WotLK Classic Balance Druid Stat Priority (2024)

Last updated on Jan 18, 2023 at 12:00by Seksixeny3 comments

On this page, you will find out the optimal PvE stat priority for yourBalance Druid in WotLK Classic. We first present the statpriority, before delving into more complex explanations.

The stat priority for Balance Druid is as follows:

1. Need 17% Hit before talents / Draenei to cap Spell Hit;
2. Spell Power;
3. Haste;
4. Critical Strike;
5. Intellect;
6. Spirit;
7. Mp5.

Although you will generally want to hit the Spell Hit cap, andprioritize gemming / enchanting stats in the listed order, the real stat weightsfor your character depend heavily on your current gear.

Take note that Haste and Critical Strike both have a soft cap wherethey lose some of their power. Haste's soft cap is when Wrath casts in 1second at 401 Haste rating with Wrath of Air Totem, as the global cooldowncannot go any further down.

Crit's soft cap is when Starfire's chance to crit hits 100% under LunarEclipse, as any extra crit will not improve its damage at that point.Hitting these soft caps does not mean the stat is useless, just less effectiveat increasing your damage per rating than it was before hitting the cap.

We recommend using the Wowsims Balance Druid module,for personalized stats if you are interested in min-maxing your character.

Spell Hit allows your spells to land more often, which is a huge DPS increase,and Spell Hit is generally plentiful on the caster gear you will be chasing.Depending on the level of your enemy, you might need more, or less Spell Hit toreach the 17% cap:

• For an enemy of the same level as you, 4% Spell Hit is needed to cap.
• For an enemy 1 level higher than you, 5% Spell Hit is needed to cap.
• For an enemy 2 levels higher than you, 6% Spell Hit is needed to cap.
• For an enemy 3 levels higher than you, such as raid bosses, 17% Spell Hit isneeded to cap.

With Improved Faerie Fire and Balance of Power you only need 10%Hit to cap, which translates into roughly 262 Hit Rating.

Spell Power is applied to each spell based on their casting time.

The coefficient is calculated by dividing the cast time of a spell by 3.5.This is because a 3.5 second cast benefits from 100% of your gear's Spell Power.For example, if you have 20 additional Spell Power from gear, then this will simplyaffect your spells as follows:

• Damage Increase per spell cast = n * 20
• n = spell's coefficient

Instant single-target spells typically only get around 43% of the benefit,with area-of-effect spells having an even greater penalty.

Haste decreases your cast times, allowing you to cast more abilities and dealmore damage in a fight. While its exact value fluctuates with your gear, and isdiminished once the Wrath 1-second soft cap is reached, Haste is a verystrong stat that is worth gearing for.

Critical Strike allows your spells to occasionally deal extra damage. Due toVengeance, Balance Druid spell Critical Strikes deal 200% damage insteadof the normal 150% value. While a generally strong stat, there is a soft cap whereits value diminishes, once Starfire has 100% Critical Strike chance underLunar Eclipse.

Intellect increases total Mana pool, Critical Strike chance, and gives you someSpell Power with Lunar Guidance and Mp5 if you talented Dreamstate,but is usually of slightly lower value than extra Haste or Crit.

For Balance Druids, Spirit provides Spell Power through Improved Moonkin Formand extra Mana regeneration, but only when you have not cast a spell for 5 secondsor more, which will rarely be the case outside of leveling or soloing. Sitting(through the /sit command, or when eating or drinking) increases Spirit regenerationby 33%.

Mana every 5 seconds, or simply Mp5, is a common stat found on healing gearand, while generally not recommended, can help you sustain your Mana over a longfight.

Spell Penetration allows your spells to deal more damage or hit more often againstenemies with Magical Resistances by lowering their resistance by the Spell Penetrationvalue on the item. This is mostly useful in PvP, as PvE enemies usually have fixedresistance values that cannot be lowered with this stat.

Stamina is the only stat that will help you survive any type of attack andas such should always be valued.

Resilience is a stat that is only found on PvP gear. It reduces your chance tosuffer a Critical Strike, as well as the damage you take from those, theMana burned by effects such as Mana Burn, and the damage taken fromdamage-over-time effects such as Corruption. This is a great statin PvP as it makes you a lot more durable, increasing the value of your healingin the process.

Resistance, while inherently niche due to different bosses dealing differentmagical damage types, can be very useful while progressing specific bosses.Wearing resistance gear of a type makes you take less damage or even completelyavoid damage when hit by that type of magical damage.