Let’s talk feral specs at 70.

For druids, the basic feral path is pretty straitforward.

If you are going to be focusing on feral, then the goal is to spec enough points to get Mangle, and have the basics to be a solid tank and strong cat.

It’s more a topic for another post, but as far as gear goes, I maintain 2 full sets for feral, one that is focused on high base armor, agility, stamina and +defense, and the other focused on high burst DPS from strength, agility, AP and +crit. I highly recommend this. Don’t try to get both jobs done with one set, you’ll just be average to poor in both.

The basic foundation spec for feral is as follows;

Feral Combat (40 points)
5/5 Ferocity
3/3 Feral Instinct
3/3 Thick Hide
2/2 Feral Swiftness
1/1 Feral Charge
3/3 Sharpened Claws
3/3 Predatory Strikes
2/2 Primal Fury
1/1 Faerie Fire (Feral)
5/5 Heart of the Wild
3/3 Survival of the Fittest
1/1 Leader of the Pack
2/2 Improved Leader of the Pack
5/5 Predatory Instincts
1/1 Mangle

Restoration (11 points)
5/5 Furor
5/5 Naturalist
1/1 Omen of Clarity

Assuming you are level 70, this will leave you with 10 points to play with in small variations in spec, depending on how you spend most of your time playing.

Talents that you have to choose from that will help feral in some way, in no particular order, include;

Natures’ Grasp/Improved Natures’ Grasp (5 points)
Brutal Impact (2 points)
Shredding Attacks (2 points)
Savage Fury (2 points)
Nurturing Instinct (2 points)
Primal Tenacity (3 points)
Natural Shapeshifter (3 points)
Intensity (3 points)

Well, that’s 10 points to play with, and 22 points in juicy options.

So what can you take to get the most bang for your point buck? It depends on how you intend to spend most of your time.

If your druid is your main, and you are more of a casual player than a raider, then it is likely that you will want to choose to put those extra points into Talents that will help you chew faces and keep yourself alive in a tight spot.

For a casual soloing DPS cat, you want to increase burst damage/DPS, and give yourself interrupts and better spot healing. You’re going to want the ability to shift from cat to caster for HoTs and back again in a flash.

In that case, the first thing I’d recommend is 2 points in Savage Fury to up your Mangle (Cat) DPS by 20%. Second, put two points into Brutal Impact to give yourself another second on your Bash and Pounce stuns. That extra time to shift into caster, pop off your heals uninterrupted and drink a mana potion before shifting back is very valuable.

The last 6 points are pretty controversial.

If you want to balance out your DPS by being a good tank in pinch, then put 3 points into Primal Tenacity and 3 points into Intensity. The only tanking Talent you’ll be missing is the Shredding Attacks Lacerate cost reduction, and in my opinion having more up front Rage to establish aggro is more valuable then the Lacerate reduction over a long fight. Your results may vary… but if you are noticing problems, then you are probably tanking enough to justify taking Shredding Attacks over something else.

If you honestly intend to solo DPS most of the time, and intend to tank only on a fill-in or occasional basis, then you might consider putting 3 points into Natural Shapeshifter to decrease your mana costs while flipping back and forth, and give you more to use in heals. If you do this, you really don’t have an obvious option. for the other 3. You could put all three into Primal Tenacity, or you could put 2 into Nurturing Instincts to improve your emergency heals and 1 in either Primal Tenacity or Natures’ Grasp. It’s really up to you, and depends on whether you occasionally run PvP or rely on shift healing in your playstyle.

Keep in mind that for raiding or tanking, Nurturing Instincts is a worthless Talent. But, if you are soloing, and in your DPS gear, you should be heavy into +Str. Since Nurturing Instincts gives you a +healing based on a small percentage of your strength, it could prove to be a viable option for you, and give you that little bit extra to help you out while soloing the tougher mobs.

My advice is to try and find a balance that works best for your playing style. If you can afford to, try different variations of your spec and see what feels most effective and comfortable.

Before we get into tanking, I want to point you to an outstanding thread over in the WoW Druid Forums.

Now, let’s talk tanking.

If you want to make sure that you are specced to be the best tank you can be, first and foremost, and you’ll take the hit in soloing efficiency, then the choices are much easier

You’ll want 2 points in Shredding Attacks for the Lacerate rage reduction, 3 points in Primal Tenacity for the Stun and Fear resist, and 3 points in Intensity for instant Rage generation first.

The other 2 points could go in either Savage Fury or Brutal Impact.

This can be a tough decision. The Savage Fury will help your damage output while soloing (remember, since the patch it does NOT improve Maul, Swipe or Mangle - Bear!), but the Brutal Impact will serve to reduce the total damage you take tanking by prolonging your stuns, as well as improve your stun duration in both cat and bear. If you are really looking to maximize tanking, then your choice should be Brutal Impact.

I hope that this can help you take a look at the way you like to play your druid, and balance your spec accordingly.

Any comments are welcome!

Edit - No one has mentioned this to me yet, but I see I overlooked one thing. If you are raiding, or running instances as catform DPS regularly, then you need to fit Shredding Attacks into your build. Shred is the raiding DPS cats’ bread and butter attack, and except for those times when you are reapplying Mangle to keep your debuff up on the target, you should be Shredding your furry little heart out. Sorry for the oversight.