Feral Druid DPS Easy Mode — Shadowlands Pre-Patch 9.0.1

This section is intended for players who are new to the game or class, have no intentions of raiding Mythic difficulty, or simply want a more straightforward way to play their specialization without being overwhelmed by the numerous priorities and active abilities that need to be taken into consideration for optimal play.

Feral can be quite overwhelming to the new player due to the focus on dual resource management and maintaining numerous buffs/debuffs at once. Despite the quite complex base toolkit however, talents offer a number of options that can simplify some of the management mechanics that are required of a Feral player. This page will focus on a build that negates some of the more extreme management requirements that the advanced sections encourage, to make the playstyle more forgiving.

If you are completely new to Feral as a spec and need more detailed information on each individual ability available to you, we have a Spell Summary page that covers each of them.

No matter the build you take as Feral, Bleeds remain omnipresent as part of gameplay. Due to that, you will need to be able to track them and your Energy/Combo Points effectively so you do not fall behind. This build will grant a lot more room for failure but will not compensate for more egregious mistakes, as Feral has a naturally unforgiving nature toward mismanagement. Due to this, you should take a look at our Addons page for tools to track these effects:

The talents listed below are selected either for ease of use, or for a more easy-to-understand gameplay style. While in a number of cases there are alternatives on the tree that will provide more if played well, they create much more room to play incorrectly severely hurting performance. Due to this, treat this as a starting point.

• Level 15: Sabertooth
• Level 25: Wild Charge
• Level 30: Balance Affinity
• Level 35: Mighty Bash
• Level 40: Soul of the Forest
• Level 45: Brutal Slash
• Level 50: Moment of Clarity

Remember these talents do compromise on output for ease of use. If you are looking for the absolute best options or a more in-depth evaluation of each talent, you can look at our full talents page below.

The current Feral stat priority is as follows when using this build:

1. Agility;
2. Critical Strike;
3. Mastery;
4. Versatility;
5. Haste.

Primary stats are dominating most classes stat weights currently, so item level tends to be the deciding factor. Past this, Critical Strike is great as always due to the interaction with resource, with Mastery and Versatility both sitting as close seconds.

Generally we try to keep our Easy Mode pages the same as our more detailed stats page, but more detail alongside any nuance regarding what to pick when is covered here.

• Cast Rip if at 5 Combo Points and it is not present on the target.
• Use Berserk.
• Use Tiger's Fury when under 40 Energy to increase damage and gain Energy, or if Berserk is active.
• Maintain Rake if it is not present, this can be refreshed if under 4 seconds remaining.
• Maintain the Thrash debuff with 2 or more targets nearby.
• Cast Ferocious Bite if at 5 Combo Points with Rip active to increase its duration.
• Cast Brutal Slash to build Combo Points.
• Cast Shred to build Combo Points if no Brutal Slash charges are available.

Due to the fluid nature of the Feral DPS style that relies on you juggling two resources alongside Bleed uptime, you have a less strict rule to using your abilities. Talents have been selected to minimize the requirements for pooling and management. Both Bloodtalons and Primal Wrath are strong alternatives that add in extra power in certain situations but do require more gameplay know-how so are covered in the talent section. The main basic takeaways are that you need to maintain Rip, Rake, and spend excess Combo Points on Ferocious Bite to extend Rip via Sabertooth. You can find a more detailed version of the priority list that covers more advanced talents on our dedicated rotation page.

Currently in the Shadowlands pre-patch, Feral should be aiming to stack as many of the following two traits as possible in tandem:

• Jungle Fury
• Wild Fleshrending

Alternatively, if you cannot find pieces with both of these traits present, the following single point traits will provide a good benefit as a one off bonus:

• Untamed Ferocity
• Blood Mist
• Gushing Lacerations

Middle Ring traits to aim for are Overwhelming Power or Unstable Flames.

For more detailed information on each individual Azerite trait, please visit our dedicated page.

Major choices are quite flexible depending on the situation. What you pick will often depend on the content you are doing.

• Blood of the Enemy ( Blood of the Enemy) — unlcoked via gaining Honor in Battleground content (most flexible).
• Breath of the Dying ( Reaping Flames) — unlocked via 8.3 content and the Uldum Accord reputation (single-target focused).
• Essence of the Focusing Iris ( Focused Azerite Beam) — unlocked via Mythic+ (AoE oriented).

In the Minor slots that you unlock at Heart of Azeroth Level 55, 65 and 75, you should be using the following Minor essences:

• Memory of Lucid Dreams ( Lucid Dreams) — highest priority unlocked via your Nazjatar followers;
• The Crucible of Flame ( Ancient Flame) — unlocked at Heart of Azeroth neck level 60;
• Breath of the Dying ( Lethal Strikes) — unlocked via 8.3 content and the Uldum Accord reputation;
• Conflict and Strife ( Strife) — unlocked via Rated PvP.

While the choices above will serve you well in most situations, they are not always strictly the perfect choice for performance and aim to pick the highest impact options combined with ease of use. For a full write-up on Essence choices for Feral, you can check the Essence page below.