Classic Feral Druid Melee DPS Guide

Druids are most often described as, "the jack of all trades, but master of none." This is quite accurate since Druids are the only class in the game capable of fulling all four roles: tank, healer, ranged DPS, and melee DPS. However, every Druid specialization and build is considered sub-par for PvE and is outclassed by other classes that share the role.

Strengths

• Incredibly versatile.
• Strong utility.
• Can off-tank and DPS with one build at a reasonable level.
• Fastest spec in the game.

Weaknesses

• Mid to low tier damage.
• Challenging rotation to do optimally.
• Competes with other, better DPS specs for gear.

Feral Druids are versatile melee DPS that bring strong utility and an engaging rotation. While you will not be able to use bleeds in a raid due to the debuff limit, you will be shifting in and out of cat form every other global to generate more Energy, which can be quite challenging due to the precise timing required.

You also bring an in-combat resurrection from Rebirth, Innervate, and some useful crowd control abilities. Feral is the only spec in the game that has two unique builds and roles built into one talent tree, meaning as a Feral DPS you have the unique ability to bring useful damage while also being a viable off-tank option in Dire Bear Form.

You also bring a unique buff with Leader of the Pack, which is quite valuable to other melee. However, as a warning, most raids will only bring one Feral Druid if at all, making finding a raid spot potentially challenging.

In PvP, Feral Druids have a high skill ceiling due to the tons of different options for how to deal with any potential situation. You have multiple forms, crowd control spells, disengage tools, and healing spells to pick from during a fight, which can be daunting if you are picking it up for the first time. However, if you invest the time, Druids are incredibly rewarding and offer you the ability to adapt to any situation or foe.

One unique characteristic of Druid is the access to animal forms: Dire Bear Form allows for tanking, Cat Form enables melee DPS, Aquatic Form provides water breathing and faster movement speed while swimming, Travel Form allows for quick land transportation while outdoors, and Moonkin Form is for Balance Druids only and helps with caster DPS.

All of these forms have their unique appearances and shapeshifting into a form costs Mana, but also frees you of any movement impairing effects or roots when used, as does shapeshifting back out of the form.

Energy is your main resource, as damage is mostly dealt while in Cat Form. It regenerates very slowly, but you can make it regenerate quickly through the Power Shifting technique, which uses Furor and Wolfshead Helm to regain a lot of Energy every time you shapeshift into Cat Form.

This costs a lot of Mana, which can thus be converted directly to Energy through this interaction, making Mana consumables and buffs helpful despite Feral Druids not having to cast any spells in combat to be effective.

The best profession to have as a Feral is Engineering. It provides powerful items that you can use in both PvE and PvP content to either deal damage or help you get out of a tough spot.

Leatherworking is also a great choice for Feral Druids. The Devilsaur set is a BiS crafted set that you can make for when you are max level and is very strong throughout the first raid tier. You can also craft Wolfshead Helm which is BiS all through WoW Classic for Feral.

While Engineering and Leatherworking are great professions, probably the more important thing to think about is how you plan to make gold. Gold is incredibly important in WoW Classic for a number of reasons and will be quite hard to come by especially at the start. Check out the Druid Goldmaking section for more information on other potential professions for making gold.

Find our new guides for Druid in WoW Classic Season of Discovery below! The new game mode will have players find and utilize Runes that can then be engraved onto their gear to provide them special bonuses that augment already existing abilities or allow the class to use entirely new spells.

While Druid was already incredibly flexible in WoW Classic, the Season of Discovery will make new builds possible, and increase the power of already existing builds.