PvE Feral Druid DPS Talents, Builds & Glyphs

Oxykitten • Published July 29, 2023

Feral druids have many valuable talents available to them which can improve their ability to tank, DPS, or both. Therefore, there is no single correct build, and the talents you should get depend on how much you will tank or DPS within the same spec. If you have Dual Talent Specialization and dedicate both your specialisations to PvE, you can use the pure-DPS build shown below and the tank build shown here.

There are several useful glyphs for Feral tanks and for Feral DPS. Unfortunately, these do not overlap, and make up the most difference between tank and DPS builds. This makes the Feral tree less hybrid than in previous expansions, though a mixed tank/dps build is still perfectly viable, at least for an off-tank.

Talents

newferaldpsspec 2 — Click here for a modifiable talent calculator.

Uncoloured	Core, mandatory talents
Blue	Cat-oriented optional talents
Green	Bear-oriented optional talents

Feral Swiftness: 4% dodge is useful in Bear Form, and 30% movement speed in Cat Form is fantastic for DPSing, avoiding mechanics, and any open world content as well.

Survival of the Fittest: Increasing all attributes by 6% is a great talent on its own. The 6% critical strike suppression means that Ferals cannot be critically struck in PvE without the need of Defense or Resilience from gear.

Leader of the Pack: Increases all raid members’ critical strike chance by 5%. This is a powerful buff, but does not stack with a DPS warrior’s Rampage, or another Feral’s same talent. This makes it less valuable in a raid environment, but it is still a must-have talent.

Predatory Instincts: An extremely important DPS talent, but this provides no value to tanks.

Berserk: A strong offensive cooldown for both tanking and DPSing.

Feral Aggression: The boost to Ferocious Bite is minor DPS increase, so while this does feature in a pure DPS spec, it is the first place to drop points if you want to hybridise your build.

Thick Hide: A great tanking talent to reduce incoming damage, but not necessarily mandatory for an offtank who wants to prioritise cat damage.

Survival Instincts: Like warriors’ last stand, this talent finally gives bears a good defensive cooldown, along with Barkskin. It is a great talent, and at low cost — I include this even in a pure DPS spec because of the survivability it offers in cat form.

Natural Reaction: 6% dodge is a decent boost, but this would be one of the first talents to drop for DPS-oriented talents.

Protector of the Pack: Damage reduction and a large threat boost — this talent is massively valuable for a tank, but provides no DPS value. This is the first talent to pick up if hybridising your build to include tanking functionality.

Improved Mangle: This talent benefits both bears and cats, but is not very important for bears and usually skipped by cats.

Glyphs

Recommended:

Savage Roar: A strong boost to your overall DPS, and therefore highly recommended.

Shred: Increases your rip duration when you shred, providing a significant DPS boost — also highly recommended.

Glyph of Omen of Clarity: Causes faeriefireferal to proc clearcasting when cast. This was recently introduced as a significant buff to Feral DPS, and is a highly recommended glyph.

Optional:

Rip: Increases your default rip duration, providing a significant DPS boost. This is a powerful glyph, but in Phase 3 is outweighed by the others listed above.

Maul: Allows Maul to hit two targets, which is game-changing for your AoE threat. If you replace any cat glyphs for tanking functionality, I would recommend this one.

Survival Instincts: A massive boost to a Feral’s best defensive cooldown. Strong for tanking but provides no value to your DPS.

Mangle: A significant buff to Mangle and therefore single-target threat, which is one of Ferals’ weaknesses. Strong for tanking, but provides no value to your DPS.

Berserk: A strong option which increases the duration of Berserk, a good offensive cooldown for single- and multi-target scenarios. This glyph provides value for both tanking and DPS, but isn’t great for either.

Growl: Very helpful if you need your growls to hit, but in most encounters you will generate enough threat and not need it.

Frenzied Regeneration: This is actually a solid defensive glyph. While Frenzied Regeneration on its own is a weak cooldown, increasing your healing received could come in clutch. This is a solid survivability-focused choice but would never feature in a hybrid talent spec.

Glyph of Dash: Dash has many uses in and out of PvE, so reducing this cooldown has the most value of any minor glyph.

Glyph of Challenging Roar: Challenging Roar is an AoE taunt, so reducing this cooldown provides some value for tanking.

Every other minor glyph only provides convenience, so pick whichever you prefer.

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hrischu

1 year ago

Is Survival in the fittest a “Must have”?
I don’t see value from it for cat form

Oxykitten

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Reply to hrischu

1 year ago

Hi! 6% to all stats is great value for your DPS. I’d definitely recommend it!

Mamuli

1 year ago

hey why not go for improved mangle?

Dexter

1 year ago

Could you add two talent trees addressing cat dps and bear dps separately?

cengizbro

2 years ago

it’s a very good guide, well done

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