PvE Guardian Druid Tank Rotations & Cooldowns

Guardian Druids have one of the easier rotations in Mists of Pandaria. Their gameplay is much smoother overall, and they benefit from a much more versatile kit. However, the specialization has quite some intricacies when considering the Heart of the Wild and Dream of Cenarius effects, even fulfilling the role of Casters or Healers for short durations whenever they are not Main Tanking.

We’ll showcase an optimal rotation for single target, AoE, and any useful Defensive & Utility spells.

Single-Target Rotation

1. Use Growl to taunt targets
2. Cast Faerie Fire
   • Upkeep Faerie Fire on the target and recast it to fish for Mangle reset procs when nothing else is available.
3. Cast Enrage during the opener.
   • Recast in-combat whenever available.
4. Prioritize using Incarnation as an opener to generate as much Threat & Rage as possible.
5. Prioritize using Berserk after Incarnation to spam Mangle
6. Prioritize getting Savage Defense up as soon as you have 60 Rage.
   • Upkeep Savage Defense at all times!
7. Cast Mangle as soon as possible to generate Rage
   • Mangle has a 25% chance to be reset after using Faerie Fire, Lacerate, and Thrash.
   • Recast Mangle every time it resets
   • Spam Mangle during Incarnation/Berserk after Lacerate has 3 x stacks, and Thrash is active.
8. Cast Thrash as soon as possible
   • Recast Thrash on cooldown & Upkeep DoT
9. Cast Lacerate on cooldown after the first Thrash
10. Cast Maul if Savage Defense doesn’t need a refresh
    • Cast Maul whenever Tooth and Claw is active.
    • Maul can be used together with other abilities (Off-GCD)
11. Cast Enraged Regeneration only if you are Rage-capped and require more healing.
12. Use Survival Instincts/Might of Ursoc/Barkskin as major Defensive Cooldowns!

Dream of Cenarius Effect

When playing with Dream of Cenarius, weave in Healing Touch whenever possible on yourself or your allies, followed by Lacerate or Thrash. If Mangle is available right away after Healing Touch, prioritize casting Mangle before Lacerate or Thrash!

Heart of the Wild Effect

If you swap with the other tank and you can activate the Heart of the Wild effect, swap to a Caster Staff and do the following actions:

• Heal Allies:
  • Swap to a Spell Power Staff
  • Blanket the raid with Rejuvenation from Bear Form
  • Hard cast Healing Touch on whichever ally requires aid
  • Cast Tranquility

• Damage Boss with Spell:
  • Swap to a Spell Power Staff
  • Spam Wrath on Single Target
  • Spam Hurricane on AoE

AoE Rotation

1. Cast Thrash once all mobs are grouped.
2. Cast Berserk to empower Mangle.
   • Cast Mangle on every GCD while Berserk is active.
3. Cast Thrash on cooldown even while the DoT is active.
4. Cast Swipe whenever Mangle & Trash are not available. (Main Filler)
5. Upkeep Savage Defense at all times!
6. Cast Maul if Tooth and Claw procs, and you don’t need to refresh Savage Defense.
   • Maul can be used together with other abilities (Off-GCD)
7. Cast Enraged Regeneration only if you are Rage-capped and require more healing.
   • Don’t cast Enraged Regeneration if Savage Defense is about to expire.
8. Use Survival Instincts/Might of Ursoc/Barkskin as major Defensive Cooldowns!

Defensive & Utility Spells

• Crowd Control:
  • Typhoon: Powerful Knockback ability that throws away all enemies in a frontal area.
  • Ursol’s Vortex: Displacement tool that gathers all enemies in an area and prevents them from leaving by pulling them back to the spell’s center.
  • Cyclone: Ability that prevents all actions but renders the target immune to any effect during its duration.
  • Entangling Roots: Places a Root effect on the target, preventing movement.
• Major Defensives:
  • Might of Ursoc: Instantly transforms the Druid into Bear Form, increasing current and maximum HP by 30%.
  • Frenzied Regeneration: Instantly convert Rage into Health!
  • Survival Instincts: Reduce all incoming damage by up to 50% for a short duration!
  • Barkskin: Reduces all forms of damage by 20%. It can be used in any form, even while in Crowd Control.
• Revive:
  • Rebirth: Fast-cast resurrection spell that can be used in and out of combat.
  • Revive: Long cast resurrection spell that can only be used outside combat.
• Buff:
  • Mark of the Wild: Increases Strength, Agility, and Intellect by 5% for all raid members.
  • Symbiosis: Ability that grants one Druid ability to the target in exchange for a specific Class/Specialization ability, depending on the target. Grants extreme diversity based on the target.
• Heal/Utility:
  • Ysera’s Gift: Passive Healing effect that aids nearby allies if you are full HP.
  • Rejuvenation: Healing spell that places a HoT on the target.
  • Healing Touch: Direct Healing Spell that heals a large amount of HP.
  • Tranquility: A channeled Healing Spell that aids all allies and restores massive amounts of HP.
  • Remove Corruption: Removes any Poison & Curse effects from the target.
  • Innervate: Provides massive Mana Regeneration to allies for a limited duration.
  • Faerie Fire: Reduces a target’s armor by a specific percentage and prevents it from going invisible.