Feral Druid DPS Rotation, Cooldowns, and Abilities — Dragonflight 10.2
On this page, you will learn how to optimize the rotation of your Feral Druid in both single-target and multiple-target situations. We also have advanced sections about cooldowns, procs, etc. in order to minmax your DPS. All our content is updated for World of Warcraft — Dragonflight 10.2.
If you were looking for WotLK Classic content, please refer to our WotLK Classic Feral DPS Druid rotation.
Feral Druid Rotation
Welcome to the Rotation section of our Feral Druid guide. If you came here without first checking over the Spell List/Glossary page, we recommend that you do so if you are new to the specialization. Understanding what your spells and abilities do will make it much easier to understand what is discussed on this page.
If you are looking for an introductory primer to get started and find the full breakdowns overwhelming, you can always start with our Easy Mode page to get yourself started with a close-to-optimal build and a more straightforward breakdown. While the recommendations on the page below are not strictly optimal for endgame, they provide an excellent springboard to get to grips with the core gameplay Feral focuses on:
In addition to your rotation in general content, there is also a separate section of this guide devoted to how your playstyle may change in Mythic+ as situations are often less scripted and more hectic. Please take a look at the page below if you are looking for more tailored information for that content:
PvP
The content on this page is purely PvE-related. If you are looking for PvP Rotation Tips, visit our PvP page below.
Feral Druid Rotations
Each of the sections below explain the rotation for Feral at different target counts. Click the boxes to switch to the desired damage type.
Feral Druid Rotation
The buttons below can be used to select between curated talent loadouts from our talent page. You can also use the switches below to add or remove individual talents you may also be using:
Talent Selections | ||
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T31 Set |
Feral Druid Single Target Rotation
Feral Druids in single-target focus on building Combo Points via Energy spenders, and consuming them with powerful Finishing moves in a cycle. It is a mixture of resource management and DoT maintenance, with a heavy emphasis on planning with some reactive elements.
- Cast
Tiger's Fury on cooldown, ideally at 30 Energy or less.
- Cast
Berserk on cooldown with
Tiger's Fury active.
- Maintain
Rip on your target with 5 Combo Points. Only refresh this with
Tiger's Fury and
Bloodtalons active.
- Cast
Ferocious Bite if at 5 Combo Points and
Rip is active on your target.
- Maintain
Thrash, ideally with
Omen of Clarity procs.
- Cast
Shred or
Brutal Slash to build Combo Points.
The most important thread throughout all of Feral is making sure that you
maintain Rip and
Rake as efficiently as possible, ideally
snapshotting them with
Tiger's Fury and
Bloodtalons. After that,
your excess Energy and Combo Points are used to fuel
Ferocious Bite
while always keeping in mind your Bleed maintenance. Some key notes are:
- The Tier 31 set bonus just increases the frequency of your
Feral Frenzy casts, which should be done on cooldown to activate the damage window. If using
Convoke the Spirits, you should try to cast it before activating to amplify the window.
- While in
Berserk, you want to make sure that all of your finishers are cast with 5 Combo Points. However, outside of this, you can spend at 4 instead to avoid any potential overflow that would cost valuable resources.
- When playing with
Bloodtalons, you need to be especially aware of your energy state and current number of charges. Plan around these carefully to make sure that after a finisher, if you are about to run out of charges, you can activate it quickly with 3 builders. This is done by pooling followed by a combination of
Shred,
Thrash,
Rake and either
Moonfire or
Brutal Slash.
AoE Rotation for Feral Druids
Feral in AoE almost entirely hinges off powerful talent picks
in the tree that allow for much easier application of Bleed effects in
AoE. It relies heavily on a mix of the high power spender Primal Wrath
(which can be selected above) and tab-target gameplay with
Rake.
- Cast
Tiger's Fury on cooldown, ideally at 30 Energy or less.
- Cast
Berserk if available, ideally alongside
Tiger's Fury.
- Maintain
Rip on as many targets as possible.
- Cast
Ferocious Bite if at 5 Combo Points,
Rip is active on all targets and your Energy is about to cap.
- Maintain
Thrash, ideally with
Omen of Clarity procs.
- Cycle
Rake on as many targets as possible.
- Cast
Swipe to build Combo Points.
Many of the rules that Feral plays by in single-target remain in Cleave
and AoE situations, and it introduces the multi-DoT requirement of cycling
Rake depending on choices. Your finishers are largely replaced by
Primal Wrath whenever taken, with
Apex Predator's Craving
procs being consumed as quickly as possible. Key notes are:
Swipe
Brutal Slash replaces
Shred as soon as an additional target is present, and you also need to make sure to maintain
Thrash on all nearby targets as much as possible.
- With
Bloodtalons, you should aim to refresh it every single finisher cycle. This is usually with a
Swipe
Brutal Slash,
Rake and
Thrash each time you spend your Combo Points. Try to not overcap Combo Points in pursuit of this refresh, though, as that leaves more damage on the table.
Dire Fixation in AoE is more of a priority damage tool you can use to single out an important target to anchor your damage from. This does not need to be maintained but is something that can be helpful.
Rake should be maintained on as many targets as possible, using your
Sudden Ambush procs wherever possible. With
Double-Clawed Rake taken, be aware when refreshing whether you are overwriting a stronger snapshot if you are switching targets quickly.
Moonfire with
Lunar Inspiration should also be maintained when at lower target counts.
Apex Predator's Craving procs are more plentiful, but due to the extra resources and strain on GCDs, it sometimes makes it hard to slot in between
Bloodtalons cycles. Try to consume this wherever possible.
Feral Druid Opening Sequence
Feral has a relatively fixed opening sequence to generate enough Combo Points to get its Bleeds set up, then enters into its cooldowns.
- Cast
Prowl before combat starts.
- Cast
Rake
- Cast
Shred until you are at 5 Combo Points.
- Cast
Berserk.
- Cast
Tiger's Fury and immediately apply
Rip.
- Continue with the normal priority list.
Always try to have all of your major effects applied before entering
into Berserk in single-target, as you will be spending a lot
of time casting
Shred and
Ferocious Bite due to the
resource flood. Some notes are:
Feral Frenzy with the Tier 31 Set should be cast once you have everything set up, as you want to maximize your time spent spending on direct damage effects.
Convoke the Spirits is also relatively flexible when you use it - ideally when you are low on resources, but with the Tier 31 set, you want to cast it immediately during the window to maximize its damage.
- Both
Berserk and
Tiger's Fury are off the GCD so that they can be used alongside another ability immediately.
- In AoE situations, the opening
Rip is replaced with
Primal Wrath, and
Shred is replaced with
Swipe
Brutal Slash and applying multiple
Rakes to build to your first finisher.
Tier Set Bonus for Feral Druid
These are unique bonuses that are gained within content from each respective season of Dragonflight, found on armor pieces. These vary in power and, in some cases, can alter the rotation when equipped.
Dragonflight Set Bonuses
Amirdrassil Set Bonus for Feral Druid
Season 3 introduces the Benevolent Embersage's Guidance Tier Set, available from the Amirdrassil. The bonuses granted are:
-
Druid Feral 10.2 Class Set 2pc - casting
Feral Frenzy also grants
Smoldering Frenzy, increasing all damage you deal by 20% for 8 seconds.
-
Druid Feral 10.2 Class Set 4pc - reduces the cooldown of
Feral Frenzy by 15 seconds, and during
Smoldering Frenzy, enemies burn for 10% of the damage you deal to them over 10 seconds.
This bonus requires you to take Feral Frenzy at all times
to activate the effect. While extremely powerful, adding in a big
30-second cooldown burst window to overlap with other effects; it
plays intuitively. You simply cast it on cooldown, making sure to
line other cooldowns up with these casts. Make sure as well to have
all of your DoTs set up before entering into it - you want to
fill the 8 seconds with as much direct damage as possible.
This bonus is weighted toward the 4-piece, and as such, you should only switch over as soon as you have the full set completed.
Aberrus Set Bonus for Feral Druid
Season 2 introduced the Strands of the Autumn Blaze Tier Set, available from the Aberrus. The bonuses granted are:
-
Druid Feral 10.1 Class Set 2pc - your auto-attacks have a 25% chance to grant
Shadows of the Predator, increasing Agility by 1%. Each application above 5 has an increasing chance to reset back to 2 stacks.
-
Druid Feral 10.1 Class Set 4pc - when
Shadows of the Predator resets, you gain 8% increased Agility and generate 1 Combo Point every 2 seconds for 8 seconds.
While the bonus is mostly passive and happens in the background,
there is a small rotational quirk when the 4-piece activates. While
Predator Revealed is active, waiting at 4 Combo Points for
it to tick over and reach 5 Combo Points is advised to avoid any
waste. Otherwise, procs will just happen naturally to boost your
Agility.
You should aim to unlock this bonus as quickly as possible, but ideally only after acquiring the full 4 pieces.
Vault of the Incarnates Tier Set Bonus for Feral Druid
Season 1 introduced the Lost Landcaller's Vesture Tier Set, available from the Vault of the Incarnates. The bonuses granted are:
-
Feral Druid 2pc increases the damage of
Rip and
Ferocious Bite by 6%.
-
Feral Druid 4pc causes Finishing moves to increase your
Rip,
Rake and
Thrash damage, and increase the chance for
Shred,
Swipe /
Brutal Slash,
Rake and
Thrash to critically strike by 2% per Combo Point spent for 4 seconds.
While both of these are solid bonuses and provide a substantial increase most of Feral's damage, they do not require any actual gameplay chances to use. The 4-piece on the surface looks quite complex, but just playing the rotation as you usually would provides the full benefit.
Feral Druid Talent Details
Certain talents on the tree have specific interactions and management styles that change your approach. Below, we cover the most rotation-altering picks and how to play around them.
Rotation Warping Talents
Bloodtalons
When playing with Bloodtalons, you will often be playing in
a cycle. That means you will trigger the effect by spending
Energy in quick succession via
Shred into
Rake
into
Thrash/
Brutal Slash (if taken), and then sit
on the three charges before you consume them for a Finisher. If you do not
have any charges remaining from a previous cycle, that means you need
to think about your Energy pool before casting a Finisher to make
sure you can quickly cast three different Combo Point
generators following that to re-activate the buff.
Due to there now being 3 charges, you should be able to buff
all of your finishers with Bloodtalons with as little
waste as possible. Plan out expected refreshes of
Rake
with
Tiger's Fury to efficiently generate these stacks,
and aim to overlap your
Rip Bleed inside this buff
window as well paired with a Bloodtalons stack.
Adaptive Swarm
Playing around Adaptive Swarm has some small quirks that
can be optimized if you choose to do so, and there are additional rules
to consider depending on if you play with
Unbridled Swarm:
- Base
Adaptive Swarm should be applied to your main target with Bleeds active. This can be refreshed, and the charges will be added if it bounces back from an ally. The ideal tactic (once you have an active swarm) is usually to refresh a swarm on the boss that has 1 or 2 stacks as close-to-optimal to the end of the duration as possible, refreshing the dot and extending the duration on your desired target.
- With
Unbridled Swarm,
Adaptive Swarm bounces each have a chance to clone into two swarms, making the ability more complex to optimize with slightly different rules for single-target and AoE:
- In single-target, ideally, you should build up swarms and then leave them alone. When you do not have any (or few) active swarms, cast it on the enemy (refreshing 1-2 stacks at the end of the duration as with a normal swarm). When you have a lot of active swarms, cast it on an ally with 1 stack or no swarms on them. This is to maximize the possible number of bounces (and, therefore, chances for cloning).
- On multi-target, you generally apply the same rule to enemy targets; Prioritizing enemies with 2 stacks, then 1 stack, and finally targets without any swarm active. In Mythic+, you can refresh active swarms on allies between pulls when out of combat to keep them rolling between different packs. Your priority should be 2 stacks > 1 stack > no swarm > 3 stacks in that order.
Sudden Ambush
Sudden Ambush procs are generated from Finishers, so you
will generally be at zero Combo Points when this is generated. Ideally,
you should spend these on
Rake if possible for the Stealth
damage bonus and, when possible, pair it with
Tiger's Fury
to snapshot it at its highest potential. In multi-target situations,
you should use this on separate targets to have multiple high-damage
Rakes ticking. In contrast, try to avoid overwriting
a buffed Rake in single-target if you can. In all other situations,
use it for
Shred if you have excess procs. Note as well
that during
Berserk, this adds another multiplier
to both of these abilities, keeping it valuable during cooldowns.
Brutal Slash
When using Brutal Slash, try to ensure that you always have at
least one charge on cooldown, but bank charges for when a wave
of enemies is about to spawn. Try to have short-duration buffs such as
Tiger's Fury active for as many high-target casts as possible. In
single-target, this is worth casting as a more energy-efficient equivalent
to
Shred. With
Bloodtalons taken as well, this is usually
the third activator in single-target when you have your Bleeds already
maintained.
Lunar Inspiration
Lunar Inspiration revolves around keeping up the
Moonfire DoT. This should be maintained on a single target at all
times. You should also multi-DoT targets with it when you are dealing with
a cleave situation and have selected this. Moonfire should be refreshed when
there are 4.8 seconds or less left on its duration to make maximum use of the
pandemic effect. With this talent, it also becomes a
Bloodtalons
activator.
Apex Predator's Craving
Apex Predator's Craving is quite simple to play around with - whenever
a proc happens, you should aim to consume it as quickly as possible to avoid
wasting a follow-up proc. Due to the
Ferocious Bite being free of
any resource cost and dealing the maximum possible damage, there is no
reason to sit on these procs when they occur.
Feral Druid Cooldowns
Feral comes with 2 DPS cooldowns, one being a short cooldown, high uptime buff that is more rotational, while the other is a mid-duration, long cooldown.
Tiger's Fury increases your damage done by 15% for 10 seconds, on a 30-second cooldown, and is also off the Global cooldown. Additionally, it instantly restores 50 Energy. It should be used on cooldown, but try to burn any excess Energy before casting so it does not waste the generation portion.
Berserk has a 20-second duration and a 3-minute cooldown, and provides the following benefits:
- Generate 1 Combo Point every 1.5 seconds
- Combo Point generating abilities generate 1 additional Combo Point
- Finishing Moves restore up to 3 Combo Points generated over the cap of 5
Shred and
Rake damage increased by 50%
Tiger's Fury and other powerful cooldowns such as
Bloodlust.
You should always be planning your Energy around the refund provided
by Tiger's Fury, so drain in advance as its cooldown is ending. You
should aim to refresh any Bleeds that you need to while it is active
for the snapshot effect. Note as well in AoE scenarios (especially
Mythic+) if enemies are frequently dying and you are using
Predator, you can use this even if you are refreshing an old
buff solely for the quick burst of Energy.
Berserk requires you to more aggressively cycle
between builders and Finishers due to the resource flood. This means
you will sometimes drain yourself, but try to make sure you enter
the window with as much Energy in reserve as possible to
cast as many high-impact spells while it is active. Remember that
the overflow protection granted means that you can generate up
to 3 extra Combo Points without worrying about resource waste.
Note as well, the Berserk bonus damage to
Rake is dynamic rather than a snapshot, so you do not
need to worry about squeezing a rake in just before it fades.
Optional Read: Mastering Your Feral Druid
The above information tells you everything you need to know to get the most out of your Feral Druid's DPS toolkit. Here, we go through the more specific details that let you understand the fundamentals of what makes Feral Druid tick, helping your decision-making.
Combo Points and Energy
As a Feral Druid, the core of your abilities needs Energy to be used. Your Energy bar has a capacity of 100 Energy and refills at a rate of 11 Energy per second. Your Energy regeneration is increased by your Haste.
Feral has a pool of abilities that build Combo Points (defined as builders)
being Shred,
Rake,
Swipe /
Brutal Slash,
and
Thrash. To go with this, you have abilities that spend these
(defined as Finishers), consuming all current Combo Points. The more Combo
Points a Finishing Move consumes, the more powerful (or longer-lasting) its
effect is. Your Combo Point generation is increased by
Primal Fury,
which causes your Combo Point generating abilities to grant an additional
Combo Point any time they critically strike with direct damage.
Bleeds & DoTs
You should always strive to have 100% uptime on the target with
Rake and
Rip. This forms the core of your damage
output and DoT maintenance gameplay. Bear in mind, if you are playing
Circle of Life and Death all of the below effects expire 25% faster.
Rake costs 35 Energy to apply and lasts for 15 seconds, making it the easiest tool to manage.
Rip costs 20 Energy, but its duration is also dependent on how many Combo Points it is applied with, so you should aim to apply Rip at 5 Combo Points for the best Energy efficiency. When done at 5, it lasts for 24 seconds.
Thrash costs 40 Energy to cast and deals its damage over 15 seconds. This, much like Rake, is easy to maintain and applies to all targets hit and should be maintained at all times in AoE and Single-Target. If playing
Thrashing Claws, however, this is completely removed from the rotation and instead maintained by
Shred and
Swipe.
If you have taken the Lunar Inspiration talent, then you also
need to have 100% uptime with
Moonfire. Note this is not a Bleed, so
it gains no benefit from Mastery. Still, it can be cast from 40 yards, making it easier
to maintain as a filler during downtime or on different targets not in melee
range.
Energy Pooling
Energy pooling is beneficial and should be done in most circumstances.
It is not mandatory but can be helpful to improve your output when dealing
with specific fight mechanics. Making sure you have a healthy pool of Energy
before dumping allows you to frontload damage more effectively. You should
always make sure to spend any excess before pressing Tiger's Fury
if possible, to not waste the generation it grants.
Omen of Clarity procs should be used as soon as your
cycle allows so that they do not get overwritten by subsequent procs.
Snapshotting
Bleed snapshotting does still exist for Feral Druids, but it only works with some specific damage-increasing buffs. Snapshotting means that the damage to the Bleed effect will be decided at the time of application and carry over the amplification effect of the following buffs (where applicable) for the entire duration.
The effects that have the snapshot interaction with Bleeds are:
Tiger's Fury;
Sudden Ambush;
Bloodtalons.
Tiger's Fury applies to any Bleed effect, while
Bloodtalons
will only apply to your Finishers in
Rip and
Primal Wrath.
Sudden Ambush also only applies to
Rake via the
Pouncing Strikes
effect.
When to Refresh Bleeds and Buffs
Feral benefits from the Pandemic effect on many tools, allowing you to refresh specific DoT effects, buff up to 30% early, and carry the remaining duration into the next cast. This does not carry over any snapshotting effects; they need to be present when the new effect is applied. The pandemic timers are as follows:
Rake — 4.5 seconds
Rip — 7.2 seconds (assuming 5 Combo Points)
Thrash — 4.5 seconds
Moonfire — 4.8 seconds
Note that these amounts are reduced by 25% when using Circle of Life and Death
due to the increased tick speed.
Tracking these is made considerably easier when using external addons to keep tabs on each buff and debuff. There are some recommended options on our Addons page.
Ferocious Bite
You should always be pooling Energy to 50 before using Ferocious Bite
if you intend to cast it (provided it does not impact your
Rip uptime).
The additional 100% damage is significant due to how hard Bites can hit in
Dragonflight, especially if playing
Saber Jaws.
As covered in the rotation section, ensure you have room
to cast Ferocious Bite before committing the resources to it. That means you
have your Bleed effects in Rake and
Rip maintained and
have enough excess resources that it will not cause either to fall off.
Other Talent Details
Predator is quite straightforward. The only thing to look out
for is not wasting any of the Energy you gain from
Tiger's Fury casts
when there are repeat triggers (unless you know you will be able to reset its
cooldown again shortly after). Also, make sure that any target that is about
to die has a Bleed applied to make sure to capitalize on it.
Dire Fixation should mostly play itself, as in single-target
you should be casting
Shred more often than every 10 seconds. In
AoE, however, it can be worthwhile to weave them in on a priority target you
are funneling into.
Thrashing Claws is a performance loss, but it does simplify the
rotation by completely removing the need to press
Thrash
actively. While it is not usually recommended, it can make the spec easier
to learn early on by replacing this maintenance with your regular
Shred and
Swipe casts.
Moment of Clarity means that you will have an increased frequency
of
Omen of Clarity procs, allowing you periods of smoother Energy
management by having some builders come free. Try to make sure you do not cap
your Energy when these trigger (which is helped by the additional Energy limit
granted), and be aware that you should pool less aggressively when using this to
allow room to make use of the effect.
Feral Frenzy should be used when you have 0 Combo Points, and
you should follow this up with a Finishing Move. This means you need to
ensure that you have the Energy available to use
the surge of Combo Points instantly. Ideally, you should pair every
other cast of this with
Tiger's Fury, too, to boost the damage.
With the Tier 31 Set bonus, this naturally aligns with Tiger's Fury, and
you should plan around using this as soon as it is ready.
Incarnation: Avatar of Ashamane empowers your
Berserk by
increasing its duration to 30 seconds and reducing the Energy cost of all
abilities by 20%. This should still be used on cooldown, and it is essential
to pair it with other damage boosts like
Tiger's Fury
to make the most of it due to it being a cooldown. Aim to have spent
all resources as it is about to expire.
Convoke the Spirits should be cast on cooldown, but try to
save it for burst periods if needed. Casting this after dumping Energy
and Combo Points is good due to the spells casting for free and the flood
of resources it provides.
Ashamane's Guidance, when paired specifically with Incarnation,
each of your
Rake and
Rip effects on a target individually
increase their damage taken from you by 3%. This is active during Incarnation
and for 30 seconds after it fades. While this is active, aim to keep them
both active throughout.
Soul of the Forest is a simple talent that boosts your Finishers
and smooths out your Energy generation. The benefit this talent confers is
enormous to the rotation after each Finisher.
Changelog
- 06 Nov. 2023: Updated for Patch 10.2 and restructured the rotation tool.
- 04 Sep. 2023: Restructured for Patch 10.1.7.
- 10 Jul. 2023: Reviewed for Patch 10.1.5, small tweaks and notes about Dire Fixation AoE.
- 01 May 2023: Updated for Patch 10.1 to include new Berserk changes and updated builds.
- 20 Mar. 2023: Reviewed for Patch 10.0.7.
- 24 Jan. 2023: Updated for Patch 10.0.5.
- 11 Dec. 2022: Updated for Dragonflight season 1.
- 28 Nov. 2022: Updated for Dragonflight launch.
- 25 Oct. 2022: Updated for Dragonflight pre-patch.
More Druid Guides
Guides from Other Classes
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.
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