Balance Druid Guide for WoW Forever: Talents, Rotation and Raids

The Balance Druid plays a fixed cycle in Forever: one Wrath, then two Starfires made faster by the charges from Eclipse. Moonfire and Insect Swarm tick on the side, and against packs you channel Hurricane, which no longer has a cooldown. Balance is rated B for raids; raids bring a moonkin more for the 3% crit from Moonkin Aura than for its own damage.

Talents and builds

The links open the talent calculator with the finished build, including why the points go where they go.

• Leveling: Balance leveling (points 31/7/13). Balance gets the first 31 points, Improved Wrath, Moonglow, Improved Moonfire, Insect Swarm at 25, Nature's Grace, Eclipse, Moonfury and Moonkin Form at 40. The calculator shows the point-by-point order below the tree.
• Raid: Balance PvE (raid & dungeons) (points 38/0/13). Leans into multi-dotting rather than hard-casting.
• PvP: Balance PvP (points 36/10/5). Keeps distance and control over your enemy: again a multi-dotting build, but with survivability and utility talents instead of mana sustain.

Where it ranks

• PvE DPS (raid): At the very bottom of both simulations; most sources say B or C. Brought for the raid buff more than for its own damage.
• PvP (battleground/open world): Drops from B to C: Moonkin Form gives armor but blocks healing. Most new lists say C.
• Leveling: Both lists say C: lots of mana per fight and casts that can be interrupted; Feral levels faster.

The tiers combine several tier lists and level-60 simulations. Raid logs only exist from 9 December, so treat this as a snapshot. Every spec side by side: rankings.

Single-target rotation

Cast a Wrath so it lands right on the pull, then Insect Swarm and Moonfire. After that:

1. Keep Insect Swarm and Moonfire up, but only refresh them once they expire. With Nature's Splendor they last 14 and 15 seconds, about two cycles.
2. Wrath, then two Starfires. At 3/3, Eclipse gives charges for each Wrath that cut your next two Starfires by 0.5 seconds each, up to four, for 15 seconds.

A missed Wrath gives no charge. Until you are hit-capped, plan another Wrath in that case rather than a slow Starfire without a charge.

Every druid learns Omen of Clarity at level 20, and Wrath never consumes Clearcasting. If it procs during a Wrath, your next Starfire is free. In Moonkin Form the chance doubles. Nature's Grace gives 10% faster casts and a shorter global cooldown for 3 seconds after every direct spell crit, and Vengeance raises crit damage to 200%.

Multiple targets

On two to four mobs, DoT every target and then run the normal cycle on one. From five up, Hurricane. When mana gets tight, lean on Wrath: Improved Wrath halves its cost.

Cooldowns and mana

Innervate is your only real cooldown. By default it goes to a healer; keep it for yourself when you run dry early on. Add mana potions and Demonic Runes. The linked raid build leans on multiple DoTs rather than long casts. If mana is no problem, move the Reflection points into Genesis.

Stats

Hit rating to 17% against raid bosses comes first. Nature's Reach gives 4%, leaving 13%, about 130 rating, from gear. After that, spell power and crit rating; which one leads is disputed. Crit counts for a lot because of Vengeance and Nature's Grace. Haste is rare and weaker than crit, and Spirit and mana per 5 seconds do little without Reflection.

Common mistakes

• Starfire without an Eclipse charge.
• Refreshing DoTs early.
• DoTing mobs that are about to die.
• Two druids both keeping up Faerie Fire. Agree on who does it.

Leveling

Balance levels slowly early on: no wand, and its key abilities only arrive after level 30. Moonkin Form comes at 40. Most druids therefore level as Feral. If you level as a moonkin, your hit comes from talents, Entangling Roots and Overgrowth help solo, and Spirit cuts your downtime.

In groups

You bring Moonkin Aura, Mark of the Wild, Thorns for the tank, Faerie Fire, Innervate and Rebirth, the only combat resurrection in Forever, plus Remove Curse, Abolish Poison and Hibernate.

Further reading

• Druid class guide: races, new abilities and every build of the class
• The other specs: Feral Druid, Restoration Druid
• Raid comp planner: put your raid together and see which buffs are still missing
• Druid talent calculator: plan your own build and share it as a link