Feral Druid Guide for WoW Forever: Cat, Bear, Talents and Leveling

Feral is one tree for two roles: as a cat you deal damage, as a bear you tank, and the rankings rate both A. Forever changed a lot. Bear Form generates 115% more threat, Shred hits for 200% weapon damage, Berserk is gone, and the new capstone is Primal Bite. In Cat Form your auto attack equals your weapon's damage per second at a 1.0-second swing, so your weapon finally matters.

Talents and builds

The links open the talent calculator with the finished build, including why the points go where they go.

• Leveling: Feral leveling (low downtime) (points 0/34/17). All-round leveling build with good mana efficiency: it takes the standard Feral talents first, then puts the remaining points into Restoration so you can heal yourself and rarely stop. The calculator shows the point-by-point order below the tree.
• Raid: Feral cat PvE (raid & dungeons) (points 9/32/10). Built for pure damage in Cat Form, while still picking up most of the talents you need to function as a bear tank if needed.
• Raid: Feral bear tank (raid & dungeons) (points 9/32/10). Hybrid tank build that plays exactly like a pure bear, but in Cat Form skips Shredding Attacks and relies on Claw.
• PvP: Feral PvP (points 0/35/16). A standard Feral PvP build that goes deep into Restoration for Swiftmend and plenty of mana regeneration.

Where it ranks

• PvE DPS (raid): Stays A: fifth and sixth in the simulations. Since 11 November Rend and Tear also works on the Pounce bleed. Several new lists rate cat only B.
• PvE tanks: The newest simulation has the bear first in threat, plus lots of effective health and Primal Bite. The lists range from B to S, most say A.
• PvP (battleground/open world): Drops from A to B: Feral Charge roots and interrupts, shapeshifting breaks slows. The new lists mostly rate cat B; only one older list says S.
• Leveling: B, one list says A: fast travel in Cat Form, safe as a bear against several mobs, healing between fights.

The tiers combine several tier lists and level-60 simulations. Raid logs only exist from 9 December, so treat this as a snapshot. Every spec side by side: rankings.

Cat rotation

1. Keep Mark of the Wild, Thorns and Faerie Fire up. Faerie Fire is free in forms on a 6-second cooldown.
2. Ferocious Bite only at five combo points, with lots of Energy and while Rip still has a few seconds left.
3. Shifting Power when you are at about 50 Energy or less. It gives 40 Energy and costs mana like shifting into Cat Form.
4. Spend Clearcasting on Shred.
5. Rip at five points if it is missing.
6. Rake if it is missing.
7. Shred to build points, Claw from the front.

Pool Energy so you refresh Rip and Rake right as they run out, without capping before your next Shifting Power. Bleeds only pay off on targets that live a few more seconds. Switching targets costs all your combo points, and the cat has no AoE. Blood Frenzy gives an extra point when a combo ability crits, and Natural Instinct raises crit damage to 220%.

Bear rotation

1. Mark of the Wild and Thorns on yourself, Faerie Fire and Demoralizing Roar on the target.
2. Primal Bite on cooldown: 20 Rage, very high threat.
3. Keep Lacerate at five stacks and never let it drop; otherwise use it as filler.
4. Maul only above roughly 35 Rage. It replaces your next swing and must never leave Primal Bite short of Rage.

On packs, Swipe replaces Lacerate, Primal Bite goes on the mob that needs threat, and Faerie Fire on as many as you can. Growl and Challenging Roar pull loose mobs back.

Barkskin works in Bear Form in Forever and is your main defensive cooldown. Frenzied Regeneration can heal up to 100% of your health with enough Rage. You have no bigger emergency buttons, and crushing blows still hit you.

Stats

Cat: weapon damage, hit to 8% against raid bosses (80 rating), expertise to 6.5%, then Agility and Strength, then crit. Two-handers like maces, polearms and staves are the first choice, and enchants and stones work in form.

Bear: defense to 440 so bosses can no longer crit you, plus armor and Stamina; guides disagree on the order of those two. The armor cap against level-63 bosses is 17,265. For threat, hit and expertise count. Heart of the Wild gives 20% more Stamina in Bear Form, and 12 dodge rating is 1% dodge.

Common mistakes

• Refreshing Rip or Rake early, or letting them drop.
• Capping Energy or wasting the Energy from Shifting Power.
• Ferocious Bite while Rip is about to fall off.
• Shredding from the front.
• As a bear, pouring Rage into Maul until Primal Bite is out of reach.
• Letting Lacerate stacks, Faerie Fire or Demoralizing Roar drop.
• Leaving form for Innervate or Rebirth while actively tanking.

Leveling

Feral is the recommended druid leveling spec, but it starts slowly. Bear Form comes at 10, Aquatic Form at 16 and Cat Form at 20 from class quests, Travel Form at 30 from the trainer, Dire Bear Form at 40. Until 20 you fight with Wrath and Moonfire. Feral Swiftness gives the cat 30% speed and is worth taking early. Between fights, shift out briefly and heal with Regrowth. Your mana regenerates in form, so you rarely need to drink. Use the bear for packs and the cat for single weak mobs.

In groups and raids

Leader of the Pack gives the party or raid 3% crit, not on top of Moonkin Aura. On top: Faerie Fire, Innervate and Rebirth. The bear is considered a very strong off-tank in the level-60 models. The cat raid build picks up most of the bear talents, so you can switch when needed.

Further reading

• Druid class guide: races, new abilities and every build of the class
• The other specs: Balance Druid, Restoration Druid
• Raid comp planner: put your raid together and see which buffs are still missing
• Druid talent calculator: plan your own build and share it as a link