Guardian Druid Midnight Gearing Guide

Midnight Season 1 Guardian Druid Tier Set Bonuses:

• (2) Set Bonus: Maul / Raze / Ravage and Moonfire damage increased by 10%
• (4) Set Bonus: Maul / Raze / Ravage have a 5% increased chance to activate Galactic Guardian and Moonfire’s periodic damage has a chance to make your next Maul / Raze / Ravage strike again at 100% effectiveness.

Looking at the season 1 tier bonus for Guardian, we see it reinforces some of the changes made during the talent tree rework, encouraging players to spend more rage on Maul or Raze. The passive damage increase on the 2p is, of course, extremely simple; however, it further increases the defensive value of Ursoc's Fury, which is a nice bonus.

As for the 4p, the boost to Galactic Guardian is nice, though likely won’t have an impact on talent choice since it’s something you would almost always take anyway, but the chance to proc an extra hit of your offensive spender is a bit more interesting.

The biggest thing is that this echoed hit acts as if it were its own individual cast, so not only will it provide you with Ursoc's Fury shielding, but it will also gain increased damage from Killing Blow and grant increased Gore proc chance from Harnessed Rage. This makes the 4p extremely synergistic with some of the new Guardian talents, meaning you’ll likely be spec’d into them in almost all situations.

You should still prioritise the gear you use by running a sim for your character, but the lists below will give you a good idea of what items are considered good for Guardian Druid, and help you target the right content for each piece of loot.

• Overall
• Raiding
• Mythic+

In this section, I’ll go into a bit more detail on the trinkets and very rare items available in Midnight Season 1, explaining how certain effects work and in what situations they give the most value. Note that I won’t be discussing every available trinket, just the most competitive or controversial ones.

Very Rare Items

Eternal Voidsong Chain (Neck, Crown of the Cosmos) - This high haste neck has a bonus damage effect on it, though it does require shadow damage to proc, something Guardian does not have in its base kit.

That being said, you are able to get around this requirement with the Devouring Bolt embellishment, which likely is worthwhile if you’ve managed to get your hands on this amulet. Regardless, the stats on this neck are quite good for Guardian, so even without the effect, it's one of the better choices in season 1.

Eye Of Midnight (Ring, Midnight Falls) - Another piece of haste jewelry, this ring actually has a full stat budget in Haste, making it quite strong for a Guardian who favours that stat.

The effect on the ring is quite weak, particularly for tanks who have a larger health pool, but with it being the only ring that has double haste, it’ll likely be quite sought after, unless you’re able to get your hands on the set rings from Nexus-Point Xenas.

Raid Trinkets

Gaze Of The Alnseer (Chimaerus) - Looking to be one of the strongest trinkets by far, this flat Mastery trinket occasionally procs a 12s window where you can build stacks of a primary stat buff, where quite often you can get your stack count to 10+, equivalent to roughly 5 trinkets worth of value.

Light Company Guidon (Imperator Averzian) - If you’re trying to sync up bonuses with your Incarnation window, then this is something you may want to pick up, granting a large burst of haste on a short 1.5min CD.

Unfortunately, the proc is only 15s long, so it won’t last the entirety of Incarn, plus it’ll sit off cooldown a fair bit since Incarn is looking to be closer to a 2min CD in Season 1.

Gloom-Spattered Dreadscale (Vaelgor & Ezzorak) - For those in need of a defensive trinket, this is one of the top choices, which is especially strong in situations where you can hit multiple targets with the effect to scale the shield.

The main downside is that this trinket has crit instead of agility, so you are losing out on some passive durability, but in multi-target situations like M+, it’ll likely be a competitive choice regardless.

Umbral Plume (Belo’ren) - If you want a passive stat option, this is looking like one of the better options in Season 1, which also has some flexibility if you want to play other specs as you’re able to turn it into Radiant Plum by using it out of combat. For Guardian though, you'll likely want to stay with the Crit version, which is one of the more consistent secondary stat options this season.

Mythic+ Trinkets

Vessel Of Tortured Souls (Maisara Caverns) - A combination of Ara-Kara Sacbrood and Astral Antenna, this trinket will occasionally spawn a green orb nearby that remains still for 10s, which grants you a 1min primary stat buff on contact. Assuming you never let a proc go to waste, this is quite a powerful trinket.

As a tank who has to pay attention to mob positioning and focus on survival, it can sometimes be hard to grab these or even notice they’ve spawned in the first place, so while this trinket has a high upside, I generally recommend avoiding it.

Heart Of Wind (Windrunner Spire) - Likely to be one of the more popular secondary trinkets this season, Heart Of Wind is another passive option that occasionally procs a haste buff.

While this isn’t as consistent as Umbral Plume, Guardian prefers having haste, and it doesn’t require you to raid in order to obtain.

Algeth'ar Puzzle Box (Algeth’ar Academy) - The best on-use option available, this trinket gives you a ton of Mastery for 20s on a 2min CD, lining up with Incarnation much better than the Light Company Guidon, making it one of the best offensive options available when playing Red Moon based builds.

That being said, there is a bit of an annoying downside with this trinket, as it does have a 2-second cast time in order to trigger the effect, which can sometimes be awkward if you are actively tanking mobs.

Solarflare Prism (Skyreach) - The last notable passive option, this one is another proc similar to Heart Of Wind, except it gives Crit instead of haste and also scales based on your target's health, giving more stats the lower it is, which is capped on targets with 50% health or less.

While I would generally prefer to have Heart Of Wind over this trinket, it’s still a decent option, especially for players who do not have access to any raid trinkets.

Solar Core Igniter (Skyreach) - The other main defensive trinket option, this one does have a passive primary stat, unlike the Gloom-Spattered Dreadscale; the shield itself is a bit weaker as well. To help make up for this difference, the cooldown is 30 seconds shorter. It can also grant bonus Versatility if the shield expires with some absorb remaining, though this is unlikely to trigger in difficult content unless you use it outside high-damage moments, which defeats the purpose of wearing it in the first place.

Trinket Recommendations

Raid - Umbral Plume and Algeth'ar Puzzle Box

M+ - Umbral Plume and one of Heart Of Wind, Solarflare Prism, or Gaze Of The Alnseer

Defensive Option - Gloom-Spattered Dreadscale in AoE, Solar Core Igniter in Single Target

Niche - Vessel Of Tortured Souls

Arcanoweave Lining (Armor) - Shaping up to be one of the best options overall in Midnight Season 1, Arcanoweave can be applied to any armor slot for a moderate primary stat proc that also gives a small amount to a nearby ally for extra value.

Darkmoon Sigil: Hunt (Weapon) - This embellishment can only be crafted on Weapons, making it nice at the start of the season as it allows you to craft a high item level weapon early while still maintaining embellishments. That being said, weapon item level is very important, so you’ll likely replace it later on when you get access to something on the Myth track.

Signet Of Azerothian Blessings (Ring) - While this ring has fairly bad base stats, it’s currently granting a lot of secondary stats overall, potentially allowing it to overcome this downside. I don’t recommend crafting it early on, but it’s something to keep an eye on later in the season.

Embellishment Recommendations:

• Early Season - Darkmoon Sigil: Hunt (Weapon) and Arcanoweave Lining (Cloak / Bracers / Belt / Boots)
• Late Season - Arcanoweave Lining x2 (Cloak / Bracers / Belt / Boots)