Feral Cat Druid

[CGamer]

I don't claim to know everything on feral cat druids but I thought I might offer a few tips as I've noticed quite a few Cats in groups lately.

First off lets look at specs, the following spec is primarily for PvE content but I'm sure you can PvP with it some.

I'll be using WoWhead.com for talent trees simply be cause it gives the option to show glyphs and it loads faster for me on dialup.

Lets look at Major Glyphs first:
Glyph of Mangle - Increases Mangle time by 6 secs.
This is a must have the extra time prevents you from having to refresh Mangle as often.

Glyph of Rip - Increases Rip by 4 secs.
Again longer Rip time means less refreshing and the ability to throw an extra Ferocious Bite or Savage Roar in with enough combo points up.

Glyph of Shred - Essentially you can increase Rip time by an additional 6 secs, 2 secs for every Shred for a maximum of 6 secs. So in essence you get an additional 10 secs on Rip between these 2 Glyphs.

For minor Glyphs there's no real glyph to choose, however I recommend:

Unburdened Rebirth - Nothing worse then having a healer or tank die and you're out of Reagents..i.e last night Whispyr died and Bam insta-res Healer.

Dash - Reduces the CD of Dash by 20%, Let's you run faster more often.

The last one is strictly whatever you like;
I chose Aquatic form on Seinna, 100% swim speed is nice if you have to jump in the water for questing etc...

Now comes the talent spec, I've got these talents up for the maximum about of DPS possible, which leaves out the Bear talents which are useless for a Cat Druid.

Feral Cat 0/55/16

You can modify these a little like Nurturing Instinct you can swap for something else but it helps if you are taking AoE splash and the healers can spend less time healing you and more on the tanks or raid.

You could always do a spec like:
Feral 0/56/15

You drop 1 point in Furor in the Resto tree which is fine as you shouldn't be doing a lot of shifting in a raid or heroic.

Changes to the Feral tree, you drop 2 points in Nuturing Instinct and 2 points in Feral Swiftness for 5 points in Feral Aggression which increases your Ferocious Bite damage by 15% i.e more DPS for you. However you lose those 2 survivability talents and the speed run boost to Catform.

I'm seriously considering changing to this spec for the extra damage however I cringe at the thought of losing Feral Swiftness.

The main thing for Cat's is avoid any talents that are Bearform only.

Now onto Macro's. I use 2 macro's on Seinna listed below
The first macro deals with Rake and Mangle,

MACRO 30313906 "Rake&Mangle" Ability_Druid_PrimalTenacity
#showcount Rake
/script UIErrorsFrame:Hide()
/castsequence Rake, Mangle (Cat)(Rank 5)
/script UIErrorsFrame:Clear()
/script UIErrorsFrame:Show()
END

It requires 2 key presses first to apply Rake then to apply Mangle, **Note** Don't use this macro if you're constantly switching targets or you are having to be in front of a target and cant use Shred.

The second Macro is:
MACRO 30313904 "Rip" Ability_GhoulFrenzy
#showcount Rip
/script UIErrorsFrame:Hide()
/cast Tiger's Fury
/cast Rip
/script UIErrorsFrame:Clear()
/script UIErrorsFrame:Show()
END

This Macro casts Tiger's Fury right before you use Rip. There are 2 reasons for this macro,
1. Tiger's Fury Increases damage for the Rip apply and subsequent Shreds.
2. When used in conjunction w/ 3/3 King of Jungle you insure you have enough energy to always do Rip.


Now this leads us up to rotation which for a Cat there is no specific rotation "persay".

However on single targets I typically start off with the Rake/Mangle macro then I Shred to 4 or 5 cp's hit the Rip macro and go back to Shred to 4 or 5 cp again, this 2nd time around I usually hit Savage Roar then Beserk then Shred to 4-5 cp and tag Ferocious Bite.

*Note** Refresh Rake/Mangle as needed in here and remember if using Ferocious Bite requires you letting Rip run out, opt to refresh Rip first.

Another few tips, for Trash mobs, typically Rip doesn't have a chance to be effective on them so I typically rake/mangle, Shred then use Savage Roar for extra damage and use Ferocious Bite if there's time or refresh Savage Roar if the mob is near death that way my next target is getting increased damage and I can use Bite on them.

In the midst of all this don't forget about using Faerie Fire which I typically do on Trash mobs, which on them it isn't a necessity however on Bosses ALWAYS use it.

Now for a little fun, SWIPE fights. Here's a prime example, phase 2 of the Black Knight w/ all the undead in Heroic ToC.

Target the Knight use normal sequence, Faire Fire, Rake/Mangle, Shred 4-5cp, Rip...NOW Pop BESERK and go Swipe crazy..

I can burst 7-8k dps or more if I hit it right on this fight. Don't forget though in the midst of your SWIPE madness to Shred a few times on the Black Knight to keep Rip and your cp's up for after the blood haze of the Swipe fades from you.

Basically that's it or at least what I know..

 

[Morthrax]

Kristeen asked me to write up a post about Feral DPS but I have to be honest... I could never write up a guide more accurate or thorough than this one found on Elitist Jerks:

http://elitistjerks.com/f73/t63774-cat_dps_guide_dummies/

It goes over every aspect of Feral Druid DPS in amazing detail. If you are struggling with kitty DPS please look it over! If you have any questions regarding this guide on EJ or any other feral dps questions please feel free to post them here or ask Bretta/Morthrax in game.

Having said that, I will try to give a "Reader's Digest" version for those who don't want to spend so much time reading

Specs

AOE dps build
This build is used for PVE raiding when you want to increase your damage output for AOE mobs. Examples being Anub'arak and Onyxia.

Single Target dps build
This build is used for PVE raiding when you want to increase your single target damage output. Examples being Twin Val'kyr or Northrend Beasts.

*A note on character builds: I have played with my spec a bit and have come to realize that talents like Feral Swiftness and Feral Charge are invaluable for raiding. If you cant be on the boss's rear to shred him to death your DPS is going to suffer severely. These talents help you stay on the boss's rear.

DPS Rotation

First of all, download this mod from Curse gaming...
Face Mauler
This mod is basically a DPS priority "trainer" for feral druids. It looks at the current situation and gives you advice on what to do next. After you use it for a while you will start to see what you need to do next before the mod does, then you can switch it off. Practice makes perfect and this mod is the ultimate for practicing the rotation.

Here is the DPS priority (ie, Savage Roar is MOST important):
1. Keep up Savage Roar
2. Keep up Mangle
3. Keep up Rake
4. Use shred for Combo Point regeneration
5. When at 5 Combo Points and Rip is not up, use Rip
6. When below 30 Energy, use Tiger's Fury
7. Use Clearcast Procs for Shred
8. When at 5 Combo Points and Rip and Savage Roar are running with 8 seconds (might be longer, depending on your gear) or longer each, use Ferocious Bite
9. When Rip and Savage Roar will drop at nearly the same time (with less than 3 seconds difference), try to recognize it early. Then use Savage Roar with a small amount of Combo Points to desynchronize both timers.
10. Use Berserk only at high energy, (but not higher than 85) not directly after Tiger's Fury and as often as possible. If you will get Hysteria or some boss mechanics will enhance your damage, save it for these situations.

Tips for rotation:
1. Don't use moves from stealth like Pounce or Ravage, they use too much energy. Just use FF to break your stealth or don't be stealthed to begin with. After FF, Mangle (unless there is a bear tank or Arms Warrior), Rake, Savage Roar (you want it up ASAP), Shred until 5 CPs, Rip. From this point on you start the priority game.
2. Remember you NEED to drop Mangle from your rotation if there is a Bear Tank or Arms Warrior attacking your target. If you keep mangling in this situation you are killing your DPS. Shred is MUCH better DPS than mangle.

Most important stats

Agility: Your most important stat. Take this over anything. Gem it until you can get over 500 armor pen in your gear using all your gem slots for armor pen.

Strength: No! bad kitty! you want agility! Seriously tho, as a general rule, when you hit 50% crit you want to be at about 8000 AP. Most likely you will get to 50% crit and be at around 7000 AP. If this is the case, try to add more AP to your set through enchants or Trinkets. DO NOT Gem/enchant for STR!

Armor Penetration: Once you can get over 500 armor pen in your gear you want to start stacking it like crazy. The more you can get the better. If you have one of the following trinkets(do NOT use both):
-Mjolnir Runestone: stop at 735 Armor Pen
-Grim Toll: stop at 788 Armor Pen
If you are like me and have neither trinket, I would just take as much armor pen as you can get. I have roughly 850 now. The cap is 1400 Armor pen to ignore 100% of the boss's armor.
Edit: There is a new armor pen trinket coming out with Icecrown Citadel. Needle-Encrusted Scorpion will be similar to these other mentioned trinkets but it will only have a 452 armor pen proc. If you get this one you can plan on a cap of 947 passive armor pen in your gear.

Hit and Expertise
Thanks to a talent called Primal Precision, feral dps druids don't have to worry too much about being hit or expertise capped. Don't gem/enchant for them and don't go out of your way to add it to your set. As you get better gear you will become hit capped simply because its in a lot of rogue/druid leather. Expertise will be a bit harder to find in higher level gear but its out there waiting for you. Don't worry too much about getting it until your gear is really amazing.

Gear, Glyphs, and Food

If you have not reached the Armor pen cap (1400 or 735 w/Mjolnir Runestone or 788 w/Grim Toll) you want to use Armor Pen food. Otherwise use Agility food or the Fish Feasts in raid.

Ideal Major Glyphs:
1. Glyph of Savage Roar
2. Glyph of Rip
3. Glyph of Shred

Alternatives
4. Glyph of Mangle
5. Glyph of Berserk

Minor Glyphs:
1. Glyph of Dash
2. Glyph of Unburdened Rebirth
3. And whatever else you want here

Quoting from EJ thread here:
"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.

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."

To sum it up, Read this forum post on EJ:
http://elitistjerks.com/f73/t63774-cat_dps_guide_dummies/
You will be glad you did