Shadowlands Druid Leveling Guide & Best Leveling Spec 1-60

By Wowhead Updated: 2021/03/01

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Important Changes to Leveling a Druid in the Shadowlands Pre-Patch

There is a new tab on your spellbook between General and your talent specialization, simply titled "Druid". These are abilities that are now shared by all Druids, regardless of what specialization they are in.

New Druids will not begin in a default spec (Feral). Until they are allowed to choose a spec at level 10, their abilities are drawn from the general Druid abilities available to all specializations.

Experienced Druids will notice some talents have been reworked or rearranged, and may require re-acquiring some talents.

AoE (Area of Effect) caps are being introduced in the Shadowlands pre-patch, which places a limit on how many targets the ability can hit at once. This affects a couple of Druid abilities.
Swipe (Feral Affinity) - capped to 5 targets

Swipe (Feral, Guardian) - capped to 5 targets

Brutal Slash (Feral) - capped to 5 targets

Any AOE Abilities not listed above remain the same as they were cap-wise before the Shadowlands pre-patch.

Best Druid Leveling Spec in ShadowlandsCat FormMoonkin FormMaulWrathMoonfireChoosing a Druid Specialization

Balance: Use Moonfire and Sunfire to deal periodic damage, and alternate between Wrath and Starfire to trigger . Use Starsurge to empower your currently active Eclipse. At higher levels you can learn Starfall to deal AOE damage to multiple targets and Solar Beam to silence multiple targets in an area.

Feral: Use Merciless Claws and Rake to generate Combo Points and spend them on Ferocious Bite or Rip. At higher levels you can learn Tiger's Fury to further increase your damage and Swipe to deal damage to multiple enemies at once.

Guardian: Use to apply bleeds to targets, Mangle to generate Rage and spend rage on Maul if you need damage or Ironfur if you need mitigation. At higher levels you can learn Survival Instincts to temporarily reduce damage taken and Frenzied Regeneration to heal yourself up.

Restoration: Use Wrath, Moonfire and Sunfire to deal damage. Apply Rejuvenation to any targets that need healing, Regrowth to any target that needs more immediate attention and if you need a burst of healing, use Swiftmend to remove a periodic healing effect and burst heal them. At higher levels you can learn Lifebloom to keep constant healing on a priority target and Efflorescence to AOE heal a targetted area.

Choosing a Race for Your Druid in Shadowlands

Default Races are races that are immediately available to be played when you start your WoW account.

Allied Races are races that are locked behind certain requirements that need to be met before you can create characters belonging to that race.

Alliance

Default Races:
Night Elf

Worgen

Kul Tiran

Horde

Default Races:

Tauren

Troll

Highmountain Tauren

Zandalari Troll

Best Druid Leveling Talents in ShadowlandsSuggested Balance Druid Leveling Talents in Shadowlands

Level 15 Talents:
Force of Nature is a great defensive talent option that allows you more survivability by having Treants tanking mobs for you.

Nature's Balance is also a great choice, but less recommended than Force of Nature if you have less gear or are having issues with mobs attacking you.

Warrior of Elune is an ok talent choice, but provides less offensive benefits than Nature's Balance.

Level 25 Talents:

Wild Charge is a great option that grants you some more movement speed by granting you a disengage in Moonkin Form or a leap forward in Travel Form.

Tiger Dash is not a bad talent choice, but not that useful considering you already have access to a movement speed boost when needed via Dash.

Renewal is a nice emergency heal, but not really that strong considering Druids have a lot of self healing already.

Level 30 Talents:

Restoration Affinity is by far the strongest talent in this tier, as Ysera's Gift alone grants you much more survivability, and having access to more emergency heals is always good.

Feral Affinity is a rather weak talent for a Balance Druid, as you won't be going into Cat Form often to gain the offensive benefits, so on a normal leveling situation you would only really benefit from Feline Swiftness.

Guardian Affinity can be an interesting talent if you plan on doing dungeons, as you are able to take over for the tank more easily if things go south.

Level 35 Talents:

Mighty Bash is a strong talent that grants you one extra crowd control.

Mass Entanglement can be an interesting talent for dungeons of if you're doing a lot of AOE pulls, just be mindful that the CC from Mass Entanglement can be easily broken early.

Call of the Elder Druid can be a good emergency button when paired with Restoration Affinity, but in most situations it is better to simply run away and engage again.

Level 40 Talents:

Incarnation: Chosen of Elune is a very strong cooldown that not only grants you the benefits of Celestial Alignment, but increased Critical Strike as well.

Soul of the Forest can be a good option if you don't want to rely on using cooldowns while leveling.

Starlord is not that great of a talent choice, as constantly casting Starsurge and Starfall will not refresh the duration of the talent's buff, which means you will be consistently having to rebuild stacks.

Level 45 Talents:

Twin Moons is a simple and strong talent that not only increases the damage of Moonfire, but also grants a cleave component to the spell, making it easier to spread around.

is a good talent if you plan on doing dungeons often, but outside of that, not a good talent usage as you won't be using Starfall often.

Stellar Flare is a rather weak talent, as it's yet another periodic damage effect.

Level 50 Talents:

Fury of Elune is a strong talent with lots of AOE damage and good Astral Power generation and an easy pick.

Solstice is an ok talent pick, but the damage of Shooting Stars is usually not that great to be worth the talent pick.

New Moon is a bit complicated to use and generally not as strong as Fury of Elune.

Suggested Feral Druid Leveling Talents in Shadowlands

Level 15 Talents:
Predator is an incredibly strong talent pick, due to allowing a much higher uptime on Tiger's Fury thanks to the constant cooldown resets.

Sabertooth is an interesting talent pick due to the Ferocious Bite damage increase, but you will likely not see a lot of benefit with Rip on this talent.

Lunar Inspiration has very limited usefulness for the cost of a talent point, as in most cases Moonfire would only be using to pull mobs, and using Prowl to get the jump is better in almost all cases.

Level 25 Talents:

Tiger Dash is an excellent talent pick as it allows you to more easily get close to mobs at a relatively low cooldown.

Wild Charge is not that great of a pick for a Feral Druid, as the Cat Form of the talent makes you miss your opening damage by knocking you out of stealth.

Renewal is a nice emergency heal, but not really that strong considering Druids have a lot of self healing already.

Level 30 Talents:

Restoration Affinity is by far the strongest talent in this tier, as Ysera's Gift alone grants you much more survivability, and having access to more emergency heals is always good.

Balance Affinity is not a good pick for a talent, as you will almost never need to go into Moonkin Form and deal attacks from range. This is a niche talent pick at best.

Guardian Affinity can be an interesting talent if you plan on doing dungeons, as you are able to take over for the tank more easily if things go south.

Level 35 Talents:

Call of the Elder Druid is a good emergency button when paired with Restoration Affinity.

Mighty Bash is not that great of a talent pick for Feral Druids, as you already have Maim for a Stun crowd control.

Mass Entanglement is a very niche talent pick for Feral Druids that will likely only be used to run away from unwanted encounters.

Level 40 Talents:

Soul of the Forest is a simple yet strong talent pick that increases the damage of all your finishing abilities and grants you some extra Energy when using them, so you're able to more quickly build the next finisher.

Savage Roar is not a terrible talent pick if you want a more active talent pick, but the Energy regeneration from this ability is low at best.

Incarnation: Avatar of Ashamane is a strong cooldown talent, but one you probably won't be used super often while leveling. Still a good pick, though!

Level 45 Talents:

Primal Wrath is a very strong talent that not only deals good AOE damage, but also applies Rip to all targets hit by this talent.

Scent of Blood is not that bad for a talent pick, but it relies on you using to get any benefit from this talent, an ability that is not usually spammed on an AOE rotation.

Brutal Slash is an improved version of Swipe, but not much of an improvement over the other talent options on this row.

Level 50 Talents:

Feral Frenzy is a strong cooldown that deals good damage and instantly allows you to do a fully powered finishing move at a low cooldown, overall a very strong talent pick.

Moment of Clarity grants a lot of extra benefits to Omen of Clarity, including being able to accumulate extra stacks. The increased Energy is not too bad for bursting targets.

Bloodtalons is a strong talent pick for more seasoned Feral Druids, but total beginners will have a hard time keeping this talent up often enough.

Suggested Guardian Druid Leveling Talents in Shadowlands

Level 15 Talents:
Brambles is a strong talent pick that adds passive damage for you simply for having mobs hit you.

Blood Frenzy can be a strong talent if you're doing big pulls and using on multiple targets often, but this talent loses benefit with smaller pulls.

Bristling Fur is an interesting cooldown to use against big pulls, but once again, this talent loses benefit with smaller pulls.

Level 25 Talents:

Wild Charge is a great option that grants a great engage tool in the Bear Form version of the talent and added movement speed in Travel Form thanks to the leap.

Tiger Dash is not a bad talent choice, but not that useful considering you already have access to a movement speed boost when needed via Dash.

Renewal is a nice emergency heal that can be useful to spec into if you're having issues tanking mobs, but Guardian Druids already have fairly decent self healing via Frenzied Regeneration.

Level 30 Talents:

Restoration Affinity is by far the strongest talent in this tier, as Ysera's Gift alone grants you much more survivability, and having access to more emergency heals is always good. Just be careful of going out of Bear Form when needing extra heals.

Balance Affinity is not a good pick for a talent, as you will almost never need to go into Moonkin Form and deal attacks from range. This is a niche talent pick at best.

Level 35 Talents:

Call of the Elder Druid is a good passive benefit to your Restoration Affinity, as it makes the passive effects of the talent even stronger.

Mighty Bash is a strong talent that grants you one extra crowd control.

Mass Entanglement can be an interesting talent for dungeons of if you're doing a lot of AOE pulls, just be mindful that the CC from Mass Entanglement can be easily broken early.

Level 40 Talents:

Galactic Guardian is a good talent that grants you some more passive damage with free Moonfire and an active benefit that grants more Rage to fuel your abilities.

Incarnation: Guardian of Ursoc is a very strong talent if you plan on doing a lot of dungeons, as this talent gains both offensive and defensive benefits thanks to Berserk active for the duration and Mangle hitting multiple targets when active.

Soul of the Forest is not a weak talent, but the other talents in this row simply grant more benefit for leveling.

Level 45 Talents:

Survival of the Fittest is a simple talent that grants you a reduced duration on your defensive cooldowns and a strong pick in most situations.

Earthwarden is an incredibly weak talent, with very little gain each time you use .

Guardian of Elune is a good talent option if you need more active mitigation with Ironfur, as well as allowing you a bit more risky gameplay with the increased Frenzied Regeneration healing.

Level 50 Talents:

Rend and Tear grants you a lot of benefits simply for using .

Lunar Beam is not a bad talent pick, but it will deal less damage in the long run than Rend and Tear.

Pulverize is an interesting dungeon talent, but won't be as useful in a leveling setting.

Suggested Restoration Druid Leveling Talents in Shadowlands

Level 15 Talents:
Cenarion Ward is a nice and quick way to give a target some quick healing, although this spell is quite mana intensive.

Abundance is a good talent pick if you're able to keep multiple Rejuvenations up at once, but loses utility once you don't need to heal that many targets.

Nourish is a rather weak option that directly competes with Cenarion Ward.

Level 25 Talents:

Tiger Dash is a good talent choice that grants you even more movement speed in a pinch.

Wild Charge can be a good option if you need to quickly get to allies, but with all movement speed increases Druids have access to normally, this talent is almost useless.

Renewal is a nice emergency heal that can be useful to save yourself, but as a Restoration Druid, you won't be using this often.

Level 30 Talents:

Feral Affinity is a great talent selection that allows you to quickly shift into Cat Form and help your group DPS when healing isn't needed.

Balance Affinity is not a bad pick, but as Balance takes a bit longer to start actively dealing damage due to the nature of its periodic damage, you likely won't do as much damage in short bursts as Feral Affinity.

Guardian Affinity is a very weak pick for dungeons, as having to go Bear Form usually means the tank did not stay alive.

Level 35 Talents:

Call of the Elder Druid is a good passive benefit to your Feral Affinity, as it grants you even more damage in Cat Form.

Mighty Bash is a strong talent that grants you one extra crowd control.

Mass Entanglement can be an interesting talent for dungeons of if you're doing a lot of AOE pulls, just be mindful that the CC from Mass Entanglement can be easily broken early.

Level 40 Talents:

Cultivation is a simple but good talent pick that grants extra healing to Rejuvenation at no additional cost.

Soul of the Forest seems like a good pick on paper, but as Swiftmend is used as an emergency heal button, you usually don't need the extra healing after using it.

Incarnation: Tree of Life is a very strong cooldown and worth picking if you feel like you need the extra burst in dungeons.

Level 45 Talents:

Spring Blossoms is a strong talent pick that rewards smart Efflorescence placement.

Inner Peace only really gives you any benefit if you're using Tranquility often, but as Tranquility is used as an emergency button, this talent is usually not a good pick.

Overgrowth is a good talent if you need additional emergency healing on a single target, but with good periodic healing placement, this talent is mostly wasted.

Level 50 Talents:

Photosynthesis is a good strong talent that further empowers your Lifebloom.

Germination is not that great of a talent, as Rejuvenation's healing is quite weak by itself to be worth casting it twice on the same target.

Flourish can be a strong option if you need constant and consistent healing on cooldown.

Best Druid Leveling Rotation in ShadowlandsWrathStarfireMoonfireSunfireStarsurgeElite Mobs:Entangling RootsCelestial AlignmentTravel FormLots of small mobs:StarfallMoonfireSunfireStarfallDungeons:Solar BeamBear FormProwlRakeRipFerocious BiteElite Mobs:MaimBerserkTiger's FuryTravel FormLots of small mobs:SwipeDungeons:Skull BashMaimBear FormMoonfireMangleMaulIronfurElite Mobs:IronfurFrenzied RegenerationBerserkBarkskinSurvival InstinctsTravel FormLots of small mobs:SwipeDungeons:GrowlIncapacitating RoarDungeons:RejuvenationRegrowthSwiftmendLifebloomWild GrowthEfflorescenceWrathMoonfireSunfireDruid Dungeon Leveling in ShadowlandsThis may be nerfed prior to release, so do not count on this technique being available unless it is still in place when the pre-patch goes live.

Guardian or Restoration are the specs to go with for dungeon leveling. Dungeon queues are perpetually short of tanks and healers, so you'll find yourself getting a group nearly instantly, instead of having to wait 15 minutes (or longer) for a group as a DPS class.

As a tank in a dungeon, your main job is to ensure mobs are hitting you and not your group, and because of this, you likely dictate the pace of the dungeon. Make sure you don't pull too much to not strain yourself and watch your healer's mana to ensure they don't strain themselves!

If you instead decide to heal a dungeon, your main job is to keep your group healthy. DPSing as a Healing Druid is nice but you are not expected to do it, DPS while your entire group is safe and not taking heavy amounts of damage, but quickly heal them back up if the need arises.

Balance and Feral Druids an also be useful in a dungeon leveling setting, just be mindful that you will not be able to get into dungeons super fast due to being a DPS specialization. You will want to quest while waiting for dungeon queues to maximize your leveling time.

Best Weapons and Gear For Leveling a Druid in WoW Shadowlands Druid Heirlooms in Shadowlands

2 Pieces: Rested experience consumed is reduced by 30%.

3 Pieces: Increases your out-of-combat regeneration in the outdoors, normal dungeons and battlegrounds.

5 Pieces: Gaining a level triggers Burst of Knowledge, dealing 6546 Holy damage to nearby enemies and granting you 40% $pri for 2 min. Defeating enemies extends this effect, up to an additional 2 min.

6 Pieces: Rested experience consumed is reduced by 30%.

Helm: Preened Tribal War Feathers or Stained Shadowcraft Cap

Necklace: Eternal Horizon Choker (Balance/Restoration) or Eternal Will of the Martyr (Feral/Guardian) or Man'ari Training Amulet

Shoulder: Preened Ironfeather Shoulders or Stained Shadowcraft Spaulders

Cloak: Ancient Bloodmoon Cloak (Balance/Restoration), Inherited Cape of the Black Baron (Feral/Guardian) or Stone Guard's Bladed Cloak/Banded Gilnean Cloak

Chest: Preened Ironfeather Breastplate or Stained Shadowcraft Tunic

Legs: Preened Wildfeather Leggings or Stained Shadowcraft Pants

Rings: Signet of the Third Fleet (Balance/Restoration) / Admiral Taylor's Loyalty Ring (Feral/Guardian) and Dread Pirate Ring

Trinkets: Swift Hand of Justice and Touch of the Void

Weapon: Burnished Warden Staff (Feral/Guardian) or Dignified Headmaster's Charge (Balance/Restoration)

Chauffeured ChopperHeirloom HoarderRelics of the Past

Relic of the Past I: Set the Item Level to 23 and the Required Level to 15.

Relic of the Past II: Set the Item Level to 33 and the Required Level to 25.

Relic of the Past III: Set the Item Level to 43 and the Required Level to 35.

Relic of the Past IV: Set the Item Level to 56 and the Required Level to 45.

Relic of the Past V: Set the Item Level to 100 and the Required Level to 50.

Stat Weights while Leveling in ShadowlandsBest Druid Leveling Professions in ShadowlandsSkinningLeatherworkingLevel 60 Legendary ArmorHerbalismAlchemyMiningHerbalismEnchantingBest Druid Questing Path in Shadowlands

Levels 1-10: Your race's Starting Area or Exile's Reach

Levels 10-50: Battle for Azeroth zones or other expansion zones via Chromie Time

Levels 50-60: Shadowlands Storyline or Threads of Fate

Threads of Fate LevelingShadowlands Druid Leveling Gameplay MechanicsUsing Resources on your DruidManaRegrowthReviveAstral PowerStarfireStarfallRageMaulIronfurEnergyShredCombo PointsFerocious BiteMana

Balance Resources
Health Bar in Green, Astral Power in Purple and Mana below in Blue.

Guardian Resources
Health Bar in Green and Rage in Red.

Feral Resources
Health Bar in Green, Energy in Yellow, Combo Points beneath it as one red circle per point.

Restoration Resources
Health Bar in Green and Mana in Blue.

Druid UtilityEntangling RootsRebirthFlight FormSolar BeamSkull BashDruid ShapeshiftingDruid Combat Forms

Bear Form - Available to all specializations, the main form of Guardian Druids. Shapeshift into Bear Form, increasing armor by 220% and Stamina by 25% (45% for Guardian Druids), granting protection from Polymorph effects, and increasing threat generation.

Cat Form - Available to all specializations, the main form of Feral Druids. Shapeshift into Cat Form, increasing movement speed by 30%, granting protection from Polymorph effects, and reducing falling damage.

Moonkin Form - Available to Balance Druids only or to Druids with Balance Affinity. Shapeshift into Moonkin Form, increasing your spell damage by 10% and your armor by 125%, and granting protection from Polymorph effects.

Druid Utility Forms

Travel Form - Available to all Druids. Shapeshift into a travel form appropriate to your current location, increasing movement speed on land, in water, or in the air, and granting protection from Polymorph effects.

Cosmetic-Only Forms and Modifiers

Archdruid's Lunarwing Form - Granted to Druids that unlock Broken Isles Pathfinder, Part Two, it is the Druid Class Mount.

Glyph of the Cheetah - Changes your Travel Form when in the ground to look like a Cheetah.

Glyph of the Orca - Changes your Travel Form when in the water to look like an Orca.

Glyph of the Sentinel - Changes your Travel Form when in the skies to look like a Sentinel Owl.

Glyph of the Doe - Changes your Travel Form when in the ground to look like a Doe.

Glyph of Stars - Your Moonkin Form now appears as Astral Form, conferring all the same benefits, but appearing as an astrally enhanced version of your normal humanoid form.

Glyph of the Ursol Chameleon - Each time you shapeshift into Bear Form, your shapeshifted form will have a random hair color.

Glyph of the Aerial Chameleon - Each time you shapeshift into a Flight Form, your shapeshifted form will be randomly selected.

Glyph of the Aquatic Chameleon - Each time you shapeshift into an Aquatic Form, your shapeshifted form will be randomly selected.

Glyph of the Swift Chameleon - Each time you shapeshift into a Travel Form, your shapeshifted form will be randomly selected.

It is worth noting that Incarnation (Incarnation: Chosen of Elune, Incarnation: Avatar of Ashamane, Incarnation: Guardian of Ursoc, Incarnation: Tree of Life) gives each specialization an enhanced armored version of their base shapeshift for the duration of the effect.

Shadowlands Druid Class AbilitiesStarting Abilities: Exile's ReachWrath

At level 2, you will learn Moonfire, a spell that deals Arcane damage to a target and leaves them with a periodic damage effect.

At level 3, you will learn your first heal, Regrowth. Regrowth heals you at the end of the cast and leaves you with a periodic healing effect.

At level 4 you will learn Entangling Roots, a spell that roots a target in place for a few seconds.

At level 5, you will learn your first shapeshift, Cat Form. Cat Form grants you extra auto-attack damage, movement speed and reduces fall damage. In Cat Form, you will use Energy and Combo Points as secondary resources. You will also learn Shred for your Cat Form, an ability that deals Physical damage to a target and generates a Combo Point.

DashFerocious BiteBear Form

You will also learn Mangle for your Bear Form, an ability that deals Physical damage to a target and generates Rage.

MoonfireIf you created an Allied Race Druid, i.e. Kul Tiran, Highmountain Tauren or Zandalari Troll, you will start as a level 10 Druid with all the above abilities learned. You can choose a specialization immediately after logging on your Allied Race character for the first time.General Druid Class Abilities

Travel Form (level 10, Shapeshift): Shapeshift into a travel form appropriate to your current location, increasing movement speed on land, in water, or in the air, and granting protection from Polymorph effects. The act of shapeshifting frees you from movement impairing effects.

Revive (level 13): Returns the spirit to the body, restoring a dead target to life with 35% of maximum health and mana. Not castable in combat.

Aquatic Form (level 13, Passive): Your Travel Form increases your swimspeed by 100% and allows you to breathe underwater.

Growl (level 14, Bear Form): Taunts the target to attack you.

Prowl (level 17): Shift into Cat Form and enter stealth.

Ironfur (level 18, Bear Form): Increases armor by heavy amounts for 7 sec.

Travel Form (level 20, Rank 2): You gain an additional 60% movement speed while in the land version of Travel Form. This movement speed bonus will not be granted if Travel Form is activated while in combat. This effect is disabled in battlegrounds and arenas.

Teleport: Moonglade (level 22): Teleport to the Moonglade. Casting Teleport: Moonglade while in Moonglade will return you back to near your departure point.

Barkskin (level 24): Your skin becomes as tough as bark, reducing all damage you take by 20% and preventing damage from delaying your spellcasts. Lasts 8 sec. Usable while stunned, frozen, incapacitated, feared, or asleep, and in all shapeshift forms.

Rebirth (level 29): Returns the spirit to the body, restoring a dead target to life with 60% health and at least 20% mana. Castable in combat.

Flight Form (level 30, Passive): After training Master Riding, your Travel Form allows you to fly and increases your movement speed by 150%.

Hibernate (level 38): Forces the enemy target to sleep for up to 40 sec. Any damage will awaken the target. Only one target can be forced to hibernate at a time. Only works on Beasts and Dragonkin.

Soothe (level 41): Soothes the target, dispelling all enrage effects.

Stampeding Roar (level 43): Shift into Bear Form and let loose a wild roar, increasing the movement speed of all friendly players within 15 yards by 60% for 8 sec.

Improved Barkskin (level 44, Rank 2): Duration increased by 4 sec.

(level 46, Rank 2): Rebirth returns the target to life with 100% health.

Cyclone (level 48): Tosses the enemy target into the air, disorienting them but making them invulnerable for up to 6 sec. Only one target can be affected by your Cyclone at a time.

Improved Regrowth (level 52, Rank 2): Regrowth's initial heal has a 40% increased chance for a critical effect if the target is already affected by Regrowth.

Entangling Roots (level 56, Rank 2): Entangling Roots can withstand 20% more damage before breaking.

Balance Druid Class Abilities

Starfire (level 10): Call down a burst of energy, causing moderate Arcane damage to the target, and light Arcane damage to all other enemies within 8 yards. Generates 8 Astral Power.

(level 10, Mastery): Solar Eclipse increases Nature spell damage by 11%, and Lunar Eclipse increases Arcane spell damage by 11%.

(level 11): Casting 2 Starfire empowers Wrath for 15 sec. Casting 2 Wrath empowers Starfire for 15 sec. These Eclipses occur in alternation.
Eclipse (Solar): Wrath cast time reduced 8% and damage increased 20%.

Eclipse (Lunar): Starfire cast time reduced 8% and area effect damage increased 100%.

StarsurgeRemove CorruptionMoonkin FormSunfireSolar BeamAstral InfluenceTyphoonImproved SunfireImproved MoonfireStarfallOwlkin FrenzyCelestial AlignmentInnervateShooting StarsAetherial KindlingFeral Druid Class Abilities

Rake (level 10): Rake the target for light Bleed damage and additional moderate Bleed damage over 15 sec. Awards 1 combo point.

Mastery: Razor Claws (level 10, Mastery): Increases the damage done by your Cat Form bleed abilities and finishing moves by 16.0%.

(level 11): Thrash all nearby enemies, dealing immediate physical damage and periodic bleed damage. Damage varies by shapeshift form.

Tiger's Fury (level 12): Instantly restores 20 Energy, and increases the damage of all your attacks by 15% for their full duration. Lasts 10 sec.

Feral Instinct (level 16, Passive): Reduces the chance enemies have to detect you while Prowl is active.

Remove Corruption (level 19): Nullifies corrupting effects on the friendly target, removing all Curse and Poison effects.

Feline Adept (level 19, Passive): Soothe and Remove Corruption are usable in Cat Form.

Rip (level 21): Finishing move that causes Bleed damage over time. Lasts longer per combo point.

Swipe (level 23): Swipe nearby enemies, inflicting Physical damage. Damage varies by shapeshift form.

Skull Bash (level 26): You charge and bash the target's skull, interrupting spellcasting and preventing any spell in that school from being cast for 4 sec.

Feline Swiftness (level 27, Passive): Increases your movement speed by 15%.

Maim (level 28): Finishing move that causes Physical damage and stuns the target. Damage and duration increased per combo point.

Primal Fury (level 31, Passive): When you critically strike with an attack that generates a combo point, you gain an additional combo point. Damage over time cannot trigger this effect.

Survival Instincts (level 32): Reduces all damage you take by 50% for 6 sec.

Omen of Clarity (level 33, Passive): Your auto attacks have a chance to cause a Clearcasting state, making your next Shred, Thrash, or Swipe cost no Energy.

Berserk (level 34): Go berserk for 20 sec, causing Rake and Shred to deal damage as though you were stealthed, and giving finishing moves a 20% chance per combo point spent to refund 1 combo point.

(level 36, Rank 2): While stealthed, Shred deals 60% increased damage, and has double the chance to critically strike.

Infected Wounds (level 37, Passive): Rake causes an Infected Wound in the target, reducing the target's movement speed by 20% for 12 sec.

Improved Prowl (level 39, Rank 2): While stealthed, Rake will also stun the target for 4 sec, and deal 60% increased damage.

Merciless Claws (level 42, Rank 3): Shred deals 20% increased damage against bleeding targets.

(level 42, Rank 2): Swipe deals 20% increased damage against bleeding targets.

Tiger's Fury (level 47, Rank 2): Tiger's Fury generates an additional 30 energy.

Predatory Swiftness (level 49, Passive): Your finishing moves have a 20% chance per combo point to make your next Regrowth or Entangling Roots instant, free, and castable in all forms.

Improved Shred (level 54, Rank 4): While stealthed, Shred generates 1 additional combo point.

Berserk (level 58, Rank 2): When Berserk grants combo points, it grants 1 additional combo point.

Guardian Druid Class Abilities

Maul (level 10): Maul the target for moderate Physical damage.

Nature's Guardian (level 10, Mastery): When your health is brought below 35%, you instantly heal for 20% of your maximum health. Cannot occur more than once every 45 sec.

Ursine Adept (level 10): Moonfire, Soothe, Remove Corruption, and Rebirth are usable in Bear Form.

(level 11): Thrash all nearby enemies, dealing immediate physical damage and periodic bleed damage. Damage varies by shapeshift form.

Bear Form (level 12, Rank 2): Bear Form gives an additional 20% Stamina.

Remove Corruption (level 19): Nullifies corrupting effects on the friendly target, removing all Curse and Poison effects.

Frenzied Regeneration (level 21): Heals you for 18% health over 3 sec.

Swipe (level 23): Swipe nearby enemies, inflicting Physical damage. Damage varies by shapeshift form.

Skull Bash (level 26): You charge and bash the target's skull, interrupting spellcasting and preventing any spell in that school from being cast for 4 sec.

Thick Hide (level 27, Passive): Reduces all damage taken by 6%.

Incapacitating Roar (level 28): Shift into Bear Form and invoke the spirit of Ursol to let loose a deafening roar, incapacitating all enemies within 10 yards for 3 sec. Damage will cancel the effect.

Survival Instincts (level 32): Reduces all damage you take by 50% for 6 sec.

Ironfur (level 33, Rank 2): Multiple uses of Ironfur may overlap.

Berserk (level 34): Go berserk for 15 sec, reducing the cooldowns of Mangle, Thrash, Growl, and Frenzied Regeneration by 50% and the cost of Ironfur by 50%.

Gore (level 37, Passive): Thrash, Swipe, Moonfire, and Maul have a 15% chance to reset the cooldown on Mangle, and to cause it to generate an additional 4 Rage.

Frenzied Regeneration (level 39, Rank 2): Frenzied Regeneration now has 2 charges.

Mangle (level 42, Rank 2): Mangle deals 20% additional damage against bleeding targets.

Lightning Reflexes (level 47, Passive): You gain Dodge equal to 100% of your Critical Strike from gear.

Improved Survival Instincts (level 47, Rank 2): Survival Instincts now has 2 charges.

Improved Stampeding Roar (level 49, Rank 2): Cooldown reduced by 60 sec.

Verdant Heart (level 54, Rank 3): Frenzied Regeneration increases all healing received by 20%.

Berserk: Ravage (level 58, Rank 2): Berserk reduces the cooldowns of Mangle, Thrash, Growl, and Frenzied Regeneration by an additional 25%.

Restoration Druid Class Abilities

Rejuvenation (level 10): Heals the target for moderate amounts over 12 sec.

Mastery: Harmony (level 10, Mastery): Your healing is increased by 4.0% for each of your Restoration heal over time effects on the target.

Swiftmend (level 11): Consumes a Regrowth, Wild Growth, or Rejuvenation effect to instantly heal an ally for heavy amounts.

Ironbark (level 12): The target's skin becomes as tough as Ironwood, reducing damage taken by 20% for 12 sec.

Nature's Cure (level 19): Cures harmful effects on the friendly target, removing all Magic, Curse, and Poison effects.

Lifebloom (level 21): Heals the target for moderate amounts over 15 sec. When Lifebloom expires or is dispelled, the target is instantly healed for moderate amounts. May be active on one target at a time.

Sunfire (level 23): A quick beam of solar light burns the enemy for light Nature damage and then additional moderate Nature damage over 12 sec.

Lingering Healing (level 26, Rank 2): Rejuvenation's duration is increased by 3 sec.

Ysera's Gift (level 27, Passive): Heals you for 3% of your maximum health every 5 sec. If you are at full health, an injured party or raid member will be healed instead.

Ursol's Vortex (level 28): Conjures a vortex of wind for 10 sec at the destination, reducing the movement speed of all enemies within 8 yards by 50%. The first time an enemy attempts to leave the vortex, winds will pull that enemy back to its center. Usable in all shapeshift forms.

Improved Sunfire (level 32, Rank 2): Sunfire now applies its damage over time effect to all enemies within 8 yards.

Omen of Clarity (level 33, Passive): Your healing over time from Lifebloom has a 4% chance to cause a Clearcasting state, making your next Regrowth cost no mana.

Wild Growth (level 34): Heals up to 5 injured allies within 30 yards of the target for moderate amounts over 7 sec. Healing starts high and declines over the duration.

Tranquility (level 37): Heals all allies within 40 yards for moderate amounts over 8 sec. Each heal heals the target for another light amount over 8 sec, stacking. Healing increased by 100% when not in a raid.

Efflorescence (level 39): Grows a healing blossom at the target location, restoring light amounts of health to three injured allies within 10 yards every 2 sec for 30 sec. Limit 1.

Innervate (level 42): Infuse a friendly healer with energy, allowing them to cast spells without spending mana for 12 sec.

Revitalize (level 47): Returns all dead party members to life with 35% of maximum health and mana. Not castable in combat.

Improved Wild Growth (level 49, Rank 2): Wild Growth heals 1 additional target.

Natural Wisdom (level 52, Rank 2): If you cast Innervate on somebody else, you gain its effect at 50% effectiveness.

Stonebark (level 56, Rank 2): Ironbark increases healing from your heal over time effects by 20%.

Nature's Swiftness (level 58): Your next Regrowth, Rebirth, or Entangling Roots is instant, free, castable in all forms, and heals for an additional 100%.

Shadowlands Druid End-Game GuidesDruid DPS Max Level Guides for ShadowlandsBalance Druid Shadowlands GuideFeral Druid Shadowlands GuideDruid Tank Max Level Guides for ShadowlandsGuardian Druid Shadowlands GuideDruid Healing Max Level Guides for ShadowlandsRestoration Druid Shadowlands Guide

Comments

Comment by Cambrius13

This is a really good guide. I feel prepared to take on a new druid toon. :)

Comment by zivlaks

This guide doesn't explain the most important thing when leveling as a druid. If you want to do quests you'll do them MUCH faster if you're feral (because cats run fast) and if you want to do dungeons being a bear tank will allow you to insta-queue.

Comment by Dem1ock

Cast Moonfire first and then cast Wrath over and over until it your enemy dies

I do not agree with this, because after you aggro an enemy with Moonfire, you have to cast 2 sec Wrath then. I'd rather first cast Wrath for 2 seconds, then it has some time to fly to the enemy before aggroing it - it is time for you to cast instant Moonfire for aggroing and start casting new Wrath. So enemy can die before getting close.

It looks like this: Wrath -> Moonfire -> *aggro* -> Wrath is way better than Moonfire -> *aggro* -> Wrath.

It might be usefull for beginers, i think :) And not only for druids. For every caster class: first cast the spell, that has cast time and need some time to fly, then instant spell (better if it's DOT-spell), then again spell with cast time.

P.S. Sorry for my English.

Comment by jenkinsta

Am I missing something? The druid no longer has any AOE except starfall and only if energy is up not timer. Also there is not any crowd control which has been removed for awhile.

Comment by Rizzorat

Am I right in assuming you now start in Feral form and not Balanced form like it used to be? If so Druids are no longer my favorite class and WOW doesn't need to fix something that isn't broke.

Comment by mpwalter

This is really helpful. I selected Druid for my first-ever chartcter, and accidentally discovered I can turn into a cat. Now this is starting to make sense!

Comment by mimicron

Here and there wrong/unclearly written information:
"At level 14 you will learn (Spell #5076), which allows you to resurrect a fallen ally." This is written for Guardian, Feral and Restoration. Surprisingly, Balance has a correct link. Spell ID Should be 50769.
Highmountain Tauren are missing Rugged Tenacity Reduces damage taken by (character level) * 3. Not awesome at high levels but seems interesting in case of many low-hitting adds.Scaling with Stamina or base HP would be more reasonable
"Use Mangle and Thrash to generate Focus." Shouldn't be Rage?
In Recommended Ability Usage for Restoration don't see Swiftmend.
In All Druid Abilities there's no mention of previously learned spells, Also, It can be said that information when spell will be learned or improved is available in Spellbook.

Info on previous guide, seemingly got changed.
"This is a spell which costs mana which you must stand still and cast." could be improved into "This is a spell which costs mana and has a cast time, during which you must stand still and don't get interrupted."
"This is a heal over time which heals two targets." might be fixed into "This is a heal over time with also direct heal component."
"At Level 15, you have your choice for a first talent: Feline Swiftness, Displacer Beast, and Wild Charge. Its recommended at least for the first few levels until you either get Travel Form or a mount to use Feline Swiftness this will help you during your questing experience as you will be able to move around more swiftly." Level 15 talents depend on specialization and help to fulfill that role.

Comment by wobbuffet

On the Talent Overview for Feral, the notes on Affinities (at level 45) say that Restoration Affinity is "almost mandatory."

In the Best Leveling Talents though, the Feral tab shows Balance Affinity as the one chosen - why?

Comment by grodon909

For new feral druids, I would like to point out a small note about which "finisher" move you should use while leveling. The guide suggests that you should use your bleed abilities, as they are your highest DPS skills. When I was a new player, I followed this advice a little too strictly, so I want others not to make that mistake. Rake and Rip are certainly good abilities, but they take time to work. When your mobs die in 3 seconds, rake and (especially) rip lose out on a lot of their potential value, because they only have the potential to do a fraction of their damage.

I suggest using ferocious bite on weaker mobs that you're focusing on, as they will die significantly faster than if you use your combo points on rip. If you're fighting things that may live out the full duration of rip, go ahead and use rip instead.

Rake is quite helpful when leveling, although not mandatory. From stealth, you can stun an enemy, which can help you move from one enemy to another because you take less damage. The damage-over-time (DoT) effect also means that you can Rake one enemy and move onto another, knowing that you're getting good benefit from that first rake. Of course, if the enemy dies to one or two shreds, rake may not be worth the time.

Comment by Parallax1712

Thank you guys for the guide! I'm just starting out playing as a druid and finding this guide to be very helpful as I level up and get a very good feel of playing my balance druid.

Comment by cheesystuff

This is a beginner guide not a leveling guide. No recommended paths. Missing information on just how much it costs for that heirloom gear. Do you recommend the haste gear or mastery gear. Should we dungeon to 120? Says to 120 but doesn't include BFA content.

Comment by hobbes0773

Feral leveling talents recommends Lunar Inspiration over Predator, Renewal over Wild Charge, Mighty Bash over Mass Entanglement, and Sabertooth over Brutal Slash.

I mean, you won't even get any use out of Sabertooth while leveling. It is strictly useless because mobs won't live long enough. And Predator is absolutely the dominant talent in its tier for any mobs that die quickly.

Missing one or two optimal choices is fine, but that's 4 out of 7 tiers. I feel like they just took the "easy" talents instead of actually looking at leveling as a feral.

That makes me really nervous about the classes and specs I don't know about if they are that wrong about about the one I do know about.

This guide really was not written by someone that has leveled a druid, and is really just a copy paste of a different guide meant for other things, but they posted this anyways. It is very disingenuous and not something a new player can rely on.

Comment by 1400571

Lady and the Child + Twin Moons do not stack with each other. the maximum either of them will give is two targets. blizzard confirmed this is working as intended. prydaz + sephuz is the combo ill be using.

Comment by reedwand

Best Leveling Talents - restoration druid, the talent tree is not working like the balance one does, the link or something may be broken.

Comment by bobbis91

A note for legendaries and hierlooms, avoid the head, neck, shoulder, cloak, chest, leg and ring legendaries since they won't be used much. The 5/10% exp beats the stats of a legendary anyday. For BFA, heart > loom / legendary, even prydaz, but loom beats azerite, for the exp buff.

There's a class token you can buy and send to alts for legendary items / token. But it gives a random one (that said, not failed me yet <3) Also, the boots will give flying IF you have it unlocked, so I'd advise them and/or Sephuz ring for feral/guard levelling.

Comment by basementcat13

This is such a rubbish leveling guide. I don't understand why healer specs are always slapped with a "DONT USE" sticker for leveling when they are generally the safest spec to level in, fights against trash never last long enough for DPS specs to really shine (i.e bleed dots with feral) until level 100 anyway, not to mention the majority of healers get seriously OP war mode talents that make pulling huge amount of mobs super easy. (Avenging light for holy pally, thorns on resto druid and way of the crane for mistweaver)

Comment by Bumbac

Wild Charge is not that great of a pick for a Feral Druid, as the Cat Form of the talent makes you miss your opening damage by knocking you out of stealth.

Excuse me? This is such a BS statement.

Comment by Morrdd

@wowhead there’s a minor copy-paste mistake in the professions suggestions; “as a Hunter” in the Druid guide. :)

Comment by Thayin

This guide mentions the best Profession to use while leveling and there is a type that says something like the profession best suited for leveling as a "Hunter" is Skinning and Leatherworking. It should say as a Druid.

Comment by ToranasTimor

Feral Charge in Cat Form does NOT break stealth as you mentioned above. I've found this to be an incredibly useful talent for quickly closing distance on my target.

Comment by Flipityflu

Whenever you say 'don't use this spec', and then decide because YOU don't like it, you won't write much in it, you know you have a terrible guide, and a terrible writer.

Go elsewhere if you play a resto druid, they don't want us here.

Comment by Dudeiscrazy

Read

Notes to self:

Decided guardian for tank and DPS roles.

SUGGESTED TALENTS
https://www.wowhead.com/talent-calc/druid/guardian/m8Kz

Shadowlands Druid Leveling Guide & Best Leveling Spec 1-60

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