Cataclysm Feral Tank Spec

This post is based on the old talent lay out, hop over to my updated Best Feral Tank Spec in Cataclysm for a current one!


Some people might call me crazy, but in my opinion it is never to early to start planning out your Cataclysm specs. Towards that end, I have decided to start laying out what I believe will be the "cookie-cutter" Druid specs when Cataclysm comes out. To start things out, here is my ideal Feral Tanking Spec for Cataclysm. (00/55/21)

In my design of the spec, I was looking both to maximize bear form survivability and threat generation. First, let's look at the Feral tree. In tier one Ferocity, goes a long way towards reducing rage consumption allowing a bear tank to utilize more abilities without running low on delicious rage juice. Well worth the full five points. Sharpened Claws is also a great pickup as it increases the damage done by two primary bear abilities, Maul and Mangle, by an astounding 20% for just two points. We can pass on Feral Aggression as your rotation will likely be busy enough that you don't need extra Faerie Fires available, though the talent could have a niche use on fights where a bear needs to rapidly pick up solo adds.

Moving to tier two, I would suggest taking everything. Thick Hide is a potent mitigation talent that no bear should miss. Feral Instincts is also a solid recommendation because although AoE tanking will be limited in Cataclysm, whenever it does come up you will be loving the 30% extra Swipe damage. Additionally, it is possible (though unlikely) that Swipe will still have a place in the bear form rotation as a rage dump in Cataclysm. Lastly in tier two, Shredding Attacks will reduce your Lacerate rage cost which should be handy considering you will need to constantly rebuild stacks after Pulverize.

Tier three is a solid place to plant five points. First, two points in Feral Swiftness nets you a solid 4% dodge. Next, you will want to pick up Feral Charge to stay mobile. Lastly, Improved Feral Charge gives you a whopping 30% melee haste for eight seconds every single time you charge. Talk about a threat lead gold mine! Stay away from Predatory Instincts as, despite what the initial tool-tip says, it currently only applies to Cat Form.

Tier four should also eat five of your talent points. Fury Swipes is an interesting new talent that seems to function like Warriors' Sword Specialization. Free auto-attacks can do nothing but help your threat. Primal Fury is also a strong selection as it turns your critical strikes into delicious rage. Avoid Nurturing Instinct as you shouldn't be in Cat Form or healing while tanking.

In tier five, we pick up our first talented ability: Survival Instincts. It is a great panic button that any good bear uses liberally. You will also want to place five points in Heart of the Wild both to open Leader of the Pack and to net a respectable 10% stamina boost. Brutal Impact has some PvE utility, but is primarily a PvP talent and can be glossed over. Should you find yourself using Bash liberally, feel free to swap some points to it. Predatory Strikes is exclusively for Cats and should be skipped.

Tier six let's us boost our dodge by another 6% and even grants us rage on every dodge. Not a bad use of three talent points. Survival of the Fittest is also a mandatory tanking talent. Without Survival of the Fittest, bear tanks can fall victim to critical hits. That can't happen. The extra armor is just icing on the cake that is this truly necessary talent. Endless Carnage is a take it or leave it talent. I personally would leave it alone, but it might be worth subbing the two points I placed in Improved Mangle here or to Brutal Impact depending on your preference and play-style.

For tier seven, I recommend picking up Leader of the Pack and Improved Leader of the Pack. Tanks are designed to be in groups so passing up on such a solid group buff is almost criminal. Considering how huge a Bear Form Druid's health can get, the 8% heal every six seconds from Improved Leader of the Pack is also well worth the investment. Primal Tenacity is a Feral PvP talent; skip it. You can skip King of the Jungle too as you really should not be using Enrage while in combat once you lose your tier ten bonus because of the armor penalty.

Fill out tier eight. Primal Tenacity is a direct boost to both your threat and mitigation while Infected Wounds helps significantly reduce incoming damage and keeps mobs more easily under your control. Take them both.

At tier nine we finally pick up Mangle and have the option of reducing its cooldown with Improved Mangle. Obviously, you need to take Mangle, but whether or not your take Improved Mangle is really a matter of personal preference, though I would only spend two points here simply because the third point can be better spent elsewhere. See how your rotation works with and without it and don't be afraid to move those two points around. Primal Madness isn't a bad talent, but it isn't worth the five points in King of the Jungle to get to it.

In tier ten, Nom Nom Nom is an awesome talent, but only for Feral dps, so skip it. Do, however, pick up Rend and Tear as it will substantially increase your threat generation. Also, be sure to get the new ability Pulverize which will dramatically change how bears tank and will forever alter how you look at Lacerate stacks.

Lastly, top off the Feral tree by picking up Berserk. Not only is it a great snap threat generation cool-down (especially when holding three targets), but it is also our only reasonable way of breaking nasty fears. Take it and use it often.

Having buried a whopping fifty five points in the Feral Tree, we have another twenty one to carry elsewhere. Since Balance has absolutely nothing to offer a Feral tank, to the Restoration Tree we go!

First, plop five points in Furor. Do you really need five points there? No, but you need to get to the lower tiers and there is really nowhere else productive to spend your initial five. Then it is time to scoop up five points of Perseverance. Bear tanks have always had a bit of a weakness to magical damage. This new talent says no more! Also, place three points in Natural Shapeshifter if just to open up Master Shapeshifter below it.

Moving to tier three of the Restoration Tree, spend all of your remaining talent points here. Naturalist will increase your Bear Form Damage by 10% while Master Shapeshifter adds another 4%. Lastly, Omen of Clarity will land you some delightfully rage free attacks.

In summary, I believe this spec will get you the most bang for your buck in terms of feral tanking. If you want points to play with, the two in Improved Mangle are ripe for the picking. You could also can Omen of Clarity is you so desire, though I personally enjoy the talent. Obviously, the Cataclysm talents are still subject to change, but at the time being I think this is the best any feral tank can hope to do.

Would you do things differently? Let me know in the comments.

This post is based on the old talent lay out, hop over to my updated Best Feral Tank Spec in Cataclysm for a current one!

Cataclysm Alpha Leak Leak Video: Character Creation Screen

Here is another great leaked video from the Cataclysm Alpha. This one shows the Cataclysm Character Creation Screen which has been updated with Female Worgen and Goblin models as well as spell effects for various classes.



I think it is a big improvement and am excited to see the finished Worgen Female textures. What do you think? Let me know in the comments.

Also, don't forget to Follow the blog using the column on the right to stay up to date with the hottest Cataclysm leaks and updates.

Cataclysm Alpha Leak Leak Video: Abyssal Maw

Check out this leaked video from the World of Warcraft Friends and Family Alpha showing the fantastic, though unfinished Abyssal Maw instance. Be sure to check the main page by clicking the banner above for other great Cataclysm Alpha footage. As always, there are more videos to come!

Cataclysm Alpha Leak Leak Video: Ogrimmar

Managed to lay my hands on another great video from the Cataclysm Alpha. This one features the new Orgrimmar and is a higher quality video than the one of Stormwind. Enjoy!

Cataclysm Alpha Leak Leak Video: Stormwind

Been looking all week for decent Cataclysm Alpha videos and finally managed to find one that appears to be legitimate. The quality is not perfect, but it is still pretty awesome. I present to you, the new Stormwind:

Cataclysm Restoration Druid Talent Changes

Now that the Cataclysm Friends and Family Alpha is live, Blizzard has more than a few leaks on its hands. One of those leaks disclosed an early build of the new Druid talent trees for Cataclysm. Below, I will highlight all the changes coming to the Restoration Tree. For links to information about the Cataclysm Feral and Balance Talent tree changes, check out the links at the bottom of the post.

As these talent trees will likely be updated many times prior to the release of Cataclysm, I will try my best to keep this post updated as well. Last Updated: 05/06/10

Cataclysm Restoration Talents:

New Talents

Blessing of the Grove: Two rank talent which increases Rejuvenation's healing by 2%, Moonfire's direct damage by 3%, and Claw/Mangle's damage by 2% per rank

Perseverance: Reduces all spell damage taken by 2% per rank with up to five ranks

Fury of Stormrage: Two rank talent which gives Nourish a 2% to cause Wrath to become instant cast and cost no mana, also can trigger instant Starfire casts when the Druid hits a target under 25% health with Moonfire

Efflorescence: Regrowth crits now spawn a fifteen yard bed of flowers which heals friendly targets who stand in it for a percentage of the Regrowth's heal over seven seconds

Changed Talents

Improved Rejuvenation: Now also increases Swiftmend healing by 5%

Improved Tranquility: No longer reduces Tranquility's cooldown, but now reduces damage taken while channeling the spell by 25% per rank

Nature's Bounty: Completely redone, now increases crit chance of Regrowth on targets under 25% health by 10% per rank and also decreases the cooldown of Swiftmend by .5 seconds whenever the Druid crits with Nourish or Healing Touch

Empowered Touch: Completely redone, now increases healing done by Healing Touch by 5% per rank on targets below 25% health and causes Nourish to refresh the duration of Lifebloom

Swiftmend: Mana cost slightly reduced

Natural Perfection: No longer increases spell crit chance

Empowered Rejuvenation: Now also improves Swiftmend

Revitalize: Completely redone, now grants the caster 1% base mana per rank whenever Regrowth or Lifebloom's periodic ticks crit

Tree of Life: Now lasts forty-five seconds with a five minute cooldown, increases HoT healing by 15%, increases Armor by 200%, reduces movement speed by 30% and temporatily empowers some of your spells, it no longer buffs raid members and does not restrict the Druid's spell use

Improved Tree of Life: Completely redone, three ranks, now reduces Tree of Life's cooldown thirty seconds and increases damage done while in Tree of Life by 5%

Improved Barkskin: No longer provides dispel resistance

Gift of the Earthmother: Completely redone, now increases Tranquility's healing by 4% on targets below 25% health, increases Lifebloom's bloom by 2%, and adds an immediate, upfront tick to Rejuvenation

Wild Growth: Mana cost substantially increased

Removed Talents

Improved Mark of the Wild

Intensity

Living Spirit

Gift of Nature

Moved Talents

Naturalist: Moved to tier three

Living Seed: Moved to tier six

Empowered Touch: Moved to tier seven

Natural Perfection: Moved to tier eight

It seems as if Blizzard is really trying to push players to use Regrowth, Healing Touch, and Swiftmend with greater frequency. To be honest, Efflorescence is such a cool talent, expect me to be casting Regrowth whenever reasonable. It is also becoming apparent that the days of spamming Wild Growth are rapidly coming to a close. Enjoy it while it lasts.

I would be curious to hear what everyone has to say about the Tree of Life changes. Please post your thoughts in the comments.

Cataclysm Balance Druid Talent Changes
Cataclysm Feral Druid Talent Changes

Cataclysm Feral Druid Talent Changes

Now that leaks from the Cataclysm Friends and Family Alpha are just pouring out into the internet, I have been able to get my hands on a copy of the test build's talent trees. Below, I will break down all the talent changes coming to Feral Druids in Cataclysm. For links to reviews of Balance and Restoration changes, check out the links at the bottom of the post.

I will keep these lists updated as new changes become available. Last Updated: 05/06/10

Cataclysm Feral Talents:

New Talents

None

Changed Talents

Primal Precision: No longer refunds energy when finishers fail to hit

Brutal Impact: Now only reduces the cooldown of Bash by five seconds per rank

Survival of the Fittest: No longer increases attributes

King of the Jungle: No longer reduces the mana cost of feral forms

Removed Talents

None

Moved Talents

None

Unlike the Balance Druid tree, the Feral Tree has not gotten much loving thus far in the Cataclysm Alpha. Do not worry though, I would imagine Blizzard just hasn't gotten around to working the Feral changes into the Alpha yet. I am certain there are plenty of changes to come, so stay tuned for updates.

Cataclysm Balance Druid Talent Changes
Cataclysm Restoration Druid Talent Changes

Druid Cataclysm Balance Talent Changes

UPDATE: A new Guide to Balance Druids in 4.0.1 has been posted!

MMO Champion has just dumped a ton of Cataclysm Alpha information onto their website including screen shots, profession updates, and talent calculators. Obviously, all the information remains subject to change, but that doesn't make it any less exciting to peruse.

As this is Druid Digest, I have decided to take a closer look at the changes made thus far to the Druid Talent trees. First, I will break down the Balance tree. Check it out below and feel free to post your thoughts and concerns in the comments.

For my previews of the other Cataclysm talent trees, check the links at the bottom of the page. Enjoy!

Cataclysm Balance Talents:

New Talents

Solar Beam: Instant cast on a one minute cooldown which calls down a solar beam on a target enemy which disorients all targets it hits for three seconds, the beam lasts ten seconds and silences anyone inside of it

Lunar Justice: Whenever the Druid kills a target that yields experience or honor, a moonbeam is generated which lasts ten seconds and restores 2% base mana to the first ally who stands beneath it

Starsurge: Two second cast with a fifteen second cooldown which blasts a target for heavy damage and knocks them down.

Fungal Growth: When a Treant dies or a Wild Mushroom is triggered, it spawns an eight yard fungal growth on the ground which slows enemies who cross it for ten seconds.

Changed Talents

Genesis: Changed to also increase Swiftmend healing

Improved Moonfire: Now only improves the direct damage portion of the spell by 5%, effect on crit removed

Nature's Grace: No longer requires Nature's Majesty as a prerequisite

Nature's Splendor: Now has three ranks

Celestial Focus: No longer grants haste

Balance of Power: Now grants 50% of the Druids Spirit as additional Hit rather than the 3% spell damage taken reduction

Lunar Guidance: No longer affects spell power, instead increases the radius of Solar Beam by two yards and causes Starsurge to generate five Lunar or Solar energy

Moonkin Form: No longer reduces damage taken when stunned, no longer regenerates mana on spell crits, no longer buffs party or raid member spell crit

Improved Moonkin Form: Grants 2% crit per rank to raid members, no more additional spell damage or haste

Owlkin Frenzy: No longer restores mana

Wrath of Cenarius: No longer affects Wrath or Starfire, the Druid now gains a 3 second buff whenever moving which increases Moonfires damage by 5% and decreases its mana cost by 10%, the buff stacks up to three times and is refreshed as long as the Druid moves

Eclipse: Old mechanic removed, now increases Solar/Lunar Energy generated by Wrath and Starfire by 12% per rank and causes the Druid to generate Energy when crit

Typhoon: Mana cost increased

Earth and Moon: Spell damage debuff cut from 4% to 2% per application per rank

Removed Talents

Insect Swarm

Improved Insect Swarm

Improved Faerie Fire

Moved Talents

Brambles: Moved to tier five

Nature's Splendor: Moved to tier four

Celestial Focus: Moved to tier three

Vengeance: Moved to tier five

Lunar Guidance: Moved to tier six

Which changes are you the most excited about and which have you concerned? I think Fungal Growth and Lunar Justice sound like pretty interesting mechanics. I also am not freaking out about Insect Swarm, because it is simply becoming trainable.

Cataclysm Feral Druid Talent Changes
Cataclysm Restoration Druid Talent Changes

Cataclysm Screen Shot of Deathwing Leaked?

EDIT: Check out the blogs Main Page for brand new Cataclysm Alpha Videos!

Now that the World of Warcraft: Cataclysm Alpha is out, it is only a matter of time before delicious leaks start flooding the WoW web. Those participating in the Alpha are subject to an NDA (Non-Disclosure Agreement), so expect some of the earliest leaks to be vague or well hidden. I am not in the Alpha and therefore not subject to the NDA, so I will gather and post what I can here. So let's get to it!

The folks over at MMO Champion have been freaking out all morning about a supposed leaked screen-shot of the Cataclysm character model for Deathwing. The head of the website has squeezed the image out off their servers and is blasting it out of the forums whenever it rears its head. Thankfully, I managed to lay my hands on a copy of the image which you can view below.


Now, I cannot comment on the legitimacy of the image. It is not my image and I have posted it only for reporting purposes. It could very well be a fake. If so, however, it is a well done fake. Also, if it were a fake, I would assume there would be less panic over at MMO Champion. Supposedly, the head of that website got his hands on a Cataclysm Friends and Family Alpha key and is terrified that this image will jeopardize his participation in the Cataclysm Alpha. Those are all rumors though and I'll leave it to you what you decide to believe. Regardless, enjoy the image.

I would love to hear what you readers think. Is this a legit Cataclysm leak, or just another well perpetrated Warcraft Expansion Alpha hoax?