Feral Druid DPS Easy Mode — The War Within (11.1.0)
On this page, we explain how to easily play Feral Druid in World of Warcraft — The War Within (11.1.0), using the simplest rotation, talent tree, stat priority, gear setup, etc., without sacrificing performance.
Foreword
This section is intended for players who are new to the game or class, have no intentions of raiding Mythic difficulty, or want a more straightforward way to play their specialization without being overwhelmed by the numerous priorities and active abilities that need to be taken into consideration for optimal play.
The Basics of Feral Druid
Feral at first glance can be overwhelming due to the dual resource system and
debuff management, but it has a very fluid and clear playstyle once you grasp the
core rules. It aims to generate Combo Points with Energy costing abilities like
Shred, and spend them on powerful finishers like
Ferocious Bite.
While doing this, it maintains the
Rake and
Rip Bleed DoTs,
using Energy and Combo Points respectively. It is a slower-paced melee spec, giving
you time to focus more on ability timing and resource management rather than high
activity. If you are completely new to Feral and need more information on the
abilities available to you, you can check out our Spell Summary page.
Currently, Wildstalker has the edge in single-target, while
Druid of the Claw
wins out in AoE. Both trees are equally viable, but for this page we will be basing
recommendations on the ideal picks due to their similar execution requirements.
Beginner's Guide to Feral Druid in The War Within
Beginner Single-Target Talents for Feral Druid
Feral's single-target build gives up the majority of its AoE tools to do as much
damage as possible, while smoothing out its resource economy. It aims to maintain
Rip and
Rake at all times, and builds Combo Points with
Shred, spending any excess on
Ferocious Bite.
With Wildstalker, the only major differences come from the talent
selections made to key into the tree's goals.
Lunar Inspiration is taken
and maintained like our other DoTs, and
Apex Predator's Craving is taken
and cast as soon as possible when it procs. Otherwise, the gameplay is very much
centered around maintaining Bleeds efficiently and casting
Ferocious Bite
when possible. If you are more interested in alternative builds or details on how
choices are made, check our talent page:
Be sure to make use of the 'Export Talents' button to import the best build directly into your game!
Beginner AoE and Mythic+ Talents for Feral Druid
In AoE, Feral aims to maintain Rip on all nearby targets via
Primal Wrath
and then spends all excess Combo Points on
Ferocious Bite to trigger
Rampant Ferocity. Time in between is spent generating
Bloodtalons
via
Brutal Slash,
Rake and
Thrash to empower finishers
further. It also tries to maintain
Rake on as many targets as possible
through tab-targeting. Lastly, it aims to consume both
Apex Predator's Craving
and
Ravage as quickly and efficiently as possible.
With Druid of the Claw taken, the only major difference to this gameplay
loop is
Ravage, which will proc from auto-attacks throughout combat.
These need to be spent as quickly as possible, with as much Combo Points as you
can for huge AoE and priority target damage.
Be sure to make use of the 'Export Talents' button to import the best build directly into your game!
Beginner Feral Druid DPS Rotation
Buff your group with Mark of the Wild, and start combat from
Prowl.
Feral can be quite involved, and the below section aims to cover the basic needs
to understand how to get started with the spec. Due to there being some variations
on how the spec is played in single-target and AoE, they have been separated into
two sections below:
Single Target
- Always open the fight from
Prowl with
Rake.
- Your main Combo Point builders are
Shred and
Brutal Slash. Spend Combo Points on applying and maintaining
Rip, and any spare can be spent on
Ferocious Bite.
- Consume
Apex Predator's Craving procs whenever they happen with
Ferocious Bite.
- Consume
- Keep
Rake,
Moonfire and
Thrash active on your primary target at all times.
- Cast
Tiger's Fury on cooldown at low Energy, and
Adaptive Swarm whenever available. Use
Feral Frenzy when at 0-2 Combo Points.
- Cast
Berserk alongside
Tiger's Fury, and make sure to use
Convoke the Spirits during this window.
AoE
- Your main Combo Point builder switches to
Brutal Slash, and cycling between targets to apply
Rake, while maintaining
Thrash.
Primal Wrath replaces
Rip as your way to apply it to multiple targets by spending Combo Points.
Apex Predator's Craving triggers more frequently in AoE, so should be consumed more aggressively.
Ravage procs should also be cast as quickly as possible with maximum Combo Points - so long as you have
Rip applied to all enemies.
Adaptive Swarm,
Feral Frenzy and
Tiger's Fury rules are the same as in single target.
Berserk and especially
Convoke the Spirits should only be cast when you have
Rip applied to targets via
Primal Wrath.
Defensive Spells for Feral Druid
Barkskin provides a 30% damage reduction for 12 seconds (with
Oakskin), on a 1-minute cooldown. This is Feral's consistent defense tool
and due to the low cooldown can be used liberally to reduce the incoming damage
from dangerous attacks.
Survival Instincts grants complete 60% damage reduction (with
Oakskin) for 6 seconds. This is a backup defensive tool for the most
dangerous damage, when
Barkskin is not available or will not cover the
incoming damage.
Bear Form provides a significant increase to health and armor when
active. While your damage tools are very limited while in this form, you can
switch to this quickly to survival a lethal hit and heal back up after.
Renewal restores 30% of maximum health on a 1.5-minute cooldown. This
is off the GCD, so can be used whenever you feel in danger to top yourself
back up.
Aessina's Renewal is an alternative passive proc that will proc
when you take large amounts of damage.
Well-Honed Instincts triggers
Frenzied Regeneration when you drop
below 40%, healing you for a large amount. This has a 120-second cooldown (90 with
Perfectly-Honed Instincts), and can save you in a pinch.
Druid of the Claw
can also actively cast
Frenzied Regeneration for a big heal, at the cost
of 40 Energy.
Predatory Swiftness triggers from Combo Point spenders, and makes your
next
Regrowth cast instant. These can be used in empty globals to help
keep yourself healthy when you would otherwise be casting nothing.
Feral Druid Stat Priorities
The most versatile Feral stat priority for different situations is:
- Mastery = Critical Strike;
- Haste;
- Agility;
- Versatility.
Stat priorities will change based on other talents taken in different builds, but, in general, this should serve you well. For finer details regarding each stat and the reason behind why they are picked can be found on our full stat page linked below.
Changelog
- 24 Feb. 2025: Updated for Patch 11.1.0.
- 15 Dec. 2024: Updated for Patch 11.0.7 with much simpler basic rotation section.
- 21 Oct. 2024: Reviewed for Patch 11.0.5.
- 30 Sep. 2024: Switched single-target recommendation to Wildstalker.
- 09 Sep. 2024: Updated for recent Bloodtalons hotfix.
- 21 Aug. 2024: Updated for The War Within.
- 23 Jul. 2024: Updated for The War Within Pre-Patch.
- 07 May 2024: Reviewed for 10.2.7.
- 22 Apr. 2024: Reviewed for Season 4 with small talent changes.
- 19 Mar. 2024: Reviewed for Patch 10.2.6.
- 15 Jan. 2024: Reviewed for Patch 10.2.5, no changes necessary.
- 06 Nov. 2023: Updated for Patch 10.2.
- 04 Sep. 2023: Reviewed for Patch 10.1.7, no changes necessary.
- 10 Jul. 2023: Updated for Patch 10.1.5 to include Dire Fixation.
- 01 May 2023: Reviewed for Patch 10.1, slightly updated build due to new talent options.
- 20 Mar. 2023: Reviewed for Patch 10.0.7.
- 24 Jan. 2023: Updated for Patch 10.0.5.
- 11 Dec. 2022: Reviewed for Dragonflight Season 1.
- 28 Nov. 2022: Updated for Dragonflight launch.
- 25 Oct. 2022: Updated for Dragonflight pre-patch.
More Druid Guides
Guides from Other Classes
This guide has been written by Wordup, a frequent theorycrafter involved in a number of class communities. He is also an experienced player who has been in the world top 100 since the days of Sunwell, currently raiding in Echoes. You can also follow him on Twitter.
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