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Table of Contents
General Information
Welcome to our Feral Druid DPS guide for World of Warcraft Battle for Azeroth (BfA) 8.0.1. Here, you will learn everything you need to know about playing a Feral Druid in a raid environment and in Mythic+ dungeons.
About Our Author
This guide has been written by Wordup, a frequent theorycrafter involved in a number of class communities. He is also an experienced player who has been in the world top 100 since the days of Sunwell, currently raiding in Echoes. You can also follow him on Twitter.
1. Class Overview
Feral, the Melee DPS specialisation for Druids, forms its core gameplay around balancing two separate resources whilst also leveraging those to apply powerful Bleed Damage over Time effects on targets. In terms of single target DPS, Feral is powerful and can often shine in these situations. When it comes to multiple target situations, Feral can perform well due to increased targets to apply Bleed effects too, and has large-scale AoE tools to contribute well with.
2. Patch 8.0.1 Changes for Feral Druid
Feral remains largely intact, with very few changes being implemented aside from some systems alterations with how some stats and mechanics operate.
Berserk now only reduces Energy costs by 40%, and is now on the
Global Cooldown.
Tiger's Fury now lasts 10 seconds and only grants 50 Energy.- Your Bleed effects (
Rake, 
Rip, and
Thrash) now deal damage faster based on your Haste. 
Dash has been reduced to a 2-minute cooldown, and is down to a
60% movement speed bonus for 10 seconds.
Bear Form has been reduced to a 25% Stamina gain, but the Armour
increase has raised to 220%.
Hibernate and 
Soothe return as baseline spells.
3. Feral Druid's Strengths
- Solid single target damage
- Very high mobility and flexibility in a raid environment
- Powerful burst AoE option in
Brutal Slash - Strong low target cleave achieved through maintaining DoTs on multiple targets
- Flexible talent choices allowing for advantages in different fight archetypes
4. Feral Druid's Weaknesses
- Can require ramp-up to reach full damage on priority targets
- Gameplay relies on pooling and smart resource management, and can be punishing
- Can be hampered by enemies dying too early before your Bleeds deal their full damage
- Weak burst cooldown options even considering talent choices
5. The Viability of Feral Druids in the Current Patch
Feral still retains the same versatile toolkit with a large amount of customization, alongside having access to some very powerful individual abilities and now having excellent scaling with Haste. However, some key aspects such as burst damage options may hurt it in the long run. It still retains good multi-DoT capabilities, but burst AoE is now less impactful. Due to the large number of post-test changes in Battle for Azeroth, however, it is too early in the process to actively guage where Feral will land.
6. Contents
To make it easy to navigate the guide, we have split it into 14 pages:
- Easy Mode: Simple breakdown and build for those just getting started;
- Spell Summary: see a summary of all your useful spells;
- Builds and Talents: learn how to choose your talents;
- Azerite Traits and Armor: discover your best azerite traits and the gear that sports them;
- Rotation, Cooldowns, and Abilities: master your rotation and your cooldowns;
- Mythic+ Tips: learn how to adapt your playstyle for Mythic+;
- Common and Worst Mistakes: avoid making common mistakes;
- Frequently Asked Questions: find the answers to the most common questions for your spec;
- Boss by Boss Strategies: find out how to defeat current content bosses;
- Stat Priority: read up on the respective values of your statistics;
- Gems, Enchants, and Consumables: choose the best gems, enchantments, etc.;
- Macros and Addons: step up your game with useful macros and addons;
- Gear and Best in Slot: find the best gear you can wear;
- Simulations: if you are interested in simulations results from SimulationCraft.
7. ChangeLog
- 12 Sep. 2018 (gear page): Updated with gearing paths and Uldir item recommendations.
- 05 Sep. 2018 (talents page): Altered note regarding Soul of the Forest to indicate it being more competitive.
- 04 Sep. 2018 (bosses page): Updated for preliminary Uldir release.
- 02 Sep. 2018 (mythic+ page): Updated for preliminary Mythic+ launch.
- 26 Aug. 2018 (rotation page): Updated to indicate Thrash usage in single target.
- 26 Aug. 2018 (talents page): Updated Sabertooth to be a recommended option.
- 26 Aug. 2018 (azerite traits and gear page): Changed to Bloodmallet charts for Outer Ring.
- 26 Aug. 2018 (easy mode page): Updated to show Thrash should be maintained in single target.
- 26 Aug. 2018 (simulations page): Updated weapon enchant simulations for Gale-Force Striking buff.
- 20 Aug. 2018 (azerite traits and gear page): Added absent Azerite traits.
- 13 Aug. 2018 (talents page): Updated for Battle for Azeroth launch.
- 13 Aug. 2018 (gear page): Updated for Battle for Azeroth launch.
- 13 Aug. 2018 (enchants page): Updated for Battle for Azeroth launch.
- 13 Aug. 2018 (stats page): Updated for Battle for Azeroth launch.
- 13 Aug. 2018 (simulations page): Updated for Battle for Azeroth launch.
- 13 Aug. 2018 (rotation page): Updated for Battle for Azeroth launch.
- 13 Aug. 2018 (azerite traits and gear page): Updated for Battle for Azeroth launch.
- 11 Aug. 2018 (bosses page): Page created (empty for now) in preparation for the eventual Uldir release.
- 11 Aug. 2018 (FAQ page): Page created.
- 11 Aug. 2018 (mythic+ page): Page created.
- 11 Aug. 2018 (azerite traits and gear page): Page created.
- 11 Aug. 2018 (easy mode page): Updated for the Battle for Azeroth launch.
- 11 Aug. 2018 (this page): Updated for the Battle for Azeroth launch.
- 28 Jul. 2018 (addons page): Added Hekili to the list as a regularly updated rotation aid tool.
- 23 Jul. 2018 (simulations page): Updated racial simulations with Raidbots profile.
- 22 Jul. 2018 (gear page): Altered trinket section to indicate direct damage trinkets are performing better.
- 17 Jul. 2018 (this page): Updated for the Battle for Azeroth pre-patch.
CONTENTS
FROM THE DRUID FORUMS
- Resto Healer Stat Weights
- Bear Agility vs Versatility
- Warrior of Elune Macro-Balance
- Wild Fleshrending
- Azerite trait page for balance lacking
RELATED HEARTHSTONE DECKS
LATEST NEWS
- New & Returning Player Guides for World of Warcraft: Additional Features
- Patch 8.0.1 Hotfixes: September 21st
- Big PvP Class Tuning Coming September 24th
- Azerite Trait Tuning for September 25th + Blue Posts
- Method's WF and Limit's W2nd G'huun Kill Videos
- Vicious Saddle Clarifications
- Rextroy Vectis Solo in 0.5 Seconds
- Upcoming Brewfest Trinket Hotfix
