Feral Druid DPS Rotation, Cooldowns, and Abilities — The War Within (11.2)

Feral Druid in single-target focus heavily on its resource economy, building Combo Points by spending Energy, then consuming them on powerful Finishing moves. This resource management is at the core of every build, paired with active Bleed maintenance throughout.

1. Cast Ferocious Bite / Ravage with an Apex Predator's Craving proc.
2. Cast Bloodtalons generators if at 1 charge - Click for Bloodtalons Details

   • Always pool some Energy around when this happens. Aim to have enough to be able to quickly follow up with 3 different generators following the finisher cast that consumes the final charge.
3. Cast Tiger's Fury on cooldown - Click for Details

   • Either use alongside 5 Combo Points, or when 30 Energy below your cap.
4. Cast Rip with 5 Combo Points if it's not active, or expiring within 5 7 sec - Click for Rip Rules

   • Aim to only apply/refresh this with Tiger's Fury and Bloodtalons active when possible.
5. Cast Rake if it's not active, or expiring within 35 sec.
6. Cast Moonfire if it's not active on your target, or expiring within 35 sec.
7. Cast Adaptive Swarm.
8. Cast Feral Frenzy on cooldown at 0-1 Combo Points.
9. Cast Berserk on cooldown. Sync with Tiger's Fury and Convoke the Spirits.
10. Cast Convoke the Spirits with Tiger's Fury active - Click for Details

    • Aim to cast this at the tail end of Berserk, with as few Combo Points as possible. Make sure to use before Tiger's Fury expires.
11. Cast Ferocious Bite / Ravage with 5 Combo Points, and Rip has more than 57 sec remaining.
12. Cast Rake with Sudden Ambush or Shadowmeld - Click for Details

    • Do this as a priority only if your current Rake can be empowered by the Pouncing Strikes Snapshot, or is about to expire.
13. Cast Brutal Slash if near/at to 3 charges.
14. Cast Thrash if it's not active, or expiring within 35 sec.
15. Cast Shred to build Combo Points.

The most important thread throughout all of Feral is making sure that you maintain Rip and Rake efficiently, ideally snapshotting them with Tiger's Fury and Bloodtalons. After that, excess Energy and Combo Points are used to fuel Ferocious Bite. Some key notes are:

• When using the previous Season 2 Set, all builds require Apex Predator's Craving. Make sure to have it selected if you haven't switched to the new set yet, so you can still trigger Big Winner!!!!
• With the Season 3 Set, there's no rotational changes for Druid of the Claw Wildstalker , the benefits are passive.
• Adaptive Swarm is cast on cooldown, but can be optimized around stacks timing out. Recasts roughly align with both Feral Frenzy and Tiger's Fury casts.
• With Bloodtalons, you need to be pay extra attention to your Energy state. Make sure you have enough of a reserve to quickly cast 3 generators following a finisher, especially if you just consumed your final charge. This requires some pooling.
• With Lunar Inspiration, you should also be maintaining Moonfire at 100% uptime.
• Your Sudden Ambush procs and Shadowmeld should be used on Rake, to amplify it via Pouncing Strikes. Avoid refreshing early if you'll overwrite a stronger bleed.
• When committing resources to cast Ferocious Bite / Ravage, Always be at 50 Energy or more.

Feral in AoE almost entirely hinges on powerful talent picks in the tree that attach AoE components to single-target finishers. Primal Wrath allows for much easier application of Rip, and Rampant Ferocity converts Ferocious Bite into AoE damage when paired together.

1. Cast Primal Wrath with 5 Combo Points under these conditions - Click for Conditions

   • Rip isn't active, or has less than 34 sec remaining during Berserk;
   • Rip isn't active, or has less than 7 sec remaining;
   • Rip snapshot can be strengthened with Tiger's Fury or Bloodtalons.
   • There are 8 or more targets present.
   • There are 7 or more targets present.
2. Cast Ferocious Bite / Ravage with 5 Combo Points, or with Apex Predator's Craving.
3. Cast Bloodtalons activators between finishers - Click for Bloodtalons Notes

   • This needs to be refreshed more aggressively due to Apex Predator's Craving procs.
   • Do not waste Combo Points to activate this.
4. Cast Adaptive Swarm
5. Cast Tiger's Fury on cooldown - Click for Details

   • Aim to be 70 or more Energy below your cap when used.
6. Cast Berserk, sync with Tiger's Fury and Convoke the Spirits.
7. Cast Feral Frenzy at 0-1 Combo Points.
8. Cast Convoke the Spirits with Tiger's Fury active - Click for Details

   • Cast this during Berserk, before Tiger's Fury expires, with as few Combo Points as possible.
9. Cast Thrash if it's not active, or expiring within 35 sec.
10. Cast Rake, cycling between targets.
11. Cast Brutal Slash with charges.
12. Cast Moonfire, cycling between targets.
13. Cast Swipe to generate Combo Points.
14. Cast Shred to generate Combo Points.

Many of the rules that Feral plays by in single-target remain in multi-target situations, alongside the need to apply Rake to multiple enemies. Primal Wrath replaces Rip entirely, and excess Combo Points are spent on Ferocious Bite for priority damageto trigger Rampant Ferocity. Apex Predator's Craving procs are spent as quickly as possible. Key notes are:

• Primal Wrath is your way of applying Rip to multiple targets. If you don't currently have DoTs active, this is your top priority before anything else.
• As Druid of the Claw, Ravage is your top priority. Cast this with 5 Combo Points, so long as you have have active Rip. This extends to Ferocious Bite for Rampant Ferocity.
• Swipe Brutal Slash replaces Shred at 2 or more targets. Never allow this to cap at 3 charges.
• With Bloodtalons, try to refresh charges every finisher cycle. This is usually with Swipe ➜ Brutal Slash ➜ Rake ➜ Thrash each time you spend Combo Points, but avoid wasting any Combo Points doing this.
• Rake should be maintained on as many targets as possible, using any Sudden Ambush procs to amplify them. Try to avoid overwriting Snapshotted Bleeds. Moonfire with Lunar Inspiration should also be maintained while at lower target counts.
• With Unbridled Swarm, aim to cast Adaptive Swarm on targets that do not have a Swarm present, or currently have low stacks.
• Apex Predator's Craving procs are more plentiful, but that makes it hard to slot in between each Bloodtalons cycle. Still, try to consume these as a priority to avoid wasted procs.

Feral has a relatively fixed opening sequence to generate enough Combo Points to get its Bleeds set up, then enters into its cooldowns. How you spend your first few sets of Combo Points, however, varies depending on the target count, so select the encounter type below:

1. Cast Prowl before combat starts.
2. Cast Rake from Stealth to trigger Pouncing Strikes.
3. Cast Moonfire.
4. Cast Brutal Slash to spend a charge.
5. Cast Thrash if you have not yet triggered Bloodtalons.
6. Cast Thrash.
7. Cast Shred until you are at 5 Combo Points.
8. Cast Adaptive Swarm.
9. Cast Berserk.
10. Cast Tiger's Fury.
11. Cast Primal Wrath with your first 5 Combo Points.
12. Cast Rip to your primary target.
13. Cast Rip with your first 5 Combo Points.
14. Cast Feral Frenzy.
15. Cast Shred Swipe Brutal Slash and Rake until you reach 5 Combo Points.
16. Cast Ferocious Bite Ferocious Bite Ravage.
17. Cast Convoke the Spirits when low on Energy/Combo Points before Tiger's Fury expires.
18. Continue with the normal priority list.

Always try to have all of your major effects applied before entering into Berserk, as you will be spending a lot of time casting, building, and spending aggressively due to the resource flood. Some notes are:

• As Druid of the Claw, Killing Strikes is always taken, so your first Tiger's Fury will instantly grant Ravage. This replaces your opening Ferocious Bite cast.
• Convoke the Spirits is flexible when you use it. Make sure Berserk and Tiger's Fury overlap it.
• With Feral Frenzy in the opener, cast this after emptying your Combo Points.
• Both Berserk and Tiger's Fury are off the GCD, so can be used together alongside another ability.
• In AoE situations, the opening Rip is replaced with Primal Wrath, and Shred is replaced with Swipe Brutal Slash, alongside Rake applications to build to your first finisher.

Berserk is Feral's major cooldown. This lasts for 15 seconds, with a cooldown of 3 minutes (reduced to 2 minutes with Berserk: Heart of the Lion). This is your strongest damage window, and should be used as close to on cooldown as possible alongside other strong effects. While active, it provides several benefits:

• Generates 1 Combo Point every 1.5 seconds
• All ability damage increased by 15%.
• Combo Point generating abilities generate 1 additional Combo Point, and up to 3 Combo Points can be stored above the cap as Overflowing Power.
• Finishing Moves consume Overflowing Power stacks to refund the same amount of Combo Points.
• Berserk: Frenzy — Combo Point generators apply a Bleed for 150% of damage dealt over 8 sec.
• Incarnation: Avatar of Ashamane — duration increased to 20 seconds, and the Energy cost of Cat Form abilities reduced by 25% while active.

While there are a lot of effects tied into it, the main impact is quite simple: you deal significantly more damage, and have access to much more resources. Feral is known for its exceptional 2-minute burst, and this plays a key part in that, strongly encouraging the use of on-use trinkets to lean itno it further. This should be lined up with Tiger's Fury and Convoke the Spirits, and, while active, you should aim to be spending as much resources as possible, ideally having none left as it expires.

Tiger's Fury is a 30-second cooldown, is off the GCD, and instantly generates 50 Energy when used. Additionally, all Feral ability damage is increased by 15% for 10 seconds. This damage increase also Snapshots Bleed effects applied while active, applying to their full duration. There are a number of talents present on the Feral tree that interact with this:

• Predator — increases the duration by 5 seconds, and increases the damage of Combo Point generating abilities by 40% of your Haste at all times.
• Savage Fury — Tiger's Fury grants 10% Haste, and increases Energy recovery rate by 25% for 6 seconds.
• Raging Fury — increases the duration by an additional 5 seconds.
• Tiger's Tenacity — causes your next three Finishing Moves after casting to also restore 1 Combo Point. Additionally, the Tiger's Fury damage snapshot applied to Bleeds is also increased by 10%.
• Carnivorous Instinct — increases the damage bonus by 6% per point spent.

As you can see, Tiger's Fury makes up a major part of Feral's talent tree, and is a core component of gameplay. It's pressed as close to every 30 seconds as possible, ideally with low Energy to take advantage of the refund. While active, you should aim to reapply fresh Bleeds to take advantage of the Snapshot, and sync its uses with other strong cooldowns such as Berserk and Convoke the Spirits.

Convoke the Spirits is a 2-minute burst cooldown which, when used, casts a quick succession of 16 Druid spells (free of cost) over 4 seconds. This can be channeled while moving, but is also susceptible to interrupt effects. Each cast prefers a Feral Spell, but a handful of abilities from other specs are also mixed into the pool. As of The War Within, this prioritizes single-target abilities on your current target. Some quick notes about the abilities it casts are:

• Ferocious Bite is the finisher in the Feral pool. This is considered a max Combo Point cast that did consume additional Energy, but is not increased further by Saber Jaws.
• Any Combo Point generating ability will still generate a Combo Point for you.
• The "exceptional spell" it can cast is Feral Frenzy.
• Moonfire, Rejuvenation, Regrowth and Wrath are also in the pool.
• Sudden Ambush will be consumed.
• Ravage will be consumed.
• Apex Predator's Craving will not be consumed.

Due to the buffs provided by Berserk and Tiger's Fury, this should always be cast during these windows. Their cooldowns naturally align, so avoid drifting them apart from each other.

Ashamane's Guidance can be taken, reducing the cooldown to 1-minute while also reducing the spell count to 12. While not typically fit into current builds, this lower cooldown means you should strictly stick to a 1-minute cast cycle to keep it aligned with Berserk and Tiger's Fury. Feral Frenzy is also more frequently picked from the pool of spells when used.

Feral Druid's core rotation is dictated by its dual resource system: Energy and Combo Points. The first of these, Energy, has a base capacity of 100 (increased by certain Talents), and refills at a rate of 11 Energy per second (increased by Haste). This is used to fuel every ability, both your Combo Point generators, and your Combo Point finishers.

Feral has a few different abilities to build Combo Points (known as generators): Shred, Rake, Swipe / Brutal Slash, Thrash, Moonfire (with Lunar Inspiration) and finally Feral Frenzy. When used, these generate at least 1 Combo Point, and with Primal Fury taken will also generate an additional one with Critical Strikes. These are in turn used to fuel your most powerful abilities.

Finishing Moves (known as finishers) spend all your Combo Points at once, and often come with an Energy cost. The more Combo Points spent, the higher the damage (or stronger the effect), so always aim to cast with the cap of 5. Your most commonly used finishers are Rip / Primal Wrath to apply powerful DoTs, and Ferocious Bite for direct damage.

Due to the slow generation of Energy for Feral, the concept of "pooling" Energy is an important one. This means holding your ability uses until certain conditions are met, then spending to maximize efficiency. Feral always has a natural amount of downtime in its rotation, so planning these moments rather than being forced into a dry period is usually better. Also, try to always bottom out your Energy in the lead-up to each Tiger's Fury cast, which generates a burst of resources.

Omen of Clarity procs should be used as soon as possible (below 5 Combo Points) to avoid overwriting procs. With Moment of Clarity, this allows you to sit on one charge, allowing it to accumulate up to 2.

Feral should always aim to have 100% uptime on both Rake and Rip, with additional DoTs included based on your talent build. This is the core of your damage output, and creates the maintenance playstyle that defines Feral. Remember, if you're playing Circle of Life and Death all of the below effects expire 25% faster!

• Rip — costs 20 Energy, but duration is dependent on how many Combo Points you apply it with. Aim to use 5 for the best Energy efficiency, and when you do so it lasts for 24 seconds.
• Rake — costs 35 Energy to apply, lasts for 15 seconds. Apply rotationally.
• Thrash — costs 40 Energy, lasts for 15 seconds. Apply rotationally.
• With Lunar Inspiration — Moonfire costs 40 Energy, lasts for 18 seconds. Apply rotationally.

Feral benefits from the Pandemic effect on many tools, allowing you to refresh specific DoT effects up to 30% early, and carry the remaining duration into the next cast. This does not carry over any snapshotting effects; these instead 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% with Circle of Life and Death, increasing their tick speed.

Tracking these is made considerably easier when using external addons, allowing you to keep tabs on each debuff. We recommend using an external Weakaura to track this, and you can find one in the Weakauras section of our Addons page:

"Snapshotting" is a core pillar of Feral Druid gameplay, used to power up your Bleed effects. It's limited to a specific suite of buffs, and their effects apply to the entire duration of a DoT applied under their effects.

The effects that have the snapshot interaction with Bleeds, and which DoTs they affect are:

• Tiger's Fury — all DoT effects;
• Tiger's Tenacity — Rake, Rip, Thrash, Feral Frenzy, Bloodseeker Vines;
• Sudden Ambush — Rake;
• Bloodtalons — Rip / Primal Wrath;
• Moment of Clarity — Thrash.

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.

Generally, the rule to follow is to only ever overwrite a DoT effect if you will apply a stronger snapshot, if possible. If you aren't currently able to do so, then wait until the initial Bleed expires to reapply.

Ferocious Bite is your direct-damage finisher, but it's only used siphon off excess Combo Points after you have Rip (or Primal Wrath) active. When casting it, make sure to have enough room with the remaining duration that you can generate Combo Points before DoTs expire. Also always try to have 50 Energy when using Ferocious Bite to amplify its damage (and doubly so if playing with Saber Jaws).

As covered in the rotation section, this is only something you commit to when you have spare resources. While it can be appealing to see the big damage it deals, losing uptime on DoTs is almost never worth the investment. Apex Predator's Craving procs, however, cause this to be completely free, and should be consumed immediately. These procs do gain the bonus damage from extra Energy consumption, but do not get increased further by Saber Jaws.

The above rules also apply to Rampant Ferocity, causing it to be amplified by additional Energy consumption. This talent makes it even more important to have Rip applied to all nearby targets before committing to it, as it only hits targets with DoTs active.

As Druid of the Claw, you also gain access to Ravage procs. These follow all of the above rules, being functionally identical to Ferocious Bite in terms of how it scales. With the Season 3 Set bonus, the Ravage echos triggered by the 4-piece have the following added conditions:

• Coiled to Spring is snapshot from the initial cast, doesn't consume the buff.
• Bloodtalons is snapshot from the initial cast, doesn't consume a charge.
• Ruthless Aggression, Killing Strikes and the 2-piece are triggered.
• A new Ravage echo can't be triggered until the first occurs.
• Echoes do not consume Tiger's Tenacity, Ravage procs or Apex Predator's Craving.
• Stats update dynamically to the new Ravage echo.

Playing around Bloodtalons adds an extra layer of resource management for Feral. This has a heavy focus on pooling Energy to activate, as the effect is triggered by a quick succession of 3 different Combo Point generators within 4 seconds. This means you need a pool in reserve to trigger this when needed, with any of the following abilities:

• Shred
• Rake
• Thrash
• Swipe / Brutal Slash
• Moonfire (with Lunar Inspiration)
• Feral Frenzy

This generates 3 charges when activated, so you have a few finishers between each cycle to plan resources. In AoE, this gets a bit more hectic with the addition of Apex Predator's Craving (that does consume a charge), so you may need to trigger this more aggressively. Most talent builds pick a third activator for single-target (either Brutal Slash or Lunar Inspiration) for better efficiency.

This is also a Snapshot effect, meaning that it applies its benefit to the entirety of a Rip / Primal Wrath DoT applied using a charge. That means you should always try to apply these buffs while consuming a charge in the process.

Feral has several rotationally impactful talents, each with their individual rules. These are more basic, simple conditionals rather than things that impact the entire playstyle. We've covered these below:

This is cast on cooldown to amplify our other DoT effects. If possible, aim to refresh this on a boss that has 1-2 stacks, and as close to the end of the duration as possible to extend it. Unbridled Swarm has some small extra considerations:

• In AoE, applying Adaptive Swarm follows a priority list of enemy states:
  2 stacks ➜ 1 stack ➜ 0 stacks ➜ 3 stacks, in that order.

Sudden Ambush procs are generated from Finishers, so you will (usually) be at 0 Combo Points when this triggers. This should be spent on maintaining Rake, snapshotting the benefits of Pouncing Strikes, and overlapping with other snapshot effects when possible. In multi-target situations, also try to maintain this on multiple targets. Avoid overwriting buffed Rakes in single-target, unless you will also be applying an amplified one.

When using Brutal Slash, try to ensure that you always have at least one charge on cooldown. This is always worth casting as an energy-efficient equivalent to Shred in single-target. With Bloodtalons taken, this serves as a third activator in the sequence alongside other builders.

Feral Frenzy should be used when you have 0-2 Combo Points, and immediately followed with a finishing move. This means you both need the Energy to cast it, and to use the follow-up Combo Point spender in quick succession. Whenever possible, overlap this with Tiger's Fury.