Feral Druid DPS Mythic+ Tips — The War Within (11.2)

Druid of the Claw is the recommended tree both due to the damage it deals, its simplicity, and the added defense it provides. The only significant change to the core Feral toolkit here is the addition of Ravage procs, which fit in smoothly. It provides extremely strong priority damage while executing its rotation, due to the nature of both Ravage and Rampant Ferocity, while also providing excellent burst damage during Berserk via Claw Rampage.

Defensively, the improvements to Bear Form are significant, alongside the ability to cast Frenzied Regeneration from Cat Form, giving you more tools to respond to dangerous situations.

While the build below is the general recommendation, providing the most flexible option for the Mythic+ landscape, there's still a good degree of flexibility in how you build Druid of the Claw for Mythic+.

• Unbridled Swarm can be substituted with Feral Frenzy for an extra priority cooldown if needed. It can also be switched to a point in Carnivorous Instinct; and if you do, consider Raging Fury.
• Double-Clawed Rake is taken to more consistently spread Rake, but if you are having Energy trouble this can be switched out for a single point in Tireless Energy.
• Killing Strikes is recommended to guarantee Ravage at the start of each pull.
• Innervate and Nature's Vigil are recommended, but these can also be swapped out to pick up Improved Stampeding Roar for more group speed, or Fluid Form for Incapacitating Roar.

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Wildstalker has high throughput compared to the recommended choice, but requires more management to pull off. With the new Tier Set, the frontloaded power provided by Tiger's Fury (which applies Bloodseeker Vines) is very strong, alongside the extra multiplier to Bursting Growth. The tree has a much stronger focus on maintaining DoTs vs. burst AoE though, which makes it a bit less suited to the way Mythic+ is generally played. Lastly, the extra sacrifices it makes in single-target paired with weaker defense puts it behind Druid of the Claw.

While the build below is the general recommendation, providing the most flexible option for the Mythic+ landscape, there's still a good degree of flexibility in how you build Wildstalker for Mythic+.

• Energy talents such as Tireless Energy and Moment of Clarity are options to pick up in exchange for either Merciless Claws or Double-Clawed Rake if you're struggling with Energy.
• Twin Sprouts is recommended with the Tier Set, but if you're looking for more reliable Bloodseeker Vines application then Implant is an option. Due to the frequent higher target count in Mythic+ as well, there is room to switch out Resilient Flourishing for Root Network, but it's much less flexible.
• Innervate and Nature's Vigil are recommended, but these can also be swapped out to pick up Improved Stampeding Roar for more group speed, or Fluid Form for Incapacitating Roar.

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Often, the most crucial part of any Mythic+ run (outside of your damage) is how you intend to lock down dangerous enemy casts. Feral comes with some good options for both single-target and AoE disruption:

• Skull Bash - the Feral interrupt, on a 15-second cooldown, with a 13-yard range and a small charge attached. This should be used frequently to disrupt dangerous casts, and can also be used to re-engage targets at range using the charge. Be careful if using it from a distance though, to avoid charging into something bad.
• Entangling Roots - a soft crowd control option, useful for locking down enemies in situations you want to keep them out of range. Remember they can still cast and attack while rooted though. This can also be made instant with Predatory Swiftness procs.
• Infected Wounds - passively applied by your Rake ability, slowing targets by 20% for 12 seconds. A very weak slow compared to equivalent effects, but is applied completely passively for kiting.
• Maim / Mighty Bash - two talents that provide point and click stuns to your target. While hard to justify on the talent tree, these are always options if you need extra stops.
• Hibernate - a hard-CC limited to Beasts or Dragonkin, with a 1.5-second cast time and a 30-yard range. When used, the target is put to sleep for up to 40 seconds, but damage taken breaks the effect.
• Cyclone - an emergency crowd control tool that banishes your target for 6 seconds, making it unable to act while making it immune to all damage and healing effects. This can be used to lock down a dangerous target briefly, but its 1.5-second cast time and diminishing returns make it niche at best.

• Ursol's Vortex - locks enemies within the target area, pulling them back to the center if they try to leave (or are forced out). This has good synergy with Typhoon, acting as a pseudo-mass grip by gathering all enemies pushed to its center.
• Typhoon - can push enemies back, interrupting casts. Can also force targets out of ground effects.
• Incapacitating Roar - an AoE interrupt effect on otherwise immune targets. The low cooldown of this makes it incredibly useful for large groups of enemies, but it does put you into Bear Form, so it comes with a damage loss. Remember that you can make use of Fluid Form to quickly re-enter Cat Form using Shred.

After control, you also need to consider how you are going to survive in dungeons where damage intake can be extremely high. That means sometimes more niche talents for raids shine, allowing you to make it through otherwise lethal mechanics:

• Bear Form - allows you to assume a Tank-oriented form when used, granting access to Growl as a taunt effect. This can help in emergencies, increasing your survival and allowing you to redirect pressure from your tank. With Ursine Vigor taken as well, it can act as a short window of additional Health to survive potentially lethal mechanics.
• Barkskin - your 1-minute cooldown defensive, providing 30% damage reduction for 12 seconds (with Oakskin and Improved Barkskin). The low cooldown paired with the potent damage reduction makes this a tool to be used liberally, in any situation you feel in danger.
• Survival Instincts - is a huge cooldown that is best used for making it through the most lethal mechanics. The massive 60% cooldown reduction provided (with Oakskin) is excellent, but the 6-second duration paired with a 3-minute cooldown means you need to plan wisely.
• Well-Honed Instincts - provides a perfect emergency heal should you be caught off guard, or begin to bleed out over extended periods of time. A great pick and should always be taken.
• Renewal - provides a large burst of self-healing on a 1.5-minute cooldown, while also being off the GCD. A strong emergency button that should always be taken.
• Heart of the Wild - is a long cooldown, long duration option that gives a large amount of bonus survival while in Bear Form. This is a very niche option to squeeze out a bit more defense, but the long cooldown makes it very restrictive in Mythic+ environments.
• Druid of the Claw - has access to Frenzied Regeneration even while in Cat Form, providing a large heal for a small Energy cost. This is extremely strong if you know your Health is looking unstable.

Feral also has a small toolkit for helping out the group with healing, should your healer be struggling:

• Predatory Swiftness - allows you to cast Regrowth or Entangling Roots instantly following a finishing move used at 5 Combo Points. This assists with off-healing, or provide emergency crowd control.
• Nature's Vigil - provides a conversion for your single-target damage events into healing, allowing you to contribute to the groups survival in high-damage moments. This costs no damage to use and can be overlapped with burst cooldowns, so should be taken in all scenarios.

Many dungeons have requirements for dispels to deal with certain mechanics, and you cannot simply rely on the healer to cover them all. Feral has two specialty abilities that can be taken if needed:

• Remove Corruption - removes both Curse and Poison debuffs from a targeted ally with an 8-second cooldown. This is especially helpful if your healer can't remove either of these effects themselves.
• Soothe - an offensive Enrage effect dispel. This has a 40-yard range and a 10-second cooldown, and can be used in Cat Form. Incredibly valuable to any group in any dungeon that has Enrage effects.

Lastly, Druids have some unique tools that are important to keep in mind while navigating Mythic+:

• Mark of the Wild - provides 3% Versatility to your group, and is brought by any Druid. Remember to buff this at the start of every dungeon (or if an ally dies)!
• The act of shapeshifting in or out of Cat Form (or any of your other shapeshift effects) will also break roots, which can be helpful when dealing with certain mechanics.
• Fluid Form - a useful point due to the number of utility options that force you out of Cat Form. This means you can quickly get back to dealing damage with a cast of Shred, instead of manually shifting and using up a GCD. A great comfort pick.
• Innervate - should always be taken to help your healer out, should an extended pull happen and they need the 10 seconds of Mana-free casting.
• Stampeding Roar - grants movement speed to you and all allies within 15 yards. This is useful for sticking to targets, helping allies avoid dangerous effects, or getting to the next pull faster.
• Rebirth - a combat resurrection effect, allowing you to revive a player outside of the combat restrictions in the event of an unexpected death. This requires you to leave Cat Form.

Xalatath's Bargain: Ascendant will periodically spawn a number or orbs in waves that need to be crowd-controlled in some way, before they complete a cast. Each orb successfully stopped provides the group bonus Haste, so it is a high priority to deal with.

Feral should make use of Incapacitating Roar and Typhoon, which when aimed correctly can remove a huge number of orbs when they start spawning.

Xalatath's Bargain: Voidbound will periodically summon a large Void Emissary that will begin to cast Dark Prayer. This enemy must be killed before the cast completes to stop it, otherwise it provides significant damage reduction to nearby enemies. If successfully stopped, the group is granted a large amount of Versatility and cooldown reduction.

This needs to be killed off quickly, so ideally, having short, bursty cooldowns like Tiger's Fury or some Combo Points available when it spawns makes things a lot easier for the group.

Xalatath's Bargain: Pulsar spawns an orb that orbits each player, which needs to be soaked by a separate player before they expire. Each orb will grant the party 4% Mastery and 2% Leech, stacking, with a 30-second duration. Unsoaked orbs will increase nearby enemies' damage done, and reduce their damage taken.

Feral has no specific utility to deal with this, instead you need to be aware of your positioning both to make sure other players can soak up the orb circling you, and so you can catch orbs from nearby players.

Xalatath's Bargain: Devour applies a debuff to each party member, that must be either dispelled or healed off (though bear in mind this does not absorb incoming heals). Each debuff dispelled provides the group with maximum health and Critical Strike, stacking, for 30 seconds. Any debuffs not cleared will heal nearby enemies a large amount.

On these weeks, I'd particularly recommend picking up Remove Corruption to help your healer by removing it from yourself isntantly. You can also use Renewal and Frenzied Regeneration to quickly cover a large amount of the healing requirement as well.