Balance Druid Stats Priority

Intellect > Spell Power > Critical Strike = Mastery > Haste = Multi Strike > Versatility

If you just got a new item, check out if it is actually better than your current one on our Google Docs Sheet: HotBD Balance Druid Gear Upgrade Checker

Before diving in to an in-depth analysis of all stats available in balance druid gear, it’s important to understand how each stat works and what it actually does.

Warlords of Draenor Balance Druid Stats

Intellect

Substantially increases the amount of damage all damaging abilities does.

Intellect is the balance druids best stat and should always be prioritised when choosing upgrades. As a rule of thumb “higher ilvl = higher DPS output” with only a few exceptions. For an in-depth analysis of all stat to stat ratio, simply scroll down to the analysis section.

Spell Power

Spell power is a stat most commonly found on Weapons and Trinkets. In weapons you will notice vast quantities of spell power (Item Level 715 Staffs have 2111 Spell power, while Item Level 720 Staffs have 2214). It is safe to say in patch 6.2 that the best weapon in-game for the balance druid is the one with the highest item level, therefor highest Spell Power count. Check it out for yourself at HotBD Balance Druid Gear Upgrade Checker

The spell power sections has been added thanks to David Young.

Critical Strike

Increases the chance of all the balance druids damaging abilities to deal 100% additional damage.

In addition critical ticks of both Sunfire and Moonfire doubles the chance of triggering Shooting Stars which regenerates the a charge of Starsurge/Starfall. Casting Starsurge triggers the Empowerment buff which decreases the cast time of your next 3 Wraths or 2 Starfires by 20% and increases their damage done by 30%. For more information about the balance druids talent visit the Talents & Glyphs section.

1% Critical Strike = 110.3 Critical Strike points

Mastery

Mastery increases the damage bonus of your passive ability Eclipse.

Eclipse increases the balance druid solar & lunar damage by up to 30%, Any additional mastery beyond this point can simply be added to 30%. Due to our the balance druids mastery being Total Eclipse, an additional 15% mastery can be added to the above, which means our solar & lunar damage is now increased by up to a maximum of 45%. it does not stop here! Moonkin form increases this buff by an additional 9.85% to a stuning 54.85%

To increase the Eclipse bonus simply gather gear that contains mastery. Any additional mastery points gathered will be affected by Lunar Guidance, which increases all additional mastery obtained through gear & buffs by 5%. E.g If you have an item that grants 100 mastery, Lunar guidance increases it to 105.

1% Mastery is equal 58.6 Mastery points.

Haste

Haste decreases the time it takes to cast spells, increases the amount of damaging ticks done by dots, decreases the time it takes to complete channeled spells, decreases the global cool-down restriction and indirectly improves the performance of all other stats.

Just like Crit, Haste also increases the chance of triggering Shooting Stars due to the increased amount of ticks. The more haste a balance druid is the more spells the druid will be able to cast within their respectitive eclipses.

1% Haste is equal 100 haste points

Multistrike

Multistrike increases the chance that any direct damaging spells casted by the druid will be replicated instantly up to two times at 30% effectiveness. E.g a 100 damage causing wrath is casted, multistrike has then the chance of instantly triggering up to 2 smaller wraths that each would cause 30 damage each.

Multistrike is very similar to critical strike rating, however just a little bit less efficient.

1% Multistrike is equal 66 Multistrike points.

Versatility

Versatility increases the balance druids damage, healing, as well as absorption done. In addition it also decreases damage taken by the druid.

Versatility is worth about 20% less to the balance druid than all other secondary stats.

1% Damage done/Healing done Versatility is equal 130.5 Versatility points.
1% Damage Reduction Versatility is equal 261 Versatility points

Speed, Leech & Avoidance

Speed increases the players movement speed. Stacks with enchants and talents. 1% speed is equal to x speed points (TBC)

Leech works in a similar way to Natures Forest. Damage done by the balance druid will heal the druid. 1% leech results in 1%healing from damage done. E.g 33k DPS = 0.33k HPS. 1% Leech is equal to x Leech points.

Avoidance decreases damage taken from AOE damaging abilities. 1% Avoidance is equal to x Avoidance Points.

Balance Druid Stats Analysis

Intellect is by far our strongest stat while versatility is by far the worst. The table below illustrates the stat to stat ratio. Understanding the table content will greatly help you evaluate gear upgrades from closely matched ilevel gear.

Balance druid stat to stat ratio

During raid progression, understanding how big an upgrade an item is vital. The table above should serve as a look-up decision evaluator. Lets have a look at an example which most balance druids will experience.

Balance Druid Boots Stats Priority

To evaluate and compare the effect, which these boots will have on the balance druid’s DPS, simply multiply each stat with their respective stat value to determine which item is best.

Sandals of Mycoid Musing: (182*4.53)+(98*1.37)+(135*1.7)=1188.22

Mountainwalker’s Boots: (158*4.53)+(120*1.71)+(80*1.7)=1056.94

The example above illustrates how easy it is to evaluate gear. If both items have been ilevel 655, Mountainwalker’s Boots 1056.94 would be vastly better than Sandals of Mycoid Musing 1032.79.

Another way of looking at item preference is through understanding ratio between stats.

100Int = 111SP = 265Crit = 266Mas = 270Has =271Multi =331Vers

100Crit = 100Mas = 101.8Has = 101.9Multi = 124.9Vers

The above comparisons should help you decide wither an item is an upgrade or not.

Check out the new Balance Druid Gear Upgrade Checker by clicking the image below

Balance Druid Stat Priority Gear Checker

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