WotLK Classic Feral Druid Tank Guide
Welcome to our Feral Druid Tank guide for WotLK Classic, tailored for PvE content. Here, you will learn how all you need to know to play Feral Druid Tank proficiently. Click the links below to navigate the guide or read this page for a short introduction.
Introduction
Druids are the only class in the game capable of fulling all four roles: tank, healer, ranged DPS, and melee DPS.
Feral Tank Druids are among the sturdiest tanks in Wrath Classic, with huge health pools and great Stamina scaling, but lack in the mandatory utility department as their only unique buff is Improved Leader of the Pack. They do still bring Innervate and Rebirth, and have the easiest time of all specializations when swapping between tanking and DPSing with the same talents, allowing them to put out great damage on fights that only need a second tank for short periods.
In PvP, Feral Druids are a high potential, high skill requirement melee class with stealth, high burst damage, and high mobility which prevents their targets from escaping. Barkskin, Survival Instincts, Travel Form, and Dire Bear Form also make them exceptionally tough and slippery, especially against melee enemies. Predatory Strikes enables the use of spells during melee combat and is a large part of what makes Feral so strong in Wrath PvP.
If you would like to see where Feral Druid tanks fall in the overall rankings among tank specs for PvE in Wrath Classic, we have created a page dedicated to explaining what classes and specializations are the best of the best through multiple factors. However, ultimately, you should not let this list dissuade you from playing what you enjoy.
Strengths and Weaknesses
- High single-target damage for a tank and great survivability capabilities due to very large health pool.
- Great Physical group support with Leader of the Pack and the unique Improved Leader of the Pack.
- Best tank / DPS hybrid class, as most talents, and even gear, can be shared between both roles without requiring a respec.
- Utility brought tends to either be weak or able to be brought by more meta classes.
- Area damage is limited to Swipe (Bear) and Mangle with Berserk active.
- While pure Dire Bear Form form gameplay is very simple, obtaining maximum Cat Form DPS when not tanking requires good Energy and DoT management, as well as some advanced techniques.
Best Races for Feral Druids as a Tank
Unlike other classes, Druids do not have a choice when it comes to race. If you want to go Alliance, you must be Night Elf. If you want to go Horde, you must be Tauren. Thus, your only choice is which faction you want to choose, which you should make based on your guild, friends, or cosmetic and lore preferences.
Night Elf
- Nature Resistance reduces the chance you are hit with Nature spells by 2%.
- Quickness reduces the chance you are hit by melee and ranged attacks by 2%.
- Shadowmeld is an ability that allows you to become stealthed while standing still when used, on a 2-minute cooldown. It can be used in combat.
- Wisp Spirit causes you to transform into a wisp upon death, increasing your movement speed by 75% while dead.
Shadowmeld is a powerful ability which allow you to instantly drop threat (temporarily) in PvE or cancel enemy casts on you in PvP. Nature Resistance and Quickness are also very useful defensively.
Tauren
- Cultivation increases your Herbalism skill by 15.
- Endurance increases your total health by 5%.
- Nature Resistance reduces the chance you are hit with Nature spells by 2%.
- War Stomp is a 2-minute cooldown that stuns up to 5 enemies within 8 yards for 2 seconds, with a 0.5-second cast time.
War Stomp is quite reliable in PvP, often allowing for a surprise Cyclone cast, but has little PvE uses. The 5% increased health from Endurance is minor, but often useful, as is Nature Resistance.
Best Professions for Feral Tank Druids
In Wrath all professions have unique stat bonus benefits, with gathering professions giving the lowest and Engineering and Jewelcrafting (before Epic gems) having the most powerful and flexible benefits, especially in early phases. Blacksmithing also catches up later when Epic gems are introduced.
Engineering is great because of the unique Hyperspeed Accelerators tinker, which gives 340 Haste for 12 seconds every minute. By using this extra Haste during your cooldowns or on difficult parts of a fight, you can get more benefit than the static stats of other professions. Engineering also provides multiple explosives for extra damage and Nitro Boosts for a burst of speed!
Jewelcrafting is also great because while most other professions force you to take Attack Power or Stamina, you can pick from any stat with Jewelcrafting's Epic gems, allowing you to adjust your stats as needed.
Best Druid Macros and Addons
Using macros and addons makes your life significantly easier when playing Wrath Classic, and they can improve your experience a lot, depending on how skilled you are at customizing them.
If you are interested in learning more about addons and macros suited to Feral Tank Druids, check out our guides below:
Changelog
- 02 Jan. 2024 (gear page): Updated for Phase 5.
- 04 Oct. 2023 (pre-raid gear page): Updated for Phase 4.
- 04 Oct. 2023 (gear page): Updated for Phase 4.
- 22 Jun. 2023 (talents page): Removed PvP talent and glyph references.
- 13 Jun. 2023 (talents page): Added Glyph of Omen of Clarity and associated explanation.
- 08 Jun. 2023 (pre-raid gear page): Added P3 best in slot items and new page layout.
- 28 May 2023 (gear page): Added P3 best in slot items and new page layout.
- 23 May 2023 (enchants page): Updated for Phase 3.
- 04 Apr. 2023 (spells page): Added info on Feral Faerie Fire now activating Omen of Clarity.
- 18 Jan. 2023 (pre-raid gear page): Reviewed for Phase 2 release ahead of Ulduar raid release.
- 18 Jan. 2023 (gear page): Reviewed for Phase 2 release ahead of Ulduar raid release.
- 18 Jan. 2023 (enchants page): Reviewed for Phase 2 release ahead of Ulduar raid release.
- 18 Jan. 2023 (stats page): Reviewed for Phase 2 release ahead of Ulduar raid release.
- 18 Jan. 2023 (rotation page): Reviewed for Phase 2 release ahead of Ulduar raid release.
- 18 Jan. 2023 (talents page): Reviewed for Phase 2 release ahead of Ulduar raid release.
- 18 Jan. 2023 (spells page): Reviewed for Phase 2 release ahead of Ulduar raid release.
- 18 Jan. 2023 (this page): Reviewed for Phase 2 release ahead of Ulduar raid release.
- 20 Sep. 2022 (pre-raid gear page): Page added.
- 20 Sep. 2022 (gear page): Page added.
- 20 Sep. 2022 (enchants page): Page added.
- 20 Sep. 2022 (stats page): Page added.
- 20 Sep. 2022 (rotation page): Page added.
- 20 Sep. 2022 (talents page): Page added.
- 20 Sep. 2022 (spells page): Page added.
- 20 Sep. 2022 (this page): Page added.
This guide has been written by Seksi, original vanilla player and multi-class player, currently playing on Gehennas Horde. You can find him on the Classic Shaman and Druid, as well as the Icy Veins Discord.
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