PvE Guardian Druid Tank

The Guardian specialization for Druids in Mists of Pandaria is a Tank specialization focusing on surviving through its high Armor, Dodge Chance, and self-healing mechanics.

Mists of Pandaria Classic separates the traditional hybrid Feral Druid specialization and now creates a fully-fledged dedicated tanking specialization called Guardian Druid. The specialization is far different in this expansion compared to the past, no longer utilizing Cat Form for Off-Tanking and having a new set of passive and active effects that overhaul and simplify its gameplay.

Rage functions differently for Guardian Druids now in MoP Classic, taking damage no longer generating any Rage! Instead, some abilities, such as Mangle, generate Rage, and others, such as Maul, spend it. Other abilities, such as Lacerate, Swipe, and Thrash, no longer require Rage! Thankfully, Critical Strike Chance keeps playing a significant role in their kit, healing them through the Leader of the Pack effect and generating more Rage through Primal Fury.

Vengeance has been revamped to provide 1.5% of the Unmitigated Damage taken as Attack Power without any actual Health Pool Cap added, meaning that Guardian Druids also deal a heavy amount of Damage. However, entering Cat Form cancels the effect, meaning you’ll only use Bear Form.

The defensive part of their kit got massive changes. Savage Defense is now an ability with 3 charges that provides a 45% Dodge Chance for 6 seconds. Instead, their Mastery has been revamped to Mastery: Nature’s Guardian, which offers them a percentage bonus Armor ratio. Frenzied Regeneration now has a 1.5-second cooldown and converts 60 Rage into Health. The Survival Instincts cooldown remains the same, yet they gain a new powerful cooldown to pair it with, Might of Ursoc, which increases their maximum HP pool. Thick Hide has received a huge buff, while new abilities such as Dream of Cenarius also offer a powerful self-healing alternative.

Lastly, a new mechanic, Symbiosis, allows them to gain many effects from their allies while granting them some in return.

Strengths & Weaknesses

Strengths

• Extreme Survivability
  Guardian Druids have a kit with many effects that ensure extreme Survivability! The revamp to Savage Defense ensures a 45% Dodge Chance at all times, while Might of Ursoc, Survival Instincts, and Mastery: Nature’s Guardian get them through the most intense moments in fights. Their self-healing is off the charts with effects such as Frenzied Regeneration and Leader of the Pack or even Dream of Cenarius if they so desire.

• Best EHP Tank
  Bear Tanks received a massive buff to their already notorious EHP Tanks reputation. Mastery: Nature’s Guardian now offers a flat percentage bonus to their total Armor, adding to it even more. This effect, paired with the rework for Thick Hide, which now grants a massive Armor buff plus Magical Damage reduction and the new Might of Ursoc, means that their Effective Health Pool is insanely high.

• High Damage Output & Threat Generation
  Even with the loss of switching to Cat Form, Guardian Druids have an insanely high Damage Output, thanks to how Vengeance now works. The buff is so strong that, in most cases, they will find themselves among the top Damage Dealers in fights where they can stack the buff uninterrupted.

• Simplified Playstyle
  Guardian Druids have a much more simplified playstyle where most of their former Rage Spenders no longer require any Rage to cast! Instead, their kit only spends Rage on Maul, Savage Defense, and Frenzied Regeneration. Because of this, their gameplay is far smoother and more dynamic, leading to them often spamming their buttons.

Weaknesses

• Weird Stat Itemization & Gear Dependent
  Guardian Druids have a weird itemization compared to other tanks, drawing most of their survivability from their kit instead of the items themselves. Since they synergize with Agility and Critical Strike Chance, they mostly build offensively instead of defensively. However, they still require a lot of gear and amassing as much Stamina as possible while trying to build offensively.

Best Races

While racial effects were extremely important in previous versions of WoW, their importance has been overall reduced in MoP Classic. The effects now act as slight bonuses instead of actual game-changing mechanics.

Horde

The best race for Guardian Druid for Horde is Tauren due to Endurance. Troll is the only other viable choice as a Druid and is far better suited for DPS specializations.

• Tauren: Endurance, Cultivation, Nature Resistance, War Stomp.
• Troll: Berserking, Da Voodoo Shuffle, Regeneration, Beast Slaying, Bow Specialization, Throwing Specialization.

Alliance

The best Alliance race for Guardian Druid is Night Elf due to Quickness. Worgen is the other viable option, although it is far better suited for DPS specializations.

• Night Elf: Elusiveness, Quickness, Shadowmeld, Wisp Spirit, Nature Resistance.
• Worgen: Darkflight, Flayer, Viciousness, Aberration.