Been playing feral druid for about half of the expansion, and it is my personal favorite play style of any class since perhaps mop/wod warlock. I will admit, at first I was highly discouraged with ferals upfront single target damage, I was running 3x Jungle fury and 3x Wild fleshrending and I still could not stand up to plate melee (which I believe is how the spec is intended to feel).
After a great deal of theory-crafting and arena losses. I believe I have finally found a way for feral to be playable in the current meta, and with it the return of rot.
To succeed in an arena setting you will need to run
-Lunar inspiration (Ferocious bite w/ soul of the forest for PvE)
-Brutal Slash
-Bloodtalons (VERY IMPORTANT)
The remaining talents are personal preference. Although Guardian affinity, wild charge, mighty bash, and incarn are my personal picks.
The concept is simple. Keep all of your bleeds and moonfire up on all targets while building with shred/brutal slash/moonfire/rake and you win.
The problem I believe that is poaching feral players is the misuse or neglect of the Bloodtalons talent.
Bloodtalons - 25% damage boost on your next two melee attacks for their full duration after casting regrowth. (passive)
Predatory Swiftness- 20% chance with each combo point spent to make your next regrowth or entangling roots instant for 12 seconds. (5 combo points spent = guaranteed proc.)
Most players will use blood talons randomly or immediately after a 5 CP finisher (if they take it.)
The real power of feral druids lies in holding your regrowth until 4 CP, popping it and following up with a rake into a rip/ferocious bite (if all targets have rip on them) OR popping the regrowth at 5 CP into a finisher and then following up with a rake.
While doing this you will also weave Tiger’s Fury into your rotation whenever you pop regrowths (preferably below 50 focus to ensure a smoother rotation).
For your azerite traits you will want to try to get 3x jungle fury, 3x gushing lacerations, 3x untamed ferocity, 3x bloodmist (any mixture of those will do fine).
For your pvp talents you can pick and choose based on preference, but the only one you need is King of the Jungle. the 10%-15% healing boost will be a big deal for your survival and will almost never leave your talent selection.
The remaining PvP talents are situation based but I do like the team buff that Leader of the Pack gives as well as the self healing from it. Against ranged comps Savage momentum is great and will greatly increase your survival instincts up-time due to the extra opportunities to kick. Thorns is always a good pick against melee comps.
You will want to use cyclone sparingly as it protects the target from your dots, and extended use of this ability can rob you of the damage you need to effectively rot the other team.
Summary-
Keep your maximum buffed abilities up on all targets. If everyone is dotted up, throw in some ferocious bites. Buff your melee finishers/rake with regrowth and tiger’s fury while keeping moonfire up.
If you have read this far. Thank you. To express my thanks, I have created a weakaura that will carry you through this slightly complex rotation.
Just message me.
-Bengäl