Friday, August 13, 2010

Best Feral DPS Spec in Cataclysm

THIS POST IS BASED ON EARLIER BETA BUILDS
CHECK OUT THE NEW BEST FERAL SPEC FOR 4.0.1 AND CATACLYSM

Continuing my rundown of the ideal Feral Druid specs for Cataclysm, today I will be laying out what I believe to be the best Cat Form spec.  As I mentioned in my post on the problems with the Feral Tree in Cataclysm, there are not very many talent options for Feral dps in the current 31 point talent setup.  As a result, I believe that this spec is not only the best Cataclysm Feral DPS spec, but it may in fact be the only one that makes any sense at all.  Check it out after the bump.

Best Cataclysm Feral DPS Spec


Feral Tier 1
Feral Swiftness (2/2):  30% extra movement speed will help you stick to a boss like glue by minimizing time devoted to troublesome encounter mechanics.  Max out this talent.
Heart of the Wild (3/3):  At three points for 10% Attack Power, you will want this one as well.
Predatory Strikes (2/2):  This talent makes Ravage an excellent opener and allows you to shift and pop instant heals, battle resurrections, roots, or cyclones.  You would be well served to spend two talent points here.

Feral Tier 2
Infected Wounds (2/2):  For 2 points you can significantly reduce incoming tank damage while simultaneously crippling runners.  Unless you spend 100% of your time with another Feral Druid who has this talent, pick it up yourself.
Fury Swipes (3/3):  More attacks means more damage.  Drop the full three points here.
Primal Fury (2/2):  This is a staple Cat Form talent and one of the reasons Feral dps scales so well with gear.  You cannot miss this talent.
Feral Aggression (2/2):  10% extra damage on every cat's favorite combo point dump is an easy sell.

Feral Tier 3
King of the Jungle (3/3):  Cat's love Tiger's Fury, so why not spend 3 points to make it better.  Just be sure not to pop the ability with a full energy bar without Primal Madness (which you should take anyway).
Feral Charge (1/1):  Getting on that mob sooner leads to more dps.  This ability is well worth a point.
Improved Feral Charge (2/2):  Predatory strikes makes Ravage a strong opener and this talent lets you "open" with it several times even when you do not start combat in stealth.  It deserves your points.
Thick Hide (0/3):  This talent is for bears, cats can skip it.

Feral Tier 4
Leader of the Pack (1/1):  For one talent point you and your 24 closest friends get 5% extra crit AND you get some delightful, passive self-healing as well.  This talent is amazing!
Brutal Impact (2/2):  Many people underestimate just how important mobility is to melee dps.  Two points in this talent gives you a charge with a built in interrupt, all on a 10 second cooldown.  Take this talent.
Nurturing Instinct (2/2):  Helping your healers helps you stay alive and 2 points for an extra 20% healing received is a worthwhile investment.  More selfish cats, however, are free to spend their points elsewhere.

Feral Tier 5
Primal Madness (2/2):  When combined with King of the Jungle, this talent makes your Tiger's Fury a potent tool for opening burst damage.  Sure, aside from making Tiger's Fury energy bar independent, this talent only really benefits you in your opening salvo, but it is enough of a benefit to earn 2 points.
Survival Instincts (0/1):  You are a dps who already has Barkskin.  You do not need this extra cooldown.
Endless Carnage (2/2):  An extra 6 seconds of Rake makes one of the hardest rotations in Warcraft slightly easier.  Do yourself a favor and spend 2 points here.
Natural Reaction:  This is a great tanking talent, but you are not a tank.  Move along.

Feral Tier 6
Nom Nom Nom (2/2):  Cats get an execute phase in Cataclysm, but only if you take this talent; so please do!
Rend and Tear (3/3):  20% extra damage to your principal combo point builder and 25% extra damage for your combo point dump makes this talent a fabulous use of 3 points.
Pulverize (0/1):  This is a Bear Form ability so go without it.

Feral Tier 7
Berserk (1/1):  It will be the greatest 15 seconds of you life and you can't afford to miss out on this great ability.

Restoration Tier 1
Blessing of the Grove (2/2):  4% extra damage for your combo point builder is a respectable use of 2 points.
Natural Shapeshifter (0/3):  Do you really need that much mana?  I don't think so.
Furor (2/3):  You should have an extra 2 points at this point so you may as well drop them here as it prevents you from being zeroed out on energy should you need to shift for some reason.

Restoration Tier 2
Perseverance (0/3):  Magic damage reduction is a luxury you do not have the points to afford.
Master Shapeshifter (0/1):  The extra crit from this talent is nice, but since Natural Shapeshifter is a prerequisite, reaching this talent's 2% crit will actually cost you 4 points.  I decided it wasn't worth it, but you may disagree.
Improved Rejuvenation (0/3):  If you see any need to take this talent, please re-spec immediately.

Feel free to check out my full Cataclysm Feral DPS Build on the MMO Champion Talent Calculator.  Also, don't forget to take a look at my optimal Cataclysm Feral Tanking build to see the other side of Cataclysm's Feral tree.

Did I make the wrong choice for Master Shapeshifter?  Would you have spent your points differently?  Are you looking forward to Nom Nom Nomming your way to a boss kill?  Let me know in the comments!

7 comments:

  1. I guess nobody reads these, or at least nobody comments...

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  2. Very helpful, my druid was my first toon and I was getting very down on the game after this latest patch. So ya, I read it :) and used it, thanks again

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  3. You mention Heart of the Wild for the first tier, but it is not even in there. It is Furor. Heart of the Wild is in the first tier of the Resto tree.

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  4. This post is based on an earlier beta build, check out a talent breakdown current for patch 4.0.1 here:

    http://www.druiddigest.com/2010/12/best-feral-dps-spec-in-401-and.html

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  5. very helpful. thanks.

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  6. You have no idea of what you are talking about, your talent spending is horrible and that you are posting this here is wrong - some people may listen to you...

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  7. Such a wonderful post. Thanks for sharing this one! stamped concrete

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