Feral Druid 9.0.5 Guide

Feral Druid in Shadowlands

Feral Druid – one of 24 DpS specs in World of Warcraft. Feral Druid is a melee fighter whose main specialty is dealing damage to enemies through multiple bleeding effects. In each section of this guide you will find enough information to learn all the ins and outs of this spec: how to use all abilities, which gear to choose, which talents perform best in certain situations, and what role will your choice of covenant play.

Druids’ main resources – energy and combo points. They spend energy on offensive abilities and the accumulation of combo points. Some abilities require combo points and the more points you spend on an ability, the stronger it will be.

The Druid can also change forms and has secondary resources such as rage and mana. The Druid spends his mana on healing spells and his fury on the abilities available in Bear Form.

Let’s look at the pros and cons of this spec:

Pros:

• Good ST damage
• Mobile and flexible in raids
• High survivability
• AoE abilities are not limited by the number of targets
• Flexible talent tree, allowing you to adapt to any battle

Cons:

• Requires a lot of actions to achieve high damage to priority target
• Powerful AoE abilities deal damage over time
• No versatile builds for high damage both in AoE and on single targets
• The gameplay focuses on proper use of resources and abilities, which makes the game much more difficult 

About the author

The author of this guide is Llounal. I’ve been playing World of Warcraft for a relatively short time, but managed to experiment with all the classes and got used to them. RIO score 3189. Took part in epic BfA raids and got Cutting Edge: Jaina and N’Zoth.

Main Abilities

Talents

General information. On reaching several levels, you will open new Talent tiers. In each tier, you can choose one Talent at a time. Talents can affect your abilities in different ways: add new ones, replace old ones, passively modify various effects and spells. You can change Talents while you’re in Sanctums or in rest areas, but if there are no such places nearby, you can use Tome of the Tranquil Mind, which allows you to change Talents within a minute. Note that Talents can’t be changed in combat. Also, if a Talent selected in a certain tier is on cooldown, you’ll have to wait for it to recharge in order to change it.

Tier 1 — 15 lvl. DPS Talents

• Predator (passive). Tiger’s Fury lasts 5 additional seconds, and its cooldown resets when a target dies with one of your Bleed effects active.
• Sabertooth (passive). Ferocious Bite deals 20% more damage and increases the duration of Rip on your target by 1 sec per combo point spent.
• Lunar Inspiration (passive). Moonfire is castable in Cat Form, generates 1 combo point, but costs energy.

* Sabertooth and Predator are decent. Sabertooth is more suitable for raids, as it significantly increases the damage on a single target. Predator is a good pick for epic dungeons since it extends the duration of the burst ability and speeds up its recovery.

Predator — a good talent that allows you to use Tiger’s Fury more often, increasing your damage and energy regeneration. Handy in brief fights that require high damage and quick energy regeneration.

Sabertooth — a good talent that significantly increases ST damage and allows you to use Ferocious Bite more often, as it extends the duration of Rip.

Lunar Inspiration — the weakest talent in this tier. Moonfire is weaker than Cat Form abilities. Added energy cost is a huge drawback.

Tier 2 — 25 lvl. Utility talents

• Tiger Dash (replaces Dash). Shift into Cat Form and increase your movement speed by 200%, reducing gradually over 5 sec.
• Renewal. Instantly heals you for 30% of maximum health. Usable in all shapeshift forms.
• Wild Charge. A special move that depends on the form. Non-shapeshifted — fly to an ally’s position. Bear Form — charge the enemy, immobilizing them for 4 sec. Cat Form — leap behind an enemy, dazing them for 3 sec. Travel Form — leap forward 20 yds. Aquatic Form — increases swim speed by an additional 150% for 5 sec.

* This tier doesn’t affect DPS, thus the choice depends on the situation. Most commonly, Feral Druids pick Wild Charge, making them even more mobile, which might slightly affect damage. 

Tiger Dash — increases movement speed, useful when you need to move quickly   

Renewal — a good talent, increases the druid’s survivability. Costs no mana, which is a plus.  

Wild Charge — grants more mobility.   

Tier 3 — 30 lvl. Utility talents

• Balance Affinity (passive). You gain a passive skill Astral Influence and learn: Moonkin Form, Starsurge, Starfire, Typhoon.
• Guardian Affinity (passive). You gain a passive skill Thick Hide and learn: Thrash, Frenzied Regeneration, Incapacitating Roar.
• Restoration Affinity (passive). You gain a passive skill Ysera’s Gift and learn: Rejuvenation, Swiftmend, Wild Growth, Ursol’s Vortex. 

* All talents are good, but Balance Affinity is a more popular choice because it increases the radius of your offensive abilities, making them more effective.

Balance Affinity — slightly increases Moonkin Form survivability and your damage.

Guardian Affinity — a good talent, increases the druid’s survivability. Mostly picked for raids, but can be useful in epic dungeons for increased survivability.

Restoration Affinity — a good talent, increases the druid’s survivability and passively heals the party.

Tier 4 — 35 lvl. Utility talents

• Mighty Bash. Invokes the spirit of Ursoc to stun the target for 4 sec. Usable in all shapeshift forms.
• Mass Entanglement. Roots the target and all enemies within 15 yards in place for 30 sec. Damage may interrupt the effect. Usable in all shapeshift forms.
• Heart of the Wild. Abilities associated with your chosen Affinity are substantially empowered for 45 sec. Balance: damage of your Balance abilities increased by 30%, and Starsurge is instant. Feral: Damage of your Feral abilities increased by 30%, and critical strikes with combo generating attacks grant an additional combo point. Guardian: Bear Form has 20% more stamina, multiple uses of Ironfur may overlap, and Frenzied Regeneration has 2 charges

* This tier doesn’t affect DPS, thus the choice depends on the situation. Most commonly, Feral Druids pick Mighty Bash, allowing them to control the target without being distracted by the damage.  

Mighty Bash — provides control of one target in a group.

Mass Entanglement — controls a group of enemies, preventing their movement.

Heart of the Wild — regarded as the strongest talent in this tier due to bonuses for a chosen affinity.

Tier 5 — 40 lvl. DPS Talents

• Soul of the Forest (passive). Finishing moves grant energy per combo point and deal 5% increased damage.
• Savage Roar. Finishing move that increases damage by 15% and energy regeneration rate by 10% while in Cat Form. Lasts longer per combo point.
• Incarnation: King of the Jungle (replaces Berserk). An improved Cat Form that grants the benefits of Berserk, reduces the energy cost of all Cat Form abilities by 20%, and allows the use of Prowl once while in combat. Lasts 30 sec. You may shapeshift in and out of this improved Cat Form for its duration.

* Soul of the Forest is the best talent in this tier. Suitable for many types of battles and increases damage quite a bit.

Soul of the Forest — a good and easy to use talent. Provides the highest damage and energy regeneration bonus.

Savage Roar — moderately increases ST damage, but weak against a group of enemies. Provides a general DPS boost and, thanks to its bonus, reduces energy consumption. Sustaining this bonus can be challenging, especially considering its low payoff. Therefore this talent is not recommended.

Incarnation: King of the Jungle — due to changes of the Berserk skill, this talent’s benefit has been significantly diminished. It only comes in handy if you need a burst of damage, but it still seems less interesting than the flexible Soul of the Forest talent.

Tier 6 — 45 lvl. DPS Talents

• Scent of Blood (passive). Each enemy hit by Thrash reduces the cost of Swipe for the next 6 sec.
• Brutal Slash (replaces Swipe). Strikes up to 5 nearby enemies with a massive slash, inflicting physical damage.
• Primal Wrath. Finishing move that deals instant damage and applies Rip to all enemies within 8 yds. Lasts longer per combo point.

* Brutal Slash and Primal Wrath – good situational talents. For high AoE damage choose Primal Wrath that has no target cap. Brutal Slash is more useful in ST fights.

Scent of Blood — this talent has become significantly weaker compared to others in the tier due to the added damage limit to Swipe. Although Thrash has no limitations, this talent is less useful now.

Brutal Slash — a good pick for increased ST damage due to lower energy cost and combo point generation. Not very useful for AoE, as it has the same target limit as Swipe.

Primal Wrath — best talent for AoE. Significantly cuts the resource cost and has no target limit.

Tier 7 — 50 lvl. DPS Talents

• Moment of Clarity (passive). Omen of Clarity now triggers 50% more often, has 2 charges, and increases the damage of your next Shred, Thrash, or Swipe by 15%. Increases max energy.
• Bloodtalons (passive). Using 3 different combo point-generating abilities within 4 sec increases the damage of your next 2 Rips or Ferocious Bites by 30%.
• Feral Frenzy. Furiously attack your target with claws 5 times, dealing physical damage and bleed DoT for 6 sec.

* Bloodtalons is the best talent in this tier due to increased damage, but can be tough to master. Alternatively, you can pick Moment of Clarity, but the damage bonus will be lower.    

Moment of Clarity — increases energy regeneration thanks to free procs. Fairly easy to use, which makes it a good alternative to Bloodtalons, but with a lower damage bonus.

Bloodtalons — the best talent in this tier, allows you to sustain a near-constant boost to your main offensive abilities. Can be tough to master, but yields greater damage bonus.

Feral Frenzy — provides a small burst of damage to mitigate misuse of abilities and resource shortage. Can also be used with Tiger’s Fury to inflict a lot of damage in a small period of time, but incorrect rotation will not recoup the loss of DPS. The damage from the talent itself is significantly lower compared to others, so it’s not recommended.

Here are your common builds

Single Target: 

1. Sabertooth 
2. Doesn’t affect DPS. The choice depends on preference.
3. Doesn’t affect DPS. The choice depends on preference. However, choosing Balance Affinity increases the radius of your offensive abilities.
4. Doesn’t affect DPS. The choice depends on preference. 
5. Soul of the Forest
6. Brutal Slash
7. Bloodtalons

AoE with priority target:  

1. Sabertooth 
2. Doesn’t affect DPS. The choice depends on preference.
3. Doesn’t affect DPS. The choice depends on preference. However, choosing Balance Affinity increases the radius of your offensive abilities.
4. Doesn’t affect DPS. The choice depends on preference.
5. Soul of the Forest
6. Primal Wrath
7. Bloodtalons

AoE: 

1. Predator 
2. Doesn’t affect DPS. The choice depends on preference.
3. Doesn’t affect DPS. The choice depends on preference. However, choosing Balance Affinity increases the radius of your offensive abilities.
4. Doesn’t affect DPS. The choice depends on preference.
5. Soul of the Forest
6. Primal Wrath
7. Bloodtalons

Covenants

Covenant rating: 

Raid: Night Fae > Kyrian  >/= Venthyr >/= Necrolord

Mythic+: Night Fae > Kyrian >/= Venthyr > Necrolord

Kyrian

Signature ability — Summon Steward: Call your steward to bring you a Phial of Serenity that can be consumed to restore health and remove all Curse, Disease, Poison, and Bleed effects. The steward also provides a number of useful services, but each is available only once a day.

Class ability — Kindred Spirits: Form a bond with an ally. Upon cooldown, you may empower the bond, granting you an effect based on your partner’s role, and granting them an effect based on your role.

Night Fae

Signature ability — Soulshape: Turn into a Vulpin, increasing your movement speed. Reactivating Soulshape teleports you forward a certain distance. It’s possible to change this form’s appearance with cosmetics. This effect is relatively short-lived, but lasts indefinitely while in a rest area.

Class ability — Convoke the Spirits: Call upon the Night Fae for an eruption of energy, channeling a rapid flurry of 12 Druid spells and abilities over 4 sec. Based on your active specialization, you cast Moonfire, Wrath, Regrowth, Rejuvenation, Thrash, Rake, Shred, or Ironfur.

Necrolord

Signature ability — Fleshcraft: You form a shield of flesh and bone that absorbs damage equal to 20% of your maximum health. Channeling near a corpse makes the shield stronger.

Class ability — Adaptive Swarm: Command a swarm that heals or deals shadow damage to a target, and increases the effectiveness of your periodic effects on them. Upon expiration, jumps to a different target, alternating between friend and foe up to 3 times.

Venthyr

Signature ability — Door of Shadows: Wend through the shadows, appearing at the targeted location.

Class ability — Ravenous Frenzy: For a period of time, Druid spells you cast increase your damage, healing, and haste, stacking. If you’re idle for a couple of seconds, Frenzy consumes a portion of your health per stack, stuns you, and then ends.

Choosing a Covenant

All Covenant abilities look interesting for a Feral Druid, but Night Fae are the best choice, as it allows to avoid rotation downtime while the energy replenishes, is good for both types of content, and synergizes with other Druid specializations.

In most cases you have to attack 2 or more enemies which makes the Necrolord ability that’s effective against a single target, somewhat weak.

Kyrian are a pretty good choice for Feral Druids, as their ability grants decent damage bonuses if used correctly.

Other Covenants, like Night Fae and Venthyr are also good choices. The Venthyr class ability is most useful in AoE, while Night Fae provides powerful burst damage.

Soulbinds

Upon joining a Covenant, the player character may bind their soul with one of the special members — Soulbinds, that bestow unique talents related to their Covenant.

On top of that, during their adventures in Shadowlands, the character will receive a variety of items that provide bonuses unrelated to the Soulbind’s talents.

Soulbind priority

*Rated based on abilities that affect healing.

Kyrian

Raid: Pelagos > Kleia  > Mikanikos  

M+: Pelagos > Kleia  > Mikanikos   

Night Fae 

Raid: Dreamweaver > Niya >/= Korayn

M+: Dreamweaver > Korayn >/= Niya

Necrolord 

Raid: Emeni > Marileth > Heirmir

M+: Emeni > Marileth > Heirmir 

Venthyr

Raid: Nadjia >/= Draven > Theotar 

M+: Nadjia >/= Draven > Theotar 

Abilities overview:

Kyrian

Pelagos: 

• Combat Meditation — Activating your Kyrian class ability increases your Mastery for 10 sec and occasionally expels Sorrowful Memories. Walking through Sorrowful Memories extends this effect by 3 sec. May only occur once every 1 min.
• Let Go of the Past — Using a spell or ability reduces your magic damage taken by 1% for 6 sec. Using another spell or ability increases this amount by 1% when it is not a repeat of the previous spell or ability, stacking to 3%.

Kleia

• Valiant Strikes — Your critical strikes grant you stacks of Valiant Strikes, up to 20. If a nearby party member drops below 50% health, you consume these stacks to heal them for 1% of their maximum health per stack. After healing this way, you may not benefit from Valiant Strikes for 1 min.
• Pointed Courage — Crit chance is increased by 1% for every nearby enemy or ally, up to 5%. 
• Resonant Accolades — When receiving healing while above 70% health or healing an ally that’s above 70% health, 4% of the healing done is repeated on the target over 5 sec.

Mikanikos

• Bron’s Call to Action — After using 90 damaging or healing spells and abilities, your next spell or ability summons Bron, who knocks enemies back on arrival and then attacks and heals your targets for 30 sec.
• Hammer of Genesis — Damaging a new enemy grants you 3% Haste for 10 sec, up to 5 stacks.
• Sparkling Driftglobe Core — When reduced below 35% health, you stun nearby enemies for 3 sec. This effect may only occur once every 45 sec.

Night Fae 

Niya

• Grove Invigoration — Approximately 2 procs per minute. Healing or dealing damage has a chance to grant you a stack of Redirected Anima. Redirected Anima increases your maximum health by 1% and your Mastery by 25 for 30 sec, and stacks overlap. Activating your Night Fae class ability grants you 8 stacks of Redirected Anima.
• Niya’s Tools: Herbs — Your healing spells and abilities have a chance to apply Niya’s Invigorating Herbs, increasing the target’s Haste by 5% for 10 sec.
• Niya’s Tools: Poison — Your interrupts apply Niya’s Paralytic Poison to your target, dealing nature damage over 30 sec. Targets with Niya’s Paralytic Poison take additional nature damage if interrupted once more.
• Niya’s Tools: Burrs — Your damaging attacks and spells have a chance to toss Niya’s Spiked Burrs under your target. The burrs latch onto the first enemy to cross them, reducing movement speed by 20% and inflicting nature damage over 6 sec.

Dreamweaver

• Podtender — When you take damage that would kill you, instead rejuvenate within a wildseed, regaining 30% of HP over 10 sec. If the wildseed takes more damage during this time, you die. This effect may only occur once every 10 min.
• Social Butterfly — When at least 2 allies are within 8 yds, your Versatility increases by 3% for 5 sec. When this expires, 2 nearby allies gain 33% of this effect for 5 sec before passing it back to you.
• Empowered Chrysalis — 10% of your overhealing received or done remains as a shield on the target up to 10% of the caster’s health, lasting for 5 sec.
• Field of Blossoms — Activating your Night Fae class ability puts flowers at your feet for 10 sec that increase your Haste by 12% while you stand with them.

Korayn

• Wild Hunt Tactics — Your damage to targets above 75% health and healing to targets below 35% health is increased by 10%. When your spells and abilities are enhanced this way, you gain 15% increased movement speed for 5 sec.
• Face Your Foes — When in front of your target, your spells and abilities decrease the damage they inflict on you by 3% for 2 sec.
• First Strike — Damaging an enemy before they damage you increases your chance to critical strike by 25% for 5 sec.

Necrolord 

Plague Deviser Marileth

• Volatile Solvent — Using Fleshcraft near corpses consumes their essence, granting a benefit based on the creature’s type.
• Plaguey’s Preemptive Strike — Your first attack or spell cast on an enemy increases your damage done to them by 10% for 10 sec. Limit 1.
• Ultimate Form — While channeling Fleshcraft, you are immune to crowd control and you regenerate 2% health every 1 sec. If you finish the full channel, you gain 4 sec of crowd control immunity, during which you regenerate 2% health every 1 sec.

Emeni 

• Lead by Example — Activating your Necrolord class ability increases your primary stat by 5% and up to 4 nearby allies’ primary stat by 2% for 10 sec. You gain 2% additional primary stat for each ally affected.
• Emeni’s Ambulatory Flesh — You may channel Fleshcraft while moving.
• Gnashing Chompers — Gain 3% Haste for 10 sec after defeating an enemy, up to 15%.

Bonesmith Heirmir

• Forgeborne Reveries — Your primary stat and armor are increased by 1% for each enchantment on your armor, up to 3%. Upon death your armor anchors your soul, allowing you to fight for an additional 10 sec. During this time, your damage and healing done is reduced by 50% and you cannot receive healing.
• Serrated Spaulders — Inflict Shadow damage to your attacker over 5 sec when hit at melee range.
• Heirmir’s Arsenal: Marrowed Gemstone — After landing 10 critical strikes, you gain 18% increased crit chance for 10 sec. May only occur once per 60 sec.

Venthyr

Nadjia the Mistblade

• Thrill Seeker — While in combat, you gain a stack of Thrill Seeker every 2 sec, or 4 stacks on killing an enemy. At 40 stacks Thrill Seeker is consumed to grant you Euphoria, increasing your Haste by 20% for 10 sec. Thrill Seeker decays rapidly while you are not in combat.
• Exacting Preparation — The benefits of Well Fed, Flask, and weapon enchant effects are increased by 20%.
• Dauntless Duelist — The first enemy you damage in combat is marked as your Adversary. You deal 3% more damage to them, and they deal 1.5% less damage to you. You may only have one Adversary at a time.

Theotar the Mad Duke 

• Soothing Shade — Your spells and abilities have a chance to call Tubbins and Gubbins to your side for 12 sec, parasol in hand. Standing in the shaded area increases your Mastery.
• Token of Appreciation — Grant a shield that absorbs damage to allies who aid you with healing or beneficial magic effects. You will only shield each ally once every 20 sec.
• Refined Palate — The effects of combat potions last 100% to 200% longer.
• Wasteland Propriety — Activating your Venthyr class ability signals the start of tea time, granting 6% Versatility to you and 3% Versatility to up to 4 nearby allies. Lasts 10 sec.

General Draven

• Service In Stone — Damage taken below 40% health is reduced by 10%. Upon death you leave a stone husk behind which shatters after 3 sec, inflicting 100% of your maximum health in damage split among nearby enemies, and healing for 100% of your maximum health split among nearby allies.
• Hold Your Ground — Standing still for at least 4 sec grants you 10% increased Stamina, and 4% increased healing done. This effect persists for 6 sec after you start moving.
• Superior Tactics — Successfully interrupting an enemy or dispelling an ally increases your critical strike chance by 10% for 10 sec. This may only occur once every 30 sec.
• Built for War — While you are above 80% health you gain 1% primary stat every 3 sec, stacking up to 4 times. If you fall below 50% health, this effect is lost.

Conduits

Conduits are obtained in a multitude of ways. Some are universal, some are unique to each class.

Conduits come in 3 types: 

• Finnese
• Endurance
• Potency

Best Potency Conduits:   

• Carnivorous Instinct — Tiger’s Fury damage bonus is increased by 3%.
• Sudden Ambush — Finishing moves have a 3% chance per combo point spent to make your next Rake or Shred deal damage as though you were stealthed.
• Taste for Blood — Ferocious Bite deals 2% increased damage for each of your bleeds on the target.
• Conflux of Elements — While channeling Convoke the Spirits, your damage and healing are increased by 15%.
• Endless Thirst — Ravenous Frenzy increases your crit chance by 0.5% per stack.

Best Finesse Conduits:  

• Front of the Pack — Stampeding Roar radius and duration are increased by 15%.

Best Endurance Conduits:  

• Innate Resolve — Regrowth and Frenzied Regeneration healing is increased by 12% on yourself.   
• Well-Honed Instincts — When you fall below 25% health, you cast Frenzied Regeneration once every 90 sec.

Other

Potency

• Incessant Hunter — Rip damage has a 10% chance to grant 3 energy.
• Deep Allegiance — Kindred Spirits empowerment cooldown is reduced by 10%.
• Evolved Swarm — Evolved Swarm increases periodic effects by an additional 6%.

Endurance

• Layered Mane — Ironfur has an 8.0% chance to apply two stacks.
• Tough as Bark — Barkskin cooldown is reduced by 10%.

Finesse

• Born Anew — Rebirth grants the target 50% movement speed for 8 sec, and Well Fed, increasing their primary stat by 20 for 1 hour.
• Born of the Wilds — The cooldown of Mighty Bash, Mass Entanglement, and Heart of the Wild is reduced by 10%.
• Tireless Pursuit — For 2 sec after leaving Cat Form or Travel Form, you retain your movement speed bonus.

Legendaries

In Shadowlands, players will once again have access to legendary items. Legendary items can be crafted, each profession has its own legendary item.

To craft legendary items you’ll need to unlock the Runecarver in the Torghast tower and then gather the required materials. Acquired materials will allow you to craft a Legendary Power, which can be inserted into existing equipment. Some legendary items might have a permanent Torghast Anima effect.

To craft legendaries in Shadowlands you need:

• A Base Item of the appropriate level
• 2 Missives
• Soul Ash
• The Memory of the Runecarver — Legendary Recipe for the Legendary Power that you want.

Base items are templates from which legendary items are created. Legendary items can be created by blacksmiths, jewelers, tailors and tanners. Recipes can be found all over the world in high-level content. A legendary item does not become private upon creation and can be sold or purchased at an auction. Legendaries grant special bonuses to class talents.

A total of 16 Legendaries are available to a Feral Druid. 

Best Legendaries

• Apex Predator’s Craving (waist/shoulder) — Rip has a 4% chance to make your next Ferocious Bite free and deal the maximum damage.

Good Legendaries

• Circle of Life and Death (head/finger) — Your damage over time effects deal their damage 25% faster, and your healing over time effects 15% faster.
• Draught of Deep Focus (neck/chest) — When Moonfire, Rake, Rip, or Rejuvenation are active on a single target, their effects are increased 30%.
• Cat-eye Curio (neck/finger) — Abilities, activated with Clearcasting, generate 25% of their energy cost, and your maximum energy is increased by 60.
• Frenzyband (waist/wrist) — Combo point-generating abilities reduce the cooldown of Berserk by 0.2 sec. Berserk causes the target to bleed for an additional 100% of their damage over 8 sec.

Other

• Lycara’s Fleeting Glimpse (waist/feet) — Every 45 sec while in combat, cast a spell based on your form. No Form: Wild Growth. Cat Form: Primal Wrath. Bear Form: Barkskin. Moonkin Form: Starfall. Travel Form: Stampeding Roar.
• Eye of Fearful Symmetry (head/hands) — Tiger’s Fury causes your next 2 finishing moves to restore 2 combo points.
• Oath of the Elder Druid (shoulder/wrist) — Effects of Thick Hide, Astral Influence, Feline Swiftness, and Ysera’s Gift increased by 75%. When you shift into your Affinity’s form, you gain Heart of the Wild for 10 sec, once every 1 min..
• Echo of Eonar (waist/wrist/finger) — Your spells and abilities have a low chance to summon a spirit familiar to your side, increasing your damage by 10%, healing by 10% or damage reduction by 10% for 10 sec based on your role. This effect is duplicated on up to 3 allies at 50% effectiveness, preferring allies with the same role. 
• Judgment of the Arbiter (wrist/hands/finger) — Dealing damage has a chance to release a blast of spiritual energy for shadow damage. If another ally who bears the Judgment of the Arbiter is within 5-20 yds of you, the blast will also arc to them, dealing shadow damage to enemies in the arc.. 
• Maw Rattle (legs/feet/hands) — Killing an enemy has a chance to summon an Explosive Mawrat at the corpse’s location. After 6 sec the mawrat will explode, dealing nature damage to all nearby enemies, poisoning them and decreasing their damage done by 5% for 10 sec. 
• Norgannon’s Sagacity (legs/feet/back) — Casting a spell grants Sagacity, stacking up to 10 times. You are able to cast while moving for 0.5 sec for each stack of Sagacity. 
• Sephuz’s Proclamation (neck/shoulder/chest) — Reduce the effectiveness of crowd controlling effects by 10%. Successfully applying a loss of control effect to an enemy, interrupting an enemy, or dispelling any target will increase all your secondary stats for 15 sec. May only occur once every 30 seconds.
• Stable Phantasma Lure (neck/wrist/back) — Increases Phantasma earned by 25%. Looting Phantasma from enemies has a chance to summon a Phantasma Demon which will begin running in a random direction. Killing it increases Phantasma earned for the entire party by an additional 10% for 1 min.
• Third Eye of the Jailer (head/shoulder/waist) — Killing an enemy grants you the Third Eye, increasing your primary stat by 1% for 10 sec, stacking up to 7 and increasing the duration by 1 sec for each additional stack. The duration of the Third Eye is increased by 50% while in the Maw.
• Vitality Sacrifice (head/shoulder/chest) — Taking significant damage from a player or Elite enemy increases your damage and healing by 3% of the damage taken, up to a maximum of 9% for 20 sec. May only occur once every 30 sec.

Rotation

Feral Druid is a mobile melee fighter, whose abilities are aimed at DoT and finishers.

General rotation:

• Start the fight with Prowl active, it will boost your initial damage.
• Maintain the debuff from Rake on the target and reapply this debuff if it lasts more than 4.5 sec.
• Maintain the debuff from Rip on the target.
• Moonfire should be cast and maintained only with Lunar Inspiration talent.
• Activate Clearcasting for Thrash or Shred.
• Use Tiger’s Fury when you have 20 or less energy.
• Use Shred to generate combo points.
• If the target is bleeding from Rip and it lasts more than 10 sec, spend combo points on Ferocious Bite.
• If possible, reapply debuffs from Rip and Rake while Tiger’s Fury is active to boost your bleed effects.

Openers

• Use a combat potion and activate Prowl 2 seconds before combat.
• Activate Berserk and Tiger’s Fury to enhance your Rip 1 second before combat.

*If you picked the Sabertooth talent and the rotation doesn’t allow mistakes, you wouldn’t need to reapply the debuff and it would be active until the boss dies.

• Use Rake on the target.
• Use all Brutal Slash charges.
• Upon generating enough combo points, use Ferocious Bite.

Raid

• Maintain the debuffs from Rake and Rip on the target.
• Generate combo points with Shred.
• Use Tiger’s Fury when you have 20 or less energy.
• Use Ferocious Bite at maximum combo points.

Mythic+

Rotation changes in epic dungeons, as you need to fight groups of enemies.

• If you have Brutal Slash, always keep 1 charge on cooldown, but by the time a group of enemies appear, you should accumulate the maximum number of charges. In these moments it’s recommended to have Tiger’s Fury for maximum AoE damage.
• For AoE, Brutal Slash is more preferable than Primal Wrath, because in Shadowlands, many AoE abilities have a target limit. Brutal Slash has no such limit.
• Use Thrash on 3+ weak enemies, then generate combo points with Swipe.
• At maximum combo points use Ferocious Bite or Primal Wrath if Rip on your targets is about to expire.
• Maintain Rake and Thrash on 2-3 tough targets.
• Generate combo points on 2 targets with Shred.
• Switch to Swipe on the 3rd target.
• Try maintaining Rip on all targets.
• If there’s 4+ tough targets: first maintain Thrash, then Rake on as many targets as possible. Use combo points to maintain Rip on as many targets as possible.
• If there are priority targets in the pack, simply use Ferocious Bite instead of wasting combo points on Rip on other targets.

How to use covenant abilities:

Kyrian: 

• Kindred Spirits is worth using only on a fighter. 20% of your ally’s damage is transferred to you. Your ally also receives bonus damage.

Night Fae: 

• Use Convoke the Spirits after Tiger’s Fury expires, with minimal energy and combo points. Thus you won’t lose damage while your resources are replenishing.

Necrolord: 

• Reapply your DoTs before the Adaptive Swarm expires.

Venthyr: 

• Try combining Ravenous Frenzy with Tiger’s Fury and Berserk. Also use Remove Corruption or Hibernate if you can’t hit the target to avoid activating the ability’s negative effect.

How to use powerful cooldowns:

Barkskin — cast when taking moderate damage.

Stampeding Roar — use if the party needs to move somewhere quickly.  

Survival Instincts — use when taking significant damage.

Choosing a race

Racial bonuses have a minor effect on the druid, so the race can be chosen according to your preference.

The Alliance

Night Elf, Worgen, Kul Tiran.

*Night Elf is considered to be the best Alliance race for the Feral Druid thanks to their racial ability Shadowmeld, allowing you to reactivate Prowl during combat.

The Horde

Tauren, Troll, Highmountain Tauren, Zandalari Troll.

*Troll is considered the best Horde race thanks to their racial ability Berserking, which temporarily increases your character’s haste.

Stats

Basic stat priority looks like this:

Crit >= Versatility > Mastery > Agility > Haste

*Suitable for both raids and epic dungeons

Despite the outlined stat priority, you shouldn’t adhere to it at all times. Everything depends on your current gear. To ensure which stat will give you the biggest boost, you should use Simulation Craft and Raidbots.

Reasoning for this priority:

Crit

Crit chance increases the likelihood of a critical DoT, which boosts your overall damage.

Versatility

Versatility increases your direct damage to the target, making it a good stat for a Feral Druid that frequently uses offensive ability.

Mastery

Also increases damage, but much less than versatility. Mastery boosts bleeding damage.

Agility

Your primary stat that determines the strength of abilities.

Haste

Haste increases your energy regeneration and the amount of DoT ticks. Due to the Druid’s intricacies and a large number of abilities that restore energy, this stat seems less useful than others. 

Additional ways to increase stats:

Gems: Quick Jewel Cluster, Deadly Jewel Cluster 

Enchants

• Weapon: Celestial Guidance
• Cloak: Soul Vitality
• Chest: Eternal Stats 
• Boots: Eternal Agility
• Rings: Tenet of Critical Strike, Tenet of Versatility

Food: Spinefin Souffle and Fries, Steak a la Mode, Surprisingly Palatable Feast, Feast of Gluttonous Hedonism

Alchemy

Oils:  Shadowcore Oil

• Potions that work with oil: Potion of Deathly Fixation, Potion of Empowered Exorcisms, Potion of Phantom Fire

Flasks: Spectral Flask of Power

Pots: Potion of Spectral Agility

Best gear

Accessories

• Inscrutable Quantum Device — De Other Side.
• Macabre Sheet Music — Castle Nathria. 
• Dreadfire Vessel — Castle Nathria. 
• Phial of Putrefaction — Plaguefall. 

*These accessories are good for raids and M+. Inscrutable Quantum Device is the strongest in this list. 

Weapons

Raid loot

Kyrian: Pike of the Honored Peltast (polearm)

Venthyr: Nathrian Torchbearer’s Stave (staff) 

Necrolord: Aranakk Torture Device (polearm)

Night Fae: Gargon-Tamer’s Spear(staff)

Dungeon loot

• Quarterstaff of Discordant Ethic (staff) — Spires of Ascension. 

Rings: 

• Arachnid Cipher Ring — Plaguefall.
• Ritualist’s Treasured Ring — Castle Nathria. 

Other

• Legs: Fearless Challenger’s Leggings — Theater of Pain. 
• Feet: Enchanted Toe-Tappers — Castle Nathria. 
• Head: Hood of Refracted Shadows — Halls of Atonement. 
• Shoulders: Far Traveler’s Shoulderpads — De Other Side. 
• Back: Mantle of Manifest Sins — Castle Nathria.
• Wrist: Bands of the Undergrowth — Mists of Tirna Scithe.
• Waist: Spell-Woven Tourniquet — Castle Nathria. 
• Neck: Azure-Venom Choker — Spires of Ascension.
• Chest: Anima-Splattered Hide — Sanguine Depths. 
• Hands: Gloves of Phantom Shadows — Castle Nathria. 

*Information on balance and strength of accessories will be available later.

**Your equipment may vary according to your stats and item level. It’s advisable to use Simulation Craft for accurate item selection.

Macros

Skull Bash with modifiers, hold Shift to cast it on the focused target, otherwise — on the current one

/cast [mod:shift,@focus][]Skull Bash

Resurrection in combat on cursor

/cast [target=mouseover] Rebirth

Remove Corruption on cursor:

/cast [target=mouseover,exists,help,nodead]Remove Corruption /cast Remove Corruption

Addons

Simulationcraft — a small addon that simplifies the process of creating a Simulationcraft profile for your character.

Raider.IO Mythic Plus and Raid Progress — allows you to view ranking information about you or another player in Mythic+ and Raid without leaving the game. This info is also available on https://raider.io.

Deadly Boss Mods (DBM) — helps you keep track of mechanics in a boss fight.

Mythic Dungeon Tools — helps you plan your M+ progression and view affixes. 

Angry Keystones — automatically inserts the keystones for epic dungeons, tracks dungeon timers, and shows the exact percentage of defeated enemy forces.

ElvUI — lets you customize the UI to your liking, if you don’t like the vanilla one.

BigDebuffs — sets the scale of debuff icons.

Decursive — makes it easier to detect and remove harmful effects from allies. 

Astral Keys — tracks M+ keys available to your characters and friends, sends it in chat, and displays your best weekly clear.

Exorsus Raid Tools — useful for raids. Displays info on a raid party, combat notes, and tracks all raid’s cooldowns. Also shows required addons and records fight logs.

Hekili — an assistant that recommends rotation changes several steps ahead. Works by gathering information about the current state of the game, using an Action Priority List (APL), similar to SimulationCraft, to recommend a sequence of abilities to use.

GTFO — provides an audible alert when you’re standing in something you’re not supposed to be standing in. In some cases, you’ll be warned before you start taking damage. This mod improves your situational awareness and is recommended for M+ and raids.

WeakAuras — allows you to add and customize additional interface panels. Very handy for keeping track of cooldown, items, procs, and your resources. Customize everything on your own or use presets on https://wago.io/.

Clique — simplifies the use of macros and allows you to create different spell combinations.

Pro tips

• Uptime of Rake and Rip should be close to 100%, the same applies to Thrash in AoE. Rake and Thrash can be reapplied without duration losses 4.5 sec before they expire. Rip can be reapplied 7.2 sec before it expires. Both of these DoTs should be reapplied while Tiger’s Fury is active.
• Savage Roar can be reapplied as early as 10.8 sec before expiring with 5 combo points.
• Ferocious Bite must be used at all times. With Sabertooth there’s no need to reapply Rip.
• Use Tiger’s Fury as often as possible, but make sure the 50 energy it gives doesn’t go into overcap. If too many targets die consecutively, it makes sense to use Tiger’s Fury to restore energy.

 

This concludes our guide. Best of luck in the world of Azeroth!