1.
Unique Challenges of Mythic+
In Mythic+ Dungeons, in particular at higher key levels, you will bepresented with some of the most challenging and competitive PvE contentavailable in WoW alongside Mythic Raiding.
In keystones, when playing as Feral, your responsibility to contribute tothe group's success will be higher than in most raiding groups due to the smallergroup size; therefore, skill and execution of strategy are crucial. Being versatileand able to adapt to any situation is a key factor here. It isone of the main things that differentiate it from the more specialized buildsused in raiding.
On top of damage, you must also interrupt, dispel, and supportthe group simultaneously. That means some of the abilities you otherwise wouldnot use often can be invaluable to your group, so make sure to utilize yourentire suite of tools.
In this guide, we will be discussing the finer points of Feral Druidand how to get the most out of it, how to gear and set up yourcharacter, and some tips to push yourself further.
If you are unfamiliar with Mythic+ and its associated general mechanics, youcan read more about it on our Dragonflight Mythic+ Season 3 page below.
Mythic+Mythic+ DPS Rankings
2.
Feral Druid Mythic+ Talent Build
For Feral in Mythic+, there is one primary build that comes with anumber of choices. These allow you to adjust your damage profile, addingadditional single-target, cleave, or AoE depending on what your group needs.There are also some nice comfort options related to Energy if you are strugglingto maintain a nice flow during combat. Our general recommendation is a moreAoE-leaning build that still grabs the most efficient single-target optionsalong the way. Beneath the build, we also explain the reasoning and anytalent swap options available:
The core of Feral in Season 3 revolves around the AoE loop of Primal Wrath, Tear Open Wounds and Apex Predator's Craving as it has for most ofDragonflight. Thanks to Apex Predator having a varied proc rate depending on target count,it means that it retains value at lower target counts. It rounds this out with fast Rakeapplication via Double-Clawed Rake to set up on smaller pack sizes. Finally, itmakes use of Feral Frenzy to activate the Season 3 set bonus for a 30-secondcooldown burst window that can generally be used when opening on every pack.
2.1.
Talent Considerations
While the above build is the most rounded, there is a lot of room to customizesome points depending on the style of damage you aim to focus on. Due to how granular theFeral tree is, precisely how much you want to lean into different damage types dictatesyour path down the tree. The most common flex points and the reasons behind takingthem are as follows:
3.
Talent Details
RecommendedFlex Picks
2.2.
Strongly Recommended Talent picks
These are the talents that, while they can be swapped, should stillmostly be taken in the majority of builds unless you need to find room for flexpicks based on preference:
- Feral Frenzy - while expensive below the high value 20 gate, thisbrings an extra single-target burst tool for priority damage and resource flood.It is also mandatory with the Season 3 set bonus as it activates the very powerfulburst window.
- Convoke the Spirits - brings in a powerful 2-minute burst cooldown thatcan be used to burn down priority targets and bosses alike, and pairs perfectlywith on-use trinkets in Season 3. It can also paired with Ashamane's Guidancefor a 1-minute timer (and Rampant Ferocity if you are really lookingfor extra burst AoE). Incarnation: Avatar of Ashamane on the other hand isan alternative, extending and empowering Berserk by freeing upEnergy allowing for more aggressive casts. Both are worthwhile options, and takingat least one of these is recommended in all builds.
- Double-Clawed Rake - a strong AoE talent that makes it easier to maintain Rake on multiple targets. This works best if you expect to spend themajority of the dungeon engaged with lots of enemies but provides no single-targetbenefit. It also doubles up the value of Sudden Ambush procs
- Infected Wounds - amplifies your Rake so works well withthe above Double-Clawed Rake to apply it to multiple targets. This is recommendedto pair as a package with other Rake talents, but it still has value in single-targetsituations, so is usually one of the last to be dropped.
- Sudden Ambush - especially if you take the above two talents, this caps itoff, allowing you to double up on the additional Pouncing Strikes damage boost.It still remains strong in its own right, though, as both a single-target and AoE (ifcycling Rakes) option and a strong pathing node down the left side.
- Moment of Clarity - if you are absolutely sure you are comfortablewith your Energy management and Predator resets, this can be dropped to fitin another throughput talent elsewhere on the tree. Removing this alongside allother Energy options puts a huge strain on your available resources, however, andis usually the last to drop.
- Carnivorous Instinct - flat damage increase to your Tiger's Fury,and due to the high uptime in Mythic+ thanks to Predator has extremely goodvalue. An expensive point to fit in but highly desirable, unfortunately, in Season 3most builds can only squeeze in a single point.
2.2.
Flex and Comfort Talent picks
These are options that can be useful in some niche builds, and do provide uniquebenefits. They are either more specialized (meaning you should think more thoroughlyabout how you will make use of them in a dungeon) or focused more on comfort:
- Dire Fixation - This is extremely single-targetfocused, but it brings so much for a single talent point that it covers someof the pitfalls of the spec by allowing it to still provide competent bossdamage. This is still recommended to play in most builds, but because of howspecialized it is, falls into the flex category if you are looking for moreAoE.
- Rampant Ferocity - generally taken as a way to convert Ferocious Biteinto AoE damage; this is something that can be taken if you want to go all-in on doingas much to large groups as possible. Due to it providing no single-target, however, andplaying counter to some of Feral's goals, it is much more niche.
- Tireless Energy - solid extra Energy redundancy by increasing the cap andsmoothing the resource. While it is not a remarkable damage increase, if youare running into issues managing your Energy, this can be a good pick to make theplaystyle more fluid.
- Adaptive Swarm - allows you to focus more on priority damage when takinga more Bleed heavy build, but only one point limits its uses to single targets.
- Lion's Strength - this is an alternative to Bloodtalons that iseasier to execute, but due to the alternative now having 3 charges, it is hard to justifyswitching to. While it is a good pick for comfort, be aware that it willcome with performance loss.
Feral's talent tree is extremely loose, allowing you to tailor exactly the balanceyou need each dungeon at a granular level, usually needing a mix-and-match styledepending on your route. The recommended build is the most rounded, but the aboveoptions can push and pull you in the direction you need should you find the profileis not quite right for you.
If you want more information about all of the talent options and whethersome could be more useful in certain situations, you should use our dedicatedTalent page.
Feral Druid Talents and Builds
2.2.
Tier Set Gameplay
Depending on your currently equipped set bonus, there are some small considerations.Due to there being a gap in acquisition at the start of the season, some small tipsto play around them in Mythic+ are as follows:
3.
Tier Set Gameplay
Tier 31Tier 30
3.
Amirdrassil Set: Tier 31
Feral's Amirdrassil bonus injects an additional damage profile of 30-secondburst windows into its toolkit via Feral Frenzy, making it a mandatorytalent. Thanks to the additional cooldown reduction it provides, it meanswe can easily plan around a comfortable cycle that slots into most pulldurations, allowing us to start strong.
When playing this, you want to make sure it aligns with Tiger's Fury,and you have everything set up before activating it (meaning at least one Primal Wrath cast to get things started). Due to the window beingshort, you want to have some resources pooled and immediately after casting Feral Frenzy dump as much resources into all targets as possibleto maximize the burst. This includes cooldowns such as Berserkand Convoke the Spirits.
3.
Aberrus Set: Tier 30
While no longer used in Season 3, it is still worth using while gearing upan old character if you are jumping into the season late. The Feral bonus forAberrus is mostly passive, granting ramping Agility from auto-attacks thatincreases slowly and eventually overloads into more Agility plus a trickle ofCombo Points. When this happens, be aware that you will be generating fasterthan usual and should spend a little more aggressively with each tick toavoid waste.
3.
Affixes in Dragonflight Season 3
As your key level climbs in Mythic+, you will encounter additional affixeseach week throughout the season. The first activates at level 7, adding effectsthat trigger during combat, and the second begins at level 14, that triggeron enemy health thresholds or death. Feral has some unique tools to deal withthe following affixes, and those not mentioned require no change:
4.
Dealing With Affixes as Feral
AfflictedEntanglingIncorporealRagingSanguineSpiteful
3.1.
Afflicted
Afflicted spawns up to two Afflicted Souls throughout thedungeon when in combat. These have a 10-second cast Afflicted Cry that,if successful, reduces the Haste of all players by 100% for 10 seconds thatcan stack.
This can be stopped through any friendly dispel effect or throughhealing the souls. While costly to reach on the class tree, Feral should stilltake Remove Corruption to deal with these. You can also use Predatory Swiftnessprocs to heal them in an emergency.
3.1.
Entangling
Entangling periodically snares all players in the group, spawning acircle around you and snaring you by 30%. If you do not snap the vine by gettingout of the area within 8 seconds, you will be stunned for 3 seconds.
Feral has a lot of base movement speed to begin with, so it barely feels the slow,and even better, if you get stuck in a bad spot, you can simply shapeshift out of Cat Form to remove it.
3.1.
Incorporeal
Incorporeal spawns up to two Incorporeal Beings roughly every 45seconds. These begin a 5-second cast Destabilize that, if successful,reduces the damage and healing done of all players by 50% for 10 seconds and canstack.
These enemies are vulnerable to all crowd control and interrupts, thereforeFeral should always play Hibernate during these weeks. If you see acast about to go through or the second target is not under control, you can use Skull Bash to buy some time until another party member covers it.
3.1.
Raging
Raging causes each non-boss enemy to become immune to crowd controlfor 30 seconds after it reaches 30% Health.
All Feral builds path through Soothe, so you come with a naturalcounter to this. Due to its cooldown, prioritize using this on enemies thathave dangerous casts to keep them locked down rather than using it aggressively,and remember they can still be interrupted with Skull Bash.
3.1.
Sanguine
Sanguine causes all non-boss enemies to leave behind a pool of Ichor,dealing 15% of players health in Shadow damage per second while inside. This alsoheals enemies by 5% while inside, and pools last for 12 seconds. Pools no longerstack if they are connected in Season 3.
Managing this is largely on the group and the tank moving enemies out of thearea, while you aim to avoid them. Some will always slip through, however, sotaking Typhoon so you can knock enemies out of the healing area isrecommended.
3.1.
Spiteful
Spiteful causes all non-boss enemies to spawn a Spiteful Shade,which fixates on a random player in the group. These slowly lose health, anddeal heavy melee damage if they get close.
Due to how dangerous these are, having some form of control or escape wheneach group of enemies die is advised. Typhoon is recommended here toknock them away, buying you some time, but if you are forced to tank them for long, then Barkskin and running away is advised.
4.
Feral Druid Mythic+ Rotation Considerations
The rules covered in the Rotation, Cooldowns, and Abilities pageare still applicable here. In most situations, however, you willdefault to higher enemy counts, making cleave and AoE your focus.Some additional things to note that can be helpful when tryingto improve your output due to the downtime, Mythic+ createsinclude:
- Pooling Combo Points as targets are about to die so that you can immediatelyopen with a high-value Primal Wrath cast on thenext pack gets you started quickly with each pull.
- Try to enter Prowl between each pack and openwith Rake to lock down a high-priority target and prevent casts.This could be followed up with the above-mentioned Primal Wrath cast ifany Combo Points were lost due to downtime. Just note that this Rakestun will DR other stuns on the target hit, so avoid this if you plan toorganize stops.
- Plan your Berserk casts around when you need high burst damage.Due to its duration, this can often be bosses, but that with Berserk: Heart of the Lion, this cooldown is often closer to 2 minutes,so try not to waste uses by holding it too long.
- The same extends to Convoke the Spirits if taken. Thisis a powerful burst tool, but make sure to already have Ripactive via Primal Wrath so that the potential Ferocious Bitecasts will deal AoE damage via Rampant Ferocity.
- Due to the reset effect, Predator makes it very easy toset yourself up between each pack. Make sure that you apply Bleedsand maintain them as targets are dying (primarily via either Thrash or Primal Wrath) to trigger it. Do notbe afraid to use it as targets are dying in a pack, as they will triggera reset for the next pack anyway.
- Due to the resets mentioned above, you should be casting Tiger's Furyvery aggressively, especially as a target is about to die for the surgeof Energy and damage increase window. Uptime should be almost permanentthanks to it and Raging in any dungeon with enemies that dieat a staggered rate.
5.
Feral Druid Utility
Feral Druid has access to a lot of different tools to assist the group,mainly relating to crowd control and dispel effects, many of which are onlyavailable as talents on the Class tree:
6.
Utility
Crowd Control and DispelsHealing and DefenseOther Tools
5.1.
Crowd Control and Dispels
Often, the most crucial part of any Mythic+ run (after how you will deal asmuch damage to kill enemies quickly) is how you intend to lock them down andavoid dangerous casts. Feral comes with some good options for both single-targetand AoE disruption:
- Skull Bash is the Feral interrupt tool on a 15-second cooldown, a13-yard range and has a small charge. This should be used frequently todisrupt enemy casts and can also be used to re-engage targets at range usingthe charge aspect. Just be careful if using it from a distance, as the chargecan put you in dangerous situations.
- Remove Corruption removes both Curse and Poison debuffs from atargeted ally with an 8-second cooldown. Assisting your healer if they cannotremove them or multiple debuffs are present is strongly recommended. Whilecostly to reach, this is recommended during Afflicted affixweeks.
- Soothe is an offensive Enrage effect dispel. This has a 40-yardrange and a 10-second cooldown, and can be used in Cat Form.This is incredibly valuable to any group in any dungeon that has Enrageeffects or during Raging affix weeks.
- Entangling Roots is a soft crowd control option to lock downenemies in certain situations you want to keep out of range. However, theyare still able to cast or attack from range if they have the ability to.This can also be made instant with Predatory Swiftnessprocs.
- Infected Wounds is passively applied by your Rakeeffect, slowing targets by 20% for 12 seconds. Not a strong slow, butit can be useful if kiting is needed.
- Maim and Mighty Bash talents are both stun optionsavailable to Feral that can be used to lock down single targets and preventnon-interruptible casts.
- Typhoon can push enemies back or interrupt castsfrom immune enemies. It can also force targets out of groundeffects such as Sanguine if needed, which is especially usefulduring these weeks.
- Incapacitating Roar is an AoE interrupt effect on otherwiseimmune targets. The low cooldown of this makes it incredibly useful forlarge groups of enemies, but it does put you into Bear Form,so it comes with a damage loss. That said, the AoE interrupt is more thanworth it.
- Ursol's Vortex locks enemies within the area to the position,pulling them back if they are forced or try to leave. This has goodsynergy with Typhoon, acting as a pseudo-mass grip by gatheringall enemies pushed to its center.
- Hibernate is a crowd control option that can be cast onBeasts and Dragonkin with a 1.5-second cast and a 30-yard range. Thisputs your target to sleep for up to 40 seconds, but any damage takenwill break the effect. This is a recommended pick to deal withthe Incorporeal affix.
- Cyclone is an emergency crowd control tool that willbanish your target for 6 seconds, making it unable to act and immuneto all damage and healing effects. This can be used to lock down adangerous target briefly but has a 1.5-second cast time, and onlyone enemy can be affected by this at once. It is also quite costlyto reach on the tree.
5.2.
Off-healing and Survival
After control, you also need to consider how you are going to survivein dungeons where damage intake can be extremely high or very frontloaded.That means sometimes more niche talents for raids become exceptionallyvaluable to make it through otherwise lethal mechanics in a situationwhere you are responsible yourself for surviving:
- Bear Form allows you to assume a Tank-oriented form when used andalso grants access to Growl as a taunt effect. This can help inemergencies, increasing your survival and allowing you to redirect pressure fromyour tank. With Ursine Vigor taken as well, it can act as a shortwindow of additional Health to survive potentially lethal mechanics.
- Predatory Swiftness allows you to cast Regrowth instantlyor Entangling Roots after casting a finishing move at 5 Combo Points.This can assist with off-healing or provide emergency crowd control.
- Protective Growth is an extremely costly point to take, as itis present on the spec tree where damage options are available, butis still an option if you find yourself struggling to survive.
- Survival Instincts is now mandatory pathing in 10.0.5 and isa huge cooldown that is very useful for making it through the more lethalmechanics. You also have access to the Barkskin baseline, which canbe improved with Matted Fur to give a little bit more overhead onone-shot mechanics, and the flat damage reduction from Thick Hideon the Class tree.
- Well-Honed Instincts can provide a perfect emergency healshould you be caught off guard or begin to bleed out over extended periodsin some encounters and is a great option even at one point.
- Renewal is an option for burst healing should you find yourselfticking out in bad situations due to high intake, or your healer fallsbehind. A good emergency button.
- Nature's Vigil provides a conversion for your single-targetdamage events into healing, allowing you to contribute to the groupssurvival in high-damage moments without costing damage, so it should betaken in virtually all scenarios.
- Heart of the Wild is a long cooldown, long duration optionthat gives a large amount of bonus survival while in Bear Form,or additional healing when active. This is a very niche option tohybridize between roles if necessary, but the long cooldown makes itvery restrictive in Mythic+ environments.
- Protector of the Pack can also be taken to improve furtheryour healing with Predatory Swiftness, allowing for a stronger,instant emergency heal if needed.
5.3.
Other Beneficial Tools
Lastly, these are some effects Feral has access to that do not fitinto either of the above category, but can still be extremely usefulwithin a dungeon and are worth considering and remembering:
- Mark of the Wild provides 3% Versatility to your group andis brought by any Druid. Remember to buff this at the start of everydungeon or if an ally dies!
- The act of shapeshifting in or out of Cat Form (or anyother form) will also break roots, which can be helpful for somemechanics. It will also immediately snap Entanglingvines, removing the need to run out manually.
- Innervate can and should be taken both due to pathing andthe benefit of being able to help your healer out should an extendedpull happen, and they need the 10 seconds of Mana-free casting.
- Stampeding Roar grants movement speed to you and all allies within15 yards. This can be used for getting back into range for damage, helpingallies to avoid dangerous effects or get to the next pull faster.
- Rebirth is a combat resurrection effect, allowing you to revive aplayer outside of the combat restrictions in the event of an unexpecteddeath to keep the pull alive, but does require you to leave Cat Form.
6.
Gear and Trinket Options for Feral Druid in Mythic+
There are no significant alterations to the gear choices you shouldbe making compared to normal single-target and AoE situations, however,we heavily recommend simming your own character to make sure.Having Patchwerk and then Dungeon Slice profiles to see what can beoptimized. Dungeon Slice or Hectic Add Cleave, in particular,is significant, as this will generate activations of Predator with simulated enemy deaths.
Trinkets tend to lean toward on-use or proc effects that are powerfulin all situations rather than specific ones, with a preference for any thatare frontloaded for burst purposes, so your mileage may vary comparedto those that are picked in raids. We tend to lean toward one passiveproc/stat trinket paired with an on-use trinket to align with cooldownsand burst windows. You can look at our gear page to know more about the gearto aim for. There are, however, two specific trinkets of note: Ashes of the Embersouland Witherbark's Branch. These two both align with Convoke the Spiritsand Berserk, and as such using one of these two isgenerally recommended at all times.
Feral Druid BiS and Gear
7.
Changelog
- 19 Mar. 2024: Reviewed for Patch 10.2.6.
- 15 Jan. 2024: Reviewed for Patch 10.2.5, shifted recommendation to Convoke and added note regarding 2-minute trinkets.
- 10 Nov. 2023: Restructured and updated for Patch 10.2.
- 06 Nov. 2023: Updated link to Mythic+ hub.
- 04 Sep. 2023: Reviewed for Patch 10.1.7, changed recommended build to a more Rake focused one.
- 10 Jul. 2023: Updated for Patch 10.1.5 and added Dire Fixation to build.
- 01 May 2023: Updated for Patch 10.1, small build changes and added new Affix details.
- 20 Mar. 2023: Reviewed and updated for Patch 10.0.7.
- 24 Jan. 2023: Updated for Patch 10.0.5.
- 11 Dec. 2022: Reviewed for Dragonflight Season 1.
- 28 Nov. 2022: Updated for Dragonflight launch.
- 25 Oct. 2022: Updated for Dragonflight pre-patch.
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