Besides, lots of druids like to think they need it. Let another druid in the party, esp. a tree, take IMotW. They should already have it anyways (think of it this way, how many trees do you know that have Furor?).

The party will be much happier that their tank kept them alive, rather than have anyone die because you weren’t the absolute best tank you could be.

Now, outside of regular dungeon running or if the group you run with has a dearth of druids, it is not a bad option. as pointed out, for feral druids, there are lots of options to choose from. Depending on your play style, you can definitely afford IMotW.

,ValentineS

So I’ve started with the key “basic” feral spec:

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

This is one point shy of what you need to hit Mangle, so I’m going right ahead and putting it in Shredding Attacks, to give me 42 points.

2/2 Shredding Attacks

So this leaves me with 19 more points. Obviously, Omen of Clarity is amazing. It seems that it procs on almost every fight, and sometimes twice – many mobs are dead before they break the stun lock. Free ability = dead mob faster.

So to get there, what choices do I have? I used to go 5/5 Furor and 5/5 IMotW; yet no one seems to think IMotW is worth it. When I read this post and Big Bear, I realized what I was missing out in Naturalist (duh – 10% more melee damage? Yes please!). And Furor is still worthwhile, even though I’m largely soloing as a kitty (it comes in handy when you get an add, need to go bear, and need rage RIGHT NOW);

So that gives me:
5/5 Furor
5/5 Naturalist
1/1 Omen of Clarity

Which means I have 8 points left.

At this point, it comes down to choosing feral abilities that seem to only benefit one form or the other, cat or bear. I spend more time in cat, but I do occasionally offtank in my guild, so I want that ability (plus the aforementioned times when a pull goes bad while soloing). For my playstyle, these seem to make the most sense:

2/2 Savage Fury
2/2 Brutal Impact

20% more kitty damage is simply huge; and having pounce or bash last longer means more kitty dps on an opening, or more time to get away, heal or take a potion as a bear.

Which means I’ve maxed this tree leaving out three abilities. Why?

1. Feral Aggression (theorycrafters say the AP reduction amounts to 2 DPS from your attackers, which isn’t worth 5 points).

2. Nurturing Instinct (I can actually see the case for this if you’re doing kitty dps – you have high strength gear, and need to heal yourself when things go bad – so why not have your gear add to your heal bonus? It’s just too situational for me; I’d rather have the points used in an all the time ability, rather than an “in case of screwed, use this”).

3. Primal Tenacity (resisting stun can be good, resisting fear is again really situational. And in a group situation, if you’re not the MT, and now that Fear Ward if trainable, should you be resisting fear as your tank runs away? Probably not)

So that leaves one burning question.

Where do I put my other 4 points?

I’m just curious why no one seems to think Improved Mark of the Wild is worth the points… It seems I’m always reading that MotW is “the best buff in the game” – so why isn’t it worth 5 points to make it better?

Basically, I’m leaning towards Nature’s grasp (good for escapes), and Intensity (not only does this allow the mana to regen during healing, etc., which seems to make Natural Shapeshifter obsolete, but it also has the bonus of giving you more rage when you hit the “oh crap” button (Enrage).).

I’d love some opinions!

Yeah, I’m being too ambitious. I want to be a good tank, do decent DPS, and be ready for the occasional PVP.

I’m maxed out in all Feral talents, then I have 5/5 Gift of the Wild in Restoration.

I would love to be able to pick up these talents on top of that: Omen of Clarity, Furor, and Nature’s Grasp. I just can’t decide what talents to drop.

Should I drop Faerie Fire (Feral) and just use the regular (balance) FF? It has the same effect. I could just use it to pull mobs then shift to bear form.

I believe gear, play style, and talents are a function of each other. Some play styles benefit more from certain talents than from others. And some talents define what gear is most beneficial for you (i.e. Survival of the Fittest for crit immunity; Thick Hide for armor).

Im not raiding yet and I play solo most of the times. Once or twice a week I do instances. Anyone have some advice on the spec?

Sorry for the long comment. Thanks for such a great blog!

By The Light Of The Moon!

Zangano
Realm: Anvilmar
70 Night Elf Druid

(Although I’m primarily geared for feral tanking, I’ve been called upon to spot heal in both Kara [on the Maiden, usually] and Gruul’s [help a boomkin tank Kiggler]…. I have +600 healing when I slap on my healie set, so I’m not an utter when I do that, either.)