Let’s talk Feral.
For context, I’m coming at this from the perspective of Mythic Raiding, as that’s the content I focus on most.
Overall, the Feral rotation is fun. Snapshotting and planning your next ability is engaging and satisfying to optimise. The slower feel compared to past expansions brings back a more “classic” Feral style and helps the spec stand out from other, faster-paced (spammy) melee.
The main issue with the current playstyle (outside of damage tuning) is how much it relies on RNG. Between the tier set bonus procs and resets, Convoke RNG, and Apex Predator’s Craving procs in single-target, your output can swing pretty wildly.
Only having one viable Hero Talent per content type is disappointing, especially after Nerub’ar Palace, where both were competitive. The current tier set bonus also feels flat. Feral is the only melee spec where the 4-piece has zero synergy with the 2-piece.
Druid Tree
Dash feels bad to press.
It’s completely outclassed by both Tiger’s Dash and Wild Charge:
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Tiger’s Dash has a shorter cooldown and does the same job
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Wild Charge lets you avoid knockbacks (Raszageth winds, Magmorax knock) or cross gaps (Denathrius, Sepulcher Artificer)
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Even 1-minute Stampeding Roar feels stronger and more useful
Suggestion: Replace baseline Dash with Tiger’s Dash. In the talent tree, make the Tiger’s Dash node give either a second charge or something like Displacer Beast or Soulshape.
Giving Feral access to Displacer Beast or Soulshape would allow the spec to handle mechanics that usually favor certain classes (Mage, Monk, Warlock) like escaping the Gaols on Mug’zee or crossing Queen Ansurek’s barrier with an essence. If Soulshape returned, it could also let players reuse their old forms from Shadowlands, adding some customisation and reasons to revisit that content.
Utility Friction
Blizzard has said some “friction” is expected when using utility as Feral. I’d argue we’re well past the healthy limit and into “this just feels bad” territory.
Feral is the only Druid spec that’s punished for casting Rebirth. Guardian can cast it instantly in form, and both Balance and Restoration can cast it and keep going. For Feral, unless I’m the only available battle res, I’m actively hoping someone else does it—because being forced out of Cat Form, standing still to cast, and then re-entering form just feels clunky and awkward.
It genuinely feels like a penalty, especially when compared to the other specs.
Suggestion: Let Rebirth consume Predatory Swiftness again. That way, if you prepare ahead of time, you can cast it instantly. And if it’s an emergency, you can still hard cast it. This would keep some friction while at least giving Feral players the option to engage with this utility instead of avoiding it.
Druid class tree options
The Druid class tree overall lacks flexibility. Too many multi-point nodes and deeply placed throughput talents limit your actual build variety.
Consider moving some throughput into the base kit and reducing two-point nodes to one-point.
Feral Tree
Choices are good.
Being able to opt into additional DoTs and mechanics (Lunar Inspiration, Blood Talons, Adaptive Swarm, Circle of Life and Death), or opt out of the parts you don’t enjoy (Thrashing Claws, Lion’s Strength, Veinripper) is great for the aproachabilty of the spec and customistion of the rotation.
Burst AoE
Feral’s biggest weakness in raid is burst AoE. The most common mechanic in modern raid fights (other than dodging swirlies) is dealing with waves of low-medium HP adds.
Feral can do decent AoE if it’s allowed to set up or during sustained pulls like in Mythic Plus. But during quick add waves, it often ends up doing little or nothing while other specs clean house.
Having a niche is fine. But Feral’s current niche of “doesn’t really get to participate in a key mechanic” is too extreme, and makes it harder to justify bringing the spec.
One idea: revert Brutal Slash to its Legion-style version; very high damage, with a longer recharge time.
That approach would give Feral actual burst tools without making it overpowered in Mythic+. The longer cooldown would also help reinforce the slower, more thoughtful pacing of the spec, and open up real decision-making:
- Do I use a charge now to trigger Blood Talons?
- Do I hold it for incoming adds?
- Do I pair it with a damage amp or Tiger’s Fury?
Additionally, if the idea of a longer recharge time on Brutal Slash is unappealing to players, they can always opt to play Swipe instead, a great benefit of the current Feral tree is the ability to pick and choose which spells you want in your rotation
Ashamane’s Guidance
This capstone is in a really rough spot. It takes a ton of points to reach, and once you get there, it’s barely usable in PvE.
The 1-minute Convoke is just worse. Even in fights with consistent damage amp windows like Silken Court, the 2-minute version does more work.
Incarnation (both regular and Ashamane’s version) is also too weak to be viable at high levels. While I love that players are able to choose between Convoke and Incarn in order to customise their major damage CD, Incarn is simply too weak to be viable choice in higher level PvE content.
Hero Talent Trees
Both of Feral’s Hero Talent trees are underwhelming in look and gameplay. They don’t really change how the spec plays, and their main effects boil down to passive procs.
Back in Nerub’ar Palace, both Hero trees were viable. Now, because of the tier set’s interaction with Apex Predator, only Wildstalker is relevant in raids.
Many choice nodes are also too weak to see any play. These need retuning or a redesign.
Example: Tear Down the Mighty in Druid of the Claw. Druid of the Claw is only really played in Mythic+, and Feral Frenzy is mostly a single-target tool. This talent would have to reduce the CD of Feral frenzy significantly to see play in AoE, and/or give some form of damage amplification effect like the Amirdrassil four-set bonus.