Feral Druid DPS Guide in Battle for Azeroth (BfA) 8.0.1

Table of Contents

• ×Introduction
  • 1. Class Overview
  • 2. Patch 8.0.1 Changes for Feral Druid
  • 3. Feral Druid's Strengths
  • 4. Feral Druid's Weaknesses
  • 5. The Viability of Feral Druids in the Current Patch
  • 6. Contents
  • 7. Changelog
• +Easy Mode
  • 1. Foreword
  • 2. The Basics for Feral Druids
  • 3. Talent Choices for Feral Druids
  • 4. Stat Choices for Feral Druids
  • 5. Basic Rotation for Feral Druids
  • 6. Changelog
• +Spell Summary
  • 1. Spell Summary of a Feral Druid
  • 2. Feral Druid's Main Resources
  • 3. Feral Druid Basic Abilities
    • 3.1. Bleeds
    • 3.2. Other Feral Abilities
    • 3.3. Feral Offensive Cooldowns
    • 3.4. Feral Procs and Passives
    • 3.5. Feral Utility Tools
• +Builds and Talents
  • 1. Talent Choices for Feral Druid
  • 2. Talent Cheat Sheet for Feral Druids
    • 2.1. Open World, Levelling and Dungeons — AoE Oriented
    • 2.2. Raids — Single Target Oriented
  • 3. Tier 1 (Level 15) Talents for Feral Druid
  • 4. Tier 2 (Level 30) Talents for Feral Druid
  • 5. Tier 3 (Level 45) Talents for Feral Druid
  • 6. Tier 4 (Level 60) Talents for Feral Druid
  • 7. Tier 5 (Level 75) Talents for Feral Druid
  • 8. Tier 6 (Level 90) Talents for Feral Druid
  • 9. Tier 7 (Level 100) Talents for Feral Druid
  • 10. PvP Talents (War Mode)
    • 10.1. Feral Druid War Mode Talents
      • 10.1.1. General PvP Talents
      • 10.1.2. Feral Druid PvP Talents
  • 11. Changelog
• +Azerite Traits and Armor
  • 1. Azerite Trait Recommendations for Feral Druid
    • 1.1. Outer Ring
    • 1.2. Middle Ring
    • 1.3. Inner Ring
  • 2. Azerite Trait Rotation Changes and Details for Feral Druid
  • 3. Azerite Traits for Feral Druid
    • 3.1. Outer Ring Traits
      • 3.1.1. Feral-specific Traits
      • 3.1.2. Generic Traits
      • 3.1.3. Uldir Traits
    • 3.2. Middle Ring Traits for Feral Druid
    • 3.3. Inner Ring Traits for Feral Druid
  • 4. Find Azerite Armor By Trait/Power
  • 5. Changelog
• +Rotation, Cooldowns, and Abilities
  • 1. Feral Druid Single Target Rotation
  • 2. Feral Druid Opening Sequence
  • 3. Multiple Target Rotation for Feral Druids
    • 3.1. Brutal Slash
    • 3.2. Long Duration Adds
      • 3.2.1. 2-3 Targets
      • 3.2.2. 4-8 Targets
      • 3.2.3. 9+ Targets
    • 3.3. Short Duration Adds
    • 3.4. Priority Targets
  • 4. Feral Druid Cooldowns
  • 5. Mastering Your Feral Druid
    • 5.1. Mastery: Razor Claws
    • 5.2. Combo Points and Energy
    • 5.3. Single Target Rotation in Detail
      • 5.3.1. Bleeds & DoTs
      • 5.3.2. What to Do the Rest of the Time
      • 5.3.3. Energy Management
      • 5.3.4. When to Refresh Bleeds
      • 5.3.5. When to Refresh Savage Roar
      • 5.3.6. Ferocious Bite
    • 5.4. Detailed Cooldown Usage
      • 5.4.1. Tiger's Fury
      • 5.4.2. Berserk
      • 5.4.3. Feral Frenzy
    • 5.5. Talent Specifics
      • 5.5.1. Tier 1 Talents
      • 5.5.2. Tier 5 Talents
      • 5.5.3. Tier 6 Talents
      • 5.5.4. Tier 7 Talents
  • 6. Changelog
• +Mythic+ Tips
  • 1. Feral Druid in Mythic+
    • 1.1. Feral Druid Mythic+ Rotation
    • 1.2. Feral Druid Utility
  • 2. Mythic+ Talents for Feral Druid
  • 3. Mythic+ Affixes
    • 3.1. Tier One Affixes
    • 3.2. Tier Two Affixes
    • 3.3. Tier Three Affixes
    • 3.4. Seasonal Affix
  • 4. Mythic+ Azerite Traits
  • 5. Changelog
• +Common and Worst Mistakes
  • 1. Not Optimizing Your Global Cooldowns
  • 2. Energy & Combo Point Management
  • 3. Tiger's Fury Usage
  • 4. Bleed & Buff Uptime
    • 4.1. Damage over Time Effects
    • 4.2. Savage Roar
    • 4.3. Predatory Swiftness Use with Bloodtalons
  • 5. Not Knowing How to Sim Yourself
• +Frequently Asked Questions
  • 1. Battle for Azeroth Frequently Asked Questions
    • 1.1. When Should I Refresh My Bleeds?
    • 1.2. Should I Pool Resources?
    • 1.3. What is Snapshotting?
    • 1.4. What Piece is Better, X or Y?
    • 1.5. How Much of X Stat Should I Have?
  • 2. Changelog
• +Boss by Boss Strategies
  • 1. Disclaimer
  • 2. Feral Druid in Uldir
    • 2.1. Talent Cheatsheet
  • 3. Taloc
    • 3.1. Suggested Talents for Feral Druid on Taloc
      • 3.1.1. Taloc Feral Druid Talent Notes
  • 4. M.O.T.H.E.R.
    • 4.1. Suggested Talents for Feral Druid on M.O.T.H.E.R.
      • 4.1.1. M.O.T.H.E.R. Feral Druid Talent Notes
  • 5. Fetid Devourer
    • 5.1. Suggested Talents for Feral Druid on Fetid Devourer
      • 5.1.1. Fetid Devourer Feral Druid Talent Notes
  • 6. Zek'voz, Herald of N'Zoth
    • 6.1. Suggested Talents for Feral Druid on Zek'voz, Herald of N'Zoth
      • 6.1.1. Zek'voz, Herald of N'Zoth Feral Druid Talent Notes
  • 7. Vectis
    • 7.1. Suggested Talents for Feral Druid on Vectis
      • 7.1.1. Feral Druid Talent Notes
  • 8. Zul, Reborn
    • 8.1. Suggested Talents for Feral Druid on Zul, Reborn
      • 8.1.1. Zul, Reborn Feral Druid Talent Notes
  • 9. Mythrax the Unraveler
    • 9.1. Suggested Talents for Feral Druid on Mythrax the Unraveler
      • 9.1.1. Mythrax the Unraveler Feral Druid Talent Notes
  • 10. G'huun
    • 10.1. Suggested Talents for Feral Druid on G'huun
      • 10.1.1. G'huun Feral Druid Talent Notes
  • 11. Changelog
• +Stat Priority
  • 1. The Basics of Stats for Feral Druid
  • 2. Getting a Better Understanding of Feral Druid Stats
  • 3. Advanced Feral Druid Stats
  • 4. Changelog
• +Gems, Enchants, and Consumables
  • 1. Gems for Feral Druid
  • 2. Enchants for Feral Druid
  • 3. Consumables for Feral Druid
  • 4. Changelog
• +Macros and Addons
  • 1. Feral Druid Macros
    • 1.1. Generic Macros for Druids
      • 1.1.1. Rebirth
      • 1.1.2. Remove Corruption
    • 1.2. Specific Macros for Feral Druids
      • 1.2.1. Regrowth Macro
      • 1.2.2. Skull Bash Focus Interrupt
  • 2. Recommended Addons for Feral Druids
    • 2.1. Generic Addons for Druids
      • 2.1.1. Azerite Tooltip
      • 2.1.2. ElvUI
      • 2.1.3. Weak Auras
      • 2.1.4. Boss Mods: Deadly Boss Mods or Bigwigs
      • 2.1.5. Details!
      • 2.1.6. GTFO
      • 2.1.7. Hekili
      • 2.1.8. Pawn
  • 3. Changelog
• +Gear and Best in Slot
  • 1. Gearing in Battle for Azeroth
    • 1.1. How to Gear before Raids
      • 1.1.1. Weekly Mythic+ Chest
      • 1.1.2. PvP Gearing Options
    • 1.2. Notable Trinkets and Weapons
      • 1.2.1. Weapons
      • 1.2.2. Trinkets
      • 1.2.3. Azerite
    • 1.3. Recommended Uldir Gear
      • 1.3.1. Ideal Bosses to Coin
  • 2. Changelog
• +Simulations
  • 1. Disclaimer Page
  • 2. Feral Druid Racial Bonus Simulation
  • 3. Feral Druid Azerite Outer Ring Simulation
  • 4. Feral Druid Azerite Middle Ring Simulation
  • 5. Feral Druid Trinket Simulations
  • 6. Feral Druid Weapon Enchant Simulations
  • 7. Launch Disclaimer
  • 8. Changelog

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.

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