Feral for lazy dumb people (like me)

[Metsuke]

Hi.

I want to play feral.
I want to play it as simple as possible and also do good dps.
I think this is possible because of the latest buff.

Please help.

I´m suggesting that the stat priority is not the same as mentioned in all the guides around. Rather than pushing the bleeds via Mastery I imagine to go for crit and vers. Any Ideas how to make this idiotic playstyle more viable?

Thanks a lot.

(This is not ironic. I´m not a troll. I just like it simple. :-D )

[Basileus]

As bad as it sounds, I just wouldn't play Feral if that's how you want to do it. You won't really do good dps without playing the spec properly.

[A dot Ham]

As bad as it sounds, I just wouldn't play Feral if that's how you want to do it. You won't really do good dps without playing the spec properly.

Ya, I'm going to have to agree here.

You just need to play another class/spec, and then hope they don't want to make that specific classes rotation unnecessarily complicated in a future patch... but that is Blizzard.

[Dalheim]

Don't play feral, simple.

[Arenis]

Simple template for simple playstyle: http://www.wowhead.com/talent-calc/druid/feral/ciGz
Go for crit>mastery

You won't be invited to raids or be a 3k rated feral, but for simple outdoor stuff and some dungeons it will be good enough.

[Hobbes0773]

Simple template for simple playstyle: http://www.wowhead.com/talent-calc/druid/feral/ciGz
Go for crit>mastery

You won't be invited to raids or be a 3k rated feral, but for simple outdoor stuff and some dungeons it will be good enough.

Honestly you could swap SOTF with Incarn for about the same complexity, which isn't that far from maximum potential. Furthemore, you can swap Predator for Blood Scent to streamline and actually increase ST damage. Sure Pred is better for open world content, but it does add complexity.

Those changes would put his dps at a decent decrease, but he would remain competitive. Really the only hit he takes that is noticeable is SbT over SR.

[Metsuke]

Honestly you could swap SOTF with Incarn for about the same complexity, which isn't that far from maximum potential. Furthemore, you can swap Predator for Blood Scent to streamline and actually increase ST damage. Sure Pred is better for open world content, but it does add complexity.

Those changes would put his dps at a decent decrease, but he would remain competitive. Really the only hit he takes that is noticeable is SbT over SR.

This is my spec at the moment.

The damage seems okay and it´s so much easier to handle in chaotic fights. I don´t see the payoff from the complicated specs. I believe, I´m not that far behind.

[Hobbes0773]

This is my spec at the moment.

The damage seems okay and it´s so much easier to handle in chaotic fights. I don´t see the payoff from the complicated specs. I believe, I´m not that far behind.

You aren't terribly far behind. Honestly if you have a hard time with the more "complicated" rotation then I'd wager a guess that you will have a performance drop trying to use it.

What I would do is try to master the spec you have now, and when you are comfortable, start experimenting with the talent rows a bit.

Predator is fantastic for open world questing, because you basically get infinite energy.

Brutal Slash is also fantastic in open world (and any time you need AOE), and Savage Roar adds a nice punch to your single target damage.

Blood Talons is complicated at first, but there is a beautiful rhythm to it that you can really appreciate once you learn it. It might be the most complex talent though.

In short, start simple, and make sure you don't end up 100% in your comfort zone. You can get a lot of fun out of your feral by constantly trying to learn new things, which increases the amount of value you get for your 15 a month.

[Arenis]

Honestly you could swap SOTF with Incarn for about the same complexity, which isn't that far from maximum potential. Furthemore, you can swap Predator for Blood Scent to streamline and actually increase ST damage. Sure Pred is better for open world content, but it does add complexity.

Those changes would put his dps at a decent decrease, but he would remain competitive. Really the only hit he takes that is noticeable is SbT over SR.

Partially agree. For simplicities' sake I would keep sotf. Extra finisher damage + smoother energy flow versus a once every few minutes spammage that requires >some< energy planning.
I would also keep pred for dungeons. Quickly killing mobs is easy and it boosts damage and gives a full energy bar every reset. Add that with sotf and you got one super smooth spec, for what it's worth.

[Metsuke]

Thank you very much Arenis and Hobbes for the input.

If I would want to continue this easy-mode for raids, do you have any more tipps about trinkets and more thoughts about stats? I would assume that versatility is stronger then mastery, because of the different damage-distribution (less bleeddamage, more directdmg).

My idea is: accept the damage-loss from the talent-choices and try to build around them.

[Zefeh]

Holy crap let me come in and break down a few things that happened with these changes because it seems no one here understands feral or doesn't play it actively.

You want to play feral but you don't want it to be challenging, right?

After the feral changes that went into effect in 7.3, the spec is VERY EASY to play - properly or not. I screwed up a few times in Tomb bosses VERY badly and still somehow pulled 800k+ dps.

Here's the TL;DR: breakdown for you:

Single Target Talents:
Blood Scent
Displacer Beast
Balance Affinity
(preference)
Incarnation: King of the Jungle
Savage Roar
Blood Talons/Moment Of Clarity

Single Target Rotation:
Put Rake and 5CP Rip on target
Get 5CP Savage Roar
At 4 or 5CP, use the instant Heal from Blood Talons to boost your next 2 abilities (always on rip).
Maintain it until 25% when you can refresh rip with Ferocious Bite
Use Incarnation on cooldowns

The timers for the bleeds are SOOOOO long now! Rip now lasts 36 seconds! Rake 15 seconds! You have ALOT of time inbetween having to refresh bleeds.

Multi-Target Talents:
Blood Scent/Predatory(only use if your energy starved!)
Displacer Beast
Balance Affinity
(preference)
Incarnation: King of the Jungle
Brutal Slash
Blood Talons/Moment Of Clarity

Multi Target Rotation::=
Put Rake and 5CP Rip on target
Use Brutal Slash when adds are around, stock up on charges before adds spawn
Keep its charge below 3 otherwise
Shred/Ferocious Bite filler
Thats it...

The BIG thing about this talent selection is you only loose 3% damage or so in single target fights because Brutal Slash is so strong!

This is the simplest feral rotation hands down - Rake, 5CP Rip, Brutal Slash when needed, Spam Shred/Fer-Bite.

TBH, alot of the talents you can take now are all pretty well balanced! Play what you find easiest and produces the most on recount/skada on a training dummy. Just as a note, don't take the following talents anymore as they aren't ideal:
Lunar Inspiration
Jagged Wounds
Elune's Guidance

Since there is ALOT more Shreds/FBs/BrutSlash flat damage ferals mastery strength has fallen off a bit in favor of crit. Prioritize Crit > Mastery > Vers >>Haste

[ComputerNerd]

There are certainly going to be simplified versions of gameplay for many specs, but what you can't really expect or demand is good returns from them.
Some may be less punishing to poorer play, but some will not be so forgiving.

[Hobbes0773]

Holy crap let me come in and break down a few things that happened with these changes because it seems no one here understands feral or doesn't play it actively.

You want to play feral but you don't want it to be challenging, right?

After the feral changes that went into effect in 7.3, the spec is VERY EASY to play - properly or not. I screwed up a few times in Tomb bosses VERY badly and still somehow pulled 800k+ dps.

Here's the TL;DR: breakdown for you:

Single Target Talents:
Blood Scent
Displacer Beast
Balance Affinity
(preference)
Incarnation: King of the Jungle
Savage Roar
Blood Talons/Moment Of Clarity

Single Target Rotation:
Put Rake and 5CP Rip on target
Get 5CP Savage Roar
At 4 or 5CP, use the instant Heal from Blood Talons to boost your next 2 abilities (always on rip).
Maintain it until 25% when you can refresh rip with Ferocious Bite
Use Incarnation on cooldowns

The timers for the bleeds are SOOOOO long now! Rip now lasts 36 seconds! Rake 15 seconds! You have ALOT of time inbetween having to refresh bleeds.

Multi-Target Talents:
Blood Scent/Predatory(only use if your energy starved!)
Displacer Beast
Balance Affinity
(preference)
Incarnation: King of the Jungle
Brutal Slash
Blood Talons/Moment Of Clarity

Multi Target Rotation::=
Put Rake and 5CP Rip on target
Use Brutal Slash when adds are around, stock up on charges before adds spawn
Keep its charge below 3 otherwise
Shred/Ferocious Bite filler
Thats it...

The BIG thing about this talent selection is you only loose 3% damage or so in single target fights because Brutal Slash is so strong!

This is the simplest feral rotation hands down - Rake, 5CP Rip, Brutal Slash when needed, Spam Shred/Fer-Bite.

TBH, alot of the talents you can take now are all pretty well balanced! Play what you find easiest and produces the most on recount/skada on a training dummy. Just as a note, don't take the following talents anymore as they aren't ideal:
Lunar Inspiration
Jagged Wounds
Elune's Guidance

Since there is ALOT more Shreds/FBs/BrutSlash flat damage ferals mastery strength has fallen off a bit in favor of crit. Prioritize Crit > Mastery > Vers >>Haste

"Here let me come in here and tell you that the spec is easy even though you just specifically asked for an easier way to play...because everyone here but me is stupid because I don't actually understand relative difficulty to the player."

Fact is that SbT is a simpler rotation to play, and it is not a huge loss in damage. Since OP specifically asked for the easy way to play, stop insulting him and everyone else by telling us we don't know how to play. I understand full well how easy Feral is since 7.3 and so do most people here. That isn't the point of this post.

[TorikSAn]

Since there is ALOT more Shreds/FBs/BrutSlash flat damage ferals mastery strength has fallen off a bit in favor of crit. Prioritize Crit > Mastery > Vers >>Haste

With Incarn + Brutal Swipe + Moment of Clarity, stats priority even become Crit > Versality > Mastery >> Haste.

[Metsuke]

Holy crap let me come in and break down a few things that happened with these changes because it seems no one here understands feral or doesn't play it actively.

Zefeh:

I made this post only for this specific playstyle. I´m able to read guides. It´s not that hard to learn about the theoretical max-dps-configuration. What is much more difficult is to find a guide for an non-optimal-but-easier-to-manage-playstyle. I don´t care how easy you find it to play the superduper-config blindfolded with your feet, i just want to push fewer buttons...and I dont want to be stressed with all the timings. It´s not because I´m unable, it´s because I´m lazy.

So if you know so much about ferals I would love to hear your thoughts how to make my idiot-cat stronger ;-)

[iamthedevil]

Don't play feral if you don't want to put in constant thought. It will work out poorly for you.

Even with the new changes, its not a 123 rotation. Well, it could be, but you will suffer.

[silkworm]

I think you are neither dumb nor lazy. Dumb people play other games. Lazy people play farmville.
So assuming on these facts I will give my suggestion. I started my way around 500k dps with limited gear to 800k ish. Which is nothing to brag about but I am now fairly familiar with my kitty to know which buttons to press.
I suggest doing dailies and quests in feral if you are starting new to feral like me. Even after the simplifications, its not an easy spec to play. There are no easy specs of any class. The idea of the game is against it. By questing and solo content, you get your crash course on which buttons to press.
Then you go doing normal mythics or a m+ 1-2-3 ez keys. This way you can have logs and compare them with other logs to see what you did wrong. then you change your play style to do more dps.
I hope this helps. Even though learning curve is a bit steep and long, you end up on the higher end of the curve once you are done.

[Deleted]

The most easy talentbuild = http://www.wowhead.com/talent-calc/druid/feral/c6yz

Go with Blood Scent, Sabertooth and Jagged Wounds. That gives you the least to keep track off. Only need to apply one Rip throughout the fight, rest is Ferocious Bite as finisher.

He asks for the most simple way to play feral, not if he SHOULD play it, or if it's viable or not, but the most SIMPLE way.
You can change out Jagged Wounds for Soul of the Forrest if that works better for you.

[Xarathan]

Id say play incarn+brs+moc build to atleast do decent dmg on aoe and short boss fights
Not like incarn is harder than jw or SotF

[Deleted]

Id say play incarn+brs+moc build to atleast do decent dmg on aoe and short boss fights
Not like incarn is harder than jw or SotF

Well, it's one more button to press. So is BrS.
I answer his question, and not trying to find a middle way.

IF he wants to play simple and lose DPS, he can do that. I wouldn't do that myself, but that's not his question.