The War Within
Beginner Single-Target Talents for Balance Druid
This build is optimal for pure single-target situations.
Be sure to make use of the 'Export Talents' button to import the best build directly into your game!
Beginner AoE and Mythic+ Talents for Balance Druid
This is our recommended build for AoE scenarios. This works well for AoE Fights in Raids, as well as most Mythic+. Swap Rejuvenation and Remove Corruption for Innervate and Nature's Vigil if needed.
Be sure to make use of the 'Export Talents' button to import the best build directly into your game!
Beginner Balance Druid DPS Rotation
Balance Druid has an Eclipse cycle-based gameplay loop. You will enter Solar Eclipse on single and two targets and Lunar Eclipse on three or more targets. You cast Wrath in Solar Eclipse and Starfire in Lunar Eclipse.
It is important to keep your DoTs up to activate your Waning Twilight passive and your Mastery. Sunfire is easily spread to all targets around your main target, and Moonfire can be cleaved to one additional unit per cast with Twin Moons.
On a single target, you will use your cooldowns as they come up or when you can stack multiple cooldowns together. You will use Starsurge as your way of spending Astral Power. On multiple targets, you will instead cast Starfall as your main way to spend Astral Power.
Once your DoTs are up and you start generating Astral Power, you will have some other cooldowns to utilize. The below talents are opt-in from talents and may not always be applicable to a given fight.
- Celestial Alignment is your primary cooldown, which can be further improved with Orbital Strike. This gives you the effects of both Eclipse states, amplifying certain damage types.
- Convoke the Spirits is a strong cooldown that casts 16 spells over 4-seconds. This does good single-target damage but is still useful in multi-target fights.
- Fury of Elune and New Moon are commonly taken spells in the Talent Tree. Fury of Elune is commonly taken on multi-target and New Moon is commonly taken on single target.
There are more spells that can be taken, but these are ones that will be taken more often than not. In The War Within expansion, the new Hero Talent system will empower some of these spells and some others that are currently not on this list.
Defensive Spells for Balance Druid
Barkskin is your primary defensive resource. It is a short cooldown low damage reduction spell, which is often up most times you would need it. In the class tree, there are several other passives that buff Barkskin, but the most notable is Oakskin, which further increases the damage reduction.
Bear Form is the most accessible but most detrimental defensive resource we have. This increases your Health and is always available for use, but you are unable to use most damaging spells while in Bear Form.
Renewal offers an on-demand heal on a medium cooldown. This is best used after big hits to bring your Health back up to a safer threshold.
These are the key defensive resources for Balance Druids. There are other ways to remain safe, including strong passives such as Well-Honed Instincts but those three spells cover the majority of our defensives.
Utility Spells for Balance Druid
Balance Druid brings many buffs and utility spells to the table. On top of being able to heal others, we have many iconic spells that help us and our teammates in unique ways.
Balance Druids have multiple displacement spells. Typhoon to knock back enemies. Ursol's Vortex and Mass Entanglement, as well as Entangling Roots can keep enemies in one place. There have been entire bosses and mechanics revolving around the coordinated use of these abilities.
Balance Druid also has other ways to help the raid. Stampeding Roar increases your movement as well as those around you when you cast the spell. If you are in a party, Innervate is a great spell to help the healer conserve mana.
Best Talents for Balance Druid in The War Within
This is the Easy Mode page, which presents things in a simplified manner with simplified builds. For our detailed, fully-fledged Talent and Rotation guides, click below!
Stat Priority for Balance Druid in The War Within
The general stat priority for a Balance Druid is seen below. This is very much a rough guideline and is designed for players who do not wish to sim their character. If you are simming your character, please disregard this stat priority completely and follow your sim!
- Intellect;
- Mastery;
- Haste;
- Versatility;
- Critical Strike.
While the stat priority for classes is normally the same for both the Easy Mode page and our full guide, subtle differences can still occur. If you want to see the full explanation of the stat priority, as well as the absolute top choices for the priority, head to our full stats page below.
Changelog
- 21 Oct. 2024: Updated for Patch 11.0.5.
- 07 Oct. 2024: Updated some talent recommendations.
- 09 Sep. 2024: Updated for Season 1.
- 21 Aug. 2024: Updated for The War Within.
- 23 Jul. 2024: Updated for The War Within PrePatch.
- 07 May 2024: Reviewed for 10.2.7.
- 22 Apr. 2024: Updated for Dragonflight Season 4.
- 19 Mar. 2024: Reviewed for Patch 10.2.6.
- 15 Jan. 2024: Reviewed for Patch 10.2.5.
- 06 Nov. 2023: Updated for Patch 10.2.0.
- 04 Sep. 2023: Reviewed for Patch 10.1.7.
- 10 Jul. 2023: Updated for Patch 10.1.5.
- 08 May 2023: Updated for May 9th Hotfixes.
- 01 May 2023: Updated for Patch 10.1.0.
- 20 Mar. 2023: Updated for Patch 10.0.7.
- 24 Jan. 2023: Reviewed and updated for Patch 10.0.5.
- 11 Dec. 2022: Updated talent choices and some basic info.
- 28 Nov. 2022: Updated for Dragonflight launch.
- 15 Nov. 2022: Updated talent recommendations.
- 25 Oct. 2022: Updated for Dragonflight pre-patch.
More Druid Guides
Guides from Other Classes
This was written by Borabank, a Balance Druid theorycrafter and raider in Muscle Memory. You can watch him on his Twitch channel or in the Dreamgrove Discord server.
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