Almost no feral feedback in the alpha forums :(

[Beatman]

We are a few days in to alpha and I am getting worried. Alomost nobody has given feedback on the state of feral in the alpha so far.

Sure, a few players gave their feedback regarding Bloodtalons. However, it's just one talent out of 21. Even if they get Bloodtalons right, it won't have a huge impact on the playability of the spec.

So far, even on Twitch I have yet to see a "true" feral. Everybody plays Boomie (not blaming them, ofc).

I fear, because of the lack of dedicated alpha feral players, we will get shafted again.

Therefor, I call on every druid in the alpha to give the WoW devs feedback on feral. At least some kind of unique utility is needed to make this spec somewhat desirable (in PvE).

[Shyzhi]

Feral is a spec so few play, Its hard to find people who play it to put into the alpha. Id love to see more ferals in the alpha and give feedback. At the same time its still very early days. I wish they would add the new talents to the PTR for people without alpha to try out and give feed back on as well.

Id love to spend a day with the spec and give me pros and cons. but everyone wants different things for the spec. I liked old blood talons, the heal didnt bother me. i want savage roar back base line and for the spec to focus more on its bleeds then FB damage.

[Infernoxas]

Feral is a spec so few play, Its hard to find people who play it to put into the alpha. Id love to see more ferals in the alpha and give feedback. At the same time its still very early days. I wish they would add the new talents to the PTR for people without alpha to try out and give feed back on as well.

Id love to spend a day with the spec and give me pros and cons. but everyone wants different things for the spec. I liked old blood talons, the heal didnt bother me. i want savage roar back base line and for the spec to focus more on its bleeds then FB damage.

Not only that, I'd like to see more ferals trying builds other than bloodtalons/sabertooth. I'm using predator, primal wrath, and omen of Clarity on live and it's doing insane AoE damage. Usually keeping up with or exceeding demon hunter and outlaw rogue AoE.

[Niter]

People I know who used to play Feral quite often have moved on to Balance or other classes.

Feral has had so many horrible runs in the last expansions (from being OP to being UP to being squishy to being clunky and squishy to being too simple, squishy and UP to being okay-ish with clunky mechanics).

I feel like Feral needs a big overhaul to be more popular. There has been so much tweaking that Feral has lost its identity, and in a world where people can choose between a clearly better and ranged spec and a spec that does not have anything cool to it other than being a cat and is a melee spec, or a world in which two Rogue specs play great and top the charts, I do not believe Feral will get anyone new to the spec.

Ferals, at first, were supposed to have bleeds and hard hits, with finishing moves being sort of lacklustre (TBC). Then we moved on to being all about a high initial burst and a very high skill rotation afterwards. After that, there was so much back and forth between bleeds and Ferocious Bite while losing so many defensive capabilities... and throughh all this time, Feral AoE damage was awful. When we got something in the way of AoEs, people felt it was too strong, so that lost much of its potency. Right after that, Ferocious Bite became a much better option than Rip... See, so much back and forth for a single spec caused a lot of damage, and now Ferals are in some sort of limbo.

Maybe this xpac could bring back some of Ferals' hybrid aspect, having bleed AoE applied first, followed by Hurricane. Or even a strong CC options like Mass Rooting enemies stopping them completely. Deciding whether they want bleeds to be 20, 25, 35, 50% of our damage and then figuring out if our physical damage will come from Shreds or Ferocious Bites. Comparing Ferals to Assassination Rogues, all of their attacks are powerful, but limited. Ferals feel like Shreds aren't that hot, and finishing moves do not feel impactful. We do excel at AoEing stuff these days though, but it feels like that is all Feral brings to the table. It would be cool to bring party or raid buffs again such as Leader of the Pack or even Mark/Gift of the Wild. Another thing they could do is make Cat Form bigger and more commanding, maybe introducing some new models to choose from.

All of that would take some work, and I do not think Blizzard cares enough to bring about so many changes. We'll be left with this patchwork of a spec, over-tuned or under-tuned at different times to throw us a bone or to throw a bone to those bad at PvP (which has been the bane of our existence, from the early days when we could basically offer support and not much else, to the days when PvP was the major cause for nerfing our burst, CDs, CC, survivability... ugh).

[PickleballAce]

As long as key members of the Feral community are almost entirely concerned with it being the "tryhard, plate-spinning spec" rather than having solid mechanics and damage, the spec is going to suck and get little attention.

[FergusonJes]

there are very new feral players, man. It's a very difficult and weak class

[Talrath]

Ive been a main feral since tbc and really started raiding in lich king. During lich king there was a time where you ahd to be behind the boss and shred. that was very very easy. The best feral was in MoP, we had soo many utilitys that made feral fun. The rotation was fun aswell, although I wanted the positional for shred back. Blizzard has to go back MoP style and put some extra spells for some extra weaving. In BFA it was just that we had to play feral sooo perfectly to even compete with a beast mastery hunter who would hit his face on the keyboard and get higher. There were soo many times in BFA lvling that people laughed at me for being a feral, both horde and Alliance. It was really hard to get into mythic and raiding since people would say boomkin or beat. If shadowlands is still the same as bfa for ferals then Id rather watch YouTube vids to watch the latest lore and thats it. (stopped in december 2018)

[slickwilly]

Why play feral when you can play a rogue. So much more utility.

[Easyclassictopkeklel]

there are very new feral players, man. It's a very difficult and weak class

this just shows you don't know feral or you're just trolling.
Feral is one of the easiest specs right now and it is not weak.

[neocount]

As long as key members of the Feral community are almost entirely concerned with it being the "tryhard, plate-spinning spec" rather than having solid mechanics and damage, the spec is going to suck and get little attention.

There's a certain amount of wisdom in this comment. The spec I run isn't as focused on plate spinning (not using blood talons or savage roar) as others and I'm doing fairly well. I'm parsing well enough to do heroic raiding.

[Easyclassictopkeklel]

Why play feral when you can play a rogue. So much more utility.

because some people just play what they want to and not what is considered "better" or even meta.
There are reasons why a few people always loved to play feral. Extra range, very good mobility, one of
the best def cds ingame, one of the classes with a more unique gameplay which was actually challenging
before talents like SBT...
Been raiding as feral for years now and still often outperform our fotm rerollers. Meta does not matter if
you're not top 100 raiding or pushing high keys.

- - - Updated - - -

As long as key members of the Feral community are almost entirely concerned with it being the "tryhard, plate-spinning spec" rather than having solid mechanics and damage, the spec is going to suck and get little attention.

What are you even rambling about?
Feral being a tryhard spec...that was years ago mate. Now it is just mindless spamspec like almost any other class.
"Key members" of the feral community just liked the gameplay which was more challenging but also more rewarding.
And one of the more unique playstyles. That's all. Not that blizzard gives a sht about it, they don't listen to "key members".
They mess the spec up by trying to make it easy af just like DH which is probably one of the shittiest gameplay I ever encountered
in any MMO tbh.

[Schmilblick]

They need to send more invites RIGHT now and not until it's too late.

[Calfredd]

this just shows you don't know feral or you're just trolling.
Feral is one of the easiest specs right now and it is not weak.

Don't mind him, he was an adbot.

[Lucrece]

The feedback is there. It's just that it's completely dominated by the garbage Blood Talon fanboys. It's kind of incredible that a spec is dominated by a single talent and somehow people think it's healthy that all we have to talk about that spec is a single talent as its sole source of skill expression rather than the total lack of tools/spells compared to rogue or how terrible berserk is as a cooldown.

No feedback on aoe. Very little feedback on the lack of utility. Some feedback in SI.

The people they invite to alpha are also overwhelmingly dimwits.

I'm seeing feedback from some idiots that we have too much CC because they won't use all of it and see no reason to have it in their bars.

In the DK forums we have morons asking for a frost DK spec to also tank.

It's a complete waste of alpha invites that distorts feedbacks as a bunch of people inept with the classes are the ones submitting feedback.

because some people just play what they want to and not what is considered "better" or even meta.
There are reasons why a few people always loved to play feral. Extra range, very good mobility, one of
the best def cds ingame, one of the classes with a more unique gameplay which was actually challenging
before talents like SBT...
Been raiding as feral for years now and still often outperform our fotm rerollers. Meta does not matter if
you're not top 100 raiding or pushing high keys.

- - - Updated - - -



What are you even rambling about?
Feral being a tryhard spec...that was years ago mate. Now it is just mindless spamspec like almost any other class.
"Key members" of the feral community just liked the gameplay which was more challenging but also more rewarding.
And one of the more unique playstyles. That's all. Not that blizzard gives a sht about it, they don't listen to "key members".
They mess the spec up by trying to make it easy af just like DH which is probably one of the shittiest gameplay I ever encountered
in any MMO tbh.

There has not been a single time since WoTLK+Throne of Thunder where feral has been remotely rewarding. Besides thosw two examples it's always just been a punishing spec with no payoff. Worse single target, burst, aoe, and cleave than most rogue/warrior/DK/DH, worse utility as well. All contrived effort behind one talent with no payoff.

The bleed snapshot design is garbage because the concept of a melee dot spec with poor target swap and capped by energy regen is garbage. DoT specs excel at spread damage, except melee hinders that bonus. They excel in multiplying their output through 1-2 GCD's, feral sucks at that too. Virtually all the supposed strengths of a DoT spec are undermined by being a melee and energy based spec, and the only times the spec has been strong is either when the damage is distributed to direct damage burst and away from bleeds, or when amplified by broken gear/trinket combinations.

It's a failed design and feral has been in serious need of a revamp for a while.

[Whitepaw]

The feedback is there. It's just that it's completely dominated by the garbage Blood Talon fanboys. It's kind of incredible that a spec is dominated by a single talent and somehow people think it's healthy that all we have to talk about that spec is a single talent as its sole source of skill expression rather than the total lack of tools/spells compared to rogue or how terrible berserk is as a cooldown.

No feedback on aoe. Very little feedback on the lack of utility. Some feedback in SI.

The people they invite to alpha are also overwhelmingly dimwits.

I'm seeing feedback from some idiots that we have too much CC because they won't use all of it and see no reason to have it in their bars.

In the DK forums we have morons asking for a frost DK spec to also tank.

It's a complete waste of alpha invites that distorts feedbacks as a bunch of people inept with the classes are the ones submitting feedback.



There has not been a single time since WoTLK+Throne of Thunder where feral has been remotely rewarding. Besides thosw two examples it's always just been a punishing spec with no payoff. Worse single target, burst, aoe, and cleave than most rogue/warrior/DK/DH, worse utility as well. All contrived effort behind one talent with no payoff.

The bleed snapshot design is garbage because the concept of a melee dot spec with poor target swap and capped by energy regen is garbage. DoT specs excel at spread damage, except melee hinders that bonus. They excel in multiplying their output through 1-2 GCD's, feral sucks at that too. Virtually all the supposed strengths of a DoT spec are undermined by being a melee and energy based spec, and the only times the spec has been strong is either when the damage is distributed to direct damage burst and away from bleeds, or when amplified by broken gear/trinket combinations.

It's a failed design and feral has been in serious need of a revamp for a while.

I agree with a lot of what you've just written.

The really fun part is that Bloodtalons (back then called Dream of Cenarius) started with an idea of promoting a more hybrid gameplay - that by casting healing spells as a Feral, you would get a dps reward. That was the idea behind that talent and there were two more talents on the same row back in MoP which ALSO promoted healing as a Feral.

Being a Feral didn't start out as a "Bleeds first" spec. It started out as a melee Druid, with really strong abilities in tanking and healing. Abilities which could be used as a Feral, and you could switch roles in combat! I mean, we spent from patch 1.8 until the end of Cataclysm as the most hybrid spec in World of Warcraft. Back in WotLK, 30% of my dps came from bleeds (Rip and Rake) and our best seconday stat was Armor Penetration, because we delivered a LOT of damage with Shred, Ferocious Bite and Swipe.

Then came MoP, Guardian was separated from Feral and a certain trinket dropped from Throne of Thunder endboss. And our bleeds were massively overpowered because of the class design and that trinket. All the BT morons had a fantastic time during MoP, but they would never have argued that much for BT if it hadn't been massively OP back then.

The point is: Blizzard will never - as in never fucking EVER! - let us be that OP again. Not in the next 1,000 years. And not after.

I hope, we can gain more hybridity again (the design choices in SL Alpha suggest that a lot of classes will gain much more hybridity). I also hope that the stupid idea regarding how some specs should be AoE heavy and others should not will die in a fire. Yes, let DH be vastly superior to a Feral in AoE - but then let Feral be just as superior in single target! Oh, that's not possible because DH will then be absolute trash in boss fights and PvP? You should have fucking figured that out 3-4 years ago, before you basically stuck it up the ass to so many specs, while making the AoE dps and CC specs absolute kings in all content.

[Krawu]

I leveled a feral alt to 120 on live and lost interest within 2 weeks. It's just so boring even compared to Fury, which I main. I don't know what they changed for Shadowlands but if they didn't completely revamp it I'm not surprised few people are interested.

[cparle87]

We are a few days in to alpha and I am getting worried. Alomost nobody has given feedback on the state of feral in the alpha so far.

Sure, a few players gave their feedback regarding Bloodtalons. However, it's just one talent out of 21. Even if they get Bloodtalons right, it won't have a huge impact on the playability of the spec.

So far, even on Twitch I have yet to see a "true" feral. Everybody plays Boomie (not blaming them, ofc).

I fear, because of the lack of dedicated alpha feral players, we will get shafted again.

Therefor, I call on every druid in the alpha to give the WoW devs feedback on feral. At least some kind of unique utility is needed to make this spec somewhat desirable (in PvE).

I have a lot of people ask me how I got Mad World so early at such a low item level. Their first question is always, of course, "Boomkin?" I tell them, "No, kitty" and they get very confused as if it was a difficult concept.

[Morae]

I tried rolling a feral druid during bfa. It seems I try that once during each expansion and yet each time fails.

Playing most optimal build with bloodtalons(?) is tedius effort. Even after all that effort, you don't get to feel powerful. I lose interest quickly, but still I like visuals and the cat form itself and druid is fun class too with lots of tools. Its just that I can't really play any of the specs well, except balance (i want to believe I dont suck with it). Most i'd like to play feral, but playing feral makes me want to play rogue instead since rogue has all the fun stuff related to stealth and dots, yet most problems feral has do not exist on rogue.

[Saltysquidoon]

The feedback is there. It's just that it's completely dominated by the garbage Blood Talon fanboys. It's kind of incredible that a spec is dominated by a single talent and somehow people think it's healthy that all we have to talk about that spec is a single talent as its sole source of skill expression

Most of the people invited to the alpha (insofar as influencers) know they need to kiss the ring so they aren't talking about how the 'unpruning' and covonent abilities are a PR smokescreen.

Hopefully, people start talking more soon about how basically every spec (except for like 2 or 3) is entirely unchanged from BFA and more and more talent rows are becoming 'dead' with mandatory talents some specs haven't changed since legion.

[Lucrece]

Most of the people invited to the alpha (insofar as influencers) know they need to kiss the ring so they aren't talking about how the 'unpruning' and covonent abilities are a PR smokescreen.

Hopefully, people start talking more soon about how basically every spec (except for like 2 or 3) is entirely unchanged from BFA and more and more talent rows are becoming 'dead' with mandatory talents some specs haven't changed since legion.

They're pulling a Classic on this xpac, unpruning garbage nostalgia but not really changing BFA classes in any meaningful way. Once people realize a single boring covenant ability won't fix the ripping out of Legion artifacts, it'll be too late.