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Feral Druid guide

Tank / Melee DPSDruid · WoW Forever

Beta guide, level 30. The WoW Forever beta stops at level 30, so this guide and its build cover levels 1 to 30. We update it for level 60 after launch on November 4.

Feral tanks as a bear or fights as a cat, with one talent tree. Forever adds Primal Bite, a big-threat bear attack, Shifting Power, which turns mana into Energy for cats, Natural Reaction for more dodge and Rage, and Berserk at the bottom of the tree. Powershifting is gone, but you can now use consumables and talk to NPCs without leaving form.

Strengths

  • Tank or melee damage with the same talents
  • Leader of the Pack: crit for the whole group
  • Great mobility: Travel Form, Dash, Feral Charge, Prowl

Weaknesses

  • Slightly less damage than Rogues
  • Juggles Energy, combo points, mana and Rage
  • High skill cap

Talent build (level 30) 0/21/0

Feral Combat 21 points

  • Ferocity5/5
  • Feral Swiftness2/2
  • Thick Hide3/3
  • Shredding Attacks3/3
  • Savage Fury2/2
  • Shifting Power1/1
  • Primal Bite1/1
  • Predatory Strikes3/3
  • Leader of the Pack1/1

21 points in Feral Combat, a hybrid that can tank and deal damage: Ferocity for cheaper attacks, Thick Hide for armor, Shredding Attacks and Shifting Power for cats, Savage Fury and Primal Bite for bears, Predatory Strikes, and Leader of the Pack at 30. Natural Reaction, Rend and Tear and Berserk come after launch.

Open this build in the talent calculator

Key talents

Primal Bite
New in Forever: a bear bite with very high threat.
Shifting Power
New in Forever: turn 55% of your base mana into 40 Energy, instantly.
Leader of the Pack
+crit for your whole group while you're in a feral form.
Predatory Strikes
Big Attack Power boost in Cat and Bear Form.
Savage Fury
+10% damage on Claw, Rake, Shred, Maul and Swipe.

New in Forever: Feral Combat talents

  • Shifting PowerInstantly convert 55% of base Mana into 40 Energy. Shifting Power's cost is reduced by effects that reduce the cost of Shapeshifting.
  • Primal BiteBite the target, dealing 100% normal damage plus 26 and generating a high amount of threat.
  • Improved Shifting PowerReduces the cooldown of your Shifting Power spell by 8 sec.
  • Natural InstinctIncreases the critical strike damage bonus of your melee abilities by 20% and increases your spell healing by 25% of your Intellect.
  • Natural ReactionIncreases your dodge chance by 5%, and gives you a 100% chance to gain 5 Rage each time you dodge.
  • Rend and TearIncreases damage done by your melee abilities on Bleeding targets by 10%.
  • BerserkCauses your Primal Bite ability to strike up to 3 targets, removes its cooldown, and increases the critical strike chance of your Combo Point-generating abilities by 100%. Clears and grants immunity to Fear effects for the duration. Lasts 15 sec.

Rotation

  1. Cat: Faerie Fire, then Rake to keep the bleed up.
  2. Cat: Shred from behind (Claw if you can't get behind) to build combo points.
  3. Cat: Rip at 5 combo points, and Shifting Power when Energy is low.
  4. Bear: Faerie Fire to pull, Demoralizing Roar.
  5. Bear: Primal Bite on cooldown, keep Lacerate stacked, Maul with spare Rage.

Several enemies

  • Bear: Swipe on packs, Primal Bite on the main target.
  • Cat: you have little area damage: focus one enemy at a time.

Cooldowns

Barkskin
Damage reduction in any form.
Frenzied Regeneration
Turn Rage into health as a bear.
Challenging Roar
Area taunt when a pull goes wrong.

Stats

Cat: hit, then crit and Agility, then Strength and Attack Power. Bear: defense, dodge, armor and Stamina first, then the cat stats for threat.

Best races

Alliance

Skyborne (High Order)
Wind Blessed (+2% haste) and Read Leyline for faster mana regeneration.
Night Elf
Elune's Light: +10% crit for 15 sec, plus Quickness (+1% dodge).

Horde

Tauren
Endurance (+5% health) and War Stomp, plus up to 60% run speed from Plainsrunning.
Skyborne (Windshaper)
Wind Blessed: +2% haste.

Professions

Leatherworking for leather gear (some only it can make), Herbalism (easy to gather in Travel Form) with Alchemy, or Engineering.

Leveling

The best way to level a Druid once Cat Form arrives. Stay in one form: powershifting no longer pays off in Forever.