Druid talent calculator

Quick answer: Druid is one of the strongest and most flexible classes in WoW Forever. It's the only class that can tank, heal, fight in melee and cast from range, and the launch patch buffed almost everything Feral does. For leveling, go Feral Cat. At level 60, Druids are wanted in raids as Restoration healers and Bear tanks, while Feral Cat and Balance are solid damage picks that bring a raid-wide 3% crit buff.

Is Druid good in WoW Forever?

Yes. In original Classic, Druids were "the class that heals and does everything else badly". Forever fixes most of that. Your forms now use your weapon's damage, so a good weapon finally matters in Cat and Bear Form. Ferals got a real resource tool in Shifting Power, Bears got their own threat tools in Lacerate and Primal Bite, and Balance got Eclipse to make the Wrath and Starfire dance actually rewarding.

Blizzard also shook things up two days before launch (the 2 November dev notes). Berserk was removed, Lacerate became a Feral talent, Heart of the Wild moved to Restoration and Bear threat jumped from 50% to 115%. Some older videos and guides were made before this, so if a build looks odd, check the date. Everything below is for the launch patch.

At a glance:

• Roles: tank (Bear), healer (Restoration), melee damage (Cat), ranged damage (Balance)
• Best leveling spec: Feral Cat, with a small Restoration dip
• Hardest part: mana. Every spec except Bear leans on it, and Balance feels it most
• Best for: players who like having an answer for everything, and groups that always seem to be missing one role

Druid strengths and weaknesses

Strengths:

• Every role in one class. Tank, heal, melee or cast, and you can switch with a respec instead of a new character.
• Easy, safe leveling. Cat Form stealth, self-heals between pulls and Travel Form at 30 make leveling smooth.
• Wanted in groups. Innervate, a battle rez (Rebirth), Mark of the Wild and Remove Curse are useful in every raid.
• Great escapes. Shapeshifting breaks Polymorph and slows, and you can stealth or run away in Travel Form.

Weaknesses:

• Mana. Every spec but Bear leans on it, and Balance feels it most in long fights.
• Jack of all trades. In each role, another class may do one specific job a bit better.
• Lots to learn. Four playstyles, forms and a bigger spellbook than most classes take time to master.

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What's new for Druids in WoW Forever?

These are the changes that actually change how you play:

• Shifting Power replaces powershifting. The old trick of shifting out and back into Cat Form for a fresh bar of energy is gone. Instead, Shifting Power (Feral capstone) instantly turns 55% of your base mana into 40 energy.
• Lacerate is a Feral talent (row 4). It's a stacking bleed with big threat, up to 5 stacks, and it's the core of Bear threat.
• Primal Bite is the Bear-focused capstone (row 7). It hits for full weapon damage plus a flat bonus, with high threat. Shifting Power is the Cat-focused capstone in the same row, so Feral now has two different 31-point talents.
• Berserk is gone, and so is Tiger's Fury.
• Big Cat buffs: Shred now does 200% weapon damage (was 155%), Claw 140% (was 110%) and Ravage 435% (was 350%). Rip, Rake, Ferocious Bite and Pounce all scale about 25% better.
• Poised (passive, level 32): when you're out of combat at full energy, your next energy ability costs 10 less. Free value on every opener.
• Eclipse (Balance): every Wrath makes your next 2 Starfires 0.5 seconds faster, stacking up to 4 charges.
• Revive at level 12: an out-of-combat resurrection, so you're no longer the healer who can't rez.
• Swiftmend no longer eats your Rejuvenation or Regrowth (Blizzard confirmed the tooltip saying "consume" is wrong), but it now needs a heal-over-time that you cast.
• Wild Growth is the Restoration capstone: a party-wide heal that lands fast and then tapers off. It has a 3-second cast.
• Bloom (Restoration): when your Rejuvenation or Regrowth expires, the target gets an instant heal worth 100% of your Spirit.
• Omen of Clarity is now a trainer spell at level 20 rather than a talent, so every Druid gets free Clearcasting procs.

Which Druid spec should you pick?

Feral Cat (melee damage). The most comfortable way to level, and genuinely good at 60 now. You stealth, pick your fights, open big from behind and finish with bleeds and Ferocious Bite. The catch is energy: long fights are about managing Shifting Power and Clearcasting, not mashing buttons.

Feral Bear (tank). Arguably the most complete tank at launch. Bears have huge health and armor, Lacerate and Primal Bite for threat, Swipe for packs, and Feral Charge to grab runners. Thanks to the threat buff to 115%, holding aggro against hard-hitting damage dealers is far easier than in Classic.

Balance / Moonkin (ranged damage). Fun, flexible and strong in short fights, with roots, Hibernate and Hurricane for control. The honest weakness is mana. Balance runs dry in back-to-back fights, which is why Moonglow and Reflection matter so much. In raids, Moonkin Form gives your group 3% crit.

Restoration (healer). Easy to pick up and excellent in dungeons, because most of your healing is instant or over time, so you can heal on the move. In raids you're a strong group healer with Wild Growth, Tranquility and Rejuvenation spread around, and you bring Innervate and a battle rez (Rebirth). Most players level as Feral and switch to Restoration for dungeons.

Best Druid leveling build in WoW Forever

Level as Feral Cat. It's the fastest and safest option, and it turns into a perfectly good endgame Cat build without a respec.

Feral Leveling Build (9/32/10)

Talent order, roughly:

1. Ferocity (5) first, so Claw and Rake cost less energy.
2. Feral Swiftness (2) once you have Cat Form at 20. The 30% run speed saves a lot of time.
3. Furor (5), then Savage Fury (2) and Sharpened Claws (2).
4. Feral Charge, Predatory Strikes (3) and Predatory Discipline.
5. Leader of the Pack, Blood Frenzy (2), Natural Instinct (2) and Rend and Tear (5).
6. Shifting Power at level 40.
7. Finish with Heart of the Wild and Naturalist (5 each) in Restoration, then Genesis, Nature's Majesty and Nature's Reach in Balance.

You can also put extra points into Furor instead of Savage Fury. Leveling speed is almost identical, and Furor is much better if you plan to do a lot of PvP.

Why the Restoration dip? Heart of the Wild now lives in Restoration and gives Cats 10% Strength and Bears 20% Stamina, and Naturalist adds 10% to all your damage. That's a lot of power for 10 points.

Key levels to look forward to:

• 10: Bear Form (from a class quest). Your first real power spike.
• 12: Revive, for out-of-combat resurrection.
• 20: Cat Form, Prowl, Shred and Omen of Clarity. This is where leveling gets fun.
• 24: Ferocious Bite.
• 30: Travel Form (40% faster outdoors).
• 32: Poised.
• 40: Dire Bear Form, Innervate and your Feral capstone.

How to level as Cat: Prowl up, open with Ravage from behind once you have it (Shred before that), then apply Faerie Fire and Rake, build combo points with Claw, and finish with Ferocious Bite. Use Rip instead on anything that will live long enough for the bleed to tick. When your energy is low and your mana is full, use Shifting Power. Between pulls, heal yourself with Rejuvenation and Regrowth instead of eating, since your mana is "free" while you wait for energy anyway.

Before 20, it's simple: Wrath twice, Moonfire, then let the mob come to you in Bear Form and use Maul and Demoralizing Roar.

Feral Cat guide: rotation and tips

• Open from stealth. Ravage (or Pounce in PvP), and remember Poised makes that first ability cheaper.
• Keep your bleeds up. Rake early, Rip at 5 combo points on longer fights. Rend and Tear adds 15% damage to bleeding targets, so bleeds aren't optional.
• Shred whenever you're behind, Claw when you're not.
• Ferocious Bite to finish. With Predatory Discipline, Bite still hits harder with extra energy but doesn't drain it, so you can Bite without wrecking your next few seconds.
• Shifting Power is your "panic button" for energy. Use it when you're low on energy and have mana to spare, not on cooldown at full energy.
• Clearcasting procs make your next ability free, so spend them on Shred.
• Weapon matters. Your forms now use your weapon's damage, so upgrade your weapon before almost anything else.

Bear tank guide: threat and survival

Tank Build (5/36/10). It takes Primal Bite, Natural Reaction, Thick Hide and Heart of the Wild for 20% Stamina.

• Single target: stack Lacerate up to 5, keep it rolling, and use Primal Bite or Maul with your spare rage. Primal Bite is best for big single-target threat, and Maul is for when you're swimming in rage.
• Packs: Swipe hits 3 enemies, and Feral Instinct makes it hit 30% harder. Use Demoralizing Roar to soften incoming damage.
• Pulling: Feral Charge to grab a caster or a runner. It also interrupts spells for 4 seconds.
• Survival: Frenzied Regeneration turns rage into health, Barkskin cuts physical damage by 20%, and Natural Reaction gives extra dodge plus rage every time you dodge.
• Rage: Furor gives you 10 rage when you shift into Bear, and Blood Frenzy gives extra rage on crits.

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Balance (Moonkin) guide: rotation and tips

Balance Build (41/0/10). It takes Eclipse, Moonkin Form, Moonglow and Reflection for mana.

• Rotation: keep Moonfire and Insect Swarm up (Genesis and Nature's Splendor make them hit harder and last longer). Cast Wrath to build Eclipse charges, then spend them on faster Starfires. Starfire's base damage went up about 40% at launch, so this is where your damage lives.
• Nature's Grace: a non-periodic spell crit speeds up your next cast and shortens your global cooldown for 3 seconds, so Wrath crits chain nicely into Starfire.
• Mana: this is the real fight. Moonglow cuts the cost of your damage spells by 25%, and Reflection (Restoration dip) lets 50% of your mana regeneration keep going while you cast. Moonkin Form doubles your Clearcasting procs, and Innervate is your emergency refill.
• Control: Entangling Roots and Hibernate (on beasts and dragonkin) make solo play safe, and Improved Starfire gives Starfire a 15% chance to stun.
• Raids: Moonkin Form's 3% crit aura now works for all types of crit, but it doesn't stack with a Feral's Leader of the Pack, so two of them in one group is a waste.

Restoration guide: healing priority

Restoration Build (7/0/44). It takes Wild Growth, Bloom, Swiftmend and Nature's Swiftness, plus Genesis for 10% more healing over time.

Healing priority:

1. Rejuvenation on the tank, and on anyone taking steady damage.
2. Regrowth for bigger single-target top-ups (Improved Regrowth makes it crit a lot).
3. Swiftmend as your instant "oh no" heal on anyone with your Rejuvenation or Regrowth. It doesn't remove the heal-over-time, so use it freely.
4. Wild Growth when the whole party takes damage. Plan the 3-second cast, since Naturalist shaves up to 0.5 seconds off it.
5. Nature's Swiftness + Healing Touch for an instant emergency heal.
6. Tranquility for big group damage. Improved Tranquility cuts its cooldown by 60% and removes its threat.

Tips:

• Bloom loves Spirit. It heals for 100% of your Spirit whenever a Rejuvenation or Regrowth runs out, and Living Spirit adds 15% Spirit. So Spirit is far more valuable for you than for other healers.
• Let your heals expire. Re-casting Rejuvenation early throws away a Bloom.
• Downrank Healing Touch and Regrowth in dungeons to save mana. Use the full rank only when you need it.
• Remove Curse and Abolish Poison are part of your job, and a quick cleanse often saves more health than a heal.

Druid forms explained

• Bear Form (level 10) and Dire Bear Form (level 40): much more armour and health, and abilities that use rage. Your tanking form, and your "this pull went wrong" form while leveling.
• Cat Form (level 20): stealth with Prowl, energy and combo points, and big bleeds. Your main leveling and melee damage form.
• Aquatic Form: swim faster and breathe underwater.
• Travel Form (level 30): 40% faster movement outdoors.
• Moonkin Form (Balance talent): more armour, double Clearcasting procs and a 3% crit aura for your group.
• Shifting frees you from Polymorph and movement-slowing effects, so a well-timed shift is also an escape.
• Potions and weapon enchants now work in form, and your forms use your weapon's damage, so a good weapon matters in Cat and Bear Form.
• Shifting costs mana, so Natural Shapeshifter (Restoration) makes it cheaper if you swap forms a lot.

Druid leveling tips

• Stay in Cat Form for most quests. Prowl lets you pick fights and skip the ones you don't need.
• Heal between pulls with Rejuvenation and Regrowth instead of eating. Your mana refills while your energy does.
• Use Bear Form when you pull too much. Its armour and health buy you time to finish the fight or escape.
• Travel Form from level 30 is 40% faster outdoors, so use it between quest areas.
• Keep Mark of the Wild and Thorns up on yourself at all times.
• Upgrade your weapon. Your forms now use your weapon's damage, so a better weapon speeds up everything.
• Shifting Power from level 40 refills your energy in long fights.

Druid dungeon tips

• Bear tank: open with Feral Charge or Faerie Fire, then Swipe for packs and stack Lacerate on the main target. Use Demoralizing Roar to soften damage, and Growl or Challenging Roar when something runs off.
• Restoration: keep Rejuvenation on the tank, use Swiftmend for spikes and Wild Growth when the group takes damage. Remove Curse and Abolish Poison are part of your job.
• Feral Cat: stay behind the target for Shred and keep your bleeds up. Cower if you pull threat.
• Balance: Moonfire and Insect Swarm on longer fights, Hurricane on packs, and Hibernate or Entangling Roots to control extra enemies.
• Everyone: Innervate your healer when they run low, and save Rebirth for the healer or tank.

Best stats for Druids

Most guides agree on roughly these priorities:

• Feral Cat: weapon damage first, then hit, Agility and crit, then Strength and Attack Power.
• Bear: survival first (armor, Stamina, defense and dodge), then Agility and Strength, then hit and weapon damage for threat.
• Balance: spell hit until you stop missing bosses, then spell damage, then crit, then Intellect and mana regeneration.
• Restoration: healing power, mana regeneration and Spirit (Bloom makes Spirit worth more than it used to be), then Intellect.

Best race for Druid

The differences are small, so pick the race you like looking at for hundreds of hours:

• Night Elf (Alliance): Shadowmeld and extra dodge make it great for Ferals and PvP.
• Tauren (Horde): War Stomp is a free stun and Endurance gives extra health. Lovely for Bears.
• Skyborne (both factions): the new race. Walk on Air and Wind Blessed haste are fun for every spec, and they're a great fit for Balance and Restoration.

Best professions for Druid

• Skinning and Leatherworking for Ferals. You wear leather, and a lot of good leveling gear is craftable.
• Herbalism and Alchemy for everyone. In Forever you can use potions without dropping out of form.
• Engineering for PvP and tanking trinkets, though bombs still don't work in form.

Druid PvP tips

• Shapeshifting frees you from Polymorph and slows, so a well-timed shift is your best escape.
• Feral Charge roots and interrupts, and Cats can leap behind a target.
• A Nature's Swiftness + Healing Touch from any spec can turn a fight around.
• Hybrid "tri-spec" builds that dip into Feral, Balance and Restoration are popular for world PvP.

Common Druid mistakes

• Following a build from before the 2 November rework. Many popular beta videos still show Berserk or the old Lacerate setup.
• Using Shifting Power at full energy. It's a refill, not a damage cooldown.
• Ignoring your weapon in Cat or Bear Form. It matters now.
• Leaving Mark of the Wild and Thorns off yourself while leveling.
• Spamming Rejuvenation refreshes as Restoration and losing your Bloom heals.

Frequently asked questions

What is the best Druid spec in WoW Forever?

For leveling, Feral Cat. At level 60 it depends on the role you want: Restoration and Bear are the most in-demand raid spots, while Feral Cat and Balance are strong damage picks that also bring a 3% crit buff to their group.

Is Druid good for leveling in WoW Forever?

Yes, Druid is one of the safest and fastest levelers. Cat Form gives stealth, strong burst and bleeds, you can heal yourself between pulls, and from level 30 Travel Form gets you around 40% faster outdoors.

Can Druids still powershift in WoW Forever?

No. Old-style powershifting was removed. Instead, the Feral talent Shifting Power turns 55% of your base mana into 40 energy, and Furor gives back the energy you had when you shift back into Cat Form.

Was Berserk removed from Druid in WoW Forever?

Yes. Blizzard removed Berserk in the 2 November dev notes. Primal Bite (Bear) and Shifting Power (Cat) are now the two Feral capstones in row 7.

Can Druids tank in WoW Forever?

Yes, and very well. Bear Form threat was raised to 115%, and the Lacerate and Primal Bite talents give Bears strong threat on single targets while Swipe handles packs.

Does Swiftmend consume Rejuvenation in WoW Forever?

No. Blizzard has confirmed the word "consume" in the tooltip is a mistake. Swiftmend leaves your Rejuvenation or Regrowth in place, but it only works on a heal-over-time you cast yourself.

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