The Cat Guide - 4.3

[Nathanyel]

I mean no offense, but there are no opinions when it comes to Math.

There are, however, plenty when it comes to playstyle

[Deleted]

Had to do flying duty at Alysrazor today for the first time in 25man, because no one else got the balls. First try to learn stuff, after that I collected 25 stacks without much problems, even carried the buff into the burst phase by passing those gates in tornado phase.

Well, I ended up with ~36k dps. I'm pretty sure I had no clean rotation because I focussed on the gates and not dying, and I'm in 4pt11 with ilevel ~369. I missed the last phase with bloodlust though, maybe I could've pushed my dps to 40k'ish, but not much more.

My gear is optimized for exp/hit, because I like to swipe Alysrazor got a hotfix too, I think, so your attacks in the air cannot be parried or dodged. This would make a exp/hit cat pretty useless in the air. Here's the WoL of that fight, if there's anyone interested. I should have used more bites, I know. In addition to not dying (got hit by his claws while he sweeps the ground...)

So I wouldn't advice to send cats up there, as long as they're not maxed for mastery and maybe crit.

[Gino]

at what point is enough crit ... in cat form I am setting raid buffed at around 46% crit

[Deleted]

I'd say 40% is a good amount.

---------- Post added 2011-07-28 at 10:08 AM ----------

Had to do flying duty at Alysrazor today for the first time in 25man, because no one else got the balls. First try to learn stuff, after that I collected 25 stacks without much problems, even carried the buff into the burst phase by passing those gates in tornado phase.

Well, I ended up with ~36k dps. I'm pretty sure I had no clean rotation because I focussed on the gates and not dying, and I'm in 4pt11 with ilevel ~369. I missed the last phase with bloodlust though, maybe I could've pushed my dps to 40k'ish, but not much more.

My gear is optimized for exp/hit, because I like to swipe Alysrazor got a hotfix too, I think, so your attacks in the air cannot be parried or dodged. This would make a exp/hit cat pretty useless in the air. Here's the WoL of that fight, if there's anyone interested. I should have used more bites, I know. In addition to not dying (got hit by his claws while he sweeps the ground...)

So I wouldn't advice to send cats up there, as long as they're not maxed for mastery and maybe crit.

One of the main issues is that you can't do any dps during the tornadoes, while casters can continue casting stuff with +75% crit and +200% haste during that phase. (not to mention the ignite-combustion scaling of fire mages).

[Calathiel]

One of the main issues is that you can't do any dps during the tornadoes, while casters can continue casting stuff with +75% crit and +200% haste during that phase. (not to mention the ignite-combustion scaling of fire mages).

Actually you can. Every melee can dps here in tornado phase - You just have to run in the inner cirlce (You have to deal with harder tornados avoiding but you can continue dps her).

[Dimz]

Hi, after playing resto in BC, then moonkin in Wrath and first tier of Cata, I decided to switch to feral. The solar/Lunar is not my thing anymore. I tried feral before, but it didn't seem very appealing at the time.

So after reading the guides, equiping my random agi gear (~ilvl 360-365: troll gear + FL dailies) and practicing for a bit on a dummy, I went in a FL trash run to see my (soon to find out) below average performance. Yes I was topping the meters, but with a maximum of 16k dps which seems rather weak, considering I was doing that when half asleep in moonkin spec/gear.

I then asked myself a few questions, but did not seem to find the answer, and I hope you would be able to help:
1) I can easily get 2pcT11 (currently only 1), but I can get 2pcT12 instead. I assume that based on the Ilvl of the T12, I should go for the 2pcT12?
2) I can't seem to fit Ferocious BIte in the rotation. Everytime I have 5cp and I look at Rip, I am afraid that if I use Ferocious Bite, I won't be able to build another 5cp before Rip expires. That happens even if I have 12 sec left on Rip. Is it that I am not using TF att he right moment or simply lack of practice?
3) As an ex-caster, I find it weird to not be hit/exp cap. I am currently exp cap, but should I reforge to hit or leave it as it is, unless in an aoe fight? PS: found my answer in another thread!

Other than that, kitty dps is fun. Thank you.

[Ragekitty]

I don't pretend to be an expert but hopefully this will help:

1) If you can get 2pc T12, then get it. If you can get 4pc T12, then get it. I'm assuming you're using JP to buy T11 and saving VP for T12, so get 2pc T11 and 2pc T12. It gives you the increased damage to Rake and the fun little fire DoT from T12 bonus.
2) It's a tricky thing. Ferocious Bite should always be used over Rip when the boss is <25% (Blood in the Water). During the other 75% of a fight, it's only worth using if you have over 50 energy, you have 5CP, AND all your bleeds have ~10sec or more remaining. Now, I dunno about other ferals, but I keep myself pretty energy-starved throughout a fight because I'd rather have a guaranteed 30k Shred than a chance for the FB to not crit and only hit for ~20k. The more you get experience with feral DPS, the more comfortable it will become for you.
2a) As a side note, TF buffs the damage of your abilities. Because it's a 30 sec CD, I generally save it for when I'm about to reapply Rip + Rake. It has the added bonus of giving energy back so while it could be used as an "oh crap, I'm energy starved and my bleeds are about to expire and I have no CP" thing, it's far better to manage it proactively.
3) There is much discussion about whether or not to be hit/exp capped. Some people swear that it smooths out their rotations (less chance of missing leads to a more consistent damage flow/CP generation). Personally, I haven't bothered reforging/regemming yet but I will soon. The idea that I've been going on is that hit/exp isn't earth-shatteringly important until 4pc T12 but 2pc T12 could benefit from it as well. Going on the idea that you'll be using 2pc T11, Mastery is still important enough to not reforge out of. Until you replace the T11 with T12 or 378 off-pieces, keep Mastery over hit/exp.

[Dimz]

2a) As a side note, TF buffs the damage of your abilities. Because it's a 30 sec CD, I generally save it for when I'm about to reapply Rip + Rake. It has the added bonus of giving energy back so while it could be used as an "oh crap, I'm energy starved and my bleeds are about to expire and I have no CP" thing, it's far better to manage it proactively.

Thanks for the reply! That's the little piece of information I was missing or I forgot while trying to figure out the playstyle. I was using TF on CD. Maybe if I delay it a little bit, I will be able to increase the dps from Rip/Rake and squeeze in some FBs.

[Deleted]

It's never worth delaying TF; you can overwrite/clip Rake however after you pop TF, to replace the non-TFed Rake with a TFed one. Clipping Rip usually doesn't work, you'll get an error.

[Dimz]

It's never worth delaying TF; you can overwrite/clip Rake however after you pop TF, to replace the non-TFed Rake with a TFed one. Clipping Rip usually doesn't work, you'll get an error.

Got it! I guess it's time for practice now.

One last thing, is there an addon that would provide a timer for TF-ed rake vs non TF-ed rake like for moonfire/sunfire? Or is this not possible since rake is always the same spell.

[Nathanyel]

Clipping Rip usually doesn't work, you'll get an error.

That comes from trinket procs/on-uses granting you Agi/AP that were up when you applied the first Rip, so when you tried to clip it, you had less AP.
TF itself does not prevent you from clipping Rip.

Musing on that thought, as T12 has some Use trinkets again, you should macro them to TF, as you'll Rake&Rip afterwards anyway, plus some Shreds, and its 30sec CD should line up properly with the trinkets' 2min CD. Also, lessens the chance of those errors.

[Deleted]

Actually you can. Every melee can dps here in tornado phase - You just have to run in the inner cirlce (You have to deal with harder tornados avoiding but you can continue dps her).

Are you here just to oppose Mihir or what? Cause all your posts so far are exactly this...Most are nonsense

[Tygroen]

Woah, no need to get....catty

[Zheryn]

Have someone tried 4t12 yet? How long berserk duration will we have during BL? Feels like we'll have like 10 sec+ time when TF is ready and we can't pop it.

[Calathiel]

Are you here just to oppose Mihir or what? Cause all your posts so far are exactly this...Most are nonsense

If someone is mistaken why not to correct that? If you're able to dps her why not to do that? It's just that not everyone know that as most ppl are busy with just dodging tornados in outer circle. I would like to hear what nonsenses Im posting.

[Deleted]

Actually you can. Every melee can dps here in tornado phase - You just have to run in the inner cirlce (You have to deal with harder tornados avoiding but you can continue dps her).

Haven't tried this, but maybe it's worth a shot. I primarily focussed on getting some additional buff refreshes, which are easier to get in the outer circles.
But as you won't do a proper rotation while avoiding tornados, I don't think it would be a major dps boost. But avoiding tornados in the outer circles is pretty easy, so it would be a nice challenge to make it a little bit more difficult

[Calathiel]

Aye, beside I've never said it's worth or not to use ferals on flying. We've just started alys on hc so I had not many chances to test if for my own. But even if you're on adds interupting it's worth to add some dps on boss if it's possible

[Maiwenn]

Hey guys i don't post often but i follow the thread really closely, so here i am with fresh 2peice t12 (0 piece t11 since i only have 3 of them, i put a 378 instead of what would be my 3rd piece). here is my concern i am very troubled with the new hit/exp people are going for i do understand it has important uses, and i know it has been explained couple times in the thread but i cant find it anymore. I am currently 5/7 normal, every boss i had to fight so far i just stay on them and can shred from behind, so do i really want to get exp? in this case i know hit can still be useful from behind... but what do i do with exp? if u could give me some tips i would really appreciate it, i was trying to reforge so i can get about 40% crit unbuffed cat form, i put in 25 exp(seeing what mihir had), and about 5% hit (also what mihir had) then i reforged my extra crit into mastery or haste depending on what was the other stat on that item.

anyway heres my profile http://us.battle.net/wow/en/characte...dzerker/simple

answers would really be appreciated thx a lot.

[Selverein]

Hey guys i don't post often but i follow the thread really closely, so here i am with fresh 2peice t12 (0 piece t11 since i only have 3 of them, i put a 378 instead of what would be my 3rd piece). here is my concern i am very troubled with the new hit/exp people are going for i do understand it has important uses, and i know it has been explained couple times in the thread but i cant find it anymore. I am currently 5/7 normal, every boss i had to fight so far i just stay on them and can shred from behind, so do i really want to get exp? in this case i know hit can still be useful from behind... but what do i do with exp? if u could give me some tips i would really appreciate it, i was trying to reforge so i can get about 40% crit unbuffed cat form, i put in 25 exp(seeing what mihir had), and about 5% hit (also what mihir had) then i reforged my extra crit into mastery or haste depending on what was the other stat on that item.

anyway heres my profile http://us.battle.net/wow/en/characte...dzerker/simple

answers would really be appreciated thx a lot.

Attacking from behind only negates parries, but not dodges. That's what Exp is for. From behind, Hit and Exp have the same value (just need less Exp to softcap than Hit) but if you happen to have to attack from the front for a bit, Exp doubles in value since it now also negates parries. That being said, you don't need to cap either. It helps smooth out the rotation and prevents frustrating things like failing to apply Rip 3 times in a row before a boss takes off, but there's no reason to go for caps. Missing once in a while is fine, it's those streaks that really suck. The other thing is Swipe, whose cost is not refunded if one or more target avoids the attack so making sure to hit them all always is a good thing on AoE-heavy fights.

You need 8% Hit and 26 Exp to cap them both (softcap in the case of Exp) but whatever you get is up to your preference really. What I usually suggest is to not reforge to Hit/Exp but not reforge out of them either (unless over caps of course). I wouldn't recommend looking at what someone else is doing to do the same without understanding why. Find out how it works and figure out what works for you.

Hope that helps a bit.

[Deleted]

yo guys could u tell me if my gemms/reforge is right?

this is me i got 2 t10 also.
http://eu.battle.net/wow/en/characte...Taurinh/simple