PvE Guardian Druid Tank Talents, Builds, & Glyphs

We’ve listed two possible builds for Guardian Druids in MoP, each featuring a slightly different playstyle.

Heart of the Wild/Incarnation Build

This is the standard talent build for Guardian Druid, featuring strong passive and active effects that increase survivability, damage output, and utility. The build can be considered standard due to the passive effects of Ysera’s Gift and Heart of the Wild, enhancing performance considerably, yet it also comes with a twist. It is far more favorable for experienced players than beginners due to how spammy it can become with Incarnation and the complexity of Heart of the Wild‘s active effect.

Besides the passive enhancements, Heart of the Wild is used by tanks in many situations, with the most popular options being the fulfillment of roles such as Off-Healers or Off-Tank Caster DPS. Yes, the talent allows Guardian Druids to temporarily become either Healers or Casters, as long as they are not required to Main Tank at that moment.

• Tier I: Either one of Feline Swiftness or Wild Charge is the best option for this tier. Feline Swiftness is best for fights where you don’t have to reposition over long distances, while Wild Charge is best for fights with adds.
• Tier II: Ysera’s Gift is the best choice here, providing massive self-sustainability and granting off-healing to your allies if the effect procs while you’re at full HP. Renewal is the only other viable option, being castable with other effects as it’s off GCD. However, its 2-minute cooldown makes it far worse than Ysera’s Gift.
• Tier III: Typhoon is by far the best option for repositioning mobs and peeling for your allies. However, Faerie Swarm is also very good if you need to kite mobs. Mass Entanglement is not worth it since the effect can be instantly canceled by damage, even if the effect doesn’t have a limit of targets it can affect.
• Tier IV: Incarnation is the choice you’re going with for this build, being very useful as an opener for any Single-Target encounter. The ability allows Guardian Druids to cast all their offensive melee abilities with only a 1.5-second Global Cooldown (GCD), including their taunt, Growl. It is amazing for establishing the initial Threat.
• Tier V: The best option for this tier is Ursol’s Vortex since it can get a large pack of mobs stuck in place, ready to be bombarded with AoE abilities by your allies. Mighty Bash is situational, while Disorienting Roar suffers the same penalty as Mass Entanglement.
• Tier VI: Heart of the Wild is the choice for this build, providing a static 6% buff to your Stamina, Agility, and Intellect, along with many other hybrid effects for a limited duration for situational use. This option is best for beginners if you don’t count in the active effect. However, this option is far better suited for experienced players, given the variety of interactions that can be achieved through its active part.

Dream of Cenarius Build

The Dream of Cenarius variant of the build is far less complex since it does not imply fulfilling additional roles, yet it also takes a heavy toll on the rotation. Dream of Cenarius allows Guardian Druids to gain a proc effect that can lead to instant-cast empowered Healing Touch on themselves or their allies. This grants them a potent sustain tool but diminishes their overall output since it eats up a GCD cast.

In raid environments, players choosing to play this build may be asked to provide off-healing with the effect.

• Tier I: Same as before, either one of Feline Swiftness or Wild Charge is the best option for this tier. Feline Swiftness is best for fights where you don’t have to reposition over long distances, while Wild Charge is best for fights with adds.
• Tier II: Ysera’s Gift remains the best option, while Renewal is situational for encounters with massive burst sequences.
• Tier III: Typhoon is also the best option for this build variant. Faerie Swarm remains great for encounters where mobs have to be kited.
• Tier IV: Incarnation is still the best option for this talent due to its very strong effect as an opener. However, Soul of the Forest is also viable as it adds up during long encounters, being much more favorable for builds that don’t have enough Critical Strike Chance for high Rage Generation.
• Tier V: Ursol’s Vortex remains the best choice for this tier.
• Tier VI: For this build, you’ll choose Dream of Cenarius, which can offer a strong self-sustain or off-healing tool. The idea behind the effect is that it can trigger consistently on builds with high Critical Strike Chance, especially since it enhances the Critical Strike Chance of Mangle. The only issue with it is that it requires a bit of experience as a tank since it consumes one of your GCDs while casting Healing Touch, even if it’s an instant cast.

Glyphs

Glyphs are now mostly situational and should be shuffled from encounter to encounter if you choose to maximize your performance!

Major Glyphs

• Glyph of Survival Instincts
• Glyph of Stampeding Roar
• Glyph of Might of Ursoc
• Glyph of Fae Silence
• Glyph of Faerie Fire
• Glyph of Rebirth

Minor Glyphs

• Glyph of Feline Grace
• Glyph of the Stag
• Glyph of Charm Woodland Creature
• Glyph of One with Nature