(Jaegor71's original post is available on the WoW Druid forums





This guide is applicable for those interested in the 14/32/5, 0/30/21, 0/20/31, or any of the many variations thereof. It is specifically geared towards balancing build construction between PvE and PvP needs, without the need for respeccing. It will also present the most effective builds at the upper levels of the lower BGs. Balance druids should look elsewhere, check out Stian’s posts for his results with the moonkin build.



The first thing to understand is that feral is the most efficient tree for grinding. Manaless damage means less downtime for drinking or healing, which means more time for exp. Speccing as a primary healer for instance runs may net you more xp/hr, but that is not what this guide is for.





Sections:



1. Starting out: Initial point placement.

2. Branching out: Finding your desired spec

3. Talent Builds

4. Low level BG advice

5. Q&A

Appendix from the “Guide for Young Feral Druids.”





1. Starting out:



So you just hit level 10 and got your bear form and first talent point. Congratulations! But where to place that first talent point for maximum benefit?



Feral tree: Ferocity (-5 rage/energy for Maul/Swipe/Claw/Rake)

10-14 5/5 Ferocity

By lowering the cost for your primary special attacks, you just increased your DPS by a significant amount. The 5 rage reduction in Maul means you can now use it 33% more often. At this level, there are no talents to use Furor with, IMotW is a waste (see Q&A), and remember, Feral is more efficient than Balance.



15-16 2/2 Brutal Impact (+1s stun for Bash and Pounce)

“What? Why?” No, because you will now have a 3s stun when you hit 16 instead of the normal 2s. This should be enough to allow you to get an emergency Bash-> Regrowth or Root off, or save that silly clothies life by stunning the mob for an extra second. Your next rank of Bash doesn’t come until 30 when it raises to 3s (or 4 in your case). Until then you would have to be perfect to be able to bash->shift->regrowth without being interrupted or attacked before being able to shift back.



An additional use for bash is to allow you to root your target and run away, either far enough to heal, to just keep going.



17-19 3/5 Feral Instinct (+stealth in catform and +9% threat generation in bear form)

“But I don’t even have catform yet!?!” But you will, and you will spend a lot of time in it. The first rule for rogues and kitties is not to be seen. Each level of FI adds roughly 0.6 a level of stealth. Thus, with three ranks of FI, you will stealth as if you were 2 levels higher than you are. Nelfs Shadowmeld grants them a passive bonus to stealth as if they add an additional point in FI. Bears will also enjoy the +9% threat generation bonus.



This leaves you as 0/10/0 for the 10-19 WSG. Please see the PvP section for tactics there.



20! Yay for catform!

Your next points will immediately go into:



20-21 2/2 Feline Swiftness (+30% to run speed while outdoors or while prowling)

This is the reason you put your first ten points into Feral. Increased run speed means decreased travel time -> higher exp gain. It also allows you to outrun those you’re chasing or being chased by. As an additional bonus, only the fastest mobs you run past will be able to get more than one shot on you as you run by. Combine Feline Swiftness with Shred on a fleeing caster for added fun. (Known bug: If at anytime you go indoors you will lose the FS bonus and will not regain it when going outside. You must reshift again once outside for the bonus to return.)



22 1/1 Feral Charge (Charge an enemy 8-25 yds away, interrupting the spell they were casting and immobilizing them for 4s)

One of the best talents available to druids. This should be a keystone of any druid build as it allows many different options when paired with 5/5 Furor. You can engage an enemy from a distance, stop a runner/flag carrier, interrupt a spell caster, or use it as an escape tool (target a mob/critter/player 8-25yds distant and charge). For those druids who invest more into Restoration, 1 or 2 points in Enrage will allow you to shift , enrage, and Feral Charge without having to wait for rage generation. It can be an easy way to alleviate the need for 5/5 Furor.



As stated, Feral Charge is best when it can be used right away so . . . .



23-27 5/5 Furor (100% chance to generate 10 rage/40 energy when shifting)

The 10 rage is invaluable for bear form (see Feral Charge) and makes building combo points with cat that much easier. Instant Claw/Rake or wait a tic for a shred. For those druids who change form often, this tactic is invaluable. One strategy would be to shift bear, bash, shift cat, and shred once or twice while the target is stunned.





2. Branching Out



At this point you are level 28 and 0/13/5. Here is the first main division between builds. If you are planning an x/x/31 build, it would be advisable to spend the next 16 pts in Resto for Nature’s Swiftness. If you are considering a build with any points in Balance (14/32/5 or 1/29/21, etc) the next point should be spent in Nature’s Grasp. For a mere 1 pt, the return is excellent. This would leave you at either 1/14/5 or 0/13/7 for the 20-29 BGs.



I would suggest that anyone going for ~30 pts in Feral should spend their next 16 pts in the Feral tree to get HotW filled out as early as possible. 0/30/21 druids might spend those 16 points in restoration for Nature’s Swiftness as well. It really becomes a matter of choice and depends a lot on what your preferred method of levelling is. Again, Feral provides the most efficient levelling, while Balance will eventually give you additional damage and mana conservation tools (Natural Weapons/Natural Shapeshifter), and Restoration will make you an excellent group healer and will give you a panic button (Nature’s Swiftness).



Key Talents in:



Balance:

Nature’s Grasp/Imp. Nature’s Grasp (100% chance to insta root your attacker)
Excellent points spent. Useful to get away from rogues, warriors, and hunter pets (NG pet, shift bear and charge hunter)



Natural Weapons (+10% physical damage in forms)

This applies to all of your white damage, and will raise your special damage as well. Works with moonkin as well.



Natural Shapeshifter (-30% mana cost for shifting)

Excellent for a feral druid with a small mana pool, even with HotW.



Feral:

Sharpened Claws (+6% crit)

Significant damage increase. Crits are where it’s at.



Predatory Strikes (+150%xLevel AP)

More AP is always good. Remember, hit small = crit small. If you want the most damage you need to bump up your AP. Plus, it is necessary for . . .



HotW (+20% int in caster, sta in bear, and str in cat)

Possibly the best talent druids get. Note that this will actually get better as your equipment improves because the bonus is applied after all stats and enchants are taken into account, thus why it is so nice to get early.



Savage Fury (+20% damage to Maul/Swipe/Claw/Rake)

Increases the damage on your common specials. Yes please!



Feral Faerie Fire (Instant armor debuff for 40s, target cannot stealth/turn invisible)

It’s free. F-R-E-E. That’s right it doesn’t cost rage/energy. It generates hate for PvE, it annoys rogues PvP, and generally makes things easier to kill. With only 6s cool down it can be spammed to maintain aggro on one target. Note that the armor reduction does not stack with itself, but it can still be used to generate hate PvE.



Restoration:

Nature’s Focus (70% chance not to be interrupted while casting)

Useful talent both PvE and PvP, though usually when you really need to use it, you will be dieing anyways. In PvP, it will allow you to get a heal off even with a hunter’s pet trying to eat you. Most smart melee’s would have a stun or spell interrupt ready anyways. Still a worthwhile talent.



Improved Healing Touch (-0.5s cast on HT)

Good for our slow as molasses heals, when combined with lower rank HTs and lots of +healing gear, it can give druids their own version of Flash Heal. It is also necessary for . . .



Nature’s Swiftness (Your next nature spell is instant cast)

Right up there with HotW for best talent druids get. If you are putting 21+ into the resto tree, this is the milestone.



Insect Swarm (DoT and –2% chance to hit)

DoT, damage mitigation, and it stacks with moonfire. Very nice.



Innervate (+400% mana regeneration for 20s)

Somewhere up there with Nature’s Swiftness and HotW, this is often considered by the uninformed to be the only worthwhile talent available to druids. Yes, it is very good. Yes, if you are putting 31+ into restoration you will be getting this talent. Yes, you will be able to make priests jump around like dogs begging for a treat with this. No, it is NOT necessary for end game raiding.



Truly evil druids will spec 20/0/31 for improved moonfire/improved wrath and spam things to death with their extra mana bar.





3. Talent Builds



14/32/5 (Cat Spec)

http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/info/classes/druids2/talents.html?01400530100000005032021323202151050000000000000

Cat DPS build. Good for PvP and grinding.



14/32/5* (Bear Spec)

http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/info/classes/druids2/talents.html?01400530100000005032401303022151050000000000000

Can be adapted for more points in Thick Hide or Imp. Enrage. Generally good for a MT spec. May consider dropping Nat Shift for Imp Thorns for additional damage. May also consider Imp Enrage.



0/30/21 (Hybrid spec)

http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/info/classes/druids2/talents.html?00000000000000005032021303212150055500104010000

Nature’s Swiftness is key. Geared more for Cat. Can be adapted for IMotW, Reflection, or Thick Hide. Also good for PvP.



*/*/31

http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/info/classes/druids2/talents.html?01400000000000005002521000000000355500105015001

Not a true Feral build, but this guide was for those who wanted to get some decent talents in Feral before progressing.





Courtesy of Junto I have included the absolute fastest PvE grinding build, but it will not offer the same flexibility in PvP.

-----------

I disagree with the OP.



Ideal spec for grinding should maximize damage and minimize downtime.



Points should be spent this way:



[5]Ferocity

[5]Thick Hide (I chose feral instinct, but this is a better choice for minimizing damage).

[2]Feline Swiftness

[3]Sharpened Claws

[3]Predatory Strikes (rip isn't worth it when the enemies die to quickly for the dot to justify the energy cost; the combo point talent isn't worth it until you pick up ferocious bite)

[2]Blood Frenzy (you're nearing 32)

[1]Faerie Fire (for pulling without needing to shift)

[2]Savage Fury (lil' bit of extra dps)

[2]Improved Shred

[5]Heart of the Wild

[1]Leader of the Pack



Balance:

[1] Nature's Grasp

[4] Improved Nature's Grasp (even I mess up sometimes :P)

[5] Natural Weapons



Back to Feral:

[5] Feral Instinct



Last five points are personal choice. You're in the home stretch and are probably getting ready to respect to a group oriented build for instances.



If you're grinding, you should only have to shift out for a heal every 3-5 mobs. Furor is not good for grinding, though it's a good PVP talent.



Fight green and low yellow mobs depending on how efficiently you're doing at your particular level.



Use an XP/hour counter.



At levels 25-30, questing more than halves my druid's XP/hour. Not worth it.



Try to xp grind on mobs with things you can AH. Cloth is good and will help you finance your STR gear.



Max out on STR gear and get STR enchants where you can. You don't need mana, you don't need health (just be careful about adds, also bring +STA food), or anything else. Drop into Cat and kill, kill, kill.



-Junto

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4. Low level BGs



Equipping for PvP:



Druids are heavily reliant on their gear to be able to perform whatever role they’ve chosen. Whether you are Feral, Balance, or Restoration, you will be significantly less effective compared to a well-geared druid if you do not carefully select your equipment. Most high level Druids carry at the very least two equipment sets on them at all times (Feral and Healing) with some carrying as high as seven (with some cross over items). To make it easier to manage your gear, look for the Wardrobe add-on which will let you easily select your desired equipment.



Feral PvE:



Primarily STR/STA/AGI/INT. STR has a direct effect on your Attack Power, while stamina keeps you alive longer. In all forms, AGI will give you more crit% (1% = 20AGI), as well as a AC and Dodge bonus. Do not completely neglect your INT stat, so that you have mana available for emergency heals (for yourself or others).



Healing PvE:



Yes, even as a Feral Druid, you will be called on to heal perhaps more often than you would like. Primary stats INT/STA/SPI. You should still try to maintain a reasonable HP/Mana balance because a dead healer does no one any good. Do not be afraid to throw a couple of cloth pieces in if the stat increase is worthwhile. Also, do not be afraid do drop to bear form if needed. You will still get the higher stamina and AC bonus, allowing you to hold out longer than you would as a caster.



Feral PvP:



STA/INT/STR/AGI. Stamina is by far the most important stat in PvP since it will keep you alive. INT is also important, though it may not be second, I want you to remember it. A balance of HP/Mana is required to maintain flexibility, as well as be able to shift in and out of snares. STR/AGI apply just as in PvE.



Healing PvP



Similar to healing PvE, but you might want to throw on a few more STA pieces, just to keep your HP up. It would be wise to stay away from cloth as well, because the INT increase probably won’t make up for the loss in STA and AC.



10-19 WSG

You can play! Have fun! Just remember that you are still primarily a caster. You don’t have cat form, and your bear damage stinks. The 2.5s attack speed will give you great difficulty.(I had trouble meleeing a mage in bear form) I suggest tossing heals liberally, followed by roots, hibernating druids/hunter pets, and tapping people (ONCE!) with MF/FF. Remember to hold enough mana to shift bear in emergency. You probably won’t get too many Killing Blows, but your time will come.



20-29 BGs

You will probably never see an AV at this level. 10-19 advice still applies, but remember you have increased survivability at this level in bear, as well as additional DPS in catform. I find it’s best to stay hidden as long as possible in cat while the battle develops, then shred some backside or tossing some heals/roots. Watch your mana pool because it isn’t the greatest. Always leave enough to shift for escapes. It’s a good idea to balance your gear between straight DPS and int gear. Adding one or two +int items, won’t hamper your fighting ability, but will increase your flexibility with a larger mana pool.



Try to use your forms to their advantages. Don’t stay in one forever. Utilize cat speed for mobility, as the only ones on the battlefield that are faster than you are Shamans in ghost wolf form. You have Feral charge to close the distance.



Druids also make the best flag runners in WSG, particularly 20-29. Stealth into base in cat form, shift to bear and Feral charge the guard, if any. Grab the flag, cat form and dash to get outside, then reshift so Feline Swiftness kicks in and you’re off. I tend to like to stay outside when holding the flag as well, since with Feline Swiftness, it’s pretty easy to run away.



Moonfire spam: DON’T!*



*unless it will leave the target dead and allow your team an advantage. (eg. Spamming the turtling flag carrier down in WSG to allow your team to cap the flag.)





5. Q&A



Q: Why not put your first five points in Imp MotW?

A: Because despite the 1.35xMotW is a minimal gain at that level for the points invested.

As you can see the return on investment (5 points) is very low. At low levels, the additional armor will give you only a small bonus, while at the highest level, only the resists are truly useful for end game PvE raiding.



The only time this is worth the 5 talent points over Furor is if you are a) DEEP in the resto tree, b) heavily involved in PvE raiding c) not spending much time in Feral forms (eg. Moonkin or caster) In PvP the buff will get purged/cleansed or your target will die. For druids that are primarily feral/pvp, 5/5 Furor will be much more valuable for its effectiveness with cat/bear.



Q: Why didn’t you include Omen of Clarity/Leader of the Pack as a key talent?

A: Because I (emphasis on “I”) don’t consider it to be. For the most part those are gimme talents that are taken for the relatively high return on investment (1pt). I personally am still on the fence about OOC, due to reports about its low proc rate. LotP is nice, but there may be other, more fitting talents out there. I believe HotW is Feral’s best talent, not LotP.



Q: Why not spec x/x/x instead?

A: The guides posted above are merely guides to give you an idea of what some people consider ‘cookie cutter’ specs, but the best spec will always be the one that fits YOUR playing style the best. Feel free to adapt them as needed.



Q: What about Talent: X?

A: Feel free to post questions about why x over y. I will try to respond, and if there are enough questions, I will include a review on all talents as part of the guide. Keep in mind that this guide is geared for a balance between PvE/PvP, and the order I chose talents reflects that.



Q: Why didn’t you post your build?

A: Because I’m level 25 (30 now)! :D Yes that’s right, and this is my first character EVAR! I don’t even know what my endgame spec is! (I do know it through 28, if you don’t, then you should re-read the guide)



Q: OMFG! N00B! U R n0t 60! STFU/GTFO!

A: Very succinctly put. However, I’ve been lurking on the boards for quite sometime now, reading informative threads, and watching the posted videos. I believe my guide to be the most efficient there is. I also happen to think it’s a lot of fun. Feel free to disagree with anything I’ve written.



Q: Sir, you are both a gentleman and a scholar! How can I help inform others?

A: Bump the guide, post responses, or link this post to those with questions.



Q: What kind of cake do you like?

A: Chocolate with vanilla icing.







Appendix from the “Guide for Young Feral Druids.”



Personally, I would put 11-14 points into balance right after getting feline swiftness. OOC is a very good tool for healing, dps, and tanking alike - and the extra 10% damage will be welcome. Id just shove those points in between feline swiftness and furor – Bovie

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

I know it's getting out of the "young" range, but this is definitely worth mentioning...



Once you hit level 30, hop right on over to the AH and pick up the Green Whelp Armor chest piece. There is *nothing* that works better for soloing/tanking for a good number of levels to come. For those of you unfamiliar with this armor, every time a melee mob hits you (normal and special attacks), there is a 5% chance that the mob will fall asleep for 30 seconds. Just make sure if you've picked up multiple mobs, get rid of your thorns (as they tend to break the sleep affect instantly).



Edit: Also great for PvP. Nothing's funnier than watching the rogue that was beating on you take a quick cat nap. Heal up, throw fairy fire on him (pretty sure this won't break sleep), give him a hug, go cat/stealth and either leave or turn Mr. Rogue into your new cat toy. - Illiyana



Savage Fury is a higher priority than Imp Shred since it affects a variety of our abilities instead of just one. You could probably easily put off Imp Shred until the end. It's a great talent for a specific skill but lacks the overall utility of a lot of the others. In fact, you may pass on Imp Shred altogether. If you find you're tanking a lot more than playing in cat then those 2 points may be better spent in a talent that more directly impacts bear form. (Thick Hide or Primal Fury, if you don't already have it, for example.) - Aerodineth



1. As a young feral druid you must keep the “cower” skill in your toolbar, especially if you invest any points feral instinct. Coming from experience of off DPS’ing in cat form pre-1.8 to now, I've had to rediscover cower the hard way. Learn to use your cower, a well timed cower can be the difference between life and death.



2. Gear well! For casting/healing for instances grab all the eagle/owl gear you can but also make a nice set of bear/tiger/monkey for your feral rampage.



3. Learning to play a 11-14/30-33/5 build takes time, you must know when to heal and when to run. Spec'ing for a feral/restoration build might not be a bad choice - then respec post lvl 40. You'll be doing a lot in cat form then once you get dire bear becomes a valuable tool in your arsenal. Nothing saved me more (pre 1.8) than Natures Grasp and Nature's swiftness. Both are arguably "crutch" skills - you can play without but they are worth looking into. But a talent like Nature's Focus is very valuable, I don't have it but I often bash-heal or use bark skin (which really doesn't do a lot in PvP). ;)



And if you spec feral go at least 30 points and get Heart of the Wild. Easily one of the druids best talents!



Savage Fury > Imp. Shred (Shred is nice, especially PvE or PvP once you get in the habit of staying behind an opponent) ----Sond





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