TBC - Feral Talent Tree (PvP/PvE)

WoW Classic WoW Classic General Discussion
1

Hey fellow ferals.

Starting to plan my TBC talent tree. Aiming for a “Cat mostly but not hindered in Bear” type spec, similar to what I’m doing now. I want to be effective in PvP as well without sacrificing PvE performance (I love PvP and want to arena too). I’m pondering between a few of the final talent options that seem mostly preference-based, and was curious if anybody was clued in to any “secrets of the trade” on any of these talents in TBC meta that I may be ignorant of.

https ://legacy-wow.com/tbc-talents/druid-talents/?tal=00000000000000000000050303213232210530105105503001000000000000

Five points to deal out.

This is what I’ve whittled it down to. I’m thinking Primal Tenacity would be the most applicable to all forms of content, both PvP and PvE?

Brutal Impact strikes me as useful as stuns are always big in PvP, but it is only 1 extra second, though even 1 second can make a difference on clinching a kill.

Nurturing Instinct seems pretty situational…mostly for duels?

Intensity looks fine for tanking and a quick injection of rage for PvP shifting tactics such as needing rage for charge and bash.

Improved LOTP just isn’t catching my attention, but am I missing something on this talent? Is it super OP in a lot of situations but I’m just underestimating it’s value? A 4% heal on a 6 second inner cooldown seems woefully underwhelming and a waste of 2 talent points but, I’m open to being schooled on the viability/applications of this talent.

There’s also poor Nature’s Grasp abandoned in the balance tree, but I have a feeling I’ll have to learn to live with life without it.

First thought - x3 Primal Tenacity, x2 Brutal Impact
Second thought - x3 Primal Tenacity, x2 Imp Lotp
Third thought - x3 Intensity, x2 Brutal Impact
Fourth thought - x2 Brutal Impact, x1 Nurturing Instinct, x2 Imp LOTP

And some other disambiguations of the points…

What do you guys (other ferals going in to TBC with their druids) think?

2

Feral Aggression is the likely candidate since all the rest are purely PvP or utility related and even if Rip is better DPE you still get opportunities to FB.

  • Tenacity is RNG for PvP and the few fights these can occur.
  • Brutal Impact is purely PvP.
  • Nurturing Instinct is purely PvP.
  • Imp LotP is for soloing and some PvE scenarios where you’d also want Judgement of Light active to keep melee healthy without direct healing.
  • Intensity is PvP/Bear focused and definitely not needed as a Bear in the slightest.
  • Nature’s Grasp is pure PvP.

If you’re going for the PvE Kitty that isn’t hindered while OTing, most likely Feral Aggression. However, if you never use FB, FB turns out to be super subpar compared to Rip, etc, then I’d recommend Imp LotP + Primal Tenacity.

3

Yeah my guess was that FB is going to indeed be subpar compared to Rip because there will be plenty of debuff slots to facilitate a Rip rotation (don’t forget Mangle), thus making Feral Aggression pretty moot. Obviously FB will be superior in situations that, for example, an Eviscerate would be superior to a Rupture (instant slap damage to a dying mob, etc), but in the grand scheme of bossing aside from adds, I was thinking this would be something that wouldn’t bother me for the most part when trying to compete on single boss DPS encounters.

From a PvP perspective, what are your thoughts between Brutal Impact, Nurturing Instinct, and Primal Tenacity?

4

Brutal Impact and Primal Tenacity absolutely.

If you’re caught out trying to cast heals, you’re already in a really bad spot. Feral has to work extra hard in Arenas to justify being Feral over being a Rogue or some other DPS and just doesn’t have the on-demand burst to justify damage-shift-Cyclone-shift-damage-shift-Cyclone-Cyclone-Root to blow someone up with a partner in most situations, especially in 2’s. It can work and people may not take the damage too seriously, but as a Resto PvPer, I loved seeing Ferals because Hibernate was easy to use and even Root spam could run them OOM super quick, and Resto Druids are a dime a dozen in Arenas.

5

I was under the impression I’d be focusing mostly on a 3s team, definitely not 2s, for the reasons you stated.

It’s a good point about your “love” for seeing ferals and Restos being ubiquitous. I’ll keep that in mind.

6

I can see it working a bit better in 3’s, but the CC is still a bit cumbersome and mana intensive, which reminds me of the Priests/Warlocks/Hunters that are going to drain you dry every chance they get when you step out to cast. It is a tough balance to strike when you’re locked behind a GCD and hefty mana cost to transition between damage and CC modes.

7

Haha, and the discouragement is definitely expected throughout my journey, but then I remember that I spent a lot of Classic BGing as a melee feral main going against that grain as well and tbh, had quite a bit a fun (though obviously it has it’s challenges/limitations).

I was thinking FMP (Feral Mage Priest), I know two people who’d be perfect for it and are willing to ‘carry’ my butt (though I don’t think I’m a slouch heh) :).

I’m excited just to kinda get in to the BGs/arenas and start practicing the feral gameplay meta. It seems like a relatively unexplored aspect of TBC gameplay (PvP wise, I’m aware the bear tanks are the teets in PvE).

8

Would be an interesting mix up of the usual RMP setups we’ll see, loss of Blind/Sap/Kidney and some damage but gain Roots/Cyclone/Bash and you’re not peelable or even CCable for a lot of teams.

Meanwhile I’ll probably just do Druid/Hunter 2’s with my wife, aggravate some teams into submission, and get enough Arena points to get the gear I need for PvE. Nevertheless, I’ll be rooting for you!

9

TBC needs to hurry up

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10

I think originally in TBC druids were OP and got nerfed to the 2.4.3 version we will be getting in TBC classic. Improved LOTP might not have had a cooldown if my memory serves from 15 years ago which made it ridiculous. Players Healing for 500 HP every crit they achieved. So I think they added that 6 sec cd. I also think Mangle was possibly stronger to start as well. If you are going to pvp, brutal impact is a must. Pounce, mangle, shift, shred, shred, finisher. Without that extra second, you can forget those 2 more shreds. I would skip Imp LOTP and go for the primal tenacity and predatory instincts, that helps a ton in PvP vs some of the nearly impossible classes versus druids; Warlock and Shadow Priest.

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