As someone who recently returned with the intention of maining Feral Druid (both tank and DPS), I’ve noticed significant issues with both specs that make them feel underwhelming and less competitive compared to other classes and roles.
Feral Cat DPS
After the Balance Druid rework and the introduction of new talents and weapons, Feral Cat damage output feels outdated and underpowered. With a strong gear setup (35 hit rating, 450+ attack power), I’m only able to sustain around 230-250 DPS on a dummy, which is lackluster compared to other DPS specs.
The main issue lies in energy management and rotation constraints (and bad rune design):
To gain extra energy from the new idol, we need to keep Rake and Rip active on the target.
With Savage Fury being mandatory for DPS, there’s no room to consistently cast Ferocious Bite (Rank 1).
Furthermore, Rip (Rank 2) outperforms Ferocious Bite (Rank 1), making the latter a waste of a rune slot.
Suggestions for Cat DPS
Make Ferocious Bite refresh Rip. This change would streamline the rotation, make Ferocious Bite viable, and solve the core problem with the current rune design.
Alternatively, rework the rune system:
Provide Ferocious Bite through the class trainer.
Replace the current rune with something impactful, like Feral Charge or Primal Gore.
Feral Bear Tanking
The recent updates to Dire Bear Form were a step in the right direction, giving Bears enough stats to be playable as tanks. However, damage and threat generation remain problematic, especially in AoE situations:
Swipe damage is too low and scales poorly, making it difficult to maintain threat on multiple targets.
When Growl and Faerie Fire are on cooldown, it becomes nearly impossible to hold AoE aggro, particularly against classes with strong AoE abilities.
Suggestions for Bear Tanking
Buff Swipe to deal higher damage and scale better with attack power.
Increase the threat generated by Swipe to improve AoE tanking reliability.