Theorycrafting actually began with StarCraft and transitioned to World of Warcraft (WoW) with the advent of the game. WoW theorycrafting gained its popularity and notoriety around the time The Burning Crusade expansion launched. The main focus of Theorycrafting was initially maximizing DPS and minimizing downtime, also known as Min/Maxing. It has spread to all aspects of WoW and created many heated debates between crafters and players alike. Too many times, theorycraft becomes a mishmash of information overload and conflicting ideas. This week’s article will focus on the most dynamic of the Druid talent specializations, one that unlike most other DPS classes has no set rotation to follow. Top DPS feral players rely on skill and quick reaction times to crank out every last hundredth of a point of damage to routinely top the meters. Attention to detail and maximum focus are needed to get the most out of this spec but like every other WoW class, you are only as strong as your numbers will allow. Maximizing your stats from gear and your talent choices will bridge the gap between average and outstanding.
### Talent Specialization
The current top Feral DPS single target talent build. This is the build most cat druids should use for end-game raiding; it maximizes your effectiveness against raid bosses and still allows you to be viable on trash. For players who like to do AoE damage or mostly do five-player dungeons where you kill in packs, use this build. Feral tanks will want to use this build to gain the most effectiveness.
### Stats
Feral tanks should also strive to become expertise and hit capped as it will help with DPS, which will in turn help with threat generation. Feral tank stats (note: all stats given in humanoid form):
- **Stat**:
- **5 Player**: Dodge 25%, Defense 375, Stamina 1550, Armor 6900
- **10 Player**: Dodge 28%, Defense 390, Stamina 1800, Armor 7400
- **25 Player**: Dodge 30%, Defense 430, Stamina 2000, Armor 7800
Feral DPS stats (all stats are given in humanoid form):
- **Armor Penetration**: 350 (5 Player), 500 (10 Player), 700-1230 (25 Player)
- **Agility**: 800 (5 Player), 950 (10 Player), 1200 (25 Player)
- **Critical Strike**: 25% (5 Player), 26% (10 Player), 30% (25 Player)
- **Attack Power**: 1600 (5 Player), 1650 (10 Player), 1800 (25 Player)
### Rotation
Feral DPS has no set rotation but rather a series of priorities that need to be maintained:
- Savage Roar should always be up.
- Rake should always be up.
- Mangle should always be up.
- Shred is your go-to ability for combo point generation.
- Use Rip when you have full combo points, if it isn’t already up.
- If Rip is up and you have full combo points, then use Savage Roar.
- Pop Tiger's Fury when below thirty energy.
- Shred is energy-intensive, so make sure to use it with Clearcasting as often as possible.
- Save Berserk for a high-energy situation where you also get a raid buff such as Bloodlust/Heroism.
A couple of things to try and remember while learning this priority list:
- Don't get confused by the statement about using Savage Roar at full combo points if Rip is already active. It never matters how many combo points you have; if SR is about to drop, you need to pop it again.
- If you are following my glyph recommendations and take the Glyph of Shred, Shred will extend your rip duration an extra two seconds. So if Rake and Rip are about to drop, use Shred and allow Rake to drop for the time it takes you GCD to refresh.
If you are still struggling to learn this rotation, you can pick up the Feral by Night mod available at all of your favorite mod outlets and use it as a teaching tool, but be forewarned, many players view it as a borderline cheat.
### Gear
As with our other spec types, the abundance of gear available in 3.2 has blown wide open our options. A feral Druid has the luxury of the most leather itemization of the three but the drawback of not being able to grab anything other than leather, unlike balance or restoration. As a feral DPS, always look for high agility and high armor penetration as they currently will be the biggest boons to your damage output. As a feral tank, dodge, agility, and strength are important.