Guardian Druid

1. Manual146.9Kreference
2. SBA + cooldown104.4K71% of manual
3. SBA alone93.7K64% of manual
4. Assisted Highlight119.7K81% of manual

SimulationCraft does not support this fight for Guardian Druid.Its own report says results for this spec in the M+ dungeon are inaccurate and should not be used, so the build is not ranked there. The raid boss figures are not affected.

The assistant never uses Heart of the Wild.Heart of the Wild: 3.1 casts in manual play (4.1% of its damage), 0 with SBA + cooldown. Blizzard's assistant list for Guardian has no Heart of the Wild step, so the button never casts it. This is the game's own list, not a simulator problem.

The assistant uses Spirit's Wrath 71% less.Spirit's Wrath: 46 casts in manual play (3.7% of its damage), 13.5 with SBA + cooldown. Spirit's Wrath is not a button step: it procs from spending rage. The manual player spends rage on Ironfur and goes through Heart of the Wild, and Blizzard's list has neither, so it procs less often. This is the game's own list, not a simulator problem.

Cooldowns and defensives

Cooldowns in SBA + cooldown

The button alone never presses these. In SBA + cooldown you press them on your own keys, with your potion and on-use trinket, and the simulator presses them on time.

Defensives the button never presses

Checked in game: they are not in the Single-Button Assistant's list. Press them yourself.

Best talents for the button

Our standard build is already the best we found for one-button play on a raid boss.

Best of 265 builds tested with the button on the raid boss (2026-10-22): our standard build, the 3 most played builds on Warcraft Logs for this hero talent, then every single talent swap from the best of them. Defensive talents are locked: the search never trades survival for damage.

Searched on the raid boss only: SimulationCraft does not support tanks in its dungeon fight, so AoE talents for Mythic+ are not tested.

In game, open the talent window, choose Import and paste it. SimulationCraft's standard build. Every figure on this page uses it.

Damage per second and casts per ability, averaged over the simulated fights. Pets and summons show their own name in brackets.

Ability	Manual	SBA + cooldown	SBA + cooldown vs manual
Thrash	30.3K20.6% · 81.1 casts	22.4K21.4% · 72.7 casts	−7,908
Mangle	19.3K13.1% · 83.5 casts	16.2K15.5% · 81.3 casts	−3,080
Ravage	14.8K10.1% · 33.1 casts	7,3447.0% · 17 casts	−7,415
Dreadful Wound	13.1K8.9% · 97.5 casts	8,0647.7% · 50.6 casts	−4,996
Vicious Brambles	10.1K6.9% · 215.3 casts	7,6307.3% · 175.1 casts	−2,430
Rampant Thorn	7,2604.9% · 242.9 casts	5,8545.6% · 217.8 casts	−1,406
Moonless Night	6,5884.5% · 159.3 casts	4,8464.6% · 126.4 casts	−1,742
Heart of the Wild (Cat)	5,9694.1% · 3.1 casts	–	−5,969
Bear Melee	5,8514.0% · 183.6 casts	5,6085.4% · 181.6 casts	−243
Red Moon	5,4783.7% · 10.1 casts	5,3945.2% · 11.8 casts	−84
Spirit's Wrath	5,4333.7% · 46 casts	1,4391.4% · 13.5 casts	−3,994
Galactic Guardian	5,2343.6% · 52.5 casts	4,7324.5% · 46.9 casts	−502
Guillotine	4,6183.1% · 23 casts	4,6304.4% · 22.8 casts	+12
Maul	2,3931.6% · 14.4 casts	3,5283.4% · 22.4 casts	+1,135
Lunar Beam	2,5291.7% · 6.3 casts	2,6112.5% · 6.3 casts	+82
Swipe	1,7871.2% · 30.5 casts	3960.4% · 7.2 casts	−1,391
Twin Claw	1,6241.1% · 17.6 casts	1,6411.6% · 18.6 casts	+17
Lunar Wrath	1,6381.1% · 23.3 casts	8240.8% · 12.2 casts	−814
Total	146.7K	104.5K	−42.3K

Show all 24 abilities

A dash means the ability was never used in that mode. Damage is attributed the way SimulationCraft reports it, so a pet's damage appears under the pet.

Related builds

DPS lost with SBA + cooldown, 4-piece set, SimulationCraft's talents (a top player's build for the hero talents SimulationCraft has no profile for). All specs · Ranking