Druid builds / Pre 3 . 0 This page contains historical information on druid builds from patch 2 . 0 . x to 2 . 4 . x . It no longer applies to patch 3 . 0 . x and later , although there might be some useful information somewhere in here . Once the dust has settled on 3 . 0 , and we are all happily concentrating on the new level 80 end - game , it will be mostly irrelevant to the current game . Most of the talent links will not show the old specs , although they may still give a rough idea about what was in the build . Please do not attempt to update this page for 3 . 0 See the main druid builds page for current information . Balance . Prior to the Burning Crusade expansion , Balance had traditionally been considered underpowered due to awkward talent design and poor itemization . With the addition of Moonkin form in Patch 1 . 8 it gained a certain amount of PvP viability but was still considered unsuitable for PvE raiding . Since then , the addition of several powerful new talents to the Balance tree and a significant talent re - design to improve point efficiency has elevated the Balance Druid an even greater level of viability . Patch 2 . 0 Moonkins can come close to matching the raw DPS of a Mage or Warlock , but can also fall short when it comes to the longevity of their mana pool ( except for the huge bonuses provided by Dreamstate and Intensity ) , certain types of raid utility such as threat reduction ( except for Subtlety ) , powerful debuffs ( except for Insect Swarm and Improved Faerie Fire ) , and AoE damage dealing ( except for Hurricane ) . These shortcomings can be at least partially fixed through proper gearing ( the use of intellect and mana regeneration focused gear and trinkets which modify threat ) , and the use of certain talents and buffs , such as Subtlety , Dreamstate , Intensity , and Blessing of Salvation . In PvP , the Moonkin ' s combination of roots , nukes , and good damage mitigation can make them dangerous opponents for certain classes . Players need to evaluate their options for themselves , tuning their personal talent build to their own preferences and needs . As stated previously , there is no " best " build until you directly define the role you wish to play . Builds should also be re - evaluated as you progress through the game . A build that worked well for Karazhan may need to be adjusted for use in the Black Temple or Sunwell . Full Balance ( 58 / 0 / 3 , 56 / 0 / 5 , 53 / 0 / 8 ) . When first choosing balance , it can be useful to maximise the number of points in the balance tree with one of the following talent build s . This lets you get a feel for how useful each of the talents can be , allowing a better informed choice of future talent build s , should you find the need to put points into either the feral or restoration trees . Panzerkin AKA Moonkin Tank ( 53 / 8 / 0 ) . This build is highly experimental and not for the faint of heart . Since moonkin form brings the same armor boost as dire bear form to the table , and moonkins have a long history of high - threat issues , even with 5 / 5 in subtlety , this is a build that was bound to emerge . However , gearing for this build is extremely difficult , as reaching crit immunity without Survival of the Fittest while wearing caster gear is extremely difficult . However , post - 2 . 3 , Arena Season 1 gear does a surprisingly good job at it , since it is laden with resilience ( 224 resilience is 5 . 6 % crit reduction which is crit immunity versus boss - level mobs ) . However , there are virtually no PvE drops that offer any support to this build , though it has been used to great effect by a select few . This build was essentially pioneered by Lithanial from Al ' Akir - EU . His original thread on panzerkin speccing and tanking can be found here , on the WoW - EU forums , and a video of a panzerkin in action , main tanking Prince , Maulgar , and Gruul can be found here . Moonkin for solo & instancing ( 48 / 0 / 13 ) . This is a general purpose build for soloing and instancing . It may also be suitable for low level raiding ( e . g . Karazhan ) . Utility Moonkin ( 47 / 0 / 14 ) . Same as the raiding moonkin below , but sacrifices points in Subtlety to take Improved Faerie Fire . This build has both advantages and disadvantages for end game raiding . First , managing your own threat can be an issue , as you lose most of the threat reduction points from Subtlety , and keeping Improved Faerie Fire up in boss fights will increase your threat generated while preventing feral druid tanks from casting their version of the spell , reducing the threat generated by the tank . That said , the 3 % bonus to hit for tanks will help their threat generation , as + hit is hard to place in the itemization budget for most tanks . Whether this talent actually helps raid DPS significantly or not is debatable . If melee and ranged DPS know what they are doing , they can change up gear to sacrifice 3 % of their Hit Rating for Attack Power and Crit while still maintaining hit cap . However , if the moonkin dies , then physical DPS will start missing a lot . Additionally , most physical damage dealers are not likely to count on the presence of a moonkin with this talent in their group and hence may not be able to benefit from the bonus to hit , while others may not even be aware that this talent exists at all . Either way , taking Improved Faerie Fire means you will likely have to sacrifice points in either threat reduction or mana regeneration . Raiding Moonkin ( 46 / 0 / 15 , 44 / 0 / 17 , 43 / 0 / 18 ) . It is a common misconception that because druids are a " hybrid " class , they can approach , but cannot beat , the DPS of " pure " classes ( e . g . mages and warlocks ) . Properly geared , and with a single - minded focus on increasing casting DPS , a Balance druid IS a pure caster , with excellent sustained DPS and truly standing out for burst damage capability , nuking adds with a vengeance . This build sacrifices certain talents useful for PVP and soloing - most notably Celestial Focus - to produce a strong raid DPS build that will give even the best mages and warlocks a run for their money on the DPS charts ( even while they are benefiting from your 5 % crit aura ) . The key talents to take from the Resto tree are Intensity ( 3 / 3 ) and Subtlety ( 4 / 5 ) . Since the changes in Patch 2 . 3 , when max regeneration from Intensity was changed from 15 % to 30 % , it has become a powerful tool for producing mana regeneration in combat , even for druids whose gear does not stack very much Spirit . Taken together with Dreamstate from the Balance tree , a Balance druid can easily find themselves with upwards of 100 mana / 5 while casting , producing a good chunk of longevity and allowing you to use your high DPS spells such as Moonfire in your rotation even in long boss fights . If you go out of mana , it is probably because you had to battle rez some other fool and wasted over 2000 mana between Rebirth and shifting back to Moonkin Form . Threat reduction from Subtlety is very helpful in many encounters , although it is possible to forgo this talent if you wish to maximize your raiding utility ( see Utility Moonkin ( 47 / 0 / 14 ) above ) . PvP Moonkin ( 45 / 0 / 16 , 45 / 11 / 5 ) . Passes on long term mana endurance , since fights are very short in PvP . Improves ability to fight under pressure with Celestial Focus and Nature ' s Focus and ability shapeshift frequently to heal ( or just to escape in travel form ) with Natural Shapeshifter . Frequently , there can be a notable lack of healers in PvP battlegrounds . Don ' t be afraid to stand at the back throwing heals on all friendly players within range . It ' s not quite as powerful as a restoration druid ' s healing , but balance talents and gear can put out fairly good healing , with a little practice , and it ' s generally very much appreciated by the other players in the battleground . If things are hectic , stick to spamming lifebloom on many people , rejuvenation on those that need a little more . If you are not taking too many hits yourself , or there are very few targets to heal , throw in some regrowths for a little more punch . Un - talented healing touch generally takes too long to cast , is too easy to get spell pushback , and consumes too much mana , so it is often best to avoid it in PvP , unless you are somehow being ignored by the enemy , and have loads of mana left . Gearing . Moonkins with Lunar Guidance , Intensity and Dreamstate are excellent builds for raiding and instancing . As such , both Intellect and Stamina with some + dps gear is common . However , Spirit gear will give additional MP5 ( with Intensity ) that should not be ignored . A full Gladiator ' s Wyrmhide set provides excellent Stamina , Intellect , resilience , + dps and MP5 in addition to other benefits . However , since it is only a 5 - piece set , you should augment it with green items with the following properties ( in order of preference ) " of the Eagle " ( Intellect and Stamina ) , " of the Owl " ( Intellect and Spirit ) , or " of the Whale " ( Stamina and Spirit ) ) . With additional PvP reward purchases , the Vindicator ' s Wyrmhide pieces are an excellent addition to Gladiator ' s set . A good weapon , such as the Gladiator ' s War Staff is also helpful ( that particular staff is arguably the best balance druid weapon until tier 5 raiding or arena season 2 ) . Intellect is your most important stat in this case because it will supply you with Mana , + spell crit , MP5 , and + dps all at the same time . Spirit when coupled with Intensity will greatly improve your MP5 to provide longevity during boss fights , and every Moonkin needs Stamina for longer survival . Without the Intensity talent from the restoration tree , Spirit is a largely wasted stat for balance druids . Feral . Feral is the most popular druid leveling build , mostly due to low downtimes . This is a list of talents to choose while leveling in order , and why to choose them . At this point you need 9 more points in the Feral tree to get Mangle . Make sure to get that last point in Shredding Attacks along the way . It may be worthwhile to respec at 50 for Mangle , then re - acquire Furor for the next five levels . At this point it ' s useful to pick up Naturalist and Omen of Clarity . Restoration . Full Restoration ( 0 / 0 / 61 and variants ) . Tree of Life remains a controversial talent and may still be tinkered with by the developers . The concept for it is a dedicated healbot , and it is extremely PvE oriented . Some of the major points of controversy have been the movement speed penalty and the lack of defenses available to the tree , it is basically a " sitting duck " . In Patch 2 . 3 . 0 abolish poison was added , however , to cast remove curse , the tree form Druid must shapeshift to caster form before decursing , causing mana loss . Tree form aura was changed just before the release of TBC from increasing the healing done " by " party members to increasing the healing done " to " party members . This makes it useful for MT - groups or other groups whose members will require extra healing . The form is worth taking if one likes to heal with HoTs and Swiftmend . Healing Touch is not usable in this form which greatly reduces the druid ' s max healing per second , if you only heal one target , however the mana cost of all available healing spells is reduced by 20 % , which combined with the aura greatly increases healing longevity . It is worth noting that you can always shift out and cast Healing Touch should the need arise . Tree druids have a distinctive healing style . At the moment , the best healing technique for raiders is to stack three Lifebloom and a rejuvenation on up to three tanks at once , often making the healing output greater than that of a paladin spamming Flash of Light on them . Note that prior to patch 2 . 3 . 2 , if you popped + healing trinkets and stacked your Lifeblooms , the increased + healing was tripled and maintained for as long as you keep the HoT refreshed . In effect , ToL druids had the healing equivalent of " rolling ignites " . However , since patch 2 . 3 . 2 , when Lifebloom " is refreshed it will take on the strength of the incoming Lifebloom effect , rather than maintain the existing strength " ( wow client patch 2 . 3 . 2 ) , thus lowering the effectiveness of this strategy . See the comparison of druid healing spells for more detail . Some variation remains possible , but since the focus of this build is so narrowly on raid healing it is optimal to place pretty much all of your talent points in the restoration tree , something like one of the following : Restoration with Insect Swarm ( 13 / 0 / 48 ) . The standard resto build with the main difference that you don ' t have Healing Touch talents and instead go for Insect Swarm and Nature ' s Reach . May be useful on fights orientated primarily around tank damage . Of course , insect swarm requires that you don ' t stay in Tree of Life Form . Nevertheless , nice for farm bosses or heavy hitters . Restoration / Balance ( 19 / 0 / 42 ) . Due to the " healbot " nature of a dedicated full Resto druid build , any Resto druid that has this build can tell you how frustrating solo content can be . Additionally , by putting a minimal 41 points into the Resto tree to get Tree of Life , there simply aren ' t enough points left over to reach any decent DPS talents in the Feral tree . However , by putting 19 talent points in the Balance tree , along with a Balance druid + spell damage set , the Resto druid ' s frustration can be eased quite a bit . Talents like Naturalist , Tranquil Spirit and Empowered Touch focus around the spell Healing Touch , which cannot be cast while in the Tree of Life form . Additionally , talents like Improved Tranquility and Tranquil Spirit focus around the spell Tranquility . While Tranquility is a powerful spell and can often be the difference between survival and a group wipe , it is extremely situational and isn ' t used very often due to the 10 minute cooldown and extreme mana cost . Finally , Omen of Clarity is all but useless in a raid situation , since a Resto druid should not be in melee range of a mob . Therefore , these talents , along with a few others , can be sacrificed without seriously hurting a resto druid ' s ability to heal . The only drawback to this build is that it requires a + spell damage set . At level 70 , Balance gear is hard to find compared to Feral and Resto , but druids who have leveled to 70 as Balance , or were wise enough to keep the Balance quest rewards given while leveling to 70 , should have no problems . Since 2 . 3 , this has been eased in that most healing gear have been improved to include + spell damage equal to about 1 / 3 of the + healing bonus , in addition to the healing bonus on the gear . Arena Healing ( 8 / 11 / 42 ) . This build is the standard druid arena build . It goes deep into Restoration and grabs most of the talents that are useful for arenas . Some points are put into feral in order to obtain feral charge . Extra survivability is gained by placing these points , and feral charge provides the druid with a spell interrupt and / or snare . With this build , the Druid can heal with HoTs in between cycloning , rooting , and feral charging , all while maintaining a very high level of survivability . * note * You can have either 3 / 5 Subtlety and 5 / 5 Nature ' s Focus , or 5 / 5 Subtlety and 3 / 5 Nature ' s Focus ; this is user preference . The points in Balance are to both maximize Nature ' s Grasp as yet another escape , and to pick up Control of Nature , which allows 100 % pushback resistance when casting Entangling Roots and / or Cyclone . Hybrid . Hybrid builds , for the sake of classification in this article , are builds with less than 41 talent points in any one talent tree . This means that they will , almost certainly , not be as powerful within their primary tree , but will have some advantages over builds which concentrate heavily on one talent tree . Swift Moonkin ( 40 / 0 / 21 ) . Nature ' s Swiftness is a potent tool for nuking or healing - - you can even use it to instantly hibernate that pesky feral opponent . As such , it ' s only natural with the release of the expansion that a 40 / 0 / 21 build would emerge . Wrath of Cenarius and Force of Nature are the two big sacrifices , along with much - missed points from Moonglow . On the plus side , though , you get Intensity to boost your mana regen . Omen of Clarity situationally boosts your melee buff from Moonkin form . Natural Shapeshifter helps you drop into caster form for a quick heal , and Improved Rejuvenation and Nature ' s Focus make sure those heals get off . Finally , Nature ' s Swiftness is like a free extra life - - if your mana holds out . It ' s not as potent as the 0 / 40 / 21 feral build , since your heals and DPS both come from the same mana pool , but the survivability is still very strong . One hidden benefit : your + damage and spell crit gear will benefit your heals and your nukes . While you ' ll still want a separate healing set , your heals will still pack quite a punch in your DPS clothing . Restokin ( AKA DS - NS ) ( 34 / 0 / 27 , 33 / 0 / 28 , 31 / 0 / 30 ) . This build has been called many things : Restokin , Healkin , DS - NS ( for Dreamstate and Nature ' s Swiftness ) , and simply the Balance healing build . Any name you give it , it is based on the 3 different 3 - point balance talents that apply to healing : dreamstate , moonglow , and lunar guidance , and then selecting resto talents with your remaining points to suit your healing style . It emphasizes intellect as a primary stat and is good for soloing as well as healing . Because of its lowered reliance on having lots of spirit , mp5 , or + healing , it is a much less gear dependent spec than many full resto specs . Dreamstate gives a druid 10 % of their intellect in mana per 5 seconds . Lunar Guidance gives a druid 25 % of their intellect in + damage / healing . Moonglow reduces the cost of most heals and damage abilities by 10 % . A level 70 druid in pre - raid gear can achieve over 400 intellect , making for 40 extra mana per 5 seconds while casting and + 100 damage / healing . Even though it contains more balance talents than restoration , it is still considered a healing spec . You can spend the balance talents needed to get up to the main 3 talents however you want , either for some damage ability while soloing , or just to maximize survivability through things like balance of power and nature ' s grasp . The 34th talent point in balance is for moonkin form , which , while not necessary for the healing parts of this build , is a pretty nice talent for only 1 point . Some people will prefer going 33 - 0 - 28 instead and not getting moonkin form . Restokin for Arena PvP ( 34 / 0 / 27 ) . This build excels in its ability to DPS when needed , throw CC with a melee enemy on top of you , and still hold most of your healing power . The build is best ran with a rogue partner or warlock , although is definitely more common with a rogue . To maximize your strengths , you ' re going to want to be wanting to be wearing 5 / 5 Kodohide healing gear or a 3 / 5 Kodohide and 2 / 5 Wyrmhide combination for extra resilience . In mostly resto gear you ' re not sacrificing enough + heal to make healing through double dps teams impossible , while still keeping enough dps to make the difference and put extra pressure on a healer . Key talents : While there is a significant loss of healing power , this is easily made up for in play strategy and CC . With no swiftmend as an escape , it is important to get hots up early and keep them running . Target switching via cyclone will put extra pressure on enemy healers as both are targets are brought down one after the other . As one target is dps ' d while the other is cyclone ' d they quickly fall behind on heals . Switch target back and forth as cyclone his diminish returns . Enemy healers are forced to choose between healing themselves , healing their maybe immune target , CC ' ing your partner , CC ' ing you , or kiting / LOS ' ing . With your added dps from wrath spam and dots it is enough to quickly drop targets or force mistakes from the pressure . Again the loss of + heal can be felt in facing double dps teams , forcing you to decide against healing or kiting but help from parter and LOS most games are achievable . Balance / Feral Hybrid ( 31 / 30 / 0 ) . This is a build which was suggested on the WoWWiki discussion page for this article . It looks like an interesting departure from the traditional builds , but is probably of most use for PvP , as the balance and feral trees do not really compliment each other for PvE , unlike balance and restoration , where some talents in both trees are sufficiently generic regarding spell casting that they work for both damage and healing . It ' s certainly not one of the mainstream builds , so caveat emptor . Swapping the 1 point in Dreamstate for Moonkin Form would be quite interesting too : Feral ' s Swiftness ( 0 / 40 / 21 ) . The other option for feral hybrids is to extend their feral abilities to the limit , stopping just short of Mangle to keep Nature ' s Swiftness . This is a game - changing decision , whichever way you go . Mangle will vastly improve your DPS . Nature ' s Swiftness will vastly improve your survivability . For a true feral hybrid , this survivability , plus the bonuses to healing , make the exchange worthwhile . With many of the new encounters tuned with hybrid players in mind , Blizzard seems to agree . In PvP , druids with Mangle will quickly dispatch enemies , or be killed themselves . Hybrids play the more traditional druid game of attrition , steadily beating an opponent down while relying on escape mechanisms , fast mana regeneration and instant heals to lend a sense of futility to their opponent ' s attacks . In raiding , don ' t expect to be called on to DPS unless you have mangle ( or unless another feral keeps that debuff up to boost your Shreds ) . However , off - tanking and healing remain quite viable . The Feral ' s Swiftness build is very strong in arena play , where you can operate in feral form but still suddenly shift out to give a strong heal to a teammate ( or yourself ) . Powers like Pounce , Bash , Entangling Roots and Cyclone ( not to mention hibernate ) don ' t care if you have Mangle or not , making you an ideal spoiler for other teams ' strategies . And a little variation of this build ( 1 / 37 / 23 ) that reduces the threat from healing and takes advantage of Nature ' s Grasp ( 1 point in balance ) This build is based around solo play using both cat and bear forms . It gives you the ability to heal through a tough battle using Naturalist and Nature ' s Focus . Arena Healing ( 13 / 11 / 37 ) . This build is similar to the standard resto arena build , with a couple of exceptions . First of all , it contains two new talents in the Balance tree , Insect Swarm and Nature ' s Reach . Insect Swarm is really handy at times due to the fact that it lowers an opponents chance to hit with 2 % and also gives of a small amount of damage . Nature ' s Reach is really handy , even more after the nerf to Cyclone , to get some extra range to all your Balance spells ( mainly Roots and Cyclone ) and hence increase the CC - viability . This spec is a tiny bit more gear - dependent , seeing that it cuts off a rough 16 % healed of the HoT - ticks . Still , you should not easy look away from this build , especially if you aim for doing larger scale - arenas . Please note that due to what you yourself think is important , the Subtlety and Nature ' s Focus talents are immensely flexible and could be put elsewhere if wanted . Druid Raid Heals ( 27 / 0 / 34 ) . This build is 100 % about spamming Regrowth as the druid version of quick raid heals . Downranking Regrowth , probably to around Rank 5 , would be extremely appropriate for the amount of damage being healed and for improved mana efficiency . Unlike typical raiding restos , who focus on HoTs and superior tank healing , this build actually sees benefits from spell crit and spell haste . Idol of the Crescent Goddess is an excellent addition to this build , since it will vastly improve your mana efficiency . Harold ' s Rejuvenating Broach is also a decent pick , making your heals bigger . The key to this build is the combination of Nature ' s Grace and Improved Regrowth . Every Regrowth crit ( and there will be a lot of them ) will make your next Regrowth half a second faster ( before haste ) . Thanks to Improved Regrowth , though , stacking crit is completely unnecessary . Feral Mend Spec ( 0 / 30 / 31 ) . Before WoW 2 . 0 the 0 / 30 / 21 Feral Hybrid was arguably the single most popular non - raiding druid build . In PvP , strong mana regeneration and Nature ' s Swiftness allows a druid to draw a fight out almost indefinitely . In PvE , the flexibility allowed even raiding druids to offtank or heal as the occasion suited . With the advent of Mangle , druids now have a choice about DPS vs survivability and healing potential . While many have gone full over to the DPS potential of Mangle , many others still treasure the power , survivability and flexibility of the feral hybrid . For some druids , leveling to 70 will mean the ten more points they need to get Swiftmend , a potent tool in any druid ' s healing arsenal . Swiftmend provides an oft - superior emergency heal option to Nature ' s Swiftness , especially for PvE raiding where a druid ' s heal over time spells are most prized . Heart of the Wild ' s utility in healing situations is maximized in this build , where a larger mana pool makes up for decreased mana efficiency . As always , raiding druids might be expected to exchange Furor for the vastly inferior Improved Mark of the Wild . Check with your guild before doing this ; in many cases a restoration druid with this talent may offer to handle buffing duties in exchange for you bringing material components . Feral - Healer ( 1 / 35 / 25 ) . This is an experimental build for leveling to 70 created by the Druid Asuraia on the Boulderfist server . This build has decent feral DPS and can be a main healer / backup healer in standard instances around lv 40 or so . Leader of the Pack grants the Druid and his / her party ' s members a 5 % increase in crit chance allowing for great DPS . Combine that and " Naturalist " of the resto tree and you can solo very well . Also , putting points into " Nurturing Instinct " and " Heart of the Wild " adds to healing capability as long as the Druid has a spare healing set . Putting some points into " Thick Hide " also allows the Druid to tank pretty well anywhere from lv 20 to even some heroic instances . When healing putting 5 talent points into " Naturalist " allows the Druid to cast " Healing Touch " . 5 seconds faster than normal . This is ideal for emergency instance heals when the Main Healer dies or in PvP if combined with " Bark Skin " . 3 points in " Intesity " allows for 30 % more mana generation and also makes " Enrage " instantly generate 10 rage . Druids can exchange a point in " Natures Grasp " for a point into " Primal Fury " which adds more DPS in exchange for a slight drop in survivability . Also " Shredding Attacks " can be exchanged for 2 points in " Primal Fury " , however this is not advised as there is a larger drop in DPS than there is a gain . see build examples below Balance - Healing ( Not Restokin ) ( 24 / 0 / 37 ) . The key talents in this build is Nature ' s Grace & Swiftmend . Its all about combining the crit chance of Regrowth with the proc of Nature ' s Grace . Everytime your Regrowth crits , which it will A LOT , it will make the cast time of your next spell by . 5 seconds . This helps the Druid by casting HoTs on the target , and then casting rank 1 Regrowth until it crits , and then casting a max rank Healing Touch or Regrowth as needed . This build is designed for MT raid healing , but requires VERY high mp5 at a main stat . With decent gear , this build will work great in 5 - mans . This build has been tested in both Kara and Gruul ' s , and works great . A huge advantage to this build , like DS + NS , it is a very good solo build . The Druid has some great DPS talents , making dailys very easy . Points are not needed in Vengeance , as the Druids spell crit rate will probably be very low .