Guardian Druid

The priority

1. Barkskin — before a big hit
2. Survival Instincts — before a big hit, if barkskin is down
3. Frenzied Regeneration — when you’re low
4. Berserk — when it is ready
5. Lunar Beam — when it is ready
6. Ironfur — with 40+ rage
7. Thrash — when thrash is missing or ending
8. Mangle — when it is ready
9. Thrash — when it is ready
10. Moonfire — when it’s not on the target
11. Swipe — as a filler

Common mistakes

• Sitting on Rage instead of stacking Ironfur.
• Letting Thrash fall off the target.
• Pressing Barkskin after the big hit.

What’s simplified

• Each turn is one decision (about one global cooldown). Cooldowns and buff durations are converted to turns, so timing is approximate.
• Priority order follows SimulationCraft’s default priority list for this build, simplified to the abilities modeled here. Costs, cooldowns and effects come from Blizzard’s spell data. Rule wording is our own.
• Rage: Mangle +10, Thrash +5, and about 4 a turn from being hit. Ironfur costs 40 and stacks up to 5 (each lasts 5 turns, refreshing all).
• Ironfur is off the global cooldown in game; here it takes a turn. Maul is left out: the default build spends its Rage on Ironfur.
• Big hits and low health are scripted moments in each lesson, not a full damage model.
• Cooldowns in turns: Mangle 4, Thrash 4 (lasts 10), Frenzied Regeneration 24, Lunar Beam 40, Barkskin 40, Berserk 120, Survival Instincts 120.

Sources

• SimulationCraft: Default action priority list (Oct 20, 2026)
• SimulationCraft: Spell data dump, build 12.1.5.70391 (Oct 16, 2026)
• Blizzard Entertainment: Spell tooltips and Game Data API (spells) (Oct 13, 2026)
• Warcraft Secrets: Patch 12.1.5 content update notes (class changes) (Oct 13, 2026)

Bear form only, following SimulationCraft’s bear priority. Ravage, Red Moon, Convoke and cat weaving are not modeled. Reviewed Oct 20, 2026. A training aid, not a damage simulator.