Note: Some aspects of this guide may not apply to your character until higher level. If are interested in getting your character to max level quickly, take a look at this leveling guide.
Glyphs come in three varieties, Prime, Major and Minor. Prime glyphs enhance core aspects of your class and generally provide the greatest benefit of the three types.
Major Glyphs, while not quite as powerful as Prime Glyphs, are still useful and continue to provide a myriad of benefits.
Minor Glyphs often times provide small quality of life improvements or visual changes, such as the Glyph of Shadow Form for priests which makes the character more visible through Shadow Form. However, a few are known to provide more significant benefits such as the warrior glyph of Berserker Rage.
Prime Glyphs:
Major Glyphs:
Minor Glyphs:
Here are your highest priority abilities.
The first thing to do when beginning a fight is to apply your DoTs to the target, Insect Swarm and Moonfire. It’s important that you keep these constantly applied to your target, however, you should refresh them only a tick or so before they expire to avoid wasting time or mana.
Next you’ll need to manage your eclipse cycle, start by casting Wrath until you enter the Lunar Eclipse whereupon you’ll want to use Starfire. Once your Lunar Eclipse fades, continue to cast Starfire until you obtain the Solar Eclipse buff and follow that up by casting wrath looping back into the first stage.
Make certain to continue reapplying your DoT’s and utilizing Starsurge whenever possible throughout your rotation.
Your Nature’s Grace buff refreshes its cooldown timer upon entering a Lunar or Solar Eclipse, and it’s suggested that you utilize Sunfire during a Solar Eclipse or Moonfire during a Lunar Eclipse to activate Nature’s Grace.
AoE Rotation
During AoE fights you should be using and detonating your Wild Mushroom spell and using Starfall whenever it’s available as well as applying your DoTs, Insect Swarm and Moonfire, on every target.
Cooldowns
Innervate should be used on yourself whenever possible unless someone else in your raid specifically requires it, such as one of your healers.
The most important aspect of managing your cooldowns as a damage dealer is making certain to use them whenever they’re avaliable. Don’t be afraid to use them during any fight, even against trash mobs, as the higher the uptime you have with them, the greater your overall damage will be so long as you aren’t using them when a fight is about to end.
The only time to hold off on using your cooldowns is when you’ll be unable to attack the boss due to fight mechanics, such as during Morchok’s Black Blood of the Earth ability or when Hagara is about to cast Water Shield and become immune to all damage.
Melee DPS will have to watch out for this more than ranged, as they are far more vulnerable to situations where an encounter requires constant movement or the boss is utilizing some form of AoE attack that makes fighting in melee range impossible.
Intellect > 17% Spell Hit Cap > Haste > Mastery > Critical
Intellect:
Intellect increases spell damage and maximum mana, making it your most important stat. Intellect also enhances mana regeneration through Euphoria, Innervate and Replenishment.
17% Spell Hit:
Spell hit is increased by hit rating and spirit. 17% is the suggested value to aim for as once you reach it your spells can no longer miss bosses, allowing you to avoid any loss of damage.
Haste:
Haste decreases the cast time of spells, making them faster, and increases the rate at which DoTs tick.
Mastery – Total Eclipse:
For a Balance Druid, mastery increases the damage bonus of Eclipse, and each point thereafter further enhances the effect.
Critical:
Critical rating increases the chance for your spells to critically hit, making it a valuable damage increase, if not quite as much an improvement as other stats.
Reforging
When reforging gear, it’s important that you look to reforge from your least effective stat into the most effective for whatever gear goal you are currently aiming for. See our stat priority list for more information.
17% Spell Hit Cap > Haste > Mastery
The most important stat to check for when reforging your gear is 17% spell hit, the point at which your spells can no longer miss. You’ll want to always check and make certain that you’ve achieved this before reforging into other stats such as Haste and Mastery.
Once you’ve reached 17% Spell Hit your next most important/valuable stat is Haste, followed by Mastery.
Gems
- Red – Brilliant Inferno Ruby
- Blue – Veiled Demonseye
- Yellow – Reckless Ember Topaz
- Meta – Burning Shadowspirit Diamond
Unless a socket bonus offers intellect, it’s more effective to gem for pure intellect and ignore the bonus.
Enchantments
- Main Hand/Two-Handed: Power Torrent
- Off-Hand: Superior Intellect
- Helm: Arcanum of Hyjal
- Shoulders: Greater Inscription of Charged lodestone
- Cloak: Enchant Cloak – Greater Intellect
- Chest: Enchant Chest – Peerless Stats
- Bracers: Enchant Bracer – Mighty Intellect
- Gloves: Enchant Gloves – Haste
- Belt: Ebonsteel Belt Buckle
- Leggings: Powerful Ghostly Spellthread
- Boots: Enchant Boots – Lavawalker
Our class guides for whichever class you’re playing:
Death Knights – Druid – Hunter – Mage – Paladin
Priest – Rogue – Shaman – Warlock – Warrior
The GotWarcraft Gold Guide
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