Feral Combat Druid Guide — Class Guides · WoW Classic

Cat Form damage and Bear Form tanking from one tree. The usual leveling tree.

A leather-wearing shapeshifter who heals in caster form, tanks in Bear Form, deals melee damage in Cat Form, and casts Balance spells. Druids can fill any role in a group. More about the druid

Class: Druid
Roles: Damage, Tank
Used for: Raids and dungeons, Leveling, Player versus player
Top talent: Leader of the Pack
Popular builds: 4
Version: WoW Classic

How to play

Feral Combat is two specs in one tree: Cat Form for melee damage and Bear Form for tanking, both built on Heart of the Wild, Sharpened Claws, Predatory Strikes and Leader of the Pack, a melee crit aura for your party.

As a cat, Shred from behind (Claw from the front) to five combo points and finish with Ferocious Bite. Energy runs dry fast, so raid cats 'powershift': with Furor, leaving and re-entering Cat Form restores Energy for the cost of mana. Faerie Fire (Feral) keeps the target's armour down.

As a bear, you tank with huge armour and health, Maul and Swipe for threat, and Growl, Challenging Roar and Frenzied Regeneration. Bears can't block or parry, so they suit off-tanking and dungeons better than the hardest-hitting raid bosses in Classic.

At a glance

Single-target damage
Damage to groups
Survivability
Utility for the group
Solo play and leveling
Ease of play

Rated 1 to 5 against the other specs in WoW Classic.

Rotation and priorities

1Cat: open from Prowl with Ravage, or Pounce to stun.
2Shred from behind (Claw from the front) to five combo points.
3Ferocious Bite at five points (Rip on long fights).
4Powershift out of and back into Cat Form when Energy is low and you have mana.
5Faerie Fire (Feral) on the target whenever it is missing.
6Bear: Maul with spare Rage, Swipe for packs, Demoralizing Roar on bosses, Frenzied Regeneration when low.

Strengths and weaknesses

Strengths

Tank, damage or flag carrier in one spec, with a gear swap.
Leader of the Pack helps your party's melee.
Strong solo play with Prowl and forms.
You can still Innervate, Rebirth and heal out of form.

Weaknesses

Bears can't escape crushing blows in Classic raids.
Powershifting costs a lot of mana.
Needs two sets of gear.

Stats and gear

Stat priority

Most valuable first. Bars compare each stat with the best one; a cap in the note means the stat drops off once you reach it.

1
Agilitycrit and attack power as a cat; dodge and armour as a bear
2
Strength2 attack power each
3
Hitto 9%
4
Critical strike
5
Staminabear
6
Armourbear; Dire Bear Form multiplies it

What to look for

Weapon damage doesn't matter in forms: a weapon is a bag of stats, so pick the one with the most Strength, Agility or attack power.
Leather with Agility and Strength; for tanking, Stamina, Agility and armour.
Keep enough Intellect and mana to shift often.

Items worth chasing

Wolfshead HelmCrafted helm that gives Energy when you shift into Cat Form: the core of powershifting.
Manual Crowd PummelerA mace with charges of extra attack speed.
Devilsaur GauntletsCrafted leather gloves with attack power and hit.
Blackhand's BreadthA trinket of critical strike chance.

Builds

Each bar splits the build's talent points by tree.

Balance
Feral Combat
Restoration

Powershifting Cat
DamagePvE
14325
14/32/5
Feral cat damage for raids: shapeshift for Furor energy, Omen of Clarity procs free Shreds, and Leader of the Pack lifts the group's crit.
- Omen of Clarity 1/1
- Savage Fury 2/2
- Faerie Fire (Feral) 1/1
- Heart of the Wild 5/5
- Leader of the Pack 1/1
Open in the talent calculator Theorycrafting Talent order by level
Thick Hide Bear
TankPvE
11337
11/33/7
Pure bear tanking: Thick Hide, Feral Instinct and Primal Fury for armor, threat and rage, with Leader of the Pack and Omen of Clarity.
- Omen of Clarity 1/1
- Savage Fury 2/2
- Faerie Fire (Feral) 1/1
- Heart of the Wild 5/5
- Leader of the Pack 1/1
Open in the talent calculator Theorycrafting Talent order by level
Feral Pathfinder
DamageLeveling
14325
14/32/5
The classic druid leveling path: cat damage first, Feline Swiftness for travel, then Omen of Clarity and Leader of the Pack.
- Omen of Clarity 1/1
- Savage Fury 2/2
- Faerie Fire (Feral) 1/1
- Heart of the Wild 5/5
- Leader of the Pack 1/1
Open in the talent calculator Theorycrafting Talent order by level
Feral Charge Mender
DamagePvP
3021
0/30/21
A battleground hybrid: Feral Charge and Brutal Impact to catch and stun, then Nature's Swiftness for an instant Healing Touch when a fight turns.
- Feral Charge 1/1
- Savage Fury 2/2
- Faerie Fire (Feral) 1/1
- Heart of the Wild 4/5
- Nature's Swiftness 1/1
Open in the talent calculator Theorycrafting

Key talents

Leader of the Pack · top talent, up to 1
While in Cat, Bear or Dire Bear Form, the Leader of the Pack increases ranged and melee critical chance of all party members within 45 yards by 3%.
Feline Swiftness · tier 3, up to 2
Increases your movement speed by 30% while outdoors in Cat Form and increases your chance to dodge while in Cat Form by 4%.
Feral Charge · tier 3, up to 1
Causes you to charge an enemy, immobilizing and interrupting any spell being cast for 4 sec.
Sharpened Claws · tier 3, up to 3
Increases your critical strike chance while in Bear, Dire Bear or Cat Form by 6%.
Improved Shred · tier 4, up to 2
Reduces the Energy cost of your Shred ability by 12.
Predatory Strikes · tier 4, up to 3
Increases your melee attack power in Cat, Bear and Dire Bear Forms by 150% of your level.
Blood Frenzy · tier 4, up to 2
Your critical strikes from Cat Form abilities that add combo points have a 100% chance to add an additional combo point.
Savage Fury · tier 5, up to 2
Increases the damage caused by your Claw, Rake, Maul and Swipe abilities by 20%.
Faerie Fire (Feral) · tier 5, up to 1
Decrease the armor of the target by 175 for 40 sec. While affected, the target cannot stealth or turn invisible.
Heart of the Wild · tier 6, up to 5
Increases your Intellect by 20%. In addition, while in Bear or Dire Bear Form your Stamina is increased by 20% and while in Cat Form your Strength is increased by 20%.

Feral Combat abilities by level

When each ability arrives: trained abilities at the level a trainer first teaches them, talent abilities (gold frame) at the first level the talent can be taken.