Before you can start kitting out your character you’ll need to know what your stat priority is so you can select the appropriate gear, gems, enchants, and consumables. Balance Druids only have one stat cap to worry about with their Hit, beyond which they will focus on stacking as much Haste as possible.
Stat Priority
- Intellect
- Hit/Spirit to cap
- Haste
- Mastery
- Critical Strike
Intellect is your primary stat and will always be the most important stat for a Balance Druid as the main source of your Spell Power and mana pool. Intellect also increases your Critical Strike.
Hit is vital until you reach the cap, which is 17%. After that it is completely useless, but until then it is just as valuable as Intellect. Not being Hit capped means that your attacks may not land, which means any stats that would improve their damage are wasted. To reach the 17% Hit cap, you’ll need 1742 Hit Rating. This will ensure that you never miss even when facing raid bosses. Note that you no longer have access to Suppression or any Hit bonuses from allies. Each 102.45 Hit Rating you gain results in a 1% increase to your Hit Chance.
Spirit now provides Hit Rating to you through the Balance of Power talent. This allows you to use most of the same gear if you have a Restoration off-spec. If you do plan to do any healing, Spirit will be preferable to Hit since it can serve double-duty. Otherwise they are basically the same stat for you.
Haste is hands down the strongest secondary stat for Boomkins once your Hit cap has been reached. Unlike many classes, there is no soft cap beyond which Haste loses value for Balance Druids. It stays strong as far as you can stack it. Every point of Haste will give you a tiny increase to your casting speed and will also cause your DoTs to tick faster. You’ll always have an extra 5% Haste from Moonkin Form.
Mastery is the next best thing to Haste, with each point of Mastery increasing the effect of your Total Eclipse passive ability. The upside of Mastery compared to Haste is that it increases your damage output without burning through your mana faster.
Critical Strike is your weakest stat, so you’ll generally want to replace or Reforge it with something better. If there are no better options it’s still an increase to your damage.
Reforging
Reforging is a new feature in Cataclysm that allows you to trade out part of one secondary stat for another on any piece of gear. You won’t be able to get Intellect this way (or get rid of another stat like Agility or Stamina), but you can fine-tune your secondary stats to your heart’s content.
Balance Druids will want to Reforge any Mastery or Critical Strike on their gear to Hit or Spirit if they still need it, or to Haste otherwise.
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