Feral Druid DPS Guide — The War Within (11.2.7)

Patch 11.2.7 is the most recent update in The War Within, but comes with no class changes for most specs, including Feral Druid. It's instead angled more as a transition patch to bridge us to the release of Midnight. While endgame isn't changing much, there are a few features on offer with its release:

• Housing Early Access Begins!
  Midnight's premier feature releases to early access, giving you some time to gather up Decor before launch. If you want to dig your claws into the new feature, our Housing Guide has you covered!
• Brawler's Guild Returns
  Solo PvE challenges have come back to capital cities, pitting you against a slew of tough foes for bragging rights. If you want to test your mettle, check out our Brawler's Guild Guide.
• Leveling Experience Revamps
  The low level experience has been updated, alongside some changes for returning players. If you're thinking of giving it a try, our Feral Leveling page can help guide you through!

In addition to these new features, Legion Remix (introduced in Patch 11.2.5) remains available throughout Patch 11.2.7, and you can use our Feral Druid page if you haven't tried it out yet. We also still have our Puzzling Cartel Chip recommendations up to date on our Gear page to help you finish your Season 3 gearset.

Use this final patch of The War Within to prepare, as we begin to transition into the new world of Midnight. You can check our preview of how Feral is looking on the Beta right now - our Midnight Feral Preview can help you prepare for what's coming as early as possible!

The current season - Season 3 - began with the release of the last major patch of The War Within: Patch 11.2. This brought with it the arrival of the final raid of the expansion - Manaforge Omega - and the start of Mythic+ Season 3. Feral hasn't received much in the way of changes throughout the expansion, but if you're a returning player looking to catch up then use the Returning Players tab as a refresher.

A variety of new gearing options were also introduced, the most important of which being the Reshii Wraps - an artifact cloak acquired from the campaign in the new zone, K'aresh. This proves a powerful damage proc and customizable secondary stats, and has some unique interactions in the open world. Details on it alongside our up to date Season 3 best-in-slot recommendations are covered on our Gear page.

Tier sets also have a unique twist in Season 3: 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. These effects did impact build decisions over the course of the Season, and you can find details on our Talents page.

Over the course of The War Within, Feral received little in the way of substantial changes, so if you're returning to prepare for Midnight it may look familiar. There were a number of surgical changes and tweaks (especially related to Talent Tree pathing), but the focus of each build and general gameplay goals have remained consistent. Below is a brief overview of things to be aware of to bring you up to speed.

• Druid Class Tree Changes - Click for Notes

  • Thrash was made baseline. The Class tree also had additional paths and general restructuring that was generally an improvement.
  • Lycara's Inspiration (formerly Lycara's Meditation) instead provides a defensive benefit while in each form, with Cat Form providing 4% Stamina.
  • Grievous Wounds was added, increasing Rip, Rake and Thrash damage by 10%.
  • Typhoon follow-up choice nodes ( Gale Winds and Incessant Tempest) returned.
  • Circle of the Wild and Circle of the Heavens were both added as a choice node, increasing either Physical and Magic ability damage respectively.
  • Aessina's Renewal was added as a choice node against Renewal, which automatically heals you up to every 30 seconds following large damage events.
  • Symbiotic Relationship was added, which applies a 1-hour long buff to an ally. While active, this duplicates a portion of your self-healing and heals them for that amount.
  • Instincts of the Claw and Lore of the Grove were reduced to 1-point talents.
  • Moonkin Form was added back to the class tree.
  While a lot of changes were made throughout the tree, most of it was done to make pathing smoother. There's less empty nodes that require you to path through, alongside a general reduction in talents do nothing for Feral when taken.
• Feral Spec Tree Changes - Click for Notes

  • 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%).
  • Ferocious Bite and Ravage primary target damage increased by 6%.
  • Shred damage increased by 5%.
  While small, a handful of targeted fixes were made to try and raise the value of single target tools - in particular finishers. This did little to alter the playstyle over the course of the expansion.
• Feral Hero Tree Changes - Click for Notes

  • Twin Sprouts had its chance to spawn additional Bloodseeker Vines increased to 30% (up from 20%).
  • Vigorous Creepers damage increase from Bloodseeker Vines was increased to 6% (up from 5%).
  • Empowered Shapeshifting now causes Bear Form to reduce magic damage taken by 6% (up from 4%).
  Both of Feral's Hero Trees remained very similar from start to finish in The War Within. While they successfully managed to keep them in line with each other for most of the expansion, they remained low impact in terms of gameplay just like at launch.

Throughout the course of The War Within Feral was very stable in terms of design, with little done between each patch to change things up. While some set bonuses and items did cause some shifts, much of how it played when the expansion released is mirrored by how it plays today. The only major thing that shifted the direction was the addition of Tier Sets in Season 3, adding additional options for Wildstalker especially.

The story throughout the expansion remained quite similar: Druid of the Claw had dominance in Mythic+ while in Raids it battled with Wildstalker every step of the way. This remains true to this day mirrored in Season 3, and will likely stay that way right up until the launch of Midnight.