Feral Druid DPS Mythic+ Tips — Dragonflight 10.1

In Mythic+ Dungeons, in particular at higher key levels, you will be presented with some of the most challenging and competitive PvE content available in WoW alongside Mythic Raiding.

In keystones, when playing as Feral, your responsibility to contribute to the group's success will be higher than in most raiding groups due to the smaller group size; therefore, skill and execution of strategy are crucial. Being versatile and able to adapt to any situation is a key factor here. It is one of the main things that differentiate it from the more specialized builds used in raiding.

On top of damage, you must also interrupt, dispel, and support the group simultaneously. That means some of the abilities you otherwise would not use often can be invaluable to your group, so make sure to utilize your entire suite of tools.

In this guide, we will be discussing the finer points of Feral Druid and how to get the most out of it, how to gear and set up your character, and some tips to push yourself further.

If you are unfamiliar with Mythic+ and its associated general mechanics, you can read more about it on our Dragonflight Mythic+ Season 1 page below.

For Feral in Mythic+, there are a number of choices that allow you to adjust your damage profile to be either more single-target or more AoE, alongside some comfort picks related to your Energy. We generally recommend a more AoE leaning build that still picks up some strong single-target options along the way, but beneath the build, we will explain some possible alternatives so you can tailor your loadout to the dungeon:

If you want more information about all of the talent options and whether some could be more useful in certain situations, you should use our dedicated Talent page.

While the above build works well, there is room to customize some points depending on the style of damage you aim to focus on. The most common flex points and the reasons behind taking them are as follows:

• Merciless Claws - provides a strong increase to your Incarnation: Avatar of Ashamane windows alongside increasing your builder abilities. A lower value point, but it can be fit into most builds for a modest boost that benefits all target counts.
• Feral Frenzy - an expensive point to take but provides an extra single-target burst tool for priority damage and a resource flood if needed. Good for most dungeons as a mixed ability that can help with priority damage.
• Double-Clawed Rake - a strong AoE talent that makes it easier to maintain Rake on multiple targets. This works best if you expect to spend the majority of the dungeon engaged with lots of enemies but provides no single-target benefit.
• Infected Wounds - amplifies your Rake so works well with the above Double-Clawed Rake to apply it to multiple targets. This is recommended to pair with the above if you take it, but it still has value in single-target situations, so is only dropped in rare situations.
• Moment of Clarity - if you are absolutely sure you are comfortable with your Energy management and Predator resets, this can be dropped to fit in another throughput talent elsewhere on the tree. Removing this alongside all other Energy options puts a huge strain on your available resources, however, and is usually the last to drop.
• Relentless Predator - ensures you always have enough Energy for a high-value Incarnation window by reducing the cost of Ferocious Bite but is one of the weaker Energy positive talents. Due to the nerf in Patch 10.1 and your plentiful resources in large AoE scenarios, this is more of a niche option if you are really struggling with Energy management on bosses.
• Carnivorous Instinct - flat damage increase to your Tiger's Fury, and due to the high uptime in Mythic+ thanks to Predator has extremely good uptime. An expensive point to fit in but highly desirable, so dropping this usually only happens if there is a very specific, strong tool you are looking for.
• Tireless Energy - solid extra Energy redundancy by increasing the cap and smoothing the resource. While it is not a remarkable damage increase, if you are running into issues managing your Energy, this can be a good pick to ease you into the playstyle.
• Ashamane's Guidance is extremely volatile, but it can be powerful if it procs just when you need it. Due to that, it is a very niche pick, but you may find success in certain scenarios.
• Convoke the Spirits is more of a realistic option in 10.1 and can be taken if you want a 1-minute burst cycle in your kit. Thanks to Rampant Ferocity this translates to a strong AoE burst as well (so long as you set up beforehand with Primal Wrath). Just remember you lose both Incarnation's extended duration and Energy smoothing it provides, and it costs an additional talent point to reach Ashamane's Guidance.
• Lion's Strength - this is an alternative to Bloodtalons that is easier to execute, but due to the buffs in Patch 10.1 it is hard to justify switching to. While it is a good pick for comfort, be aware that it will likely come with a potential performance loss.

Alongside the Affix revamp in Season 2, three completely new affixes have been added into the rotation that all activate above keystone level 7. Feral has abilities to counter all 3 of them, making us excellent at dealing with them:

• Afflicted (Dispel required) - While costly, Remove Corruption can be taken to dispel these. Alternatively, you can off-heal with Protector of the Pack and Predatory Swiftness to help the healer in emergencies.
• Incorporeal (CC required) - Most builds path close to Hibernate and can take this to CC these to prevent the cast. Alternatively, Feral has a number of backup CC tools that can be used if something goes wrong.
• Entangling (Periodic Snare) - Shapeshifting will break the vine immediately if you need to get out quickly.

The rules covered in the Rotation, Cooldowns, and Abilities page are still applicable here. In most situations, however, you will default to higher enemy counts, making cleave and AoE your focus. Some additional things to note that can be helpful when trying to improve your output due to the downtime, Mythic+ creates include:

• Pooling Combo Points as targets are about to die so that you can immediately open with a high-value Primal Wrath cast on the next pack gets you started quickly with each pull.
• Try to enter Prowl between each pack and open with Rake to lock down a high-priority target and prevent casts. This could be followed up with the above-mentioned Primal Wrath cast if any Combo Points were lost due to downtime. Just note that this Rake stun will DR other stuns on the target hit, so avoid this if you plan to organize stops.
• Plan your Berserk casts around when you need high burst damage. Due to its duration, this can often be bosses, but that with Berserk: Heart of the Lion, this cooldown is often closer to 2 minutes, so try not to waste uses by holding it too long.
• The same extends to Convoke the Spirits if taken. This is a powerful burst tool, but make sure to already have Rip active via Primal Wrath so that the potential Ferocious Bite casts will deal AoE damage via Rampant Ferocity.
• Due to the reset effect, Predator makes it very easy to set yourself up between each pack. Make sure that you apply Bleeds and maintain them as targets are dying (primarily via either Thrash or Primal Wrath) to trigger it. Do not be afraid to use it as targets are dying in a pack, as they will trigger a reset for the next pack anyway.
• Due to the resets mentioned above, you should be casting Tiger's Fury very aggressively, especially as a target is about to die for the surge of Energy and damage increase window. Uptime should be almost permanent thanks to it and Raging in any dungeon with enemies that die at a staggered rate.

Feral Druid has access to a lot of different tools to assist the group, mainly relating to crowd control and dispel effects, many of which are only available as talents on the Class tree:

Often, the most crucial part of any Mythic+ run (after how you will deal as much damage to kill enemies quickly) is how you intend to lock them down and avoid dangerous casts. Feral comes with some good options for both single-target and AoE disruption:

• Skull Bash is the Feral interrupt tool on a 15-second cooldown, a 13-yard range and has a small charge. This should be used frequently to disrupt enemy casts and can also be used to re-engage targets at range using the charge aspect. Just be careful if using it from a distance, as the charge can put you in dangerous situations.
• Remove Corruption removes both Curse and Poison debuffs from a targeted ally with an 8-second cooldown. Assisting your healer if they cannot remove them or multiple debuffs are present is strongly recommended. While costly to reach, this is recommended during Afflicted affix weeks.
• Soothe is an offensive Enrage effect dispel. This has a 40-yard range and a 10-second cooldown, and can be used in Cat Form. This is incredibly valuable to any group in any dungeon that has Enrage effects or during Raging affix weeks.
• Entangling Roots is a soft crowd control option to lock down enemies in certain situations you want to keep out of range. However, they are still able to cast or attack from range if they have the ability to. This can also be made instant with Predatory Swiftness procs.
• Infected Wounds is passively applied by your Rake effect, slowing targets by 20% for 12 seconds. Not a strong slow, but it can be useful if kiting is needed.
• Maim and Mighty Bash talents are both stun options available to Feral that can be used to lock down single targets and prevent non-interruptible casts.
• Typhoon can push enemies back or interrupt casts from immune enemies. It can also force targets out of ground effects such as Sanguine if needed, which is especially useful during these weeks.
• Incapacitating Roar is 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. That said, the AoE interrupt is more than worth it.
• Ursol's Vortex locks enemies within the area to the position, pulling them back if they are forced or try to leave. This has good synergy with Typhoon, acting as a pseudo-mass grip by gathering all enemies pushed to its center.
• Hibernate is a crowd control option that can be cast on Beasts and Dragonkin with a 1.5-second cast and a 30-yard range. This puts your target to sleep for up to 40 seconds, but any damage taken will break the effect. This is a recommended pick to deal with the Incorporeal affix.
• Cyclone is an emergency crowd control tool that will banish your target for 6 seconds, making it unable to act and immune to all damage and healing effects. This can be used to lock down a dangerous target briefly but has a 1.5-second cast time, and only one enemy can be affected by this at once. It is also quite costly to reach on the tree.

After control, you also need to consider how you are going to survive in dungeons where damage intake can be extremely high or very frontloaded. That means sometimes more niche talents for raids become exceptionally valuable to make it through otherwise lethal mechanics in a situation where you are responsible yourself for surviving:

• Bear Form allows you to assume a Tank-oriented form when used and also grants 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.
• Predatory Swiftness allows you to cast Regrowth instantly or Entangling Roots after casting a finishing move at 5 Combo Points. This can assist with off-healing or provide emergency crowd control.
• Protective Growth is an extremely costly point to take, as it is present on the spec tree where damage options are available, but is still an option if you find yourself struggling to survive.
• Survival Instincts is now mandatory pathing in 10.0.5 and is a huge cooldown that is very useful for making it through the more lethal mechanics. You also have access to the Barkskin baseline, which can be improved with Matted Fur to give a little bit more overhead on one-shot mechanics, and the flat damage reduction from Thick Hide on the Class tree.
• Well-Honed Instincts can provide a perfect emergency heal should you be caught off guard or begin to bleed out over extended periods in some encounters and is a great option even at one point.
• Renewal is an option for burst healing should you find yourself ticking out in bad situations due to high intake, or your healer falls behind. A good emergency button.
• Nature's Vigil provides a conversion for your single-target damage events into healing, allowing you to contribute to the groups survival in high-damage moments without costing damage, so it should be taken in virtually all scenarios.
• Heart of the Wild is a long cooldown, long duration option that gives a large amount of bonus survival while in Bear Form, or additional healing when active. This is a very niche option to hybridize between roles if necessary, but the long cooldown makes it very restrictive in Mythic+ environments.
• Protector of the Pack can also be taken to improve further your healing with Predatory Swiftness, allowing for a stronger, instant emergency heal if needed.

Lastly, these are some effects Feral has access to that do not fit into either of the above category, but can still be extremely useful within a dungeon and are worth considering and remembering:

• Mark of the Wild provides 3% Versatility to your group and is brought by any Druid. Remember to buff this at the start of every dungeon or if an ally dies!
• The act of shapeshifting in or out of Cat Form (or any other form) will also break roots, which can be helpful for some mechanics. It will also immediately snap Entangling vines, removing the need to run out manually.
• Innervate can and should be taken both due to pathing and the benefit of being able 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 can be used for getting back into range for damage, helping allies to avoid dangerous effects or get to the next pull faster.
• Rebirth is a combat resurrection effect, allowing you to revive a player outside of the combat restrictions in the event of an unexpected death to keep the pull alive, but does require you to leave Cat Form.

There are no significant alterations to the gear choices you should be making compared to normal single-target and AoE situations, however, we heavily recommend simming your own character to make sure. Having Patchwerk and then Dungeon Slice profiles to see what can be optimized. Dungeon Slice or Hectic Add Cleave, in particular, is significant, as this will generate activations of Predator with simulated enemy deaths.

Trinkets tend to lean toward on-use or proc effects that are powerful in all situations rather than specific ones, with a preference for any that are frontloaded for burst purposes, so your mileage may vary compared to those that are picked in raids. We tend to lean toward one passive proc/stat trinket paired with an on-use trinket to align with cooldowns and burst windows. You can look at our gear page to know more about the gear to aim for.