Why You Should Play Balance Druid in Dragonflight (And Why You Shouldn't)

Posted 2022/11/23 at 5:57 PM by tettles

Need help choosing a new Class in Dragonflight? Check out all the released articles in the 'Why You Should Play a Spec' series below:
Why You Should Play a Spec in Dragonflight (and Why You Shouldn't) Series

Blood DKFrost DK
Unholy DK
Havoc DH
Vengeance DH
Balance Druid
Feral Druid
Guardian DruidRestoration Druid
Devastation Evoker
Preservation Evoker
Beast Mastery Hunter
Marksmanship HunterSurvival HunterArcane MageFrost MageFire Mage

Brewmaster Monk
Mistweaver Monk
Windwalker MonkHoly Paladin

Protection PaladinRetribution Paladin
Discipline PriestHoly Priest
Shadow Priest
Assassination RogueOutlaw RogueSubtlety Rogue
Elemental ShamanEnhancement Shaman
Restoration Shaman
Affliction Warlock
Demonology Warlock
Destruction Warlock

Arms Warrior
Fury Warrior
Protection Warrior

Why You Should Play Balance Druid in Dragonflight (and Why You Shouldn't)youStarfallWhy You Should Play Balance Druid in DragonflightNotable Raid Utility

Mark of the Wild - is back and nearly guarantees a Druid at least one slot in raid. 3% Versatility while not actively noticable is a very powerful buff.

Stampeding Roar - Group wide speed is always useful in raid. From getting out of mechanics on bosses like Terros to just a personal speed buff, Stampeding Roar is very good. You can also talent it down to a 1 minute cooldown.

Nature's Vigil - Is an incredibly powerful healing ability on a 1.5 minute cooldown. Super fun to press as well.

Innervate - While never mandatory is always nice to bring for your healers. You can get it virtually for free as well since you path towards Nature's Vigil.

Notable M+ Utility

Personal Defensiveness - While not one ability specifically, Balance Druid still has some of the better personal defesiveness. Other specs did get a lot better in DF, but Moonkin still is pretty good.

Ursol's Vortex and Typhoon - The ability to keep mobs grouped in some capacity is very useful.

Incapacitating Roar - The ability to talent Incap Roar and have another AOE stop is not something that should be overlooked.

Rebirth - While you do have Engineering Brez, having access to a slightly better rez is not awful.

Force of Nature - Depending on the state of tanks can be one of the most powerful buttons in all the lands.

Solar Beam - Solar Beam is either really good or the worst interrupt in the game depending on what mob you use it on. It's sad that it is locked behind so many talent points, but it still is pretty solid.

StarfallWhy You Shouldn't Play Balance Druid in DragonflightMark of the WildSolar BeamUmbral EmbraceSkull BashKiller InstinctStarfallMastery: Astral Invocation

Comment by SnagprophetBalance has been consistently top tier ranged DPS despite druid only having one such spec, whereas a lot of the multi spec classes seem to have more ups and downs.Comment by xMarokthanks for the article tettles u own!Comment by Psyko94140classe is good in pve , but in PVP dont play it all the noob will tell you omg its broken they cleave for 45 k dps in beta but it dosent matter u cant win game with that + ur the skishy classe ingame starsurge need massive buff and nerf dot starfal idcComment by Nere12Balance has been consistently top tier ranged DPS despite druid only having one such spec, whereas a lot of the multi spec classes seem to have more ups and downs.Comment by KerathrasI was just leveling my Balance Druid alt from 50 to 60 the other day because I quit SL before I could play with him and I really love everything about the DF talent revamp of the spec.

However, there is a one major gripe that keeps me from playing Balance more seriously and it’s the super annoying Eclipse mechanic. It feels like such an unnecessary gimmick that’s there just for some artificial class distinction.

If they do away with it I might even consider playing it along side my main. These sorts of artificial and largely vestigial mechanics are problem for a lot of other specs too. It’s really something they should consider looking into more because streamlining gameplay can only benefit the game.Comment by LunarFeathersBalance has been consistently top tier ranged DPS despite druid only having one such spec, whereas a lot of the multi spec classes seem to have more ups and downs.Comment by DZontettles is unbiased king , always flays the positives and negatives in a reasonable manner.

moonkins need massive buffs or they will face extinction , it is not funny anymore.Comment by ScaryfoxI honestly do have good memories of playing Balance. This was in high school, though because I tried it a year or ago, it was near unplayable without the Moonkin Form. And I wanted to try it again. I think I'll wait for the tuning to settle down before switching specs again.Comment by throchaBalance used to be such a fun spec, but the increased cost of Starsurge broke the flow of the rotation in a way that it's not so much fun anymore. I'd love to play it, but for now I'm sticking with Elemental Shaman and Evoker until they (or if) they revert it.Comment by SnunNo one with Brain will skill solarbeam if you can have massive more dps with 3 skillpoints. The talenttree Need rework for kick. Better take 4 mates with kick (Tank, 2dps and healer) and let the owl be lazer owl without Kick.Comment by IgotbubbleI feel like this article avoids a very central point about the spec. Is it fun to play? Does it feel good to play?

My current experience with the spec, both beta and pre-patch, is a resounding no. You even touched upon this while discussing the talent tree some moons ago: Stellar Flare makes the rotation and play feel bad. Period.
Even the current pre-patch shenanigans, with covenant double-dipping, where we're massively ahead of most other players on the charts, does nothing to change that fact.

We all want our own personal spec to be tuned well, to have good talent combinations, great mechanics and who knows what else. But fact is, if the spec does not feel fun/good to play, then none of the other points matter, because people will drop it very fast.
I really wish that this was the focal point of a lot more of these write-ups, rather than things like 4-6% DPS increase, because if nobody plays the spec, then in the end it doesn't even matter.Comment by spartany25Balance was overturned early in the beta, then after a series of nerfs, and one small buff that was really the partial undoing of one of the nerfs, they became very undertunned. If they go live as is they will as irrelevant as they were in s4 of SL.Comment by spartany25Balance has been consistently top tier ranged DPS despite druid only having one such spec, whereas a lot of the multi spec classes seem to have more ups and downs.Comment by xAldooTLDR: dont play this crap of a spec and hope blizzard see how undertuned it is and fix it when they see no one with a braincell is playing itComment by BenchieI honestly do have good memories of playing Balance. This was in high school, though because I tried it a year or ago, it was near unplayable without the Moonkin Form. And I wanted to try it again. I think I'll wait for the tuning to settle down before switching specs again.Comment by Amricatt1118I was just leveling my Balance Druid alt from 50 to 60 the other day because I quit SL before I could play with him and I really love everything about the DF talent revamp of the spec.

However, there is a one major gripe that keeps me from playing Balance more seriously and it’s the super annoying Eclipse mechanic. It feels like such an unnecessary gimmick that’s there just for some artificial class distinction.Comment by LeowulfBalance has been consistently top tier ranged DPS despite druid only having one such spec, whereas a lot of the multi spec classes seem to have more ups and downs.Comment by VSozonovTldr no matter how much boomkin mains cry that they need more buffs there will always be at least 2-3 boomkins in a 20 man raid. Not to mention the fact that it was the best dps in m+ for 2 full sessons in SL and boomkin mains were calling for buffs even then so I wouldn't take them too seriously.Comment by OwljinBalance druid feels like ^&*!....

blizzard wtf were u thinking. The cost increase of Starsurge and the insane damage decrease of starfall makes boomy feel bad. Since you nurfed Starsurge dmg by 30% and increased its cost to 40 AP, why would anyone wanna play with Starlord? it just feels janky and bad. and also the dmg output is a joke. When in DF Ravenous Fenzy + convoke is gone, and orbital strike dosnt procc from arcanic pulsar legendary, u will battle with healers and Tanks in DPS.....

Does anyone of the devs ever played balance druide higher than M0 ?Comment by LeowulfI feel like this article avoids a very central point about the spec. Is it fun to play? Does it feel good to play?

My current experience with the spec, both beta and pre-patch, is a resounding no. You even touched upon this while discussing the talent tree some moons ago: Stellar Flare makes the rotation and play feel bad. Period.
Even the current pre-patch shenanigans, with covenant double-dipping, where we're massively ahead of most other players on the charts, does nothing to change that fact.

We all want our own personal spec to be tuned well, to have good talent combinations, great mechanics and who knows what else. But fact is, if the spec does not feel fun/good to play, then none of the other points matter, because people will drop it very fast.
I really wish that this was the focal point of a lot more of these write-ups, rather than things like 4-6% DPS increase, because if nobody plays the spec, then in the end it doesn't even matter.