Feral Druid DPS Mythic+ Tips — Midnight Pre-Patch (12.0)

Druid of the Claw is the recommended tree both due to the damage it deals, its simplicity, and the added defense it provides. The only significant change to the core Feral toolkit is the addition of Ravage procs, which simply replace Ferocious Bite casts you would otherwise be using. It provides extremely strong priority damage while executing its rotation, due to the nature of both Ravage and Rampant Ferocity.

It brings strong 2-minute cooldowns with both Berserk and Convoke the Spirits combined, and the newly added Frantic Frenzy provides a powerful 45-second burst tool for each pull. Defensively, the improvements to Bear Form are significant, alongside the ability to cast Frenzied Regeneration from Cat Form, giving you more tools to respond to dangerous situations. In the Pre-patch however, point limitations means picking these up sacrifices throughput, so isn't taken in every build.

While the build below is the general recommendation, providing the most flexible option for the Mythic+ landscape, there's still a good degree of flexibility in how you build Druid of the Claw for Mythic+.

• Double-Clawed Rake is taken to more consistently spread Rake, but if you are having Energy trouble this can be switched out for a single point in Tireless Energy. If you do so, switch over to Wild Slashes and use Swipe as your main Combo Point generator.
• Killing Strikes is recommended to guarantee Ravage at the start of each pull.
• Innervate is recommended for your healer, but this can be swapped out for the utility provided by Improved Stampeding Roar for more group speed.
• Typhoon, Ursol's Vortex and Incapacitating Roar are all strongly recommended for control tools. Fluid Form can optionally be picked up to make the use of the latter easier.

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Wildstalker does still bring high throughput via its DoT amplification effects, and extra Bursting Growth triggers in Midnight provided by Rampancy is a welcome addition. However, lacking the Apex Talent - Unseen Predator - to further improve DoTs, and not having the Hero Tree points to pick up Patient Custodian impacts it more than its competitor.

It still brings strong burst during Berserk and Convoke the Spirits, and the new Frantic Frenzy also adds in a 45-second burst tool as well. Its weaker up-front damage, and harder execution requirements to maintain DoTs for lower performance simply make it less suited to the Mythic+ environment. It also needs to make single-target sacrifices to enable its AoE that impact it more than Druid of the Claw, and when paired with weaker defense, there's no strong incentive to play it.

While the build below is the general recommendation, providing the most flexible option for the Mythic+ landscape. While there are a few different options in the central area to choose from, there's a bit of clashing.

• Energy talents such as Tireless Energy options to pick up in exchang for Merciless Claws if you're struggling with Energy.
• If you drop Double-Clawed Rake, mak
• Twin Sprouts is recommended, but if you're looking for more reliable Bloodseeker Vines application then Implant is an option.
• Innervate is recommended for your healer, but this can be swapped out for the utility provided by Improved Stampeding Roar for more group speed.
• Typhoon, Ursol's Vortex and Incapacitating Roar are all strongly recommended for control tools. Fluid Form can optionally be picked up to make the use of the latter easier.

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Often, the most crucial part of any Mythic+ run (outside of your damage) is how you intend to lock down dangerous enemy casts. Feral comes with some good options for both single-target and AoE disruption:

Skull Bash - the Feral interrupt, on a 15-second cooldown, with a 13-yard range and a small charge attached. This should be used frequently to disrupt dangerous casts, and can also be used to re-engage targets at range using the charge. Be careful if using it from a distance though, to avoid charging into something dangerous.

Entangling Roots - a soft crowd control option, useful for locking down enemies in situations you want to keep them out of range. Remember they can still cast and attack while rooted though. This can also be made instant with Predatory Swiftness procs.

Infected Wounds - passively applied by your Rake ability, slowing targets by 20% for 12 seconds. A very weak slow compared to equivalent effects, but is applied completely passively for kiting.

Maim / Mighty Bash - two talents that provide point and click stuns to your target. While hard to justify on the talent tree, these are always options if you need extra stops.

Hibernate - a hard-CC limited to Beasts or Dragonkin, with a 1.5-second cast time and a 30-yard range. When used, the target is put to sleep for up to 40 seconds, but damage taken breaks the effect.

Cyclone - an emergency crowd control tool that banishes your target for 6 seconds, making it unable to act while making it immune to all damage and healing effects. This can be used to lock down a dangerous target briefly, but its 1.5-second cast time and diminishing returns make it niche at best.

Ursol's Vortex - locks enemies within the target area, pulling them back to the center if they try to leave (or are forced out). This has good synergy with Typhoon, acting as a pseudo-mass grip by gathering all enemies pushed to its center.

Typhoon - can push enemies back, interrupting casts. Can also force targets out of ground effects.

Incapacitating Roar - an AoE interrupt effect on otherwise immune targets. The low cooldown of this makes it incredibly useful for large groups of enemies, but it does put you into Bear Form, so it comes with a damage loss. Remember that you can make use of Fluid Form to quickly re-enter Cat Form using Shred.

After control, you also need to consider how you are going to survive in dungeons where damage intake can be extremely high. That means sometimes more niche talents for raids shine, allowing you to make it through otherwise lethal mechanics:

Bear Form - allows you to assume a Tank-oriented form when used, granting access to Growl as a taunt effect. This can help in emergencies, increasing your survival and allowing you to redirect pressure from your tank. With Ursine Vigor taken as well, it can act as a short window of additional Health to survive potentially lethal mechanics.

Barkskin - your 1-minute cooldown defensive, providing 30% damage reduction for 12 seconds (with Oakskin and Improved Barkskin). The low cooldown paired with the potent damage reduction makes this a tool to be used liberally, in any situation you feel in danger.

Survival Instincts - is a huge cooldown that is best used for making it through the most lethal mechanics. The massive 60% cooldown reduction provided (with Oakskin) is excellent, but the 6-second duration paired with a 3-minute cooldown means you need to plan wisely.

Heart of the Wild - has a 2-minute cooldown, and when paired with Bear Form grants a massive 30% health increase for 20 seconds. This persists even when you shapeshift out, so is excellent for surviving lethal damage.

Well-Honed Instincts - provides a perfect emergency heal should you be caught off guard, or begin to bleed out over extended periods of time. A great pick and should always be taken.

Druid of the Claw - has access to Frenzied Regeneration even while in Cat Form, providing a large heal for a small Energy cost. This is extremely strong if your Health is looking unstable.

Feral also has a small toolkit for helping out the group with healing, should your healer be struggling:

Predatory Swiftness - allows you to cast Regrowth or Entangling Roots instantly following a finishing move used at 5 Combo Points. This assists with off-healing, or provide emergency crowd control.

Heart of the Wild - when cast outside of any shapeshift, this applies an empowered Wild Growth to your group. While the healing isn't really strong enough to justify a 2-minute cooldown, it can help in an emergency.

Many dungeons have requirements for dispels to deal with certain mechanics, and you cannot simply rely on the healer to cover them all. Feral has two specialty abilities that can be taken if needed:

Remove Corruption - removes both Curse and Poison debuffs from a targeted ally with an 8-second cooldown. This is especially helpful if your healer can't remove either of these effects themselves.

Soothe - an offensive Enrage effect dispel. This has a 40-yard range and a 10-second cooldown, and can be used in Cat Form. Incredibly valuable to any group in any dungeon that has Enrage effects.

Lastly, Druids have some unique tools that are important to keep in mind while navigating Mythic+:

Mark of the Wild - provides 3% Versatility to your group, and is brought by any Druid. This is increased to 6% on yourself with Gift of the Wild as well. Remember to buff this at the start of every dungeon (or if you or an ally dies)!

The act of shapeshifting in or out of Cat Form (or any of your other shapeshift effects) will also break roots, which can be helpful when dealing with certain mechanics.

Fluid Form - a useful point due to the number of utility options that force you out of Cat Form. This means you can quickly get back to dealing damage with a cast of Shred, instead of manually shifting and using up a GCD. A great comfort pick.

Innervate - should always be taken to help your healer out, should an extended pull happen and they need the 10 seconds of Mana-free casting.

Stampeding Roar - grants movement speed to you and all allies within 15 yards. This is useful for sticking to targets, helping allies avoid dangerous effects, or getting to the next pull faster.

Rebirth - a combat resurrection effect, allowing you to revive a player outside of the combat restrictions in the event of an unexpected death. This requires you to leave Cat Form.

Xalatath's Bargain: Ascendant will periodically spawn a number or orbs in waves that need to be crowd-controlled in some way, before they complete a cast. Each orb successfully stopped provides the group bonus Haste, so it is a high priority to deal with.

Feral should make use of Incapacitating Roar and Typhoon, which when aimed correctly can remove a huge number of orbs when they start spawning.

Xalatath's Bargain: Voidbound will periodically summon a large Void Emissary that will begin to cast Dark Prayer. This enemy must be killed before the cast completes to stop it, otherwise it provides significant damage reduction to nearby enemies. If successfully stopped, the group is granted a large amount of Versatility and cooldown reduction.

This needs to be killed off quickly, so ideally, having short, bursty cooldowns like Tiger's Fury or some Combo Points available when it spawns makes things a lot easier for the group.

Xalatath's Bargain: Pulsar spawns an orb that orbits each player, which needs to be soaked by a separate player before they expire. Each orb will grant the party 4% Mastery and 2% Leech, stacking, with a 30-second duration. Unsoaked orbs will increase nearby enemies' damage done, and reduce their damage taken.

Feral has no specific utility to deal with this, instead you need to be aware of your positioning both to make sure other players can soak up the orb circling you, and so you can catch orbs from nearby players.

Xalatath's Bargain: Devour applies a debuff to each party member, that must be either dispelled or healed off (though bear in mind this does not absorb incoming heals). Each debuff dispelled provides the group with maximum health and Critical Strike, stacking, for 30 seconds. Any debuffs not cleared will heal nearby enemies a large amount.

On these weeks, I'd particularly recommend picking up Remove Corruption to help your healer by removing it from yourself instantly. Shapeshifting out of Cat Form will also remove it, as a small slow has been added to the effect in Midnight. Lastly, if that's not an option, Frenzied Regeneration will quickly cover a large amount of the healing requirement when healers are struggling.