Wednesday, May 12, 2010

Tale Seventy Three: Understanding the Feral Side

Specs:

There are two differents a feral cat can run with.
This one focuses on single target DPS, leaving one point left over for you to decide where to put it in.

This spec is a AoE oriented spec, allowing you to pump out as much DPS while AoEing.

Personally, I run with the first spec. I need my maximum damage on bosses, where I NEED to output as much dps as possible.


Glyphs:

What I find to be the best glyphs for kitty DPS are:
Glyph of Savage Roar, Glyph of Rip and Glyph of Shred. Coming in behind these glyphs are the Glyph of Mangle and Berserk.

For minor Glyphs I tend to stick to
Glyph of Unburdened Rebirth, Glyph of Challenging Roar and Glyph of Dash.

Enchants:

For the head enchant, I would recommend
Arcanum of Torment, which can be purchased off the Ebon Blade Quartermaster.

If you're an inscriptionist, you should be using the
Master's Inscription of the Axe which is better than the Son of Hodir's Greater Inscription of the Axe.

For leg enchants, I find that the
Icescale Leg Armor. If you're a Leatherworker, you can stick with the Nerubian Leg Reinforcements.

Unless you're an engineer or
tailor, you'll be better off with the 22+ Agility for your back.
When looking for a chest enchant, +10 stats to the chest is the best.

And for your weapon? In my opinion, I'd say
Berserking, then Mongoose, then Massacre then Executioner.


Gemming

Meta - when at all possible, stick with
Relentless Earthsiege Diamond.

Red -
Fractured Cardinal Ruby only AFTER You have reached 400~500 ArPen. Before that, agility is the way to go, so if you're not at that point, gem with Delicate Cardinal Ruby.

Blue - I find myself sticking
Nightmare Tears in blue sockets. When I don't worry about socket bonuses, I socket with the two red gems mentioned above.

Yellow - Up to your discretion. If the socket bonus isn't worth it, I'd just stick one of the two red gems. If you think it's worth it, then go ahead and decide between an
Accurate Ametrine, Glinting Ametrine or a Deft Ametrine.


Caps & Facts!

Hit cap when you're fighting a level 80 is 5% or 163.95 hit rating. If the target is level 83+, our hit cap is 8% or 262.32 hit rating.

Expertise rating is something that I found a lot of melee players overlooked in my old guild. It is quite an important stat, since it lessens the chance of getting parried or dodged. You should always be behind your target. You need 26 expertise rating (213.13) to be "capped". However, you SHOULD have taken Primal Precision in your talent build, which automatically gives you 10 expertise rating.


DPS Rotation, whaaaa!

To be truly honest, I find that kitty DPS does NOT have a set rotation. This makes the class more exciting and fun to play -for me, as I do not have to spam 1,1,1,3,1,1,2.

That being said, here are some pointers on what to do whilst DPSing.

*Always keep
Savage Roar, Mangle and Rake up.
*When you have 5 combo points and you have
Savage Roar up, proceed to slap Rip on your target.

Most importantly, try to have fun. I've met people who have walked away frustrated with the kitty's DPS and rotation and stats and stuff. But it is quite honestly my favorite DPS class. And if worst comes knocking on your door? At least keep an ear out for the awesome feline sound your druid makes when you fire up Savage Roar.

Happy Hunting!
~LB