Druid Symbiosis Guide

Symbiosis is a new ability for Druids in Mists of Pandaria that allows you to exchange a spell with another character. It’s a powerful tool with wide-ranging implications, making World of Warcraft’s most flexible hybrid class even more limber. But of course, you’ll have to know which classes are the best ones to yoink an ability from (or to gift one to) – and how those abilities work once you have them.

How Symbiosis Works

When you cast Symbiosis, you get a copy of one ability from the target character’s spellbook and they get one from yours. This lasts for an hour and persists through death for both of you, but if your characters are too far apart it will cancel the effect, and they must also be in the same party or raid group. You can’t use this spell on another Druid, and only one Druid can have it on a target.

The abilities exchanged are dependent upon your specialization and your target’s role. We’ll list them all in the tables below, and then we’ll go over the best ones to use for each specialization.

Abilities Gained

The ability you gain from Symbiosis as a Druid depends on your specialization and your target’s class. Your target’s role/specialization do not matter.

Abilities Given

The ability you give your target is dependent upon the target’s class and role. Your Druid’s specialization doesn’t matter for this: all Druids give the same set of abilities through Symbiosis.

Note that these abilities are not exactly the same as their Druid equivalents. For example, the Growl that you give to Rogues has a very powerful defensive component that isn’t present in the Druid Growl.

Overgrown Lilypad

For non-Druids, the item Overgrown Lilypad can give the same benefit as Symbiosis without needing to have a Druid cast it. This only works in outdoor areas of the Pandaria continent, so you will not be able to use it inside dungeons or raids.

Overgrown Lilypad drops from Sele’na, a rare mob that spawns in Valley of the Four Winds at the village of New Cifera, which is just south of the Pools of Purity on the map. It can also drop from Gulp Frogs found on the Timeless Isle in the final phase of the expansion.

The Best Targets for Symbiosis

Who you choose to give your Symbiosis to will depend on the fight and your group. Some groups may coordinate their Druids’ Symbiosis buffs while others will leave it to the individual players to work out.

In terms of which targets will benefit the most on their end:

• You can give your group an extra battle rez by giving a Holy Paladin your Rebirth.
• For extra raid healing, there’s the option to give Tranquility to a Shadow Priest.
• Giving Growl to a Rogue can enable them to tank in a pinch, but it only lasts 30 seconds and the taunt does not work on bosses.
• If none of the above is needed, tanks can often make good use of the defensive cooldowns you give them.

The ability will appear in the other character’s spellbook, just like any of their specialization abilities. It can also be used in macros like this, and the ability that is gained will replace Symbiosis when the character has the buff:

#showtooltip Symbiosis
/cast symbiosis

As far as what the Druid gains from the exchange, that will depend on your specialization.

Best Symbiosis Abilities for Balance Druids

• Offensive:
  • Mirror Image is the only offensive option, resulting in a slight DPS boost. There are no other viable offensive options for Balance Druids, with all other spells being Utility or Defensive.
• Utility:
  • Mass Dispel is one of the best possible utility tools you can acquire, as it affects both allies and enemies, helping in any encounter that requires dispels. The only drawback is its big cooldown.
  • Purge is another great tool, yet its efficiency largely depends on the encounter.
  • Misdirection is great for any encounters where threat is an issue. Considering that Balance Druids are well-known to generate insane amounts of threat, this option is very solid.
• Defensive:
  • Anti-Magic Shell is arguably the best defensive tool you can acquire through Symbiosis due to its low cooldown for encounters with heavy magic damage.
  • Cloak of Shadows is a better option for encounters where you must avoid deadly magic damage one-shot mechanics.
  • Unending Resolve, in contrast, protects against both types of damage, although it has a very long cooldown.

Best Symbiosis Abilities for Feral Druids

• Offensive:
  • Death Coil can be a viable offensive option for Feral Druid, as it can boost your DPS. Its only issue is its high Energy cost, which might mess up your rotation.
  • Feral Spirit is the better option as it does not require additional Energy and works as a passive DPS boost.
• Utility:
  • Frost Nova can be a good utility tool, especially for dungeon environments. It should be avoided for raid environments.
  • Shattering Blow is a great tool for any group in which you primarily have physical damage dealers.
• Defensive:
  • Divine Shield can be considered the ultimate defensive tool you can take as a Feral Druid, allowing you to continue to deal damage while being immune to any effects.
  • Dispersion is similar to Divine Shield‘s utility, yet it can be considered the weaker version since it prevents you from attacking.
  • Play Dead is the least powerful defensive, yet it has its use as a raid wipe recovery tool.

Best Symbiosis Abilities for Guardian Druids

• Offensive:
  • Consecration is one of the two solid picks for Guardian Druid, working best in AoE environments.
  • Lightning Shield is the other solid option for single-target, providing a steady DPS boost.
• Utility:
  • Fear Ward is arguably one of the better utility tools, especially for fights where you must have it active on both tanks.
  • Ice Trap is yet another strong option, especially for encounters where you must remove strong adds.
• Defensive:
  • Bone Shield is definitely the best defensive option that Guardian Druids can opt for. Sadly, Elusive Brew barely gives them any real stats, while Frost Armor is only viable in some niche scenarios where you must kite.
  • Spell Reflection may be another viable option, but it has niche uses based on the encounter, alongside a very long cooldown.

Best Symbiosis Abilities for Restoration Druids

• Utility:
  • Spiritwalker’s Grace can allow you to cast Tranquility while moving, which is a great little boost to your mobility and will ensure that you never waste this important cooldown.
  • Leap of Faith is a very unique cooldown and can come in clutch on certain fights.
  • Demonic Circle: Teleport can be a nice movement ability if your Warlock target can be relied upon to place their Demonic Circle somewhere useful.
• Defense:
  • Ice Block can be a life saver and is the strongest of the options for personal defense, although you will not be able to cast anything while it is active.
  • Deterrence likewise prevents attacking while it’s active, but has a shorter duration and a shorter cooldown.
  • Icebound Fortitude is also a decent personal defensive if you want to be able to cast while it’s active.