Index:

Post 1:

• Preface


• Rotation


• Spec

Post 2:

• Glyphs


• Stats


• Gear


• Result

Post 3:

• Addons


• Legend


• Useful links

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Preface

I made this guide to begin with since a lot people (pre-patch 3.1.0) were complaining about low cat DPS although you were able to put out a stable DPS around 4-5k back then.

I will try cover up all aspects of feral DPS, and if you happen to find any flaws at all, even down to a misspelled word, I would be more than happy to read your criticism :) (Keep it in a civil tone though).

After reading this guide I hope you've learned something, at least I did when writing it :).

Best Regards
Fanthom

Rotation

First of all: You should know that feral DPS is by many considered the hardest DPS spec to excel in. Blue-post about this =P:

---

Q u o t e:
http://blue.mmo-champion.com/28/16474150120-zomg-too-hard.html

---



Theres no specific rotation for kitty, instead it's a matter of keeping buffs/debuffs up at all times

You have one buff you need to have up: Savage Roar. Then you have 3 debuffs you need to keep up: Rake, Rip and Mangle (you dont have to think about mangle if there's a bear tank in the group, or an Arms warrior using "Trauma")

The priority are as follows:
- Savage Roar
- Mangle
- 5-point Rip
- Rake

Get Faerie Fire up whenever you don't have enough energy to make a special attack.

Starting on bosses (how to get your debuffs up the most efficient way):
I normally start out on bosses with a Mangle, and then using Savage Roar to have it up from the beginning, then I'll apply Rake, Shred one time, blow TF, Shredding to 5 CPs for a 5-point Rip. After that I just keep everything up.

Shred:
To build up combo points you should use shred, and therefore it's a good idea to always place yourself behind your target (which also avoids parries and blocks)

OoC Procs:
Try the best you can to use all OoC procs for shreds, since that will give you the most DPE out of them.

Ferocious Bite:


---

Q u o t e:
At high enough gear levels, you'll want to use Bite or you're wasting combo points and/or Energy. The trick is doing it without jeopardising your SR at the very least. Optimal would be to have both Rip and SR on enough duration to be able to build enough CPs again.

---


You can use FB as finishers on bosses too, like if you estimate theres less than 20 seconds left of the fight.

Save Berserk for Heroism/Bloodlust:
Berserk only affects yellow damage/special attacks, therefore it doesn't matter whether you use it at the same time as Heroism/Bloodlust, since that only affects white damage.

If there's a long fight I'll usually use Berserk right at the beginning, to be able to use it more than once in the fight. Although if you're able to persuade one of your DK's to give you hysteria, try to time that at the same time as Berserk. Furthermore, using Berserk at the same time as a Grim Toll or Mjolnir Runestone proc, is highly rewarding DPS-wise

Spec

This is my 3.2.0 cat spec:



---

Q u o t e:
http://www.wowhead.com/?talent#0ZvMMsfrz0eR0huAkbAczb:mpcVz0

---


Strenghts:


It has all +dmg talents maxed out, except FA (and AoE) - which in my opinion isn't neccesary, since I don't see any talents you can take one point from, that would do better as 3% more dmg in FB

This spec has great utility. 3/5 Furor will give you 60% chance to regen energy when swiftshifting. You have SI, 30% speed and Feral Charge. You will regain 4% health approx every 6-10 second, nice help to healers.

Weaknesses:


It's not very viable for tanking, but of course you can have a bear-spec as your dual spec.

Furor isn't maxed out, so that means you sometimes wont regen energy when swiftshifting.

And unfortunately you wont be doing as much AoE dmg as you could...



Theoretically this would be the 'highest' dps spec in 3.2.0


---

Q u o t e:
http://www.wowhead.com/?talent#0ZEGzcfrz0eo0huAkbAczb:mpcVz0

---

Glyphs

After 3.1.0 hit the servers, druids have had a lot more choices of glyphs in PvE, which is nice =).


1st Glyph: Glyph of Savage Roar.

3% more damage pretty much speaks for itself, right?

2nd Glyph: Glyph of Shred.

This glyph gives you 6 more seconds on your Rip, thats 2 sec more than Glyph of Rip gives you

3rd Glyph: Glyph of Mangle or Glyph of Rip.

Obviously if you have a mangle bot the best glyph choce is: Rip but what about mangle?

Glyphs --------------------------- DPS
SR+RIP+SHRED ------------- 6534
RIP+SHRED+MANGLE ----- 6457

So SR+RIP+SHRED combo is the best choce ALSO if you don't have someone who keeps mangle up for you.



If none of these glyphs apply to you, you can always take a look at

---

Q u o t e:
http://www.wowwiki.com/Druid_glyphs

---

for a complete list of glyphs available for druids :).

Stats

For ferals:
ArP/Agi > Str > Crit > Haste > Hit/Exp

1 Strength = 2 AP (2.38 AP with talents and full raid buffs)
1 Agility = 1 + 0.012% crit (1.19 AP + 0.014% crit with talents and full raid buffs)
1% hit = 32.79 hit rating
1% -dodge = 4 expertise = 32.79 expertise rating (8.2 rating per 1 expertise)
1% crit = 83.3 agility = 45.91 crit rating
1% haste = 25.22 haste rating
1% armor penetration = 12.23 armor penetration rating (actual penetration depends on target's armor)


Stats:
You should have a decent hit rating, around 200 would be good - get it from items, not from gemming. (The main reason for having around this hit rating, is that it makes your rotation easier, and it's hard enough already :p)

Agility or ArP?
Armor Penetration rating - Armor penetration was buffed by about 25% in 3.1, however it also has a cap on the amount of armor it can reduce. For a level 83 raid boss, ArP works on 8625 of its armor (which is 10,643). So if you have 20% penetration on your character sheet, you're actually getting 1725 armor ignore, or 16.2%. Despite this, it becomes the best DPS stat if you have enough of it - generally more than 400 or 450 plus a Grim Toll. Since it stacks with itself, if you don't have much it is worse than strength and agility, if you have a ton it becomes very good.

So... You should regem for ArPen when you got above 200 (with the Shred Idol mind you)...


Hitcap for ferals is 263, and with 2/2 in Primal Precision, expertise cap is 132


Get Rawr for finding the best dps gear, it can be downloaded from here:


---

Q u o t e:
http://www.codeplex.com/Rawr/Release/ProjectReleases.aspx

---

Gear

Best enchants:

Head:
Arcanum of Torment - 50 AP, 20 Critrating.

Shoulder:
Greater Inscription of the Axe - 40 AP, 15 Critrating.

Back:
Major Agility - 22 Agility.

Chest:
Powerful Stats - 10 to all stats.

Wrist:
Greater Assault - 50 AP.

Hands:
Major Agility - 20 Agility.

Leggings:
Icescale Leg Armor - 75 AP, 22 Critrating.

Feet:
Superior Agility - 16 Agility.

Weapon:
The best DPS enchant is apparently a toss-up between Berserking and Massacre now. In 3.1, Massacre became affected by Predatory Strikes, buffing it to 132 AP, which is the approximate same benefit of Berserking with a 33% uptime.
Berserking's proc rate can be frustratingly low soloing, and it is very expensive and therefore best used on weapons you won't replace for a while.
Massacre is a little cheaper than Berserking, and is always active. It's the preferable enchant for soloing/5-mans, and raids without Windfury.
Mongoose is just slightly behind Berserking and Massacre.


I will try and make a complete list with the best gear available, when all Ulduar's loot tables have been given out, and Rawr has been updated.

For starters:
You should probably go for 4 pieces of T8, since the set bonuses are quite neat (Even with the increase in stats from T7.5->8.5 + the set bonuses, it might still be worth it to keep the 2-set bonus from T7.5). If going for ArP get gear with ArP on, and use Idol of the Ravenous Beast - Gem for ArP until you hit the ArP cap, then go for Agility. If going for Agility, get gear with Agility on, and use Idol of Worship

Result

Feral DPS is still awesome after the small 3.2 nerf, and topping the meters. So go get your rotation flowing and pump out some crazy DPS :>

Addons

Taken from US forum thread:

DruidBar (shows your mana bar in feral forms) --- Not needed anymore after the implemented mana bar in the interface
BadKitty (feral ability timers)
Facemauler (recommends next ability, to help you get a handle on the cycle)
Other non-class-specific timer mods such as NeedToKnow, Classtimers, and Elkano's are also popular for monitoring the many timers Feral druids have to keep up.

Legend

SR = Savage Roar
FB = Ferocious Bite
CP = Combo Points
SI = Survival Instincts
FF = Faerie Fire
GCD = Global Cooldown
FA = Feral Aggression
ArP = Armor Penetration
DPE = Damage per Energy

Useful links

http://d9550218.u125.surftown.se/summlan/feraldps.html

- Link to html flash program that simulates a feral cat on a mob. [Might be outdated]

http://www.wowhead.com/?talent#0ZtGMsfrz0eR0huAkbAczb:mpcVz0

- My 3.1.0 Cat spec

http://www.codeplex.com/Rawr/Release/ProjectReleases.aspx

- Rawr, program that calculates the best gear available to many DPS classes, including feral. [Might be outdated]

http://www.wowwiki.com/Enchantments_by_slot

- A complete list of available enchants for all item slots

http://www.wowwiki.com/Druid_glyphs

- A complete list of druid glyphs

http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=15864788935&sid=1

- Another Cat DPS guide, found on US forums

http://elitistjerks.com/f73/t49702-feralbynight_cat_bear_simulation_tool/

- Cat DPS theorycrafting

Nice guide!

However, you should read up on Furor. They changed it for 3.0 to give a 100% chance to keep 20/40/60/80/100 energy when shifting to cat. This allows energy regeneration to continue while in another form until it hits this limit, thus being a lot better than the old furor.

---

Q u o t e:
Nice guide, but there's a couple of things i ponder at your spec..

Why SI? even with my extremely boosted dps (went from 12th to 1-4th on dps meters) i never have any problems with aggro. and if i screw up i'd most likely die even with SI.

---

Well theres so many things you can use SI for:

To name the most important:
- If your tank dies, you can pop SI and barkskin while your group finishes she mob off.
- If a boss is doing AoE dmg and you're getting low, SI can be a lifesaver

---

Q u o t e:
How often do you shapeshift during a bossfight? I'd say 2 times top. One for rebirth and one for innervate, and that's a worst case scenario.. I've only taken 3 points in furor.

---

No, thats the BEST case scenario, you should always use innervate, and if the fight lasts more than 6 minutes, it'll be 2 innervates :p.
It's very likely a few members die on every boss try after Ulduar came, so you will most likely use BR in every kill attempt.

Furthermore, if you happen to get a slow effect, it's nice to get it cleared, since that means more DPS uptime.

---

Q u o t e:
I put my spare points in FA, simply because every 3rd or 4th 5cp i have enough duration on both SR and rip to spare a FB.

/pew

---

Boiled down - It's just like I stated in the guide - I like a spec with a lot utility. But some people want to go pure DPS spec, thats why I linked that one too in the spec section :-)

---

Q u o t e:
Nice guide!

However, you should read up on Furor. They changed it for 3.0 to give a 100% chance to keep 20/40/60/80/100 energy when shifting to cat. This allows energy regeneration to continue while in another form until it hits this limit, thus being a lot better than the old furor.

---

Is that to me or the other guy?

I know that furor works this way, and that's why I like to have it. :-)


Regards
Fant

---

Q u o t e:
3rd Glyph: Glyph of Mangle or Glyph of Rip.

Pick Glyph of Mangle if you, like me, don't have an Arms warrior to use Trauma, or a feral tank to spam Mangle for you. If you are lucky enough to have one of the above, you should of course pick Glyph of Rip

---

Simulations show that regardless of having to keep up mangle yourself, or any setbonuses, rip glyph is >> mangle glyph. If you really want it you should replace savage roar glyph. (see http://elitistjerks.com/f73/t49702-feralbynight_cat_bear_simulation_tool/ )

---

Q u o t e:
Glyphs DPS
SR+RIP+SHRED 6534
RIP+SHRED+MANGLE 6457
SR+MANGLE+SHRED 6451
SR+RIP+MANGLE 6346

---

My addon of choice for monitoring my Buffs/Debuffs is TellMeWhen.

Here is one updated for 3.1
http://www.wowinterface.com/downloads/info13173-TellMeWhenFanUpdate.html

Nice guide

Pretty nice guide, im just wondering don't u start the fight from stealth?

Example

Pounce/Ravage
Mangle
SR
FF
Rake
TF.... etc etc

I can try and answer this one for you Orawa. A quote from "Of Teeth and Claws" Blog by "Karthis".

---

Q u o t e:
Picking a fight
Although a feral Druid has a couple of opening moves that can be used while stealthed - Pounce and Ravage - neither is potent enough to offset the extra time that it will take to approach the enemy. Instead, begin an encounter by using the following sequence:

Mangle, Rake, Savage Roar

---

------------------------------------------

By all means if you are already stealthed and behind the mob/boss, you will have already approached the enemy, and this quote can be ignored. But on the whole, I think it is a great piece of information!


Peace,
Wifrw


P.S : Nice start of a guide, hope to see some more additions in the future to it!! Good Work!

---

Q u o t e:
Pretty nice guide, im just wondering don't u start the fight from stealth?

Example

Pounce/Ravage
Mangle
SR
FF
Rake
TF.... etc etc

---

I would say the best way to start it is without a Stealth attack, since DPE on Ravage will only be efficient if it crits, and the Pounce bleed is not worth it on bosses that cant get stunned, perhaps it's useful on trash in some situations.

---

Q u o t e:
Picking a fight
Although a feral Druid has a couple of opening moves that can be used while stealthed - Pounce and Ravage - neither is potent enough to offset the extra time that it will take to approach the enemy. Instead, begin an encounter by using the following sequence:

Mangle, Rake, Savage Roar

---

I disagree.

I'd say Mangle -> Savage Roar, since the first Rake wont benefit from Savage Roar from above rotation

So basicly I do:

Mangle
SR
Rake
TF
Shred till 5 CPs
Rip

The reason for adding Rake into the initial rotation before SR was to get a 2 point combo. However you do make a good point, and if Mangle crits then there would be no need for the rake :)

I guess at the end of the day it's all about the most DPS one can put out, since I have not test either starting rotation, I personally can not comment :D!


Peace,
Wifrw

---

Q u o t e:
The reason for adding Rake into the initial rotation before SR was to get a 2 point combo. However you do make a good point, and if Mangle crits then there would be no need for the rake :)

I guess at the end of the day it's all about the most DPS one can put out, since I have not test either starting rotation, I personally can not comment :D!


Peace,
Wifrw

---

Yeah :)

And with a 1-CP SR you should still be able to apply a 5-CP Rip and SR again

Great guide :) thanks

great guide since cat dps isn't nowhere near 'easy' indeed. i'd like to put something in though.

---

Q u o t e:

---

Q u o t e:
Nice guide!

However, you should read up on Furor. They changed it for 3.0 to give a 100% chance to keep 20/40/60/80/100 energy when shifting to cat. This allows energy regeneration to continue while in another form until it hits this limit, thus being a lot better than the old furor.

---

Is that to me or the other guy?
I know that furor works this way, and that's why I like to have it. :-)

---

no, you telling Furor works other way:

---

Q u o t e:
Furor isn't maxed out, so that means you sometimes will lose all your energy when swiftshifting out of a snare or the like. If you prefer maxing out Furor, I suggest taking a point from Imp. Mangle

---

that is simply not true. that way Furor works for bear, not cat. you'll never loose all your energy upon shifting with points on Furor, unless you had zero energy already.


as for glyphs you not considering Glyph of Berserk?
Glyph of Berserk
Major Glyph
Classes: Druid
Requires Level 60
Use: Increases the duration of Berserk by 5 sec.

my main spec is "damage dealing tank" (heh) so that was the love from the first sight. not for cat?

---

Q u o t e:
that is simply not true. that way Furor works for bear, not cat. you'll never loose all your energy upon shifting with points on Furor, unless you had zero energy already.

---

Oh damn, I misread the other guys post, and you're right - it was indeed changed, which I didn't know :o. Changing post

---

Q u o t e:
as for glyphs you not considering Glyph of Berserk?
Glyph of Berserk
Major Glyph
Classes: Druid
Requires Level 60
Use: Increases the duration of Berserk by 5 sec.

my main spec is "damage dealing tank" (heh) so that was the love from the first sight. not for cat?

---

Nah Glyph of Berserk isn't really good for anything other than PvP :p