Feral druids (Cat)

[Xymnas]

Hey, I'd like to take a minute to help anyone with a Feral Druid Cat.

I've been playing a Druid for a few years now and have switched back and forth in between specs. I finally ended up on Feral because I've always liked Melee DPS a little more than healing and Ranged DPS. Everything that I have learned over the years of playing a Druid has really helped me out, and I hope to help others out with my intel. I also get a lot of help and continue to learn different things about my spec from Elitist Jerks.

First off we look at your talent tree. Now there are a few different ways you can do this, depending on if your going for Cat Single target DPS or AoE DPS spec.

With the Cat DPS you can go with a "Single-target DPS" or an "AoE DPS" spec. Either way you go here are some required Talents needed to maximize DPS:

<<Feral>>
5/5 Ferocity -- get you started off while reducing the energy/rage used on you abilities.
2/2 Savage Fury -- More damage = more DPS
1/1 Survival Instinct -- More health for a period of time
2/2 Feral Swiftness -- Increase dodge by 4%
3/3 Sharpen Claws -- Increased Crit chance
2/2 Shredding Attacks -- Reduces cost on Shred which is a MUST
3/3 Predatory Strikes -- Increases AP in forms
2/2 Primal Fury -- On crit strike you gain an EXTRA combo point
2/2 Primal Precision -- Helping out on Expertise but more importantly refunding 80% of your energy cost if the finishing move fails.
1/1 Feral Charge -- Charge in Cat/Bear and dazes enemies for a few seconds
5/5 Heart of the Wild -- Increasing your AP by 10%
3/3 Survival of the Fittest -- Increases all attributes by 6%!!! Awesome!!!
1/1 Leader of the Pack -- Increasing all party/raid members with 5% increase crit chance for ranged and melee
3/3 Predatory Instincts -- Increasing damage from crits
1/1 Mangle -- Helps out with bleed debuffs
3/3 Improved Mangle -- Reducing energy Cost on Mangle
3/3 King of the Jungle -- Tiger's Fury instantly restores Energy, as well as reducing mana costs on forms
5/5 Rend and Tear -- Increase damage of Shred on bleeding targets, also increasing crit chance on bleeding targets with Ferocious Bite
1/1 Primal Gore -- Grants Rip to Critically hit
1/1 Berserk -- Reducing the energy cost in cat by 50%

<<Resto>>
3/5 Furor -- Chance to get energy when you go into form
2/2 Improved Mark of the Wild -- Increasing all attributes by 2%
5/5 Naturalist -- Increase damage done
3/3 Natural Shapeshifter -- Reducing cost of forms
1/1 Omen of Clarity -- Chance on hit to get a "Clear cast"
2/2 Master Shapeshifter -- Increase crit chance while in form

Now you'll have a few points that you can spend in different areas depending on if you want to AoE/single target DPS.

<<Single Target DPS>>
5/5 Feral Aggression -- increase damage of Ferocious Bite

<<AoE DPS>>
3/3 Feral Instinct -- increasing damage of Swipe
2/2 Improved Leader of the Pack -- Heals yourself on crit strikes

Now you'll have one point left where you can place just about anywhere you see fit.


Rotation of attacks:

On Boss fights
1) Faerie Fire (Feral)
2) Mangle
3) Rake
4) Shred -- (2-3 times)
Once you have 5 Combo Points
5) Savage Roar
6) Tiger's Fury -- Gain full Energy back
7) Berserk -- Reducing energy costs
8) Shred -- (3-5 times)
Once you have 5 Combo Points
9) Rip
10) Rake
11) Shred -- (3-4 times)
Once you have 5 Combo Points
(Depending on your Savage roar and your Rip you may use Ferocious Bite, but if Savage roar is lower than 5 Seconds, then use the 5 points on Savage roar.)
12) Start back at #7, and repeat.

(Another thing you can do with Berserk is plan out when Heroism is used, increasing attack speed by a TON. Pop Berserk then and go to town on the mob.)

You always want to have Mangle and Rake up. Luckily Mangle is now 1 minute debuff instead of 12 Seconds which helps a lot. Always wanna have Rake up because if it being a "Bleed" affect it increases the damage of Shred which is important.

Savage Roar is a great buff that helps out a ton buffing your damage --> Mangle buffs the Bleeding affect and your shred --> Bleeding affects buff shred.



Glyphs

Major
1) Glyph of Savage Roar -- buffing Savage Roar a little more
2) Glyph of Rip -- Increasing duration of Rip
3) Glyph of Shred -- Increasing duration of Rip

Minor
The Minor Glyphs aren't a necessity, but you can put in:
1) Glyph of Unburdened Rebirth -- no reagent for Rebirth =D
2) Glyph of Dash -- Reduce CD on Dash
3) What ever you want in the 3 slot


Macros:

I don't have any cat macros, so if you got some cool beans and share it if you'd like. I haven't found any that help me out atm.


Add ons:

Omen: Threat meter
Omni CC: CD add, showing in BIG letters the CD on your spells/casts
Deadly Boss Mods: YOU MUST HAVE THIS FOR RAIDING!!!! Helps out when to move and lets you know whats going to happen

And my Favorite
Feral By Night: Showing you which attacks to use and when, also showing the CD on your Trinkets and any buffs you have have that can "Proc"




Any questions feel free to ask =D

 

[Xymnas]

Also I'm working on a Feral Druid (Tank) one next

 

[Goodwone]

hows that feral druid tanking one coming along!

 

[Xymnas]

Haha taking a while. It's coming along. I'll get it up by at least next week. I'm going to be gone for spring break with my Choir thing and so I'll be back Sunday next week. I'll be able to finish it then if not today. =D

 

[Flamethrøwer]

To sum this post up:

Cat Durid r 4 FITE!

 

[Azami]

lol

 

[Boimli]

Taking a look at your DPS rotation, it seems to me that you are losing a huge chunk of initial DPS by the way you are doing your rotation. I find feral DPS is more of a priority system instead of a set rotation.

Here is how I open things:

1. Faerie Fire
2. Mangle
3. Savage Roar
4. Rake
5. Shred to 5 Combo Points (throwing in Tiger's Fury if needed)
6. 5 Point Rip

Here is where things start to get based on priority.

If you have enough time left on rake and SR then do a shred and then rake. SR after that.

Mainly things you want to make sure of.

Keep mangle on boss
Keep up SR (don't need it at 5 points)
Keep up rip and rake
Only throw in a Ferocious Bite when you have enough time left on rip and SR and not letting either fall off.

The reason why you would initially lose DPS is because SR adds damage, and you are losing out on 30% + glyph on shreds and rake as well. The bleeds take their damage from SR already being on you, if it drops after the bleeds are already applied, you don't lose the additional damage.

 

[Xymnas]

Mmm Yah I see what your saying. I guess there isn't really a rotation you HAVE to do, its more about priority.

Thanks for your though!!! I'll keep that in mind when I'm dpsing.

And nice gear, you should join us in some raids to get you some ICC gear!!

 

[Xymnas]

So here is some info from http://elitistjerks.com/f73/t63774-feral_dps_discussion/ about what kind of gear to gain, what enchants and gems are better than others. I figure I'll post this instead of writing all this myself.

This is to the most current gear you can get from ICC. And this doesn't include Ruby Sanctum gear.

4. Gear


Again, please use RAWR or Toskk. Although neither of both are 100% accurate, it's probably the best way to determine gear upgrades for you.

Some questions often asked:

Which idol should I wear?
The best Cat Idol for single-Target DPS is [Idol of the Crying Moon]. But it takes 15 seconds after applying rake to reach its full effect. This is bad for encounters with DPS interruptions, like Anub'Arak or Lady Deathwisper. Additionally you normally don't use rake on AoE situations.
The next best Cat Idol is [Idol of Mutilation]. This is only 20 Agi worse and there are many situations where it's the better idol (like AoE or Trash).
After that, it depends.
If you have to mangle yourself, [Idol of the Corruptor] is BiS for you. If not, then it depends on your ArP. If you are below approx 250 ArP, [Idol of Worship] would be your choice, above that the [] becomes better. But actually the Rip and Shred idol both grant very similar DPS - the difference is really low.

Which trinkets should I wear?
The [Darkmoon Card: Greatness] is in most gear setups one of the best trinkets. This will not be a useless investment, as it is an extremely good tanking trinket aswell. Although it's quite old and has only iLvl200 it's still really good and easily obtainable.
Some upgrades to the Card are [Herkuml War Token], [Death's Choice] (or [Death's Choice]), [Whispering Fanged Skull] (or [Whispering Fanged Skull])
The 2nd best Cat Trinket is [Deathbringer's Will] and of course the best one is [Deathbringer's Will]

In the second slot you should wear one of the three ArP trinkets mentioned above ([Grim Toll], [Mjolnir Runestone] or [Needle-Encrusted Scorpion]).
If you can reach high ArP numbers (About 1000 or above), try to swap your ArP trinket for one of the above mentioned (even the darkmoon card).

How good are our set bonuses?
The 2T7 bonus is very good. Although there are better items in every slot, the bonus outweighs this by far.
The 4T7 bonus is very bad.
The 2T8 bonus is extremely good. You really need to have this.
The 4T8 bonus is about as good as 2T7.
The 2T9 bonus is very good.
The 4T9 bonus is mediocre.
The 2T10 bonus is good.
The 4T10 bonus is extremely good.

Try to collect 2 T7 items first. Head and shoulder would be the best choice.
If you're entering Ulduar, your first aim should be to get 2T7 + 2T8, which is VERY good.
If you can choose between 2T7 + 2T8 and 4T8, choose 4T8. You should notice a very small DPS increased, based on the higher iLvl of T8 (the 4T8 bonus is actually of the same value as 2T7).
Similar holds true if you enter Coliseum. 2T8 + 2T9 will be an upgrade to 4T8. And although the 4T9 bonus is worse than the 4T8 one, the higher item level of two more T9 items outweighs this.
But because the 4T9 itself isn't that good, it's probably better to wear 2T9 and some offsetpieces instead of 4T9.
The T10 bonuses are both really good, especially the 4pc. Combined with the high iLvl it means you really should wear 4T10.


BiS set without ICC Hardmodes


Slot Item
Head [Sanctified Lasherweave Headguard] http://www.wowarmory.com/item-info.xml?i=51143
Neck [Sindragosa's Cruel Claw] http://www.wowarmory.com/item-info.xml?i=50421
Shoulders [Sanctified Lasherweave Shoulderpads] http://www.wowarmory.com/item-info.xml?i=51140
Back [Vereesa's Dexterity] http://www.wowarmory.com/item-info.xml?i=47545 (If your lucky enough to get a group to make it though TOGC 25 and get this item out of the chest then sicky. If not you can go with [Recovered Scarlet Onslaught Cape] http://www.wowarmory.com/item-info.xml?i=50470)
Chest [Sanctified Lasherweave Raiment] http://www.wowarmory.com/item-info.xml?i=51141
Wrist [Toskk's Maximized Wristguards] http://www.wowarmory.com/item-info.xml?i=50333
Hands [Aldriana's Gloves of Secrecy] http://www.wowarmory.com/item-info.xml?i=50021
Waist [Vengeful Noose] http://www.wowarmory.com/item-info.xml?i=50995
Legs [Sanctified Lasherweave Legguards] http://www.wowarmory.com/item-info.xml?i=51142
Feet [Frostbitten Fur Boots] http://www.wowarmory.com/item-info.xml?i=49950
Ring 1 [Ashen Band of Endless Vengeance] http://www.wowarmory.com/item-info.xml?i=50402
Ring 2 [Frostbrood Sapphire Ring] http://www.wowarmory.com/item-info.xml?i=50186
Trinket 1 [Herkuml War Token] http://www.wowarmory.com/item-info.xml?i=50355
Trinket 2 [Deathbringer's Will] http://www.wowarmory.com/item-info.xml?i=50362
Weapon [Oathbinder, Charge of the Ranger-General] http://www.wowarmory.com/item-info.xml?i=50425
Relic [Idol of the Crying Moon] http://www.wowarmory.com/item-info.xml?i=50456

ArP Food Hearty Rhino. Gems used: 13x [Fractured Cardinal Ruby], 4x [Accurate Ametrine], 1x [Glinting Ametrine], 1x [Nightmare Tear].

197 / 263 Hit Rating
132 / 132 Expertise Rating
1399 / 1400 ArP
240 Haste Rating
Mongoose Enchant



Enchants

Head - [Arcanum of Torment]
Shoulder - Master's Inscription of the Axe > [Greater Inscription of the Axe]
Back - Swordguard Embroidery > +23 Agi (Engineering) > +22 Agi
Chest - +10 Stats
Wrist - Fur Lining - Attack Power > Greater Assault
Hands - Hyperspeed Accelerators > +20 Agi
Legs - [Icescale Leg Armor] or Nerubian Leg Reinforcements
Feet - Icewalker (when below Hit Cap) > 16 Agi
Finger - +40 AP
Weapon - Berserking > Mongoose > Massacre > Executioner




Gems

There is only one Meta, you always want to have this one activated: [Relentless Earthsiege Diamond]
The [Chaotic Skyflare Diamond] is coming close, but it require 2 Blue gems and this requirement is worse than one yellow + one blue.

Red socket: [Fractured Cardinal Ruby]. If you have less than 400 ArP or just a little more than your soft-cap of ArPen, use [Delicate Cardinal Ruby].
Blue socket: Put [Nightmare Tear] in the blue socket with the best available bonus. Put [Fractured Cardinal Ruby] in every other blue socket (or [Delicate Cardinal Ruby] if Agi is better than ArP for you).
Yellow socket: If the socket bonus is weak (less than 4 Agi), put [Fractured Cardinal Ruby] or [Delicate Cardinal Ruby] inside. If the bonus is good, choose one from [Accurate Ametrine], [Glinting Ametrine] or [Deft Ametrine]. Even though the socket bonus is good, [Fractured Cardinal Ruby] is better when at very high ArP level (above 1000)

The Red gems are far superior than the blue ones and better than the yellow ones aswell. Therefore the best you can do is:
Fill every socket with red gems except of one. There you put [Nightmare Tear]. Of course you choose an item with a good Socket bonus, you would otherwise miss if you use the normal red gem instead.
Only if some yellow sockets got good bonuses (4 Agi or more), you can choose to gem one of the mentioned orange gems.

Now the topic of ArP may come up and I know it's kind of the same for other classes that use ArP. I got this again form Elitist Jerks.

Topic: Armor penetration rating

Armor is a stat with diminishing returns. Meaning: the more Armor you have, the worse it gets in terms of damage reduction percentage. The first 1000 armor are far more valuable, than the last 1000 armor. That is the reason, that ArPen scales better than linear. When you have only a little bit ArPen, you reduce your target's armor only a little bit - but we know that the last 1000 armor are not that important. But if you manage to gather more ArPen, you will reduce your target's armor more and more, which gets more and more valuable.
Short story: ArPen scales better than linear - the more you have, the better each point of it becomes.

At about 400 - 500 ArPen, ArPen becomes the best stat
The exact amount depends on your gear (especially the trinkets). Use RAWR or Toskk to find out, when exactly ArP overtakes Agility. Also remember, that the value of both is very similar at that low lvl of ArP. The difference is extremely small and only gets bigger, when you gather more ArP.
As soon as you can reach these numbers, regemming all Agility gems for ArP gems would improve your DPS.
Our goal is to come as close to the ArP Hard Cap as possible.

And now it's time for mentioning the three ArP trinkets currently ingame:

[Grim Toll]
[Mjolnir Runestone]
[Needle-Encrusted Scorpion]

Wearing two of these trinkets is quite useless since they have a significant shared uptime and then there would be ArP wasted (assuming you've got some ArP on your gear). The goal is, to reach the ArP soft-cap. Soft Cap means: you have exactly 100% Armor Ignore when your trinket proccs.


ArP Soft-Cap: 722 ArPen, if wearing [Needle-Encrusted Scorpion]
ArP Soft-Cap: 735 ArPen, if wearing [Mjolnir Runestone]
ArP Soft-Cap: 788 ArPen, if wearing [Grim Toll]



For clarification, I will try to explain this. Let's say you don't have one of the two trinkets and x is the ArP on your gear (and with Hearty Rhino, the +40 ArP food buff):

x < 400 -> Agility is the best stat, gem for it
400 < x < 1400 -> ArPen is the best stat, gem for it
1400 < x -> Agility is the best stat, gem for it


Now finally Grim Toll drops off Gothik the Harvester and you are lucky enough to get it!

x < 400 -> Agility is the best stat, gem for it
400 < x < 788 -> ArPen is the best stat, gem for it
788 < x -> Agility is the best stat, gem for it


Just replace your soft-cap with 735, when wearing Mjolnir Runestone instead of Grim Toll and with 722, if wearing the Scorpion.


If you are wearing a lot of ICC items and manage to get about 1000 Passive ArP, it's better not to wear one of the 3 ArP Trinkets and instead going for the Passive HardCap!

 

[Xymnas]

The reason why you would initially lose DPS is because SR adds damage, and you are losing out on 30% + glyph on shreds and rake as well. The bleeds take their damage from SR already being on you, if it drops after the bleeds are already applied, you don't lose the additional damage.

Usually by the time I actually need to put up SR again I've gone through my rotation there and SR will be at about 2-5 seconds left. Then I'll put it back up again. Keeping everything going like that. Seems to work out for me.