Feral Druid DPS Guide — The War Within (11.2)

Patch 11.2 came with a handful of surgical changes to specific parts of the Feral toolkit, resulting in a buff:

• 11.2 Feral Changes - - Click for Patch Notes

  • Aura Buff - All ability damage increased by 8%.
  • Saber Jaws increases Ferocious Bite damage from Energy consumption by 60/120% (up from 40/80%).
  • Sabertooth DoT amplification increased to 5% per Combo Point (up from 3%).
  • Lycara's Inspiration (formerly Lycara's Meditation) now instead provides a defensive benefit while in each form, with Cat Form providing 4% Stamina.
  • Maim cooldown increased to 30 seconds (up from 20).
  • Twin Sprouts chance to spawn an additional Bloodseeker Vine increased to 30% (up from 20%).
  • Vigorous Creepers damage increase from Bloodseeker Vines increased to 6% (up from 5%).
  • Empowered Shapeshifting ( Druid of the Claw) causes Bear Form to reduce magic damage taken by 6% (up from 4%).
  Many key effects were changed for both Hero Talents, alongside some additional utility changes for the Class Tree. On top of that, Feral received a flat 8% Aura buff, targeting Feral's throughput.

To go alongside that, the patch also comes with a variety of new gearing options for the release of Season 3. The Reshii Wraps artifact cloak is available from the new K'aresh questline, providing a powerful damage proc and customizable secondary stats. Details on it alongside updated Season 3 best-in-slot recommendations are covered on our Gear page.

Tier sets have also been given a unique twist: they now come with specialized 2-piece and 4-piece bonuses that change depending on whether you are currently playing Druid of the Claw or Wildstalker. Some of these effects have an influence on build options and choices, which are covered on our Talents page with updated recommendations.

Over the course of the last major patch, Feral received little in the way of substantial changes. The launch of Season 2 brought some structural imrpovements that helped with utility choices, but otherwise the spec's design remains very similar to the launch of the expansion. For any players returning that missed these updates, a brief overview of what has happened in the past season is:

• D.I.S.C. Belt - Link to Gear Page
  added in Patch 11.1.7, this can be acquired from Delves and is a helpful catch-up piece if you don't already have it in Season 3.
• Druid Class Tree Changes - - Click for Patch Notes

  • A number of talents have been moved around on the tree to fit into the new structure, and Thrash is now baseline.
  • Grievous Wounds has been added, increasing Rip, Rake and Thrash damage by 10%.
  • The Typhoon follow-up choice node ( Gale Winds and Incessant Tempest) has made a return.
  • Circle of the Wild and Circle of the Heavens is a new passive choice node, increasing either Physical and Magic damage dealt by your abilities respectively.
  • Aessina's Renewal is a new talent that automatically heals you following a large enough damage event, with a 30-second cooldown. This is a choice node against Renewal. Additionally, Symbiotic Relationship is a new active talent that applies a long buff to an ally that causes additional healing based on your healing.
  • Instincts of the Claw and Lore of the Grove have been reduced to 1-point talents.
  • Moonkin Form has been added back to the class tree.
  Lots of adjustments were made here, removing some of the filler pathing or forced talents that have no value, replacing them with more meaningful effects. This came as a marginal net performance increase.

While these changes didn't really shake things up relative to the launch of the expansion, Feral remained in a solid spot throughout Season 2. Both Wildstalker and Druid of the Claw saw play, with specialties in different content. To put it simply, if you missed Season 2 but enjoyed how Feral has been playing in recent years, then expect more of the same going into Season 3.