[Cat] Feral as DPS

[GrieverXIII]

Do they exists? I'm wondering because i still have to decide for my 3rd toon for MoP (i want to limit myself to 3 in mop, tired of wasting so much time on alts i end up disliking). I currently play a Hunter and a Rogue (8/8H DS and 6/8H DS respectively). I love playing with energy-based classes, it feels combat flows so well as them, so obviously i'm curious about ferals now, never made a druid before.

Problem is that, i've been raiding since Karazhan and i don't EVER remember playing with a purely dpsing feral druid, outside an offtank going dps for some one-tank fights or things like that. Are they not viable at all, or people playing ferals would just rather tank? Can they compete with other classes?

Specially since feral specs are dissasociated in MoP, are they gonna be needed/wanted? Are they looking decent at the moment on beta, even if i know its at a very early stage.

Thanks for the infos, i'm still debating between him and a Monk so any infos would be appreciated .

[Deleted]

In my opinion, looking at bunch of useful skill that druid can bring to the raid group, granted feral dps will be better this expac, this will still be wanted class raid-wise.

[Djuntas]

If you dont wanna tank, dont play a feral druid. All I can say.

No reason for you to limit yourself to only DPS as a druid. Raid wouldent like that either imo. Else were more than fine, maybe not so much in 10 mans.

[Deleted]

Feral DPS is fine. did it in firelands and was always more or less on top

[huth]

Well, soon you won't have a choice if you want to be Feral.

[GrieverXIII]

If you dont wanna tank, dont play a feral druid. All I can say.

No reason for you to limit yourself to only DPS as a druid. Raid wouldent like that either imo. Else were more than fine, maybe not so much in 10 mans.

At the same time, why is it such a big deal? I know top tier Pallys playing only ret, what about boomkins, or DPS-focused Warriors? I don't mind tanking either way, i played a Warrior from BC to the end of WolTk, i would definitively do it as needed, but it seems likely i'll like the cat spec more simply due to mechanics, so if i can play it i'd like to do so if its competitive, wich seems to be the case.

[baller1308]

If you dont wanna tank, dont play a feral druid. All I can say.

No reason for you to limit yourself to only DPS as a druid. Raid wouldent like that either imo. Else were more than fine, maybe not so much in 10 mans.

Depends on the guild, whether they run 10m or 25m.

If you like druid, then play druid. You'll find a guild that can fit you in if you are a good player.

[Elunedra]

At the same time, why is it such a big deal? I know top tier Pallys playing only ret, what about boomkins, or DPS-focused Warriors? I don't mind tanking either way, i played a Warrior from BC to the end of WolTk, i would definitively do it as needed, but it seems likely i'll like the cat spec more simply due to mechanics, so if i can play it i'd like to do so if its competitive, wich seems to be the case.

a guild will balance itself around have like 2-3 tanks and if there is a shortage they might ask a feral druid but they can also ask a Dk, Warrior, Pally or Monk todo it. if you apply to a guild a feral dps you are feral dps, they wont expect you to tank

[Deleted]

We are a 10men guild who cleared 8/8hc month ago or so. And our raid comp has a balance and feral druid in it. Our feral druids dps is very competitive, his burst on spine was amazing! Next expansion our dps could be a little lower then it is now, but we get so many raid utility talents that any raidteam who do hard fights would like to have. Btw, i am specced balance/ feral (dps/pvp), so double dps spec, no problem. But the truth is that indeed feral dps is more often asked to step in as tank when a tank is unavailable etc, because even with just a few real "tank" pieces they are already quite effective tanks.

there's my answer for you, hope it has helped you..

[GrieverXIII]

Yep, thanks guys, made my kitty yesterday, hit lvl 22 already . I'm not looking for a new main either, just a 3rd character i'll enjoy, found its the best amount of characters i can enjoy without burning me out of current raiding content, also profession wise i can have access to anything i need (i like being self sufficient, Alchy/Engi on hunter, Blacksmith/LWing on rogue, JCing/Chanting on Druid).

Feel free to keep this thread to continue discussing kitty dps , i'm most likely going to have a couple questions as i level anyway.

My Druid : http://us.battle.net/wow/en/characte...aelys/advanced



(Not using heirloom on purpose, i'm in no rush to hit 85 at all, might start using them if MoP comes faster than expected.).

[Djuntas]

Yea ofcourse depends on guilds, I rarely ever tanked in Cataclysme, but when I was asked to tank I would. And that is where we shine well.

We dont need extrea set of gear (Do some effort to get dedicated tank set trough, it helps alot), hell we unlike warrios and paladins just need to move thick hide into our DPS spec, and we can tank.

Spine HC was a good example of this. Many other fights been good aswell, like Halfus HC whelps.

[GrieverXIII]

Yea ofcourse depends on guilds, I rarely ever tanked in Cataclysme, but when I was asked to tank I would. And that is where we shine well.

We dont need extrea set of gear (Do some effort to get dedicated tank set trough, it helps alot), hell we unlike warrios and paladins just need to move thick hide into our DPS spec, and we can tank.

Spine HC was a good example of this. Many other fights been good aswell, like Halfus HC whelps.

Yeah, i like the idea of versatility too and like i said i got nothing agains't tanking, i just don't feel like being in a role of main tank either as i'd rather dps. I'm most likely going to tank 5mans and stuff for satchels too but i just wanted to double check if kitty dps was actually viable in an heroic raiding environement as i never actually played with any lol.

[ceelion]

I run my own version of a cat-bear spec so that IF needed (we have umpteen tanks/tank alts in guild) I can tank, but mostly I DPS and never have to tank. I'm in a 10m guild btw.

[Jeffyjimbob]

They do exist, although most people prefer to be bearcats. You have the option of tanking (fast queues, guaranteed raid slots, etc) and when you're not being smashed by a giant, you can do some decent DPS.

If it matters at all, I'm currently a DPS feral, and it's very nice. Fun, especially if you like melee, and it's DPS is pretty good too, provided there isn't too much target switching.

[Jinto]

25m guilds usually have at least 1 cat. 10m guilds typically don't because the cat will be better for raid comp as a bear and rogues are top melee dps atm.

[exochaft]

25m guilds usually have at least 1 cat. 10m guilds typically don't because the cat will be better for raid comp as a bear and rogues are top melee dps atm.

I'd have to agree that you're more likely to see a full-time feral kitten in a 25man versus 10man.

First and foremost, raid encounters generally favor ranged DPS (doesn't help there's currently a caster legendary for this xpac along with rogue legendaries, but there hasn't been a legendary that would promote more ferals potentially being in raid). One way you can think of the situation is as such: you couldn't feasibly run a raid with all melee DPS, but you could run a raid with all ranged DPS.

Another factor that limits feral kitten representation, especially in 10man, is utility. While we have combat rezzes and and tranquility at our disposal, those can be brought by a moonkin or another class (maybe not all in one package, but still). Many of the difficult encounters, especially when they're relatively new, required some level of utility that ferals just don't have. I remember heroic Ragnaros being rather difficult if you did not have knockback classes and heroic Madness requires an AoE slow for Congealing Bloods. While you could say stacking feral druids for heroic Nefarion was a moment where it was needed to stack ferals, it wasn't intended (and feral scaling in the encounter was nerfed). While the above examples are just niche examples, many raid rosters are designed to compensate for these sorts of fights. In a 10man raid, you don't have as much luxury to bring whoever you want and almost always have the required ppl to deal with those utility mechanics.

Now, I'm not trying to boil this down into a whole 25man vs 10man debate. I'm just trying to bring up the point that what you bring to raid beyond DPS can mean just as much as the DPS you provide. I'm sure everyone at some point or another has seen in trade chat: "LFM <insert raid>, need <specific class/spec>". While sometimes it's just for loot distribution, often it's for the utility/abilities that the specific class/spec brings. In MoP, there's quite a bit of hope for feral druids being able to provide utility. With the talent trees, every druid will have access to a AoE knockback/daze, AoE root, stun, AoE disorient, AoE snare, and a couple of non-CC related items. Add on Symbiosis, feral kittens are gaining a huge amount of utility compared to their current state in Cataclysm.

[Deleted]

I'd have to agree that you're more likely to see a full-time feral kitten in a 25man versus 10man.

First and foremost, raid encounters generally favor ranged DPS (doesn't help there's currently a caster legendary for this xpac along with rogue legendaries, but there hasn't been a legendary that would promote more ferals potentially being in raid). One way you can think of the situation is as such: you couldn't feasibly run a raid with all melee DPS, but you could run a raid with all ranged DPS.

Another factor that limits feral kitten representation, especially in 10man, is utility. While we have combat rezzes and and tranquility at our disposal, those can be brought by a moonkin or another class (maybe not all in one package, but still). Many of the difficult encounters, especially when they're relatively new, required some level of utility that ferals just don't have. I remember heroic Ragnaros being rather difficult if you did not have knockback classes and heroic Madness requires an AoE slow for Congealing Bloods. While you could say stacking feral druids for heroic Nefarion was a moment where it was needed to stack ferals, it wasn't intended (and feral scaling in the encounter was nerfed). While the above examples are just niche examples, many raid rosters are designed to compensate for these sorts of fights. In a 10man raid, you don't have as much luxury to bring whoever you want and almost always have the required ppl to deal with those utility mechanics.

Now, I'm not trying to boil this down into a whole 25man vs 10man debate. I'm just trying to bring up the point that what you bring to raid beyond DPS can mean just as much as the DPS you provide. I'm sure everyone at some point or another has seen in trade chat: "LFM <insert raid>, need <specific class/spec>". While sometimes it's just for loot distribution, often it's for the utility/abilities that the specific class/spec brings. In MoP, there's quite a bit of hope for feral druids being able to provide utility. With the talent trees, every druid will have access to a AoE knockback/daze, AoE root, stun, AoE disorient, AoE snare, and a couple of non-CC related items. Add on Symbiosis, feral kittens are gaining a huge amount of utility compared to their current state in Cataclysm.

This is what i wanted to say, if you are in a really hardcore 10men guild, then yes running with a moonkin and feral dps is problaly not gonna happen much. But in my 10men guild we run with a balance and a feral dps and we killed spine hc with 5% nerf and madness the day 10% nerf hit. So if your not hardcore (top 500 of the world), but more casual like my guild (ranked 700 somewhat) then you can easily run with balance and feral even though they share a lot of utility abilities. The only utility ability that is lost is one of the Battleresses, the tranq can both be used, the stun can both be used on adds. In MOP you can even coordinate who picks which utility talents, so you cover the intere spectrum of abilities, if you so desire

[alarondruid]

Cats are somewhat rare at the moment. They were slightly more popular in late WOTLK (when ArPen made them strong) but they've been fairly weak for most of this expansion. Now, don't misunderstand me: by fairly, I mean they're probably 5% behind an average melee. A good feral can still do pretty well on meters, but it's quite a bit harder for them than it is for a rogue.

Also, the number of guilds that actively balance raid teams based on group comps is WILDLY overstated. Once you get past the top few hundred guilds, everyone else will take the best DPS'ers they can get, and deal with comp issues later.

That said, they're looking pretty poor in beta right now...but they haven't seen any attention at all, AFAIK.

[Deleted]

I've played feral for as long as I've played this game - since February 2007 or something. I was a tank at the start and through WotLK mostly, but ended up as a dps and I'm loving it. I've been tanking, too, but that's just my personal choice, because I enjoy doing something different every once in a while. Most of the time I would've had the choice to stay as dps and let others handle the tanking. I've played in 25-man guilds for the whole time, though.

But, as many have already said, it's easier to be a feral dps in 25-men raid guilds. The feral in 10-man comps is pretty often the tank who switches to dps when needed (at least atm). Whether ferals are needed depends mostly just on the guilds' situations - sometimes you see ferals recruited everywhere, sometimes they're not as wanted. But, if you're good enough, there probably would still be room for a feral in any given guild. If you can convince them that you really know your class (and they don't already have several good ferals), that is.

Playing feral is fun. If you enjoy rogue and hunter, I think you'd probably like playing feral, too. The rotation is pretty challenging at first, and it's a lot of fun even after you've practiced perfecting it for several years. Cats are cool. Go and level your feral, you won't regret it.

[Bearshield]

I think finding guilds that accept a pure kitty is easier than finding one that wants a full-time bear. Most guilds see a bear as the default offtank because it's so easy for us to go cat and put out respectable dmg. That being said, our guild is a 10 man guild that regularly runs with a cat. Good cats are good, just don't be afraid to pop out and use your innervate/brez/tranq when they're needed.