Guardian Druid Tank Stat Priority — 12.0.5

The stat priority for a Guardian Druid differs depending on whether you are aiming for survivability or damage output.

Regardless of what you are prioritizing, an item 10 or more item levels above another will almost always be an upgrade due to the sheer increase in stats.

Armor, Agility, and Stamina are grouped together because they typically appear together on gear, but any one of the "main" stats will be stronger point-for-point than secondary stats.

It is important to note that all secondary stats are very close together in value. This is a rough estimation, as your stat order might slightly differ depending on how much of each stat you currently have. Agility is also very important for damage output and will often make the highest item level piece the best one to choose. If you want a truly accurate evaluation of which stats are best for you, you should sim your character for stat weights.

Optimization

Simulations and Tools

While a generalized stat priority will assist new players, there really is no substitute for simming your character. Learn more with this guide!

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Agility is your primary stat. It increases your Attack Power, grants you a a small amount of Dodge, and converts into Armor due to Ironfur.

Armor reduces the Physical damage you take. Guardians gain increased Armor (and Stamina) from Bear Form.

Versatility reduces your damage taken, increases your damage and healing done.

Mastery ( Mastery: Nature's Guardian) increases your maximum health and your healing received. It also increases your Attack Power.

Haste does many things for Guardian. It increases your melee attack speed, increases the rate at which Thrash and Moonfire (and bleeds such as Rake and Rip) tick, reduces the global cooldown, and reduces the cooldown on Mangle, Thrash, and Frenzied Regeneration.

Critical Strike increases your chance to critically strike (dealing double damage) and increases dodge chance.

Every stat has a limit where they will begin to offer less increase per point gained, which are known as the points of diminishing return. Once you have reached these amounts, stats will become progressively less valuable and may fall behind other options. The current breakpoints are:

Itemization

Gearing and Enchants

Your stat priority extends to enchants, consumables, and gear. Take what you learned on this page and apply it to your gameplay with these two guides!

GearEnchants

Pumps

Guide Author

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This guide has been written by Pumps who has played since Vanilla and has tanked in Honestly, the #1 Oceanic raiding guild, since Mists of Pandaria. He also played in the first MDI Mythic+ dungeon tournament, where his team placed second. His mindset on tanking has always been about taking the utility and damage one can bring to the raid to the next level. He was the #1 Rank DPS Guardian Druid for 5 tiers in a row and top the 1-6 for the last 12 tiers, playing Guardian Druid, Brewmaster Monk and Protection Warrior based on which is the strongest for progression at the time. You can find him on discord — pumps. — and on Twitch.