The Druid talent tree was the first to be released and since then has been a subject of heavy criticism. Compared to the other classes, it’s biggest issue is the lack of options and flexibility. The Shaman and Warlock talent trees are a great example of this being done very well, everyone is amazed by the way the nodes are connected and the amount of creativity it offers. The Druid talent tree is exactly the opposite. It is very linear, many abilities can be reached in one or two ways only and are locked behind talents that are of little use. While it’s nowhere near as bad as Feral tree, it can be easily improved.
Current talent tree breakdown – the good and bad sides
Row 1: It’s great
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Rake – Small Feral DoT, the placement is good.
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Frenzied Regeneration – Main self-heal of Guardians (and all Druids through a Shadowlands conduit explained in Section 3), nothing much to say, it’s good.
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Rejuvenation – HoT of Resto Druids, it’s good.
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Starfire – iconic Balance Druids AOE ability, it’s good.
Row 2: Move Swiftmend
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Thrash – an AOE ability used by Feral and Guardian (especially Guardian), the placement is great, between these 2 specs.
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Improved Barkskin – increases Barkskin (small defensive CD) duration by 4 sec. I like how it is placed between 2 classes that rely on healing.
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Swiftmend – powerful heal that consumes a HoT, it’s fine, but I think it should be put a bit lower in the tree (until then Resto Druids have Regrowth, Rejuvenation and Lifebloom)
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Starsurge – iconic Balance Druids ST ability, exclusive to the Balance path, it’s good.
Row 3: Good, except Remove Corruption
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Rip – main Feral DoT, it being right after Thrash (AOE) is a bit odd and should be exclusive to the Feral path, but otherwise the placement is fine.
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Swipe – Feral and Guardian AOE that has great synergy with Thrash, it being placed right after this ability is great.
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Improved Frenzied Regeneration – Barkskin and Frenzied Regeneration increase healing received by 20% - same as with Improved Barkskin, the placement is nice.
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Remove Corruption – curse/poison dispel that used to be available to all Druids, now is blocked by both Rejuvenation AND Swiftmend. This ability should not be so tied to Restoration and should be available for all the specs (Resto Druids also have another dispel of their own – Nature’s Cure that additionally dispels magic effects, unless that’s going away in Dragonflight, in which case – yuck).
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Moonkin Form – it’s fine.
Row 4: More links needed
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Maim – a stun finisher of Ferals, it’s placement is nice (it being on far Feral side and also optional), but could be moved down and leave place for simpler talents.
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Killer Instinct – increases physical damage and armor, and works great for both Ferals and Guardians. Great placement.
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Ironfur – iconic Guardian stacking defensive, it’s fine
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Nurturing Instinct – Killer Instinct, but for Resto and Balance. Again great placement.
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Hibernate – beast/dragonkin CC - kinda weird to have it so far on Balance side, it should be closer to the middle and available to all specs, especially given the fact that Ferals (and Guardians if I remember correctly) can use it in Bear/Cat Form.
Row 5: A lot of issues
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Predatory Swiftness – Feral passive talent that increases movement speed by 8/15%. It definitely should stay exclusive to Feral as speed is a part of their identity – that would also counter Balance passive armor in Moonkin Form nicely.
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Skull Bash – Feral/Guardian interrupt, now available to Resto and Balance. It’s good – Ferals and Guardians will always take it, while Resto and Balance have to invest a lot of points, but can reach it. Good idea overall. While the choice to make interrupt an optional talent may be questionable, I think it can have some positive traits – if you have enough interrupts in your group or they are not needed during a boss encounter, you can take another useful talent instead.
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Thick Hide – built into Guardians as a passive, now available to all specs, it reduces all damage taken by 3/6%. Good placement, available to all specs (a bit harder for Balance Druids, but they have a lot of armor in Moonkin Form) if they need some extra defense.
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Wild Charge /Tiger Dash – 2 level 25 talents – either a long distance charge or a 200% speed increase for a short time, it’s a good choice node that allows players to still pick an ability they prefer. It only requiring a total of 8 points spent is an interesting choice.
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New Resto Passive – a passive talent that increases both healing done AND received by 3/6% (I assume), it’s great for Resto and Guardians, but it’s way too hard to reach for Guardians (especially since it increases healing taken). It should be placed between these 2 spec paths with easy access for both.
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Cyclone – short CC available to all Druids, it’s placement is a questionable as it’s hard to reach for Ferals and Guardians.
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Astral Influence – passive Balance talent that increases range of all abilities by 3/5 yards. It should definitely be placed earlier and made easier to reach for Resto Druids, preferably somewhere between these 2 specs.
Row 6: More links needed
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Tireless Pursuit – I don’t understand why this never-used conduit made it to the talent tree, it allows you to retain 40% movement speed for 3sec. after leaving Cat or Travel Form. It’s placement is odd, as ideally Ferals will rarely leave their form. It could be used by Resto/Guardians while catweaving (shifting into Cat Form to deal damage). At least it’s optional, which is good.
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Soothe – enrage dispel available to all Druids which doesn’t change due to it being placed right after Wild Charge/Tiger Dash. It’s more or less optional, which is great. I hope it will still be usable in Cat/Bear form.
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Sunfire – Balance DoT, it’s fine.
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Typhoon – Balance knockback and slow. It’s great – tied to the Balance path and non-obligatory.
Row 7: Could be better
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Primal Fury – Feral passive that causes critical strikes to generate not 1, but 2 points. It’s placement would be fine, but locking it behind Predatory Swiftness (explained above) is bad. Feral players will always take it, while catweaving Guardians/Resto will have to spend whole 2 points on a movement increase passive to reach it. Other than that I like that it’s available to non-Feral specs.
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Ursoc’s Endurance – a nice, defensive talent (an Azerite trait if I remember correctly) that causes Barkskin and Survival Instincts to absorb some damage. The placement is good and it’s clearly dedicated to Guardians, but also other specs should they want even more defense. Great choice.
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Stampeding Roar – available to all Druids, this ability increases movement speed of all nearby players by 60% for 8sec. It’s great and should be available to all specs, but should be placed more towards Feral/Guardian side, because of class fantasy, speed being important to Ferals and Innervate (explained below). Ideally that should be an optional talent for it has situational use.
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Wild Growth – Resto AOE heal, it’s interesting to see it available for all specs, but it is a bit too hard to reach. The only way to get it is to spend whole 6 points in the Resto tree. It deserves a place this low in the tree, but should be more accessible for other specs.
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Improved Sunfire – split from Sunfire (explained above) to now be a separate talent, this causes Sunfire to be an AOE spell. It’s placement is great – locked behind Sunfire and an optional upgrade.
Row 8: Not good - add more links!
The biggest flaw of the last 3 rows is definitely how linear they are.
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Incapacitating Roar /Mighty Bash – an AOE interrupt or a short ST stun, it’s a good choice node, allowing players to choose whichever ability they need. I like that it’s put on the Guardian/Feral side.
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Ursine Vigor – a nice defensive conduit that increases health and armor by 10/20% for 4sec. after shifting into Bear Form. It’s placement is great – easily available to Guardians, still available but requiring some point investment to other specs.
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Lycara’s Teachings – I’m surprised a Torghast power made it into the talent tree, but I’m happy to see it. It increases Haste/Crit/Vers/Mastery by 2/4/6% depending on current form. I’m not sure if it should be a 3 point talent, but the placement is great – easily available to all specs. The biggest issue is it being locked behind Stampeding Roar .
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Improved Rejuvenation – increases Rejuvenation duration by 3 sec. It definitely should be placed higher in the tree.
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Mass Entanglement /Ursol’s Vortex – uncapped mass root or a one-time pullback + slow, a great choice node that lets player pick an ability up to their liking. The placement is fine.
Row 9: Not very good
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Well-Horned Instincts – a must-have Shadowlands defensive conduit, which triggers a self-heal when brough down to 40sec., essentially a cheat death mechanic. It should definitely be placed in the middle bottom and available to all specs. I really, really don’t like it being locked behind a utility CC talent. I am curious to see how it’s going to work if you don’t pick Frenzied Regeneration.
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Improved Stampeding Roar – earlier only available to Guardians, now to all specs, it’s a nice talent that reduces Stampeding Roar cooldown 1 minute. It should be placed more to the left, easier to get for Ferals and Guardians, harder for Resto and Balance. This way it would counter Innervate nicely. Ideally it should not shift Feral players into Bear Form, but Cat Form (but that’s a nitpick).
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Renewal – a 25 talent, 30% self-heal off GCD. A good, optional pick that can help with survivalibity, good placement, but probably should be put a little higher.
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Innervate – I can’t express how grateful I am (and all Ferals/Guardians are) to see this ability in the talent tree. It being put on Resto/Balance side makes sense and requires some effort to get by Ferals and Guardians (but still possible!). Same as with Well-Horned Instincts , I don’t like it being locked behind a utility CC talent.
Row 10: Not good
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Furor – I was a bit surprised to see this talent return and I’m curious to see it in action (Ironfur is off GCD, does it mean you can mash the button and get 10 stacks in those 4sec? That would be fun, but also quite OP). It should, however, be positioned closer to the middle as it would be mostly used by catweaving/owlweaving Guardian and Resto Druids. I don’t see much use in it for Ferals, except for an occasional emergency Bear Form defensive or heal (provided no form also counts as a form, otherwise we would need to shift into Moonkin Form to heal, which would be weird, still 4sec. will let us cast 2-3 Regrowths only). This talent is rather disappointing as a “final” one.
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Heart of the Wild – a good (even though I personally hate it so, so much) talent that makes not-our-spec abilities to be empowered for 45sec. (for example increased Cat Form damage as Resto), truly adding to the whole Druid being a hybrid class idea. The placement as a “final” talent is great, and it’s available for all specs. It used to affect Affinities, but seeing as they are going away, I’m curious to see how it’s going to work with talent trees.
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Nature’s Vigil – lastly, a talent I’m very excited about, that causes our ST damage abilities to also heal allies (or the other way around if you are Resto) for 30 seconds. Hybrid class, baby! The main issue is (as with Furor ) is how locked to Balance/Resto it is. It should be available to all specs. I love the idea of healing my friends with DoTs.
That concludes the breakdown of the tree. As you can see, it’s not bad – the biggest issue is the lack of links between nodes, something I attempt to fix below.
Possible solutions to the issues - my talent tree concept
Below I present a concept of Druid talent tree I came up with in TTM, that is heavily based on the Shaman and Warlock talent trees. My main goals were:
- add way more links between talents, this way players can be creative with their picks and reach the same node in many different ways.
- move almost every utility ability to the class tree, make it available to all specs, but favouring the ones they originate from (Stampeding Roar for Ferals/Guardians, Innervate for Resto/Balance), and thus minimalize the ‘oh I thought you were X spec’ possibility.
- allow a lot of flexibility for specs, this way players can mix the specs as they want without losing the feel of being a Druid, embrace the hybrid class idea.
https://gyazo.com/dc82fc50792f7be42d9fed79bfbff893
What I especially like about this tree is that essentially every spec needs to choose a second spec to share abilities with (I mean, you can take all of them if you’re this crazy). Hybrid! Class before spec.
The abilities in the tree remain mostly the same, but I moved a lot of them around. There are some issues (such as the Improved Rejuvenation placement), but all in all I’m satisfied with the result.
And here is an example of talents picked by a Resto Druid that enjoys catweaving:
https://gyazo.com/d50032839eb450046fcc1067ff36e349
The abilities in the talent tree are:
Row 1:
- Rake
- Frenzied Regeneration
- Rejuvenation
- Starfire
Row 2:
- Rip – moved a bit to the left, making it more exclusive to Feral
- Thrash
- Improved Barkskin
- Astral Influence – moved it way earlier in the tree and allowed Resto (and owlweaving Guardians/Ferals) easy access to this talent
- Starsurge
Row 3:
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Swipe
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Ironfur
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Improved Frenzied Regeneration
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Remove Corruption – this talent is now easily available to all specs except Feral, but the increased range from Astral Influence encourages taking that route.
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Moonkin Form - allowed Resto easier access to this talent
Row 4:
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Killer Instinct
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New Resto Passive – moved it above the 8 point wall and allowed Guardians easier access to this talent (it increases healing taken so it’s made for tanks as well)
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Nurturing Instinct
Row 5:
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Skull Bash – easily available to Ferals and Guardians and requires some effort (4 points) from Resto and Balance to get it.
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Thick Hide – Guardians and Resto are all about defense and preservation, which is the reasoning behind this node’s placement. It’s also available to Balance and Feral if they need some extra defense.
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Swiftmend – powerful Resto spell that I felt deserved to be put behind the 8 point wall.
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Typhoon – iconic to Balance and so it shall stay, but can be reached by other specs with some effort – easier for Resto, harder for Ferals and Guardians.
Row 6:
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Primal Fury – heavily reserved to Feral, but can be reached by other specs that choose to catweave.
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Wild Charge/Tiger Dash – fun choice node, but moved a bit towards Feral because speed .
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Soothe – optional and available to all specs as it should be.
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Hibernate/Cyclone – I decided to make it a choice node as they are both CC but used in different situations, put more towards Balance to counter the Wild Charge/Tiger Dash node on the other side.
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Sunfire – heavily reserved to Balance, but can be reached by other specs if they choose to owlweave.
Row 7:
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Stampeding Roar – heavily reserved to Feral and Guardians, as these are the more animalistic specs, also counters Force of Nature nicely and doesn’t make this an obligatory talent.
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Ursoc’s Endurance – placed specifically for Guardians, but available to other specs if they need even more defense after taking Thick Hide.
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Renewal/Tireless Pursuit – I decided to merge those two talents into a choice node, for they are very situational and offer players a choice – an emergency self-heal or some extra speed while catweaving.
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Wild Growth – locked behind Swiftmend as it should be.
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(NEW) Force of Nature – Balance only talent that should have made it into Druid talent tree, for it’s a powerful utility skill that affects Ferals negatively. It’s easy to reach by Balance and Resto druids, and requires some effort from Guardians and Ferals. Counters Stampeding Roar on the other side nicely.
Row 8:
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Maim – still heavily reserved to Feral, but possible to reach for Guardians and Resto if needed.
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Incapacitating Roar/Might Bash – a nice choice node, put closer to Feral and Guardian side (for they are the animalistic specs), counters Mass Entanglement/Ursol’s Vortex nicely.
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Ursine Vigor – locked behind several defensive abilities
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Well-Horned Instincts - put in the middle, easily accessible for Guardians (who need an emergency heal) and Resto (who need to be able to focus on healing the party), a bit harder for Ferals and Balance (who can rely on the healer or their own self-heal).
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Improved Rejuvenation – I struggled to find a good spot for this node, but ended up putting it here, locked to Resto abilities. It probably should be put higher in the tree, though.
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Mass Entanglement/Ursol’s Vortex – a nice choice node, put more on the caster side, counters Incapacitating Roar/Mighty Bash nicely.
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Improved Sunfire – heavily reserved to Balance as it should be.
Row 9:
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Improved Stampeding Roar – quite restricted to Feral and Balance, counters Innervate nicely.
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Lycara’s Teachings – Had a tough job with placing this one, but decided on this spot - easily accessible by Ferals, Guardians and Resto. A bit harder for Balance, thus the placement could be improved to fix that.
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Furor – easily accessible by Guardians, Resto and Balance, a bit harder for Ferals. Furor is not as important to Ferals as Lycara’s Teachings is for Balance (and so the placement could be improved), but these two talents’ placements counter each other nicely.
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Innervate – heavily restricted to Resto and Balance, but accessible to Ferals and Guardians with some effort. It counters Improved Stampeding Roar from the other side nicely.
Row 10:
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(NEW) Leader of the Pack – While in Cat Form, you increase the critical chance of raid members within 40 yards by 5%. - a removed talent from Classic (currently existing as a PVP talent) that could give Druids some more utility (in addition to Mark of the Wild). It could be capped to 5 players only (like Windfury totem) if it’s too OP, and expanded to work in Bear Form too (or maybe increase Vers instead of Crit in Bear Form?). This would give Feral a little edge above Balance that it needs as a melee.
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Heart of the Wild – the “ultimate” Druid talent that occupies the bottom middle spot, easily available to all specs.
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Nature’s Vigil – powerful talent, put more towards the caster side. The placement could be improved, but Force of Nature and Innervate already encourage Feral/Guardian players to take this route, so they may as well take this talent if they wish.
I removed Feline Swiftness as it should be a part of Feral talent tree. It adds to the idea of Ferals being speedy, while also countering Balance Moonkin Form armor (and that is the only competition I aimed to uphold with those 2 specs – it’s a minor thing that doesn’t affect gameplay much).
Thank you for reading this very long post! I look forward to reading your feedback and discussion below.