Review of Guardian Druid Talents - Embracing the Feral Guardian

Mid-March, Blizzard unveiled a brand new system, the Hero Talent Trees, that will be introduced in their upcoming expansion, The War Within. Today, we'll be taking a closer look at the Druid of the Claw Hero Talents and how they aim to reunite two specializations that were once united.

What are Hero Talents?

Hero Talents are a new addition to the Talent system in World of Warcraft. With the introduction of the Hero Talent Trees, players will have the opportunity to explore new class fantasies with a third talent tree that is separate from their class and specialization.

In the next expansion, The War Within, Blizzard has given us a sneak peek at the Hero Talents that will be available. Our Guide Writers at Wowhead have already started providing their initial impressions and reviews of the Hero Talent Trees. You can find all of these reviews in our new Editorial Section.

Druid of the Claw Guardian Druid Review

Today, we will be focusing on the Druid of the Claw Hero Talent tree for Guardian Druids. This talent tree introduces some exciting gameplay changes for Guardian Druids, including the return of the catweaving playstyle.

The Druid of the Claw Hero Talent tree has two core concepts: Massive Attack and Catweaving. Let's take a closer look at what these concepts entail.

• Massive Attack

The first core concept of the Druid of the Claw Hero Talent tree is Massive Attack. This concept revolves around maximizing the damage output of your Maul ability in combination with the applied damage-over-time effect. While these two aspects are mostly passive, optimizing their synergy will be key to achieving high damage output. The hero talents, such as [Hero Talent 1] and [Hero Talent 2], add another layer of complexity to the rotation and enhance the overall gameplay experience.

• Catweaving and the Bear Aura

The second core concept of the Druid of the Claw Hero Talent tree is the potential for Catweaving. Catweaving involves shifting into Cat Form to apply and maintain damaging abilities like Rake and Rip, and then shifting back to Bear Form for the normal rotation. Historically, catweaving has been a highly effective DPS playstyle for Guardian Druids, but it has fallen out of favor in recent times.

One of the main reasons for the decline of catweaving is the 50% bear aura that was introduced to boost Guardian damage. This aura has had negative side effects, rendering catweaving obsolete and diminishing the effectiveness of offspec abilities like Convoke the Spirits.

However, with the introduction of the Druid of the Claw Hero Talent tree, there is renewed hope for catweaving. The new talents, such as [Hero Talent 3], greatly enhance the catweaving playstyle and provide useful quality of life improvements. It remains to be seen if the bear aura will be adjusted to support catweaving more effectively. Ideally, offspec spells should either be included in the aura or tuned separately for bear form.

Node by Node Analysis

Now, let's examine each of the hero talents in the Druid of the Claw tree and evaluate their strengths and weaknesses:

• Thumbs Up

1. Massive Attack - This talent adds a big hit and a powerful damage-over-time effect to the Guardian rotation. The details of how the damage spreads to other targets and whether the damage-over-time effect extends to all targets are still unclear.
2. Fount of Strength - This talent increases your maximum Energy and Rage, as well as increasing your maximum health when using Frenzied Regeneration. This talent provides valuable survivability options and enhances gameplay dynamics.
3. Dreadful Wound - Massive Attack now inflicts a bleed effect that reduces enemy damage dealt to you. This talent adds an additional layer of defensive capability to the Guardian Druid.
4. Bestial Strength - This talent increases the damage of Maul and Rake, further empowering the catweaving playstyle.
5. Wildshape Mastery - This talent allows Ironfur and Frenzied Regeneration to persist in Cat Form, providing flexibility and versatility in combat situations.
6. Ruthless Aggression - Massive Attack increases your auto-attack speed, synergizing well with the Massive Attack gameplay loop.
7. Killing Strikes - Massive Attack increases your Agility and the armor granted by Ironfur, enhancing both your offensive and defensive capabilities.
8. Pack's Endurance - This talent increases the duration of Stampeding Roar, providing additional utility and mobility to the Guardian Druid and their group.
9. Empowered Shapeshifting - Frenzied Regeneration can now be used in Cat Form, and Bear Form reduces magic damage taken. Shred, Swipe, and Mangle also receive a damage increase. This talent strengthens the catweaving playstyle and improves overall damage output.
10. Wildpower Surge - Mangle grants Feline Potential, which empowers your finishers and reduces the time required in Cat Form for optimal catweaving. This talent has interesting interactions with other abilities like Convoke the Spirits.
11. Aggravate Wounds - Every damaging ability you cast extends the duration of your Dreadful Wounds, maximizing your damage output.
12. Strike of the Heart - Increases the critical strike chance and critical strike damage of Shred, Swipe, and Mangle. This talent further enhances the catweaving playstyle.
13. Tear Down the Mighty - Reduces the cooldown of Pulverize, allowing for more frequent use of this damage reduction ability.
14. Claw Rampage - During Berserk, Mangle, Swipe, and Thrash have a chance to trigger a Massive Attack. This talent provides additional burst damage potential during the Berserk ability.

• Thumbs Down

1. [Hero Talent 4] - This talent lacks additional effects and feels too simple and uninspiring to be considered a Hero talent.
2. [Hero Talent 5] - While this talent is not terrible and may have situational uses in cat form, it lacks the impact and versatility of other talents in the tree.
3. [Hero Talent 6] - This talent slightly increases the damage of Swipe and Mangle, but the overall impact is minimal. It shares a choice node with another lackluster talent.
4. [Hero Talent 7] - Reducing the cooldown of Pulverize by 5 seconds is highly situational and unlikely to see much use. This talent could benefit from additional effects or improvements.
5. [Hero Talent 8] - This talent offers a negligible increase in the duration of Stampeding Roar. It lacks impact and usefulness, making it one of the weakest talents in the tree.

Final Thoughts

The initial iteration of the Druid of the Claw Hero Talents for Guardian Druids is promising. The talent tree offers a good balance of impactful and interesting talents, with only a few that could use some adjustments. Some of the lackluster filler talents could be replaced with more engaging and impactful choices. Overall, it's an exciting talent tree that has the potential to significantly change gameplay dynamics for Guardian Druids.

I am particularly excited to see how the Druid of the Claw Hero Talents compare to the alternate Hero talent tree, The Elunes Chosen. It's commendable that Blizzard has provided players with meaningful choices between the two talent trees for Guardian Druids.

Guardian Druids will have the opportunity to switch between the Druid of the Claw and The Elunes Chosen talent trees, adding a new layer of variation and customization to the gameplay experience.

About the Author

This guide was written by Pumps, an experienced Guardian Druid who has achieved high rankings in Mythic Dungeon challenges. Pumps is an active member of the Dreamgrove Discord community and is always available to answer questions. You can follow Pumps' progress and watch their gameplay streams on Twitch.