Feral - How does it feel?

[Ardeth]

Hey guys,
Basically I'm wondering what alt to play when I'm not on my warrior so I've been looking a bit into ferals. My main concern is the 90 talent, DoC SEEMS a bit complicated (atleast to feral "beginners") and I realise I probably shouldn't pick it up as soon as I ding 90. But I get the idea its the most dps. The mechanic seems a bit.. odd, to me though and I'm not entirely sure how it works and since I'd kinda like to do the most dps I canm at some point when I learn it, I kinda wanna know from experienced ferals how it feels to pull it off.

TLDR:
How do you like DoC?
How much ahead is DoC of the other options when done "perfectly"?
How does HotW work? Wrath spam with caster wep?

I'm kinda tired and smashed after raiding, so if post doesnt make sense its cus my brain is derping and you can flame / ask wtf Im after and Ill clear it up.
Thanks in advance!

[dennisdkramer]

I love it.
Not so much that you're forced to use it, but significantly enough that you feel rewarded.
You don't really have to bother, the 6% agi buff is enough to justify taking the talent, not to mention offhealing.

If we're talking QoL/feel of feral in general, here is my perspective.

Taking anything but Soul of the Forest feels HORRIBLE in pve.
Berserk during bloodlust is awful, I hate it so fucking much I cant even explain it
Yesterday doing Shek'zeer at the beginning (we lust at the start) our enh shaman (who is usually the one who competes with me for top dps) said "wow dennis whats going on I'm shitting on you!" and all I could say was "..yep, you have good burst at the beginning and I don't .. don't worry, I'll pass you." Its really stupid, if I try to execute the DoC rotation I energy cap hardcore during berserk/lust and hardly do any more damage than if I didnt have lust at all.

Aside from that gripe I'm pretty happy with feral overall

[yogie]

As a guardian main i'm kinda in the same situation as you.
The DoC rotation is a little strange and a bit gear dependant (should be easier next tier) but when done right is the best choice.
I recommend the guide on this forum since it really does help a lot and the guy really covered everything needed.

[dennisdkramer]

As a guardian main i'm kinda in the same situation as you.
The DoC rotation is a little strange and a bit gear dependant (should be easier next tier) but when done right is the best choice.
I recommend the guide on this forum since it really does help a lot and the guy really covered everything needed.

woah there.. guardian shouldnt be using DoC :x

[Paloro]

woah there.. guardian shouldnt be using DoC :x

I believe what he means is that when he goes feral he uses DoC, which is why he feels awkward using it.

---------- Post added 2012-11-28 at 11:22 AM ----------

I personally enjoy using DoC. When I first dinged 90, I was using HotW because of the 6% agi on it, then of course the wrath spam OP'ness.

I would suggest using HotW at first until you get used to the overall rotation and get a little bit more gear. When you do switch to DoC, you will find that it is quite easy to use PS procs for HT before your Rip if you pool energy to ~90 before using SR. That way your SotF gives back the energy and you can shred quickly to 5 cp.

[Karnudge]

I would need a little clarification of what you're looking to use these talents for. I personally like feral a whole bunch and I think all of the last tiers are interesting.

Are you just trying to be top dps?
Not only did is the DoC rotation much harder but I also just plain old didn't like it.
NV is kinda nifty.
I personally use HOTW, not only for the tiny stat buff but I think it's the best one for those OH CRAP moments. I've saved many a raid by not only healing but tanking as well when brez is on CD.

[Deleted]

I find myself switching between all 3 quite often, need an extra healing cd without nerfing dmg? take NV and you can do about 700/800k raid healing. (better then a VE!) need to heal like im doing atm on tsulong i use HotW and spam the shit out of him with the healing buff for 2m crit heals.

and doc...for when you can tunnel :P

[dennisdkramer]

I find myself switching between all 3 quite often, need an extra healing cd without nerfing dmg? take NV and you can do about 700/800k raid healing. (better then a VE!) need to heal like im doing atm on tsulong i use HotW and spam the shit out of him with the healing buff for 2m crit heals.

and doc...for when you can tunnel :P

I actually find DoC's 30% healing increase to be significantly potent on fights during which occasional spot healing on the raid (or myself) is useful. My healing done on garalon and elegon, for example, is quite good - and could be even better I'm sure. Most people using DoC just have it auto-heal the tank or themself, but if you actually use it to heal other people you'll see yourself doing a lot of HPS.

Do you use SoTF/NV? I havent tried NV without incarnation yet

[Deleted]

I actually find DoC's 30% healing increase to be significantly potent on fights during which occasional spot healing on the raid (or myself) is useful. My healing done on garalon and elegon, for example, is quite good - and could be even better I'm sure. Most people using DoC just have it auto-heal the tank or themself, but if you actually use it to heal other people you'll see yourself doing a lot of HPS.

Do you use SoTF/NV? I havent tried NV without incarnation yet

SoTF is much better overall then inc so i always run with that.

The spot healing of DoC is nice but its very hard to control so not reliable, you cant always be ready to heal someone if it means screwing your rotation up.

[dennisdkramer]

SoTF is much better overall then inc so i always run with that.

The spot healing of DoC is nice but its very hard to control so not reliable, you cant always be ready to heal someone if it means screwing your rotation up.

Ah ok, I hadn't put any thought into it since I generally don't use NV.

If you mean you can't have procs exactly when you want, thats true but I find just putting out the offhealing in general allows your healers more time and mana to do their job, even if you can't heal perfectly on-demand. Not sure what you mean about screwing your rotation up - sure you lose some dps by prioritizing helping to heal, but I prioritize healing 100% over my rotation and still do fine dps.

[Deleted]

Ah ok, I hadn't put any thought into it since I generally don't use NV.

If you mean you can't have procs exactly when you want, thats true but I find just putting out the offhealing in general allows your healers more time and mana to do their job, even if you can't heal perfectly on-demand. Not sure what you mean about screwing your rotation up - sure you lose some dps by prioritizing helping to heal, but I prioritize healing 100% over my rotation and still do fine dps.

With DoC you generally need to plan ahead for your next rake/rip. That includes pooling energy before finishers so that you can get to 4 cp fast with PS still up. That PS you then most often than not use at the very last gcd it is up in order to actaully buff your bleeds.

As you see there is not much room for spot healing in there without gimping your dps.
If you do gimp your dps like that you will most likely get higher numbers with NV or HotW, and shouldn't be running with DoC.

That being said for most fights this tier the whole raid is for the most part NOT topped off, so you will end up doing a good amount of healing regardless of talent choice. With DoC that healing is most likely not going to save anybody, but rather save the healers some mana.

[dennisdkramer]

With DoC you generally need to plan ahead for your next rake/rip. That includes pooling energy before finishers so that you can get to 4 cp fast with PS still up. That PS you then most often than not use at the very last gcd it is up in order to actaully buff your bleeds.

As you see there is not much room for spot healing in there without gimping your dps.
If you do gimp your dps like that you will most likely get higher numbers with NV or HotW, and shouldn't be running with DoC.

That being said for most fights this tier the whole raid is for the most part NOT topped off, so you will end up doing a good amount of healing regardless of talent choice. With DoC that healing is most likely not going to save anybody, but rather save the healers some mana.

using DoC sub-optimally doesnt really "gimp" your dps. In my experience using DoC sub-optimally puts it about even with HotW passive, which is about what you'd expect from a design standpoint.