WotLK Classic Feral Druid DPS Rotation, Cooldowns, and Abilities

If you have not already, please read the Spell Summary page. Knowing how each spell and ability works in detail will make it much easier to understand the topics discussed on this page.

We will be presenting the skill rotation of a Feral DPS Druid as a priority list, which means you should try to use the one at the top of the list first for maximum DPS.

As one of the most complex specializations to perform an ideal rotation with in Wrath, there are two critical concepts to understand before getting into the ability priority list.

Energy Pooling is the act of not using your abilities as soon as you have enough Energy to do so, but instead use them when they will give you most benefit, while always avoiding capping Energy to prevent loss of potential regen. Examples of this are pooling around 90 Energy for Berserk in order to be able to use as many 50% reduced cost Cat Form abilities as possible within its 15-second duration and pooling to ensure you always have enough Energy to instantly reapply damage-over-time effects as soon as they expire.

Damage-over-time management is about keeping as much uptime on your damage-over-time effects, Rip and Rake (as well as the Mangle (Cat) debuff if there is no alternative source) as possible, but also never refreshing them when they are active as that will make you lose the last tick and its damage.

1. Use Tiger's Fury when available while you are under 40 Energy;
2. If Berserk is available and 15 or more seconds remain on Tiger's Fury's cooldown, auto-attack until ~90 Energy and use Berserk;
3. Use and refresh (after it expires) Savage Roar;
4. Use any Omen of Clarity procs on Shred;
5. Use and refresh (after it expires) Rip at 5 Combo Points;
6. Use and refresh (after it expires) Rake;
7. Keep Mangle (Cat)'s debuff on your target unless you have another Feral DPS Druid or an Arms Warrior with Trauma in the raid;
8. Use Shred to build Combo Points if doing so will not prevent you in the near future from having enough Energy to instantly refresh your damage-over-time effects or Mangle (Cat)'s debuff.

You should also use Ferocious Bite to spend Combo Points instead of Rip if the target will be dying shortly, as Rip needs time to deal its damage.

1. Use Tiger's Fury when available while you are under 40 Energy;
2. If Berserk is available and 15 or more seconds remain on Tiger's Fury's cooldown, auto-attack until ~90 Energy and use Berserk;
3. Use and refresh (after it expires) Savage Roar, using Rake to build a combo point for it if needed;
4. Use Swipe (Cat).

Bearweaving is an advanced Cat DPS technique where you go into Dire Bear Form during low Energy periods (better if Enrage is available for guaranteed Rage) and use Bear abilities for extra damage while your Energy regenerates in the background, returning to Cat Form when you have 70+ Energy again, Rip is soon to expire, or when you get an Omen of Clarity proc.

Due to Furor you will be able to keep the energy regenerated while in Dire Bear Form for extra damage when you swap back to Cat, and also instantly gain 10 Rage when you shift to Bear, which allows you to immediately hit Mangle (Bear) with the Rage gained from a single auto-attack, and possibly also Maul.

If you want to take things to the next level, you can prioritize maintaining Lacerate during the fight instead of just using Mangle (Bear) and Maul, in which case you will want to prioritize keeping the 5-stack Lacerate rolling, even if it leads to Omen of Clarity procs being used in Bear form or a small amount of Energy waste.

You can also make some macros to help you with Bearweaving, allowing you to spam a single button to go Dire Bear Form, use the Bear abilities you intend on using, and return to Cat Form. We display an example in the macro guide below.