Cooldown The term cooldown is defined as a period of wait time before a spell , ability , or item power can be used after a prior spell , ability , or item power . Sometimes referred to by the pseudo - acronym " CD " . For example : The term cooldown can also refer to an ability with a long cooldown ; for example , " Save your cooldowns for boss fights . " Shared cooldown . A shared cooldown is when some spell , item or ability prevents usage of certain others while it is cooling down . It effectively applies the same cooldown to all those that it shares cooldown with . It is important to know if a spell or item has a shared cooldown , since that is much more limiting than an isolated cooldown . This usually means that you must choose wisely which to use , since you cannot use all within a short time period . For instance , many potions share cooldown with other potions , and some of the warrior ' s abilities share cooldown , as well as hunter traps . Some abilities have multiple shared cooldowns . For instance the shaman ' s can only be cast itself once every 20 minutes , can not be cast within 2 minutes of using a , and triggers a 1 second global cooldown . Warrior stance changes also fall under the shared cooldown category . Switching stances as a warrior prevents switching to another stance for 1 second but does not prevent the user of other abilities . Global cooldown . A global or universal cooldown , frequently shortened to " GCD " , is the cooldown which starts every time you start to cast a spell , and it affects all of your class spells . There are exceptions to this , however , as noted below . The basic rule of thumb is that if the spell affects the casting of the next spell , it will not activate the global cooldown . If the spell has a casting time less than the global cooldown ( or instant cast ) , you generally have to wait the remainder of the global cooldown . If a spell with casting time is interrupted before it has finished casting , the global cooldown will be canceled , meaning you can start casting a new one immediately . The global cooldown is generally 1 . 5 seconds for all classes except rogues , Cat Form druids , and Death Knights , whose abilities are mostly one second global cooldown ( reduced to 0 . 5 in UP ) . Shaman totems also only trigger a one second global cooldown as well as warlock curses with Amplify Curse . The global cooldown affects the wait for the next ability , so using an item or ability with the standard 1 . 5 second cooldown will require waiting that long before a 1 second global cooldown ability can be used . Abilities noted for not affecting nor being affected by the global cooldown : Racials Abilities that are affected by but will not themselves trigger the global cooldown : Cooldown and usage theory . The cooldown determines how often something ( spell , ability , or item ) may be used . Specifically , it has an inverse relationship to how many times per fight it may be used . For example , a druid should never use in the post - encounter resurrection . Here ' s a rough guide to help with when to burn a cooldown : Item cooldowns . Item s with cooldowns are simply items that have limit on how often you can use them . For example has a 2 minute cooldown , so it can be used just once every 2 minutes . The average cooldown is 2 or 5 minutes , but they range from 10 seconds to 3 hours ( like ) to 3 days at the longest . These items can be equipped in a variety of slots or used from the backpack . Most consumable items have a shared cooldown , such as alcoholic beverages . These items have a long cooldown ( this isn ' t an exhaustive list ) : Most equippable items with " Use " effects have a 0 second global cooldown . Internal cooldowns . An internal cooldown ( or ICD ) is the cooldown on several abilities usually found on items . It exists as a regulator to prevent specific chance - to - proc abilities from being active at all times . One example is which has a 10 % chance to proc and a 45 internal cooldown . When it does proc , there will be 45 seconds before it can do so again . Internal cooldowns vary in duration , but the most common is 45 seconds as with the Pendulum of Telluric Currents . Internal cooldowns are often hard to perceive and measure . This is because the description of the item which holds the ability rarely tells if there is any cooldown on the ability , nor how long any possible cooldown is . As a result , internal cooldowns are often mentioned as " hidden cooldowns " . Because of this , the cooldown of an item ' s ability is usually discovered via player testing in - game . It is important to know the internal cooldown of an item ' s ability since it highly affects how powerful the item is . One example is . It has a 35 % chance to proc , a 15 seconds duration and a 45 seconds internal cooldown . If there were no cooldown , players would be able to refresh the duration via procs over and over , enjoying a nearly permanent effect from this item . Applying the cooldown will reduce the time the effect is active to 33 % possible uptime ( as 15 is 33 % of 45 ) , which in comparison reduces the item ' s performance by almost 70 % . Tradeskill cooldowns . Several professions have recipes with long cooldowns . Global Cooldown vs . other Cooldowns . An important consideration for analysis has to do with when a given cooldown begins counting . Global Cooldowns are singularly unique in that they are counted by the World of Warcraft Interface , while all of the other cooldowns are managed by the server . Overall , this doesn ' t seem important except when playing on a machine with medium to high latency or when measuring interface lag . Activation Sequence of Events This distinction has particular application when accounting for play techniques . For instance , Global Cooldowns are not a factor when performing latency compensation as the User Interface will not allow activation if a Global Cooldown is active . In contrast , during lag spikes , one may activate multiple abilities as long as Global Cooldown rules are followed . The result during these situations is a multiple seemingly simultaneous spell completions .