[Druid] Guardian Guide Patch 8.3.7 (Locked to current available content)

[Fiury]

Introduction
Race selection
Stats
Talents
Warmode talents
Azerite traits
Rotation
BIS items
Enhancements






Guardian Druid is a sturdy tank that manages damage intake through strong passive reductions, a large health pool, increased healing received from Mastery and a stackable active mitigation. It is an excellent sponge tank and once you have acquired enough gear, it is mostly self-sufficient with a unique playstyle unlike any class. Guardian bring very good utility to raid and Mythic+ groups as a tank.
Guardian Druids excel against encounters where a large majority of incoming damage is Physical or Melee hits.






Alliance:

Night Elf:

Nature Resistance: Reduces Nature damage taken by 1%.
Quickness: Increases your chance to dodge melee and ranged attacks by 2%, and your movement speed by 2%.
Shadowmeld: Activate to slip into the shadows, reducing the chance for enemies to detect your presence. Lasts until cancelled or upon moving. Any threat is restored versus enemies still in combat upon cancellation of this effect.
Touch of elune: Increases your Haste by 1% during the night. Increases your Critical Strike by 1% during the day.

Worgen:

Aberration: Reduces Shadow and Nature damage taken by 1%.
Viciousness: Increases critical strike chance by 1%.

Kul Tiran
Brush it off: Increases Versatility by 1%. When you take damage, heal for 2% of that amount over 4 sec.
Haymaker:Wind up, then unleash your might upon your foe, dealing Physical damage, stunning for 3 seconds, and knocking them back substantially.
Rime of the Ancient Mariner: Reduces Frost and Nature damage taken by 1%.

Horde:

Tauren:

Brawn: Critical strike damage and healing increased by 2%.
Nature Resistance: Reduces Nature damage taken by 1%.
War Stomp: Stuns up to 5 enemies within 8 yds for 2 seconds.
Endurance: Increases your Stamina by 1283(level110) (scales with level).

Troll:

Regeneration: Health regeneration rate increased by 10%. 10% of total Health regeneration may continue during combat.
Da Voodoo Shuffle: Reduces the duration of all movement impairing effects by 20%. Trolls be flippin' out mon!
Berserking: Increases your haste by 15% for 10 seconds.

Highmountain Tauren:

Bull Rush: Charge forward for 1 second, knocking enemies down for 1 second.
Mountaineer: Increases your Versatility by 1%.
Rugged Tenacity: Reduces damage taken by (Stamina * 0.0003 * 20).

Down here i will explain what race is the best for guardian druid depending on some factors
If you want to play on Alliance
Main spec: Obviously you need to create a Kul Tiran because of their passive racials.
Off spec: You can choose between Night Elf :You can use your potions 2 times in one fight or Worgen for the 1% Crit from Viciousness. Its only your chose.

If you want to play on Horde:
Main spec: You can pick between Tauren and Highmountain Tauren for all their passives that are very useful in raids and dungeons.
Off spec: Troll will be most useful because of his Berserking that helps you on all other 3 specs.

If the faction isn't important, i would recommend Kul Tiran.






The stats priority is:

Item Level (Armor/Stamina/Agility)>Versatility>Mastery>Haste>Crit
For full donated, try to go 20 Crit 10 Haste 10 Mastery 20 Versatillity since you have enough HP and with more haste you generate enough rage to mentain 4-5 stacks of Ironfur all the time.

Note: Give priority to ilvl, since Armor, Stamina and Agility are much more important for Guardian druids than any other secondary stats.








There are few play styles, depending on your preferences and your item level. Lets talk about every talent on the talent tree.


Level 15: Brambles , Blood Frenzy and Bristling Fur

Brambles - Increases your dps and provides a small absorb on each hit you take.
Blood Frenzy - Higly recommended for constant rage generation. (Recommended for long AoE fights)
Bristling Fur - This talent is good for fast rage generation. (Recommended for most fights)

Level 30: Tiger Dash , Ursol's Vortex and Wild Charge

Tiger Dash - Activates Cat Form and increases movement speed by 200%, reducing gradually over 5 seconds.
Ursol's Vortex - Conjures a vortex of wind, reducing the movement speed of all enemies. The first time an enemy attempts to leave the vortex, winds will pull that enemy back to its center.
Wild Charge - in bear form, this talent grants you an extra charge that roots the target for 4 seconds.(Recommended)


Level 45: Balance Affinity , Feral Affinity and Restoration Affinity

Balance Affinity - Increases the range of your abilities.
Feral Affinity - Increases your movement speed.
Restoration Affinity - Grants Ysera's Gift passive. (Recommended)


Level 60: Mighty Bash, Mass Entanglement and Typhoon

Mighty Bash - Stuns the target for 5 seconds. (Recommended for PVP)
Mass Entanglement - Roots all enemies within 15 yards of your target. (Recommended for PVE)
Typhoon - Knock back all targets within a 15 yards con in front of you.


Level 75: Soul of the forest , Galactic Guardian and Incarnation: Guardian of Ursoc

Soul of the Forest - Mangle generates 5 more range and deals more damage. (Recommended for single target fights)
Galactic Guardian - Now when you deal damage to an enemy there is a chance to trigger a free Moonfire on targets you attack. (Recommended for most fights)
Incarnation: Guardian of Ursoc - Increases your armor and now your damaging abilities don't have cooldown.



Level 90: Earthwarden, Survival of the fittest and Guardian of Elune

Earthwarden - Reduces the damage of the next auto attack you take by 30%.
Survival of the Fittest - Reduces the cooldown of Barkskin and Survival Instincts by 33%.
Guardian of Elune - Mangle increases the duration of Ironfur or the healing received from Frenzied Regeneration. (Recommended)



Level 100: Rend and Tear, Lunar Beam and Pulverize

Rend and Tear - Increases the damage done by 2% and decreases the damage taken by 2% per stack of Thash applied on target. (Recommended)
Lunar Beam - Summons a beam at your position that deals Arcane damage.
Pulverize - Consumes 2 stacks of Thrash, deals a good amount of damage and decreases your damage taken by 9%.






Below, you will find the recommended Warmode talents for leveling and doing PvE content.

For leveling and PvE content, the recommended War Mode talents order are:

1. Raging Frenzy
2. Sharpened Claws
3. Malorne's Swiftness
4. Alpha Challenge
5. Master Shapeshifter
6. Entangling Claws
7. Overrun


Of the remaining PvP talents may have limited or niche applications in leveling or open world PvE content, but they do not provide the overall benefit of the recommended list above. The rest of the PvP talents do not contribute meaningfully to leveling or open world PvE







Available since the release of Battle for Azeroth, Azerite traits are a new system of talents that are used to empower your character. This new system is an updated version of Legion Artifact traits, but with some new features. Azerite Traits are available for Head, Shoulder and Chest armor pieces, where you can choose between various empowers.

Below are the best Azerite Traits for Guardian Druid.

Twisted Claws is a decent boost to your Agility with consistently high uptime on one target and scales very well into multiple targets. [Is recommended to get this trait 3 times (on all your azerite pieces)]
Layered mane is a huge boost to your survivability. It grants you additional stacks that increase your Agility for every Ironfur you have active. (Isn't recommended to get pick this trait more times because it isnt stacking very well)
Gory Regeneration is a great boost of your survivability, but it has no impact on improving your damage.
Burst of Savagery is a great boost of your ST damage.
Wild Fleshrending is a great boost of your AoE damage.







Bears have currently quite a simple rotation offensively.

1. Moonfire 100% uptime
2. Mangle off CD
3. Thrash 100% uptime and use off CD
4. Moonfire with GG proc > Swipe if 2 targets or less.
5. Maul
6. Swipe as filler, Swipe > Mangle if 3+ Targets.

General single target opener is something like Moonfire while running in > Mangle > Thrash > Swipe

You are of course a tank, but active mit is quite straightforward atm:
1. Keep 2 stacks of Ironfur up at all times.
2. CDs as you see fit, Skin/SI

Most intricacies are fight dependant eg; when to use active mit or cds appropriately like Incarnation.
General tank rule of thumb is use everything at your disposal to stay alive even if it means not having a CD later on in the fight that you think you need, you will be surprised how often you get through things with less CD's than expected. If you die while still having things up that could've saved you then you are playing sub optimally for your raid.






Currently Freakz BFA content is locked to 8.1.0, so there will be the gear that you can actually get in 8.1.0. This topic will be updated when new content will drop. Stay tuned
Best in slot dungeon gear:

Head - Flashpowder Hood
- drops at Overseer Korgus in Tol Dagor

Neck - Heart of Azeroth
- rewarded for BFA campaign.

Shoulders- Deathshambler's Shoulderpads
- drops at T'zane in Nazmir

Back - Void-Drenched Cape
-drops at Lord Stormsong in Shrine of the Storm

Chest - Cephalohide Jacket
-drops at Viq'Goth in Siege of Boralus

Wrist - Bracers of the Sacred Fleet
-drops at Lord Stormsong in Shrine of the Storm

Hands - Sharkhide Grips
-drops at Trothak in Freehold

Belt - Hound-Jowl Waistband
-drops at Soulbound Goliath in Waycrest Manor

Legs - Breeches of the Sacred Hall
-drops at The Golden Serpent in King's Rest

Feet - Goldfeather Boots
-drops at The Golden Serpent in King's Rest

Ring 1 - Seal of the Regal Loa
-drops at Rezan in Atal'Dazar

Ring 2 - Jade Ophidian Band
-drops at Merektha in Temple of Sethraliss

Trinket 1 - Lustrous Golden Plumage
-drops at The Golden Serpent in King's Rest

Trinket 2 - Darkmoon Deck: Blockades
-crafted by Inscription

Weapon - Blightreaper
-drops at Gorak Tul in Waycrest Manor



Best in slot donated gear (The stats I descbibed above) :

Head - Tidemother's Cover
-drops at Stormwall Blockade in Battle of Dazar'Alor

Neck - Heart of Azeroth
- rewarded for BFA campaign.

Shoulders- Shoulders of the Sanguine Monstrosity
- drops at Unbound Abomination in The Underrot

Back - Sporecaller's Shroud
- drops at Sporecaller Zancha in The Underrot

Chest - Cephalohide Jacket
- drops at Viq'Goth in Siege of Boralus

Wrist - Bracers of Regal Devotion
- drops at Champions of the Light in Battle of Dazar'Alor

Hands - Mech-Jockey Grips
- drops at High Tinker Mekkatorque in Battle of Dazar'Alor

Belt - Whirling Dervish Sash
- drops at Aspix & Adderis in Temple of Sethraliss

Legs - Cranedancer Leggings
- drops at Jadefire Masters in Battle of Dazar'Alor

Feet - Goldfeather Boots
-drops at The Golden Serpent in King's Rest

Ring 1 - Thornwoven Band
-drops at Soulbound Goliath in Waycrest Manor

Ring 2 - Lord Waycrest's Signet
- drops at Lord Waycrest in Waycrest Manor

Trinket 1 - Diamond-Laced Refracting Prism
-drops at Opulence in Battle of Dazar'Alor

Trinket 2 - Bwonsamdi's Bargain
- drops at King Rastakhan in Battle of Dazar'Alor

Weapon - Docksplitter Siege Hook
-drops at Stormwall Blockade in Battle of Dazar'Alor








Enchants:

Ring - +40 Versatility or +40 Mastery/ +40 Haste for Donated characters
Weapon - Versatile Navigation- For survivability. or Force Multiplier - For DPS.


Consumables:

Greater Flask of the Currents - Would be recommended over the stamina one.
Battle Potion of Agility - For most fights, this is your best option.
Spiced Snapper - Would be recommended only if you dont have Bountiful Captain's Feast for the Agility buff ( you must change to feral spec before using).


Discord: Fiury#4432

[Firetemp95]

Good job,bro! Keep up the good work! Thanks for this awesome guide!

I wish you, happy hunting!
Firestabby

[sMine]

Well done!
Maybe if you can add some more pictures

[Fiury]

Update 1: Updated the guide for 8.1.0 Patch.

Discord: Fiury#4432