PvE Feral Druid Tank Talents & Builds

Author: Oxykitten
Date: March 30, 2022
Updated: March 31, 2022
Expansion: TBC Classic

Feral Druid Tank Guide

Stat Priority

Talents & Builds

Pre-Raid & Best In Slot (BiS)

Gems, Enchants, & Consumables

Rotation, Cooldowns, & Abilities

Welcome to our Feral Druid talent specialisation guide for WoW: Burning Crusade Classic! This guide aims to take an in-depth look at all the different talent specs for a Feral Druid, and then go into detail on all the important talents (as well as those to miss). For more information on Feral Druids, refer to the Tank and DPS guides in the navigation pane above.

Talent Specialization Choices

There are a few choices when it comes to Feral talents, and so it really comes down to how much value you want to place in bear-specific talents as opposed to cat-specific talents. Feral Druids are able to tank and DPS in the same spec, and this should be taken full advantage of.

Therefore, I suggest two variations of the same core spec which picks up all the most important talents in each role. The first will be ever-so-slightly DPS focused, and the second will be ever-so-slightly tank focused. Anything in-between these two specs is also suitable, and I will go into detail on which talents are mandatory and which are not.

Tank-Oriented Feral Spec – 0/44/17

This Feral specialization takes all the core talents for both roles, but does not sacrifice any optional talents like Improved Leader of the Pack or Intensity to pick up Feral Aggression for increased Cat DPS.

DPS-Oriented Feral Spec – 0/44/17

This Feral specialization takes all the mandatory talents for both roles, then sacrifices tank talents such as Thick Hide for more Cat DPS from Feral Aggression.

Open the tabs below if you’d like a run-down of how important each talent is in PvE.

No talents in the balance tree provide any use for Feral Druids.

First tier:

Ferocity: Mandatory: Ferocity is an extremely important talent for both Bears and Cats, reducing the cost of Mangle in both forms in addition to other abilities.
Feral Aggression: Optional. Demoralising Roar is weaker than Demoralising Shout, so this talent doesn’t really provide any value to a tank in a raid environment. It does mildly increase your DPS in cat form, though, so can be taken as a DPS-oriented talent.

Second tier:

Feral Instinct: Mandatory. 15% more threat in Bear Form is essential if you ever tank anything.
Brutal Impact: Not Recommended. This talent is useful in PvP and in dungeons, but has little value in raids. Most targets cannot be stunned, and those that can should be stunned by Rogues or Paladins, who have better abilities for this purpose. Still, if you happen to be tanking a stunnable add that the rest of the raid is not focused on, this talent can come in handy.
Thick Hide: Recommended. Thick Hide increases your armor from items by 10%. This is a very strong tanking talent, and I strongly recommend getting it if you tank in your raid. However, it is not uncommon to drop this talent for Feral Aggression to increase Cat DPS. It is not absolutely mandatory.

Third tier:

Feline Swiftness: Recommended. The movement speed from this talent is invaluable outside of raids, and great inside some too! The 4% dodge is an added bonus, so while this talent isn’t mandatory for tanking, I’d personally never drop it.
Feral Charge: Mandatory. This talent is essential for getting to your target quickly, interrupting spellcasts, or countering knockback mechanics.
Sharpened Claws: Mandatory. 6% Critical Strike chance from only 3 points, and unlocks other talents in the tree. A must have.

Fourth tier:

Shredding Attacks: Mandatory. This talent is absolutely essential if you ever DPS. The entire Feral DPS rotation depends on this talent, and the Lacerate bonus is strong for tanks, so it should be taken by all Ferals.
Predatory Strikes: Mandatory. This talent is good, providing 105 attack power and unlocking essential talents further down the tree.
Primal Fury: Mandatory. This talent is good value per point, and benefits both tanking and DPS.

Fifth tier:

Savage Fury: Mandatory. Mangle is still used in cat form for the debuff it provides, so 20% increased mangle damage is a significant DPS boost.
Faerie Fire(Feral): Mandatory. Faerie Fire is a very powerful debuff, generates some threat when applied, and is a good ranged pulling ability. Absolutely worth picking up.

Sixth tier:

Heart of the Wild: Mandatory. This talent provides a lot of Stamina in Bear form, and a lot of Strength in Cat form. Just really strong all around.
Survival of the Fittest: Mandatory. This talent provides 3% critical strike suppression, over half of the needed amount to eliminate the chance of being critically struck; this makes reaching the cap through gear far easier. The additional stats also benefit both roles.

Final talent:

Primal Tenacity: Not recommended. This talent is useful in PvP but is not reliable enough to go for in PvE; fear wards and tremor totems are used to counter fear mechanics instead.
Leader of the Pack: Mandatory. This talent is a powerfull buff to yourself and to your group.
Improved Leader of the Pack: Optional. This talent provides some extra healing to your party, which is nice but not essential.

Final Talent:

Mangle: Mandatory. This is your primary threat ability in Bear Form, and significantly boosts your damage in Cat Form.

First tier:

Improved Mark of the Wild: Not recommended. It is very important for one druid to have this in the raid. However, that should be the restoration druid, as the cost is too high for a Feral to take it efficiently.
Furor: Mandatory. The entire feral DPS rotation is dependent on this talent, and it provides a nice initial rage pool when entering Bear form. Must have.

Second tier:

Naturalist: Mandatory. 10% increased damage is a massive boost to your threat and damage in both forms.
Natural Shapeshifter: Mandatory. Powershifting in cat form is a costly ability and needs the mana reduction to be sustained through a raid.

Third tier:

Omen of Clarity: Mandatory. The clearcasting proc is a nice boost for cat DPS, and is decent in Bear. There’s no reason not to pick this up for just 1 talent point.
Intensity: Optional. This is a nice talent that provides about 60mp5 for your cat DPS, and 10 on-call rage for a quick Mangle when tanking. However, it can be dropped for Feral Aggression in order to keep Thick Hide.

PvP Feral Spec – 1/46/14

This PvP Feral spec makes a couple of changes to the PvE spec:

Nature’s Grasp allows the Druid to escape from dangerous targets like warriors.
Brutal impact increases stun duration, which is essential for a good Pounce opener and to keep enemies controlled with Bash.
Some Druids prefer Thick Hide for survivability over the improved stealth from Feral Instinct, but getting caught in stealth is an easy way to lose a match.
Nurturing Instinct provides you with a lot of healing power (600 in my gear). In arena, ferals most often play a hybrid DPS/healing role paired with a rogue, so that healing is important. The increased healing received in cat form also helps for self-healing as well as in feral-healer comps.
Tenacity provides lucky resists against fears and stuns, which can win you matches.

Thank you for taking the time to read our Feral Druid talent specialisation guide for TBC. I hope it was helpful, and if you have any questions or suggestions please feel free to leave a comment below, or find me as Oxy on the Druid Classic discord.

About the Author

Oxykitten

I've been an avid WoW player since Vanilla. At 6 years old, I was slowly progressing through Blackfathom Deeps and levelling up with my brothers. Since Classic Wow launched, I've found a new way to enjoy the game; participating in Feral Druid theorycrafting communities and performing well in an underdog class has been a fun challenge. I hope to be able to share all I've learned with anyone who shares that interest!