Feral Druid DPS Spec, Builds, and Talents — 12.1

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Feral maintains a similar Hero Tree split in Midnight, but in Season 2 there's a lot of overlap in both throughput and damage profiles. The two options are tuned extremely close together, with similar damage tools. The only thing that really separates them is a combination of flexibility, defense and survival. Our current recommendations depending on content are as follows.

• Raid / Single Target - Wildstalker and Druid of the Claw are both very close in single-target, with similar damage profiles. Wildstalker has an easier time transitioning to low-target cleave (common in The Venomous Abyss), but Druid of the Claw boasts better defense for survival during progress. Both can be played.
• Mythic+ / AoE - Again, in AoE both trees have fairly similar AoE damage, though Druid of the Claw takes advantage of the Blood Spattered buff slightly more to sacrifice less priority damage. With a slightly lower execution requirement and better defense, it edges out.

While both Hero Trees differ in the exact way they deliver their damage, their throughput is extremely close to each other in almost all situations. They also share similar cooldown windows, meaning either can be played in most content. Wildstalker's ability to stretch some of its talent picks further when cleave is introduced gives it the edge in raids, as The Venomous Abyss contains a number of Cleave encounters. Druid of the Claw on the other hand is easier to execute, and has a more robust defensive toolkit, suiting it well to Mythic+. Below we have some important codes if you want to jump straight in-game:

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The builds listed above are recommendations based on strength and popularity, covering each area of content in endgame PvE. Each build has its own rotation to execute, with unique aspects to master, with their own tricks up their sleeve to assist your group in different encounters.

Introduced in Patch 12.0.7, the Omnium Folio is a player power system that provides a small number of performance boosting effects, unlocked through a series of quests. These bonuses aren't related to any gear pieces, and are always active on your character. Some provide additional damage, while others grant some healing and extra defensive tools.

Below, we've listed recommendations on each of the five Runes, unlocked as you complete the Folio quest chain:

• Rune 1 - Rune of Unleashed Fire
• Rune 2 - Rune of Self-Mending
• Rune 3 - Rune of Lingering
• Rune 4 - Rune of Masterful Cunning
• Rune 5 - Rune of Overload

It's worth noting that the difference between most of these effects is very minor. The fourth stat boosting Rune, however, can shift around depending on your gear, so it's a good place to balance out stats if you're lacking any. Since both Druid of the Claw and Wildstalker lean toward different stats, Haste, Mastery & Critical Strike can all be good options depending on your gear balance.

The Feral Apex Talent, Unseen Predator, focuses on adding additional damage to your finisher casts. These add even more incentive to cycle your resources correctly, and are used in all builds currently:

• Unseen Predator first point - Ferocious Bite has a 15% chance per Combo Point spent to trigger either Unseen Slash or Unseen Swipe, depending on targets nearby. Deals reduced damage if less than 5 Combo Points and 50 Energy was spent to trigger it.
• Unseen Predator second and third point - increases all damage you deal by 7.5% per point for 1 second per Combo Point spent when an Unseen Attack is triggered via Unseen Predator. Extra attacks will extend the duration.
• Unseen Predator fourth point - increases all Rip damage you deal by 30%. Additionally, casting Tiger's Fury will cause your next two Combo Point generating attacks to trigger an Unseen Attack at maximum strength.

The entire package is quite strong, buffing finishers both through the bonus damage, the DoT amplification of Rip, and the follow-up buffs granted by Unseen Predator. Since the effect mostly happens from normal gameplay, they simply act as pure throughput increases both in single-target and AoE, with universal benefits for both Wildstalker and Druid of the Claw.

Feral has two Hero Talent choices that lean into different aspects of its core playstyle, and alter your gameplay goals depending on which you pick. These two Hero Talents are Druid of the Claw and Wildstalker.

This tree grants access to Ravage, which is triggered via auto-attacks, massively empowering your next Ferocious Bite. Specific mechanics are:

• Ravage deals AoE damage, triggered via your auto-attack procs & Claw Rampage during Berserk.
• Tear Down the Mighty improves both Feral Frenzy and Chomp damage.

This positions Druid of the Claw as the more direct-damage focused tree, focusing on Ferocious Bite and extra burst. It also provides superior defensive benefits, improving both Bear Form and granting easier access to Frenzied Regeneration.

Conversely, Wildstalker focuses heavily on DoT effects and Bleeds in the Feral toolkit. Most importantly, Bloodseeker Vines will grow on targets affected by Rake and Rip, dealing Bleed damage and amplifying your other abilities. Some specific mechanics are:

• Hunt Beneath the Open Skies encourages Lunar Inspiration, leaning into a heavier DoT playstyle.
• Bursting Growth causes additional AoE when you cast Ferocious Bite on targets affected by Bloodseeker Vines, providing additional benefits to your finishers.

Wildstalker is generally more single-target and low cleave oriented, due to its heavy Bleed and DoT focus. With recent talent tree changes, it has an easier time hybridizing, so it's more versatile than it previously was in Midnight.

"War Mode" is an optional feature that enables open-world PvP encounters that confer some benefits when active:

• Grants access to PvP talents in the open-world.
• 10% increase in World Quest rewards at max level.
• 10% more experience gained while leveling.
• Earn Conquest Points, which can reward gear every week.

With the benefits of War Mode for leveling and PvE content, it is an optional way to maximize your leveling speed and reward potential. However, you will open yourself up to open-world PvP, so be aware of hostile enemy players who could interfere with you; this is a risk you will have to decide on your own if you want to take.

Generally, the selections are made to optimize your ability to kill enemies faster, increasing your pace when moving through content.

• Fresh Wound can provide additional burst to targets when applying your Rake effect, and is a solid increase across the board when cycling between targets.
• Ferocious Wound provides additional damage to your Ferocious Bite. Value is mostly tied to the difficulty of the enemies you are encountering, and is especially valuable against high health elites.
• Leader of the Pack increases the movement speed of you and nearby allies by 10%, and causes players to heal for 3% of their maximum health when they critically strike with an 8-second cooldown. This provides some additional speed and sustain passively.
• Savage Momentum causes successful interrupts with Skull Bash to reduce the cooldown of Tiger's Fury, Stampeding Roar and Survival Instincts by 10 seconds. This can be useful for moving around the world, and also provides extra burst windows.
• Thorns can provide some use if in situations with extra enemies present, allowing you to deal additional damage back when being hit.

Freedom of the Herd, High Winds, Malorne's Swiftness, Wicked Claws, and Strength of the Wild on the other hand have very limited PvE uses, being more focused on in-combat control and group assistance. These are geared instead toward PvP encounters, so are not recommended for open-world play.

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