Feral Combat Druid Guide — Class Guides · WoW Burning Crusade

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, Player versus player, Leveling
Top talent: Mangle
Popular builds: 4
Version: WoW Burning Crusade

How to play

Feral in The Burning Crusade is a true two-role tree: bears tank on par with warriors thanks to Mangle, Lacerate, Survival of the Fittest and huge armour, and cats deal strong melee damage with Mangle, Shred and Rip. Leader of the Pack, and its improved version, gives your party crit and healing.

As a cat: keep Mangle's bleed bonus on the target, Shred from behind to five combo points, Rip, and power-shift for Energy when you have mana. As a bear: Mangle when ready, Lacerate to five stacks, Maul with spare Rage and Swipe on packs.

Bears can't block, so they can't avoid crushing blows; they rely on armour, dodge and huge health instead. Defense to 415, with Survival of the Fittest, makes you immune to critical hits.

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 Burning Crusade.

Rotation and priorities

1Cat: Mangle to keep its bleed bonus on the target.
2Shred from behind to five combo points.
3Rip at five points; Ferocious Bite when Rip is already up and the fight is ending.
4Power-shift for Energy when you are low and have mana.
5Bear: Mangle when ready, Lacerate to five stacks, Maul with spare Rage, Swipe on packs.
6Faerie Fire (Feral) up on the target.

Strengths and weaknesses

Strengths

Tank or damage on the same talents.
Leader of the Pack helps the party.
Bears have huge armour and health.

Weaknesses

Needs two sets of gear.
Bears can't block crushing blows.
Power-shifting costs mana.

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
Agility
2
Strength2 attack power each
3
Hitto 142 rating
4
Expertise
5
Staminabear
6
Armourbear

What to look for

Weapon damage doesn't matter; feral attack power and stats on the weapon do.
Leather with Agility and Strength for cats; Stamina, Agility and armour for bears.
Defense to 415 for bears (with Survival of the Fittest) to stop critical hits.

Items worth chasing

Dragonspine TrophyAttack power and a haste proc in a trinket.
Bloodlust BroochA burst of attack power on use.
Moroes' Lucky Pocket WatchDodge on use, for bears.

Builds

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

Balance
Feral Combat
Restoration

Mangle Cat
DamagePvE
4219
0/42/19
Feral cat for raids: Mangle boosts bleed damage for everyone, Predatory Instincts raises crit damage, and Leader of the Pack lifts the group's crit.
- Faerie Fire (Feral) 1/1
- Leader of the Pack 1/1
- Improved Leader of the Pack 2/2
- Predatory Instincts 5/5
- Mangle 1/1
Open in the talent calculator Theorycrafting Talent order by level
Survival of the Fittest Bear
TankPvE
4417
0/44/17
Bear tanking: Survival of the Fittest makes you immune to critical strikes, Mangle and Feral Charge hold threat, and Omen of Clarity saves rage.
- Faerie Fire (Feral) 1/1
- Leader of the Pack 1/1
- Improved Leader of the Pack 2/2
- Predatory Instincts 5/5
- Mangle 1/1
Open in the talent calculator Theorycrafting Talent order by level
Feral Arena Prowler
DamagePvP
4614
1/46/14
Feral for PvP: Feral Charge and Mangle to catch and burst targets, Omen of Clarity for free shifts, and Restoration talents for cheap, quick heals.
- Faerie Fire (Feral) 1/1
- Primal Tenacity 3/3
- Leader of the Pack 1/1
- Predatory Instincts 5/5
- Mangle 1/1
Open in the talent calculator Theorycrafting Talent order by level
Prowling Cat Wanderer
DamageLeveling
4416
1/44/16
Feral leveling to 70: cat damage and Shredding Attacks first, Feral Charge for pulls, then Mangle and Leader of the Pack.
- Faerie Fire (Feral) 1/1
- Leader of the Pack 1/1
- Improved Leader of the Pack 2/2
- Predatory Instincts 5/5
- Mangle 1/1
Open in the talent calculator Theorycrafting Talent order by level

Key talents

Mangle · top talent, up to 1
Mangle the target, inflicting damage and causing the target to take additional damage from bleed effects for 12 sec. This ability can be used in Cat Form or Dire Bear Form.
Shredding Attacks · tier 4, up to 2
Reduces the energy cost of your Shred ability by 18 and the rage cost of your Lacerate ability by 2.
Savage Fury · tier 5, up to 2
Increases the damage caused by your Claw, Rake, and Mangle (Cat) 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.
Nurturing Instinct · tier 5, up to 2
Increases your healing spells by up to 100% of your Agility, and increases healing done to you by 20% while in Cat form.
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 attack power is increased by 10%.
Survival of the Fittest · tier 6, up to 3
Increases all attributes by 3% and reduces the chance you'll be critically hit by melee attacks by 3%.
Leader of the Pack · tier 7, 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 5%.
Improved Leader of the Pack · tier 7, up to 2
Your Leader of the Pack ability also causes affected targets to have a 100% chance to heal themselves for 4% of their total health when they critically hit with a melee or ranged attack. The healing effect cannot occur more than once every 6 sec.
Predatory Instincts · tier 8, up to 5
While in Cat Form, Bear Form, or Dire Bear Form, increases your damage from melee critical strikes by 10% and your chance to avoid area effect attacks by 15%.

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.