Discover the perfect Druid Spec for you!
From entangling enemies in crushing roots to weaving into different animal forms in the midst of battle, Druid has some of the best class fantasy in all of World of Warcraft. With that in mind, it’s no surprise that Druid is a wildly popular class, making up nearly 10% of WoW’s player base! However, it also has the most specs out of any class in the game. With so many options, it can be hard to figure out which spec is right for you. Luckily, we’re here to break them down!
1. Guardian Druid
A Guardian Druid prepares for a fight.
Taking on the form of the bear, Guardian Druids take their role as the Protectors of Nature very seriously. Guardian Druid is the tank spec for the class. They use their thick bear skin to mitigate oncoming damage and use those huge bear claws to deal ferocious AOE attacks. Guardian Druids use Rage as their main resource, and their tanking will revolve around generating and spending rage in a way that keeps up damage mitigation while maximizing their damage. Guardian really shines when it comes to damage mitigation, making them one of the best tanks to deal with hard hitting bosses and massive damage spikes!
What Guardian Druid excels at:
- Damage Mitigation: Iron Fur is the main Guardian mitigation ability, and it allows you to easily hit the game’s armor cap. If Iron Fur isn’t enough, Guardian also has the ability Survival Instincts, which grants you a 50% damage reduction and has two charges! On top of these insane abilities, Guardian druid has a wide variety of passive defensives that will significantly reduce the amount of damage you take while in Bear Form.
- Healing: While Guardian is amazing at reducing the damage they take, eventually the damage is going to bring your health a bit too low. Luckily, Guardian is also phenomenal when it comes to healing! Your base kit comes with Frenzied Regeneration, which is a great way to quickly regain health for a minimal Rage cost. You can also talent into certain healing abilities such as Renewal, which is a great healing ability to have for emergency situations. Specifically with Shadowlands, all classes got to modify their abilities with items called Conduits. One particular conduit called Well-Honed instincts will give you a passive heal whenever you drop below 40%, adding even more options to your toolkit as a tank
- Utility: Druids are very well known for their unbeatable group utility, and Guardian is no exception. Stampeding Roar will let you and your allies charge forward with a 60% speed increase, which is great for getting the whole group out of an incoming AOE. They can also talent into good CC abilities such as Mighty Bash or Mass Entangle, which helps keep mobs under control. With Shadowlands Covenant Abilities such as Convoke the Spirits, Guardian Druids can also deal heavy damage or put out great off-healing depending on the situation!
Pick Guardian Druid If…
- If you want to be the group leader in PvE content and want to live out the fantasy of protecting your allies, Guardian spec is by far your best option. As the class’s only Tank spec, this should be an easy choice for those wanting to dip their toes into the role.
- If you want to live out the Druid fantasy of swapping in and out of different animal forms, Guardian is the way to go. Guardian druids who are comfortable with their spec can do what’s called cat and owl weaving. Basically, you mix in Feral and Balance abilities to maximize your damage. When done well, this results in not only great damage for a tank but very fun gameplay that involves swapping into Cat and Moonkin Forms while still keeping uptime in Bear Form! This can be tricky to master but it’s a ton of fun!
Guardian Druid Details: https://www.wowhead.com/guardian-druid-guide
Guardian Druid Guide:
A guide to playing Guardian Druid
2. Restoration Druid
A Restoration Druid meditates in their tree form.
Through the power of nature, Restoration druids specialize in turning into a giant tree and keeping their allies alive. The fact that you get to turn into a tree should be enough to convince you that this spec is amazing, but there certainly is more to love about Restoration. Restoration Druids use Heal-over-Time abilities (also known as HoTs) to keep teammates alive. Restoration Druids can be very versatile healers, either using all their HoTs on a few targets to focus heals, or spreading the healing over a large group for passive healing. Not only do Restoration Druids bring tons of utility to a group simply because they’re druids, but they have their own set of specialties!
What Restoration Druid Excels At:
- Survivability: This is a running theme you’re going to see with druids. Not only do Restoration druids have their own healing abilities that they can cast on themselves, but they can also use the defensive abilities from other forms such as their Bear Form! Healers are generally known for being squishy, but if you want a healer that doesn’t have to worry about that then Restoration Druid is your best option.
- High Mobility: Between all of their forms, Restoration Druid excels at being a healer on the move. Not only do they have the natural speed that comes with both of their cat and bear forms, but they can also talent into abilities like Tiger Dash and Wild Charge that also increase their mobility. The other reason their mobility is top tier is that so many of their abilities are instant cast, so having to move doesn’t necessarily cost them any healing!
- Cooldowns: To add to their already amazing kit, Restoration Druids have a wide range of highly useful cooldowns! Their major cooldowns include Tranquility, Flourish, and Incarnation: Tree of Life. All three of these are very impactful and can completely make or break a fight, which really adds to the excitement of playing a healer.
Pick Restoration Druid If:
- If you want to play a versatile healer who can change the tide of battle while on the run, Restoration is your best choice. This healer is also ideal for many different types of content, excelling in all 3 major end-game activities: Mythic+ Dungeons, Raid, and PvP. Of course, the main reason you should pick this healer is obviously because they get to heal as a giant tree, and that’s just too much fun.
- Restoration Druid is a great option for you if you also want to help with damage. With talents like Balance Affinity and abilities like Convoke the Spirits, Restoration Druids are the perfect choice for any big-brained gamers wanting to squeeze out high DPS numbers alongside some insane healing numbers!
Restoration Druid Details: https://www.wowhead.com/restoration-druid-guide
Restoration Druid Guide:
A guide to playing Restoration Druid.
3. Feral Druid
A Feral druid prowls through the forest.
I don’t think it’s a secret that everyone wants to be a cat- just look at how popular Stray is! With Druid’s Feral specialization, not only do you get to be in your amazing cat form, you get to be a sneaky and ferocious hunter as well! Feral Druids are a melee DpS spec that utilizes combo points, similar to Rogues, to deal high damage and apply devastating DoTs. Feral Druid does come with a reputation for being a difficult spec to master, but once you see what they can do it’s clear that the spec is worth the effort!
What Feral Druid Excels At:
- Burst Damage: With cooldowns like Berserk and Tiger’s Fury, Feral Druid does very impressive upfront burst damage. The more comfortable you get with this spec, the better this damage is going to get. Getting comfortable using your Bloodtalons talent and making the most out of snapshotting your DoTs will help maximize your damage, especially on single-target fights!
- Mobility: It shouldn’t be a surprise at this point that a druid spec has great mobility. Not only does Feral druid have the speed options of the other specs in terms of Wild Charge, Tiger’s Dash, and Dash, but since they prefer to be in cat form they never have to worry about losing uptime due to being in the wrong form! They alsol permanently have the 30% speed increase that comes along with simply being in cat form at all times. They can also use Stampeding Roar in combination with conduits like Leader of the Pack to provide great movement utility to the rest of their teammates!
- Uncapped AoE: While Feral’s AoE damage won’t always beat other specs (looking at you Destruction Warlock), they do shine when it comes to uncapped AoE abilities. Many of their AoE abilities will deal reduced damage past five targets or are simply soft capped at 15-20. This gives you plenty to rely on when it comes to larger Mythic+ pulls.
Pick Feral Druid If:
- You’re looking to play a class with a high skill cap. Feral Druid takes practice and has a lot of room for min-maxing in order to squeeze out every little bit of damage. While this may be intimidating to some people, this spec is a great opportunity to really push yourself and grow as a player.
- If you really want to play a Druid and want a fast-paced melee experience, Feral is the best option. Their combo points keep the gameplay constantly feeling upbeat and exciting, always giving you something to think about during fights. In combination with their movement abilities, Feral is the spec for anyone who wants to play an exhilarating spec that can always be on the move.
Feral Druid Details: https://www.wowhead.com/feral-druid-guide
Feral Druid Guide:
A guide to playing Feral Druid.
4. Balance Druid
A Moonkin begins casting Starfire.
Balance Druids go by many names, ranging from Space Chickens to Boomkins. They are one of WoW’s most iconic, and often infamous, specs, using the power of the sun, moon, and stars to obliterate their enemies. Balance Druids are a ranged DpS spec, and like many other specs, their gameplay revolves around generating and spending a resource (which in this case is Astral Power). Don’t let their simplistic playstyle fool you, however, as Balance Druids have a lot to offer.
What Balance Druid Excels at:
- Rotational Flow: Many classes can have rotations that are convoluted or simply feel weird to execute. Balance Druids use something called the eclipse system, which will empower either their AoE or Single Target abilities. The empowered abilities will swap in a cycle, which adds this great flow to their rotation and gives you a fun system to mess with and maximize for better output depending on your situation!
- A Little Bit of Everything: Balance Druids have a little bit of everything in their kit, and they do all of it pretty well. They have endless utility, very good off-healing, incredible single target and AoE damage with unbelievable range, and nearly unbeaten mobility. Generally, no matter what the issue is in a raid or a Mythic+ dungeon, a Balance Druid can be the solution.
- Survivability: It’s not easy to kill a Balance Druid. They have some great defensive abilities while in Moonkin Form, such as Barkskin. They can also go into Bear Form and use Iron Fur, which gives them armor and stamina at the cost of damage. They also do such great healing that it’s very easy for them to fully heal themselveswhen talented into the Restoration Affinity. On top of all of this, they can buff their healing and defensives even further with conduits like Well-Honed Instincts and Tough as Bark.
Pick Balance Druid If:
- If you want to be the Jack-of-All-Trades in your group, Balance is by far the best option. This is such a good spec for those who want to do everything they can to help their group while still putting out competitive damage in both single-target and AoE situations.
- If you want a spec that’s easy to pick up but still provides plenty of room to grow, Balance Druid is an amazing pick. Their rotation can be fairly set in stone, which makes it a great option for beginners. However, there is a lot of nuance to balancing your Eclipses and managing your resources, which makes it a very fun spec to min-max on as a more advanced player.
Balance Druid Details: https://www.wowhead.com/balance-druid-guide
Balance Druid Guide:
A guide to playing Balance Druid
