Guardian Druid Hero Talent Showdown in The War Within - Druid of the Claw vs. Elune's Chosen

The War Within Posted 2024/08/19 at 12:28 AM by Pumps

Not sure what Hero Talents to play for your spec in The War Within? Check out all the released articles in the 'Hero Talent Showdown' series:
Hero Talent Showdowns in The War Within
Blood DK
Frost DK
Unholy DK
Havoc DH
Vengeance DH
Balance Druid

Feral Druid
Guardian Druid
Restoration Druid
Augmentation Evoker
Devastation Evoker
Preservation Evoker
Beast Mastery Hunter
Marksmanship Hunter
Survival Hunter
Arcane Mage
Fire Mage
Frost Mage
Brewmaster Monk
Mistweaver Monk
Windwalker Monk
Holy Paladin
Protection Paladin
Retribution Paladin
Discipline Priest
Holy Priest
Shadow Priest
Assassination Rogue
Outlaw Rogue
Subtlety Rogue
Elemental Shaman
Enhancement Shaman
Restoration Shaman
Affliction Warlock
Demonology Warlock
Destruction Warlock
Arms Warrior
Fury Warrior
Protection Warrior

For more information on Hero Talents coming in the War Within, check out our Hero Talents Overview.

The War Within Hero Talents Overview

Guardian Druid in the War WithinHero Talent Showdown: Druid of the Claw vs. Elune's ChosenWildshape MasteryCat FormWildpower SurgeFluid FormLunar BeamMoonfireLunar Beam Druid of the Claw

Strengths

Weaknesses

MangleWildpower SurgeRipFerocious BiteFluid FormRakeRipHeart of the WildInnervateThick HideVerdant Heart Elune's Chosen

Strengths

Weaknesses

Lunar BeamLunar BeamLunar BeamWhat's Changed? Druid of the Clawinitial impressionsWildpower SurgeRavageBestial StrengthDreadful WoundEmpowered ShapeshiftingKilling StrikesRuthless Aggression Elune's ChosenAnd the Winner Is...

Class Fantasy & Visuals: Druid of the Claw & Elune's Chosen (Tie)
Neither has really stunning visuals unfortunately. Ravage is so similar to other druid animations you can't tell the difference and Lunar Beam is almost invisible. Could be a tie of losers here.

Fun & Rewarding Gameplay: Druid of the Claw (Winner)
Druid of the Claw adds great flavor to the rotation, the flexibility to catweave, Ravage procs feeling extremely satisfying to chain.
Elune's Chosen is lacking anything new or interesting, we fully had the choice to take Lunar Beam the entirety of Dragonflight but just opted not to, even though we took the points directly attached to it.

Difficulty (Easiest): Elune's Chosen (Winner)
Elune's Chosen is the clear winner in terms of being much easier to play, never having to shift out of Bear Form and retaining the same rotation with a single extra button that can be used whenever you desire makes it a comfortable pick for new and learning players as well as relaxed pros alike. The damage difference between the two (outside of pure single target) may not be worth the extra effort for many.

Defensiveness & Utility: Elune's Chosen (Winner)
Lunar Beam with all the bonus perks of the Elune's Chosen tree is honestly a fantastic defensive button with an extremely short cooldown. The Elune's Chosen tree also allows for more flexibility in our class tree which is where much of our utility points exist.

Leveling: Elune's Chosen (Winner)
Much of the power of Druid of the Claw is in the end of the tree which you won't receive until you are finished leveling.
Elune's Chosen also naturally leans to our leveling playstyle of rounding up mobs with Moonfire and then dropping big damage on them like Lunar Beam.

Mythic+: Druid of the Claw & Elune's Chosen (Tie)
Entirely a comfort pick for M+. Whatever talent tree you feel more comfortable with will perform better for you. They are quite similar in strength, although Druid of the Claw tends to pull ahead on 3-5 targets, when you start doing massive pulls Elune's Chosen quickly catches up. Both have similar defensive capabilities.

Raid: Druid of the Claw (Winner)
Raid is an environment which naturally leans towards the strengths of Druid of the Claw. Most fights are primarily single target encounters where all damage matters and you have another tank to help support you which makes weaving much easier.

Best Overall: Elune's Chosen (Winner)
Elune's Chosen is the winner overall. It has the most flexibility and ease of play. It's a decently well-rounded hero talent tree that performs decently in all content without needing to learn any fancy new rotation or added complexity.
Mild number tuning could absolutely swap these at any time, they are quite close. If you are a big fan of pushing your spec to the absolute max and getting the most damage you can in raid then Druid of the Claw might be your winner.

Hero Talent Feedback Druid of the ClawBear FormBear FormRipFerocious BiteBear FormDream of CenariusRazeRavageMaulRaze Elune's ChosenLunar InsightGlistening FurMoondustLunar AmplificationAtmospheric ExposureLunar BeamFury of EluneFull MoonOrbit BreakerBase Guardian Druid FeedbackAstral InfluenceFrenzied RegenerationtheMark of the WildStampeding RoarBlessing of SpellwardingRallying CryDeath GripAnti-Magic ShellSigil of SilenceChallenging ShoutExploding KegDivine TollShould You Play Guardian Druid in the War Within? PumpsHonestlyDreamgrove discordMythic Dungeon InternationalTwitchHero Talent Guides for the War Within Launch

Blood DKFrost DKUnholy DK

Havoc DHVengeance DH

Balance DruidFeral DruidGuardian DruidRestoration Druid

Aug EvokerDevastation EvokerPreservation Evoker

BM HunterMM HunterSurvival Hunter

Arcane MageFire MageFrost Mage

Brewmaster MonkMistweaver MonkWindwalker Monk

Holy PaladinProtection PaladinRetribution Paladin

Discipline PriestHoly PriestShadow Priest

Assassination RogueOutlaw RogueSubtlety Rogue

Elemental ShamanEnhance ShamanRestoration Shaman

Affliction WarlockDemo WarlockDestro Warlock

Arms WarriorFury WarriorProtection Warrior

Comment by dlbert2000I can't wait to see the balance druid showdownComment by Redemption86I'll be giving druid of the claw a hard pass, I'm not a big fan of catweaving.Comment by Miral007Claw sounds like it will be fun for open world stuff and delves where you don't necessarily need to be a tank the whole time. Shame it's so back loaded, could have been a fun leveling specComment by trogNo shot Druid of the Claw is best in raid if you can't take Innervate.Comment by ClinoclaseIt's crazy to me that Challenging Roar was removed over a decade ago while warriors still have the 1:1 Challenging ShoutComment by PeacemoonCompletely agree snap AoE aggro is a thing. It’s the only thing that bugs me as a Guardian Druid main. It feels like you aren’t doing your job properly when you lose aggro, even though you’re doing everything you can. If Rage of the Sleeper increased threat generation that would be great.

Personally I am 100% stoked for Druid of the Claw! Can’t wait to utilise my cat form while tanking.. this is going to be so amazing!
My only wish is we could somehow get Convoke back without losing Incarnation. It was such a great and flexible spell for Guardians, but losing Incarnation to take it is a non-starter.

Hyped for TWW!Comment by PeacemoonDruid of the Claw’s talent “killing strikes” makes your first Maul in combat automatically a Ravage. So that will help a lot while questing and snap aggro at the start of a pull hopefully.Comment by FerelonshaderootMOON BEAR! MOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOON! Honestly like the idea of Elune's Chosen. Not a huge fan of catweavingComment by bannyvaderWho needs a rework more Rogue or Druid?Comment by PeacemoonWho needs a rework more Rogue or Druid?Comment by onkieStill can’t believe that they didn’t a. Merge Raze into Maul so our spender can be base aoe like literally every other tank, and b. Make swipe worth pressing (be on its own or with some sorta giga proc).Comment by ChaxtonCatweaving? No thanks, I play Guardian to be a huge bear. No matter the meta, I'm sticking with Elune's Chosen purely because I'm that guy who'd end up getting killed mid-weave.Comment by JinokunI am super hype about catweaving. I tried it on beta (not perfect enviroment nor challenging content) and with Wildshape Mastery it feels kinda awesome to rake into cat, rip and mangle back into bear.
I love the idea that you retain 80% of your tankiness in catform but also heal when you return to your bear (which hopefully offsets the 20% missing tankiness) for a nice jo-jo effect.

but obviously I need to see it in a challenging/hard enviroment as well, currently my opinion is on a pure idea/feel level.Comment by SeniaaI still don't get why they don't give Brutal Slash to Guardian for being a Druid of the Claw. There is literally 0 reason to swap in AoE for a single target bite/rip especially when the risk of getting punished for it is higher on larger pull counts anyway.Comment by silus1000I'll be giving druid of the claw a hard pass, I'm not a big fan of catweaving.Comment by SibearianI wish druid of the claw had a 5% size buff like Colossus warrior. It fits the lore entirely, for both humanoid and beast forms. It makes sense with the abilities too. I'll keep saying this till it happensComment by SibearianAlso I'm surprised bear form doesn't have a custom form that looks like the real life moon bear. Very common speciesComment by psyquest"Guardian Druids received probably the least amount of changes of any spec moving from Dragonflight to The War Within."

This is false, completely utterly false.

Demon hunter got no changes to both trees.

in red in this images are the changes to DH for TWW:

https://imgur.com/a/0Tgi8GRComment by TernelBlizz agrees that bears are in an amazing spot because they have received almost no changes in beta.

I know it's prime cut pure copium but I am still here for it.Comment by Uiie"The sleeper has awaken!"